Median Home SALE Prices in Detroit

On the way to Athens the other day, I read an interesting piece in Time Magazine about how bad things have gotten in Detroit in recent months. Earlier in the week, I had picked UConn (-4) to beat MSU, but after reading the article, I changed my pick to MSU. MSU has 9 players from the state of Michigan and 1 player from the city of Detroit. I heard Izzo mention in a press conference leading up to the UConn game that things had gotten really bad in the area and that MSU was playing for more than just their University. It's impossible to know if the problems in the state led to them playing any harder or better, but these are things I always like to think about in sports.

I told everyone in Athens about the article. I was intrigued by it for a few reasons. First, I really hadn't heard that much about how things bad things had really gotten in Detroit. Next, the medium home price in Detroit had fallen to around $10,000. I couldn't believe it. I found that, "One-third of the population lives in poverty, and almost 50 percent of children are in poverty, according to data from the Detroit-Area Community Indicators System. Median household income has dropped 24 percent since 2000, according to the Census Bureau." And their mayor, when asked about the murder rate dropping, responded with a joke about the reason being that there was no one left to kill. With all this in mind, I thought it was cool that they seemed to play an inspired game to knock off the favorite, UConn in the national semifinal game.

Then yesterday, Shane Goldwater Murray called me to inform me that I was way off base in thinking that Detroit had hit the shits. The median home SALE price in Detroit had fallen to below $8000 in the month of December. I had misspoken, and there were probably only like 2 houses sold in Detroit in December so it was Time Magazine manipulating the statistics. Therefore, things are just fine in Detroit, and the market will sort it all out. I agree: MSU probably won the game because they came out ready to play and executed. And because Izzo is a good motivator. Maybe they had no extra motivation- we will never know. But what we do know is that things are looking pleasant in Detroit and while the median home SALE price is less than $10,000, the median home price is probably well over $75k.

Thank you for correcting me, Goldwater. I will never misspeak again, and I will try to get my facts right from now on. Your understanding of economics is far superior to mine and any future help you can give me in understanding such complex issues is greatly appreciated.

How I imagine Stick's trip to IHOP went on Saturday

Music Post Mondays

"fat bucket spence mass blog clod!
nice! how 'bout a divided sky? "

"john that was sick, especially liked the lick around 2:25"

"sick nasty well done"

This is the worst music festival ever, right?

Wanted to confirm this before all the Athens recaps start coming.

Mile High Music Festival

Headliners: Tool, Widespread Panic, The Fray. Isn't this the first thing in a while that we can all agree on?

Full Circle

The first Georgia basketball game I ever attended was Mark Fox's third game as Nevada's head coach. Nevada beat Georgia 58-47, but was clearly on a whole other level against one of the worst major conference men's basketball teams ever "assembled." Five years later, he's the guy set to lead Georgia out of the wilderness.

Great job by Damon Evans and the search firm. Dude went 123-43 at Nevada, recruited a first-round pick and Nick Fazekas, coached under Trent Johnson and has a way better resume than Anthony Grant despite being like five years younger. He also was born in Kansas, so he's got that Midwest feel.

It's late, and he's getting introduced tomorrow morning, so I hope to have more cogent thoughts on this later.

Update:

Mark Bradley is usually my boy, but he's way off base with this.

Bradley has it bad for Anthony Grant, saying he "was the obvious choice."

Then he says Fox "won in the WAC, which is a nice mid-tier league. But the Western Athletic Conference isn’t the SEC East, where he’ll be working against Billy Donovan (two NCAA titles) and John Calipari (two Final Fours), plus the showman Bruce Pearl and the erudite Kevin Stallings and the rising star Darrin Horn."

But the WAC is a nicer league than the Colonial, and Fox's resume is much more impressive than the "rising star's" was last year.

And apparently if you aren't from the South, you can't recruit in arguably the most fertile area in the country just to the west of Athens. I mean, Bruce Pearl is just having a terrible time with that.

Here's another good one: "The most accomplished Nevada player in Fox’s five seasons as head coach was Nick Fazekas, who’s playing with Lyon-Villeurbanne, which is based in France. Not to put too fine a point on it, but Nick Fazekas is no Derrick Favors."

Except Fazekas was awesome in college, and that's all Georgia cares about. Though having sure-fire lottery picks is definitely the only way to win big in the tournament.

Look, I obviously have no idea whether this guy will pan out, but just because the hiring is surprising doesn't mean it wasn't a good move. Look at the merits of the hire instead of assuming it's terrible because it's not a huge name. I think if you took Fox's resume and lined it up with a bunch of other candidates without knowing whose was whose, most people would be on board with this.

Good Thinking Donnie!

Here are 25 Random Things about me: (by Donnie Bell)


1.) Music does not interest me. Except Fergie
2.) If it were up to me UGA home football games would be played on Tybee Island
3.) I like Tybee
4.) I am one of very few people to come from a private school and beat Savannah High twice
5.) I like Mr. Kennedy
6.) I am the Admiral's N****
7.) I like drinking
8.) I have been in school longer than most of the girls I have dated have been alive.
9.) I don't plan to quit school until I "hit it big on BlackJack"
10.) I like Athens, but not as much as Tybee.
11.) Statesboro sucks.
12.) I have a huge apartment.
13.) My dog Ozzie is a hell raiser. Dixie was quit and plump.
14.) Dixie would have never hurt anyone...except Sauers's (or is it Sauere)
15.) I like soccer, but would never admit that to Jack
16.) I like Jack's sister, and would happily admit that to Jack
17.) I like Vegas
18.) Shane is a better all around Basketball player than I am.
19.) I am taller than Shane
20.) I like unions
21.) I don't like tomatoes but I like ketchup
22.) "I like my pizza with sausage"
23.) Schwar(t)z is my ride or die homeboy. Best wingman ever!!
24.) I like to pretend I can surf
25.) I share family members with Joey S.


These are easy...

I want Schiv to do me next.

25 Random Things

Recently on Facebook, people have felt compelled to list 25 random things about themselves. Well, my buddy, George, has been awful busy with work and play, so I've decided to do his for him.

Here are 25 Random Things about me: (by Rick Schwartz)

1: I own the state of South Carolina.
2: I got a DUI on Tybee a few years ago. I have learned from my mistake and have not driven drunk since then.
3: I love pizza but I hate the sauce.
4: I think cranberry juice makes anything taste good.
5: I never drink on Sundays. "If you feel like drinking on Sunday- then you didn't do something right on Saturday."
6: I regret not going to New Orleans.
7: My 5 favorite bars in Athens are: Bourbon Street, Generals, Hedges, Boar's Head, and the upstairs of Bourbon Street
8: Taco Bell is my favorite Mexican restaurant.
9: I have a dog named Murphy who I love dearly.
10: I've seen over 10,000 movies. Ive like 99,578 of them.
11: I love TBS, FX, and TNT.
12: I don't care about basketball, but I like shooting 3's.
13: I love Jimmy Buffet, and I don't care what you say about it.
14: I used to be in charge of a lot of people during high school. Now, all I have to worry about is myself, and I am doing just fine.
15: I want the Falcons to get Vick back, but I love dogs.
16: I won the Steel Stall Match against Holland.
17: I think Jan has a nice butt.
18: I got a technical foul in a middle school basketball game, and it was bad.
19: Shiv is better than me at NCAA.
20: Mee Mee is the most important woman in my life.
21: Sometimes I accidentally chop people.
22: I called the Undertaker v. HBK match-up at Wrestlemania back in January.
23: CPC >(Real)CWM > CUM > CNS > CSS > CMR > (Shitty)CWM
24: Larry's grandfather likes me more than him.
25: I'm a 60 minute man. WOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!!!!!!!!!!

Athens Atmosphere

There will be a lot of buzz in Athens for spring time come this weekend.

The search for a head basketball coach will continue. The program that has seen nothing but crap for 7 years, outside of 4 days, can't catch a break. The guy we wanted stayed at Mizzou for about 500,000 dollars less a year. We won't get Capel either and Plan B is now in Tuscaloosa. I'm not saying Georgia can't still make a good hire but the splash Damon was wanting to make and needed to make will not be happening. Also, Memphis looking for a coach might not hurt Georgia but it surely won't help.

On the bright side, the Diamond Dawgs have one of the most anticipated series in Foley field history this weekend. #1 Georgia will take on LSU who is ranked #5 in a majority of the polls. Rich Poythress is hitting Beckham-esque and leads arguably the deepest and most balanced lineup in the Perno era. The starting pitching has been superb and the importance of Holder coming back is greater than anyone could have thought. That is because the once thought deep and talented bullpen is starting to struggle. Outside of Weaver and Harvil there has been a lack of consistency from everybody else and a couple of guys are having a hard time getting any outs. This will be the best team Georgia has played all year and starts a stretch of home series against 3 top 15 teams. I don't think Georgia is a top 10 caliber team at this point but I do think they can be. Shiv will also be streaming live updates on the blog of the activities from atop Kudzu hill.

Weekend Over/Unders:
Stick: Hours of sleep- 3
Don: Bets placed- 52
Shane: G&T's- 0
Joseph: Fights with Shiv- 7
Plowe: Girls-52
PMac: Calls to Leah- 1

Van Halen Brilliance

"Runnin' With The Devil": Vocals Only

DLR sounds a little like Stick toward the end.

Top 5: 3-28-09

5. Slime Time
4. Solo Cup
3. Beard Buffet
2. Gin and Tonic
1. Schwarz-a-thon

Happy Birthday, Mr. Mouse

I guess it's fitting that Larry's birthday is exactly a week after St. Patrick's Day since he's Irish and stuff. And that it usually falls during the middle of March Madness since he likes basketball a lot. And that it falls during college football's spring practice period which he thinks is so damn important.

Anyways, since I will be unable to make the 20-30 minute journey from the beautiful city of Statesboro, GA to the great city of Dublin, GA- I figured I'd join all of us here at OIA in wishing Larry a very happy 23rd birthday.

Not wanting to start my research on what kind of cases Clarence Thomas votes to accept, I guess I will list a few reasons why I like Rick's dear friend, Larry Conneff.

1: If it wasn't for Larry, I probably wouldn't have enjoyed my freshman year at Georgia too much. Eating with him at Bolton and frequenting Bourbon Street four nights a week made Spring semester awesome.

2: Larry has been along for the ride on some of the greatest days of my life: beating SHS senior year in basketball, beating Effingham senior year in football, the Alabama trip, the New Orleans trip, seeing the greatest college basketball player any of us have ever seen in person-JJ Redick and his last game as a Duke player, Auburn Blackout Game, and GA Florida endzone celebration game.

3: He lived with me for three years. This probably does more for his heaven chances than not eating meat on Fridays during Lent. Besides my parents, this is probably the longest anyone will ever choose to live with me. I appreciate it.

4: He was cool with me watching Robin Hood and 8 Mile over 200 times in our living room.

5: He made sure to walk into the living room every time Kevin Costner shot the fire arrows and during the last battle of 8 Mile because he knows greatness when he sees it.

6: He is Rick's friend, and any friend of Rick's is a friend of mine.

7: He likes the game of basketball: high school basketball, college basketball, the NBA, and Olympic b-ball.

8: He likes Tybee, Georgia, BC, the Hawks, the Braves, and Santino Marrella.

9: Larry was a proud member of the Wild Stallions as well as part of the Class of 2004 basketball team who beat the Class of 2003 handidly at The Cage.

10: Larry was the voice of reason during my years at Georgia. And he will probably continue to be for years to come.

Merci beaucoup, Mr. Conneff.

Easy Way Out

I would like to get this in before all of the Vegas recaps because it really pisses me off. The AJC reported earlier this week that there have been talks of moving the Georgia-Florida game to the Georgia Dome once every 4 years (Link: http://blogs.ajc.com/uga-sports-blog/2009/03/20/georgia-florida-game-moving-to-atlanta-worlds-largest-outdoor-cocktail-party-mulls-moving-up-i-75/?cxntfid=blogs_uga_sports_blog). I know they are only pushing for one out of four but come on. PWD wrote a great piece on the situation and to quote him (I could not have said it any better myself) "this is the chicken shit way out."

Nobody was complaining back in the 70s or 80s when we were kicking their ass. Now we are on the receiving end of those ass whoopings and it is suddenly the city of Jacksonville's fault. I don't get it. The only pro and I stress ONLY pro to moving the game to the Dome is that it is a shorter trip for the football team. Having it at the Dome will not give Georgia a home field advantage just like I don't think playing the game in J'ville gives the Gators a home field advantage.

Face it, the tailgating sucks around the Dome, there will be about 10,000 less tickets to go around because the smaller capacity, and the weather will more than likely be nowhere near as good as it usually is in J'ville. Not to mention "World's Largest Indoor Cocktail Party" just doesn't have the same ring.

Having the game at Jacksonville Municipal Stadium, on the banks of the St. John's, provides the perfect atmosphere for a rivalry game of this magnitude. People are not going to get to Atlanta on Tuesday to park their RV's. There is no Brother Beach (aka St. Simons) around Atlanta unless you want to go hang out at Lake Lanier. J.D. couldn't go to "the Rock" and that would be disappointing if he couldn't do his broadcasts "live poolside." That is the highlight of his year. I guess Buckhead would take the place of the Landing which I could handle but wouldn't want to regardless. There is certainly no reason to have fall break at Georgia seeing as how 90% of the student body is from Atlanta so there is no reason to get out early and leave town on Thursday. A J'ville game gives south Georgia fans who can't make it to Athens regularly something to look forward to. Basically, there is not one upside from a fan's perspective to having this game anywhere other than Jacksonville (I would consider a home and home series).

While I can't speak from a player's perspective (I'll ask Rod about this when I'm up in Athens for G-Day) I can't see any positives to playing the game in the Dome either. Hell wouldn't playing on that turf make Florida's speedy playmakers even faster. Call me crazy but I don't think that's such a good idea. Plus, for all the pomp and circumstance CMR gets about his damn road record, you would think we would want to play this game as far from Athens as possible. Of course, with this being a neutral game it doesn't factor into that impressive away game record.

I think bye weeks have a lot to do with it and Florida has certainly benefited from that more going back to the early 90s. The Dawgs have caught some bad breaks as well, especially recently in '05. Had Shockley played that game I think Georgia wins by 20+.

Here's the bottom line: It's not Jacksonville's fault we are 3 out of the last however many. The stadium didn't make Shock throw it Gus Scott in '02. It didn't make Bennett miss 3 field goals for the second time in that '03 season. Get over this "we need to change the series up by moving it to Georgia" shit. Man up (or Dawg up if you would prefer), go out their and beat those blue and orange bastards within an inch of their life. CMR (who proposed the game be alternated between J'ville and the Dome a few years back) is 2-6 against Florida and that is just UNACCEPTABLE especially considering Zook was there for 3 years. Even in the 3 years we went to the SEC Championship game we didn't beat the Gators. The SEC East runs through Jacksonville now and unless we start beating these guys with a little more regularity we won't even sniff another championship. "Rule #76 no excuses play like a champion"-Jeremy Grey from Wedding Crashers.


No easy way out Mark. CUM is your Ivan Drago. Now go train hard and knock his ass out for Bulldog Nation...

Friday Haiku

Rick's return is near
Big Dog Parade tomorrow
The "fin" will be feared.

Finally

I was worried former Savannah High star Casey Mitchell would end up like so many other great basketball players from our fair city, but it looks like he's going to end up in a pretty good spot.

The Savannah Morning News says he's committed to West Virginia now, and will probably be a starter for a team that plays a decent number of games of national TV next year. Between him, Toby Veal, James Fields and Cashmere Wright, maybe we're turning a corner.

Murray!!!!!!!!!!!

Happy Birthday, Dude.

Shane Goldwater Murrary is now 24 years old. I guess I'll do a top ten of his life.

1: Murray sinks Glynn. On Senior Night, Shane puts up 24 against one of the most storied programs in the state. No senior deserved it more than him.

2: Shane has the flu as BC beats SHS for the first time in almost a decade. Franky is the most important player. Brady is our best player. But Shane is our most important player. He's our captain, and TC declares him the captain during the Effingham County game.

3: If everyone had Shane's attitude and effort, we would have beat Windsor and Wayne.

4: Shane improved more from freshman to senior year than anyone else in the history of BC basketball history.

5: My connection with Shane is that we both love the game of basketball. We also like to drink on Tybee.

6: The worst thing about Shane is that he will fine the good in anyone. I hope he defends me the way he defends everyone else.

7: Shane has a grown-up job. I know he is under the Hank-fluence when it comes to politics, but he will be one successful dude.

8: Shane is a better basketball player than Keenan. Even though Murray won't admit it.

9: People are often judged by the company they keep. Well, Shane has about 4 guys who consider him their best friend.

10: Murray is not as good as me in a lot of things. But he would be my first choice in a game of 3 on 3 and he is absolutely one of the best friends of I've ever had.


Happy Birthday, Monsieur Murray.

You Got Jokes?

An Irish man shows up in a pub one day and orders three pints of Guinness. He takes sips from each glass until they are empty and calls the bartender for three more. The bartender says, 'Sure it's up to yourself, but wouldn't you rather I was bringing them one at a time? Then they'll be fresh and cold.'

'Nah...' your man says, ' I'm preferrin' that ye bring 'em three at a time. You see, me and me two brothers would meet at a pub and drink and have good times. Now one is in Australia, the other in Canada and I'm here. We agreed before we split up that we'd drink to each other's honour this way.'

'Well,' says the bartender, 'that's a grand thing to do, all right. I'll bring the pints as you ask.'

Well, time goes on and your man's peculiar habit is known and accepted by all the pub regulars. One day though, he comes in and orders only two pints. A hush falls over the pub. Naturally, everyone figures something happened to one of the brothers. A group of the regulars corner the bartender and finally persuade him to find out what happened. With a heavy heart, the bartender brings the two pints and says, 'Here's your pints... and let me offer my sincerest condolences. What happened?'

The Irish man looks extremely puzzled for a moment, and then starts laughing.
'Oh, no, no, no! 'Tis nothing like that. You see, I've given up drinking for Lent...'

Happy Birthday Big Dog

On March 5th of 1986, females everywhere received a great gift in the form of Michael Patrick Lowe. I'm 23 years old and I have about ten guys who I consider my best friends. I've had best friends move away, discover different interests, or just become strange. Plowe and I were best friends before we could even walk, and there is no doubt in my mind that we will remain best friends for the rest of my life. He'll be in my wedding, and he'll be my children's godfather. He is one of the most generous, genuinely good people that I know. I don't have any brothers or sisters, but Plowe is like a brother to me. He loves ladies, but he's the kind of guy you can trust around your girlfriend. PLowe loves BC, UGA, GSU, St. Michael's, golf, ladies, Tybee Island, his family, and his friends. His attitude toward all of these is great. If Plowe does not like you, then you are probably a jackass. If you're a jackass, he probably still likes you. We are lucky to have you as a friend Plowe. Here's to you buddy. Happy 23rd Birthday.

Top 5 PLowe Moments:
1: Wearing his dragon costume 7 years in a row
2: Going 16-0 en route to a City Championship in JV Basketball. Tony scored in is own basket and we beat BSS 3 times. Plowe loves to remind people of these things.
3: Going to my cousin, Alex's, 21st birthday party last summer at the American Legion on Tybee Island. Seeing Erin and Alex dance their asses off and enjoy themselves at that party is something I think about when life isn't going so well.
4: A few years ago, when Plowe and I woke up at two separate apartments in the same apartment complex.
5: Getting rid of Liz





Oh yeah. It's Amy Lane's birthday, too. Happy birthday girl! Where yall eating tonight, Goldwater?

Fox News or The Onion?

1.) Florida Man Claims Veteran Status Should Allow Him to Steal

"Ambrose, who appeared to be drunk, screamed out the window that he had served in the military in Iraq and could steal all the M&M's he wanted"

2.)Florida Woman Calls 911 After McDonald's Runs Out of McNuggets

"'This is an emergency. If I would have known they didn't have McNuggets, I wouldn't have given my money, and now she wants to give me a McDouble, but I don't want one,' police quoted her as saying. 'This is an emergency'"

3.) CNN Anchor Can't Tell 'Nuts From ...

A U.S. airline is now selling "penis" on flights, an anchor woman has declared.

"Northwest began serving penis this month as its merger partner Atlanta-based Delta airlines has done for years," Verjee said.

"Georgia is the top penis producing state in the country."

4.)Mel Gibson Seeks a Comeback

Who Knew?

Apparently The Citadel is really good at basketball all of a sudden, its coach is Pat Conroy's cousin and one of its best players is a walk-on who went to Johnson.

I learned all these things today in coming across a couple of really interesting newspaper stories. What are the odds the New York Times and Savannah Morning News would have two separate pieces on Citadel basketball the same day?

Anyway, they're both definitely worth a quick read, and it looks like Conroy is working on another book about The Citadel, so that's something to look forward to.

Weekend Thoughts

1: I have terrible timing. It's snowed in Athens twice in the last 5 years, and I've missed it by a day each time.

2: Patrick still has a pretty impressive record at On the Rocks.

3: I didn't make it to Blind Pig, GB's, Peach's, or 5 Star Day. Damn.

4: I won't be back to Athens till the first weekend in April. March is going to be a busy month.

5: Uncle Otto's was a bad choice.

6: Conditioner does not do the trick.

7: So much for Ric's guarantee; no one got arrested. Schwarz did his part, but the ACC police failed to do theirs.

8: I did not see enough of Schiv. What's a weekend in Athens without seeing our favorite soccer enthusiast?

9: The drive to Athens was a lot better than the drive home.

10: I'm going to law school next fall in Atlanta. I can't take grad school or Statesboro anymore.