Whew, I'm Sure Glad No One Is Making Too Big A Deal Of This Whole Thing

Now that Coach Cal is finally backstage prepping for his initial public appearance as a Wildcat, I can only say I'm glad this didn't get out of hand.

I worried about a loss of perspective when the Memphis newspaper's online site crashed, but I'm sure it was just a glitch.

I thought it might get blown out of proportion when reporters were tracking Calipari to the donut shop, but it all worked out.

I then feared some people might soon go too far when his convoy was tailed to the airport, but my fears were apparently groundless.

I'm sure the thousands of Kentuckians who will skip work to attend a basketball coach's press conference will behave in a way which reflects their sane, well-balanced lives.

So I don't know what I was worried about.

One more post

Driving home today, I chose to listen to WHAS Yuk. I really hate that station. But I needed traffic info and was interested in the coaching search, so they were the best option.
While listening I heard about a contest they were running. The winner got a vacation at Yellowstone Park with Terry Meiners.
I can't stop thinking about how absolutely awful that sounded. I'd rather buy dinner for Kenny Bania.
I'd have more fun on a cross-country drive in a Ford truck, accompanied by Toby Keith.
I'd rather take a sushi-making class with O.J. Simpson.
I'd prefer an island vacation at the Jim Jones Resort and Spa.
Okay, I guess that's enough.

(The following is premature, I know. But tomorrow I wouldn't have time to post anything until fairly late at night, and I might not feel like it then. So I decided to jump the gun.)


Blue smoke from the chimney of Wildcat Lodge today signalled a new age of Kentucky Wildcats basketball.

John Calipari has been chosen to lead the Catsolic Church into a new era. It is reported he will adopt the name John Cal I.

The faithful hope John Cal either runs a clean program or has the power to grant special NCAA dispensations. Failing both, perhaps his large salary can be used to purchase indulgences.

(If the contract negotiations fall apart, I'll just have to say his reign was similar to that of John Paul I.)

Procrastination and Fear of Self-Fulfilling Prophecies

On perhaps five occasions over the course of a year or so, I made a mental note to buy myself a first aid kit. It seemed like a good idea because the extent of my first aid preparedness was "I think I might have a bandaid in my golf bag, or maybe my softball bag. Or maybe there are a couple in my glove compartment."

Then I was slicing vegetables for dinner and had a scary near-miss. When I put the knife on the counter and turned to the sink, I somehow elbowed the knife in just the right way to send it catapulting into the air. My extreme dexterity allowed me to maneuver my feet from where they originally were- far removed from harm's way- and to a spot approximately 1 inch from where the knife landed. It landed sharp-side down, leaving a very noticeable gouge in the kitchen floor.

I again resolved to purchase a first aid kit as soon as possible.

So yesterday- approximately six weeks since that incident- I finally bought one. Now I can't shake the fear that since I bought it, I'll probably need it soon.

John Calipari

John Calipari seems to be the flavor of the moment among Kentucky fans. If the Wildcats land him he will probably be very successful.

The idea of him coaching UK is starting to give me queasy feelings, though. In case anyone has forgotten, Kentucky doesn't exactly have a clean record with the NCAA. Adding Calipari to the mix would make me very nervous.

Do we really want a guy whose UMass team had to vacate its Final Four appearance due to serious infractions? Who has had allegations swirling around his Memphis State program from the start?

Apparently, we do. Loss of long-term memory is a wonderful thing.

I, though, have not forgotten that I said I was done with UK sports if they get in serious trouble again. I guess maybe I'll have more time for reading.
____________
Bracket update. I was doing very well in my work jackpot, but I think Pittsburgh's loss probably ruined my chances. I had them in the championship game. Picking Pittsburgh and then regretting it is becoming my annual bracket theme.

Herald-Leader

While reading the Lexington Herald-Leader, I noticed a link advertising the "Billy Gillispie At Home" edition of their Lifestyle section. The pictures were interesting.

An on-the-spot photographer also snapped these pics of the coach leaving town.
I wish him the best of luck.

I Wish These Trees Would Get Out of My Way So I Could See The Damned Forest

As a fan of UK athletics myself, is it wrong of me to be having so much fun laughing at my fellow blue-bleeders?

The fear and panic and general hysteria is additively amusing.

I'm a fan of the Cats. I want the basketball team to be successful. I want a good coach, too. But golly.

Fans' wish lists for potential new coaches seem awfully restrictive. They seem to believe if Billy Donovan, Tom Izzo, and John Calipari say no, it will be a disaster. Then if Thad Motta, Jay Wright, and Rick Barnes say no, too, we'll be completely out of choices and have to hope a parent volunteers. (Hey, maybe Kim will do it!) **

There are hundreds of college basketball coaches, and dozens of very good ones. Mitch Barnhart will in all probability hire one of the very good ones. It probably will not be someone who's been to the Final Four in the last 3 years or so; those guys are generally already in a pretty good situation (as evidenced by Final Four trips) and aren't in a hurry to leave. But it's likely to be someone from the 'very good' list.
And if they don't work out, UK will dump them for a few more millions of dollars and hire someone else. It's not the end of the world.

Personally, I think it would be much more fun to have a coach become great while with UK than to hire one who has already punched his Hall of Fame ticket.

**You may have noticed I left Travis Ford off the list. That's because I think he's an A--h-le. But if he's hired, that's not the end of the world, either. Lots of great coaches seem to have the same personality trait.

WEB EXCLUSIVE

This guy I know talked to his ex-girlfriend who has a friend who's sister's boyfriend works in UK's athletic department, and according to my friend's ex-girfriend's friend's sister's boyfriend, Thad Motta and Mitch Barnhart had lunch at Portofino's today and then Thad Motta met with a realtor.
My friend's ex-girfriend's friend's sister's boyfriend also said Motta was spotted at Keeneland by my friend's ex-girlfriend's friend's sister's boyfriend's brother's boss. But I'm not sure that's true because my friend says his ex-girlfriend says her friend's sister's boyfriend says his brother's boss is a notoriously unreliable source. And they aren't even racing at Keeneland right now, anyway.

An argument for keeping Clyde (maybe)

If the current players recruited by Gillispie don't like him and want him gone, then he should be. If he's breaking NCAA rules he should be canned.

Other than that, I don't see an acceptable reason. Bad with the media? Tough. If he keeps signing good recruits then it doesn't matter, and if he wins big the media will love him.

Bad with the administration? Unless it's an absolutely awful situation- and I have a hard time imagining one that's bad enough to qualify- then tough, too. Work it out.

If Kentucky had won 25 games and been a 5 seed in the tournament, none of the other stuff would have been an issue at all.

The argument that the team didn't improve doesn't make much sense to me. The very first game of the year, Kentucky lost to VMI. The team that lost to Notre Dame tonight was much, much better than the team that lost to VMI, so they definitely improved.

If Gillispie keeps signing quality recruits and stays out of NCAA trouble- and if the players who came to Kentucky to play for HIM want him to stay- then he should stay.

If he keeps losing next year and the year after, then dump him. No long-term program damage will have been done if he leaves a roster stocked with talent.

A dream, a failed joke, and estimated statistics

Last night I had a dream that I thought was odd in several ways.
I dreamt I was at Mom and Dad's house and got a phone call from Jason Hubert. He's a guy I went to high school with, and who was in medical school with Lena. We were friendly, but I would in no way characterize us as friends. The sum total of time I spent talking with him in real life is probably half an hour, and I haven't seen him in a decade or so.
An odder part of the dream was that he was calling to discuss the Ryder Cup, in which I was apparently going to be playing the next week. He was discussing strategy with me and I was at a bit of a loss as to what we were talking about, until I suddenly realized that I was on the Ryder Cup team and had forgotten (so I guess it was like those dreams where you walk in to a class and discover there's a test that day and you didn't know it.)
What really has me puzzled is my thought process after I hung up the phone (in the dream). I can't figure out if I woke up a little and thought this out, or if it was all while I was still asleep.
Here is the sequence of thoughts as they occurred to me- as I said, I think I may have been awake for part of this, but I'm not sure:
1) Oh no! The Ryder Cup is next week and I haven't arranged transportation! I need to get a plane ticket!
2) And I need a place to stay! I wonder if all the hotels are already booked.
3) Darn. I haven't asked off from work yet. I'll never get the whole week asking this late. Maybe I can ask off Thursday and Friday, and if I leave work early Wednesday I can get there in time to play a practice round.
4) But wait, I haven't played golf in months! I need to practice a lot!
5) I think I'll just take the whole week off. I'm playing in the Ryder Cup! I don't need that other job.. I'll just take a leave of absence or something.
6) Gosh, I stink at golf, really. Why am I on the Ryder Cup team?

And then I finally realized that it was a dream and that I was not, actually, going to play in the Ryder Cup.

___________________________
a failed joke...
My work friend Debbie had some Easter marshmallow rabbits (like peeps, but bunnies) that she'd been eating. She had some left and didn't want them to go stale (some philistines don't appreciate a nicely aged peep).

I have a large tupperware container that's about 1/4 filled with chex mix, so I agreed to put the rabbits in on top, and joked "but those rabbits better not eat all my chex mix." She laughed at that.
Then I said..."and when I come in tomorrow it better not be raisin chex mix."
She thought that was gross. I thought it was pretty good bathroom humor.

__________________________
Estimated statistics:
I need to replace my belt. I have several, but only had one brown belt that I liked and wore often, and it has finally bit the dust.
I also need a new pair of brown shoes, as the pair I wear most days has about had it also.

I estimate that I have worn the belt on 2400 different days. I think that's quite a lot. What's depressing about it is that it was still in pretty good shape, but I broke the buckle carelessly. It probably had at least two more years left but I killed it.
I have worn the shoes on approximately 1400 days. I think that's a lot, too.

On behalf of my little brother, I thought I'd drop a couple of hints for gift ideas. He used to like these things, and as far as I know, he still does. I mean, he hasn't said he DOESN'T like them, so I'd just base it on past experience.
I apologize if my information is a little out-dated.

March Madness

Neat story:
http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=88276499

Apparently, lots of men think ahead.
The above story reports that this is a very popular time for vasectomies. Men who plan ahead have the surgery, then use their excused absence from work to sit at home watching basketball- and being waited on by their wives.

George W. Bush to write a book

The word is out that former president George W. Bush is writing a book about some of the decisions he made while in office.
My spies managed a sneak peek. Click the pic to enlarge.

Pop, do you have an alibi?

Walkers find 17 dead squirrels in freezer bags
3/17/2009,
The Associated Press

PITTSGROVE, N.J. (AP) — New Jersey State Police and the Salem County Humane Society are investigating the discovery of more than a dozen plastic bags containing dead squirrels in a wooded area of Pittsgrove. A dead rabbit and two dead dogs were also found.

A couple out for a walk came across the bags Tuesday morning.

Ned Shimp of the Salem County Humane Society said the remains of 17 squirrels were found in 14 different plastic freezer bags.

ACC/Big East

Sports reporters have been saying all year that this year's Big East may be the best conference ever. I've read and heard a lot more of that the last two days. I'm puzzled.

I'm puzzled because they now use the NCAA seedings to back up their claims. I think the seedings actually point to the ACC being the best conference this year, and possibly the best ever.

I don't care for the ACC. It's the home of Duke and Carolina, so I hate to praise it.
But both the NCAA and NIT selection committees usually do a darn good job, so I can't dispute the evidence.

Generally, the top 48 teams (seeds 1-12) get into the NCAA tournament. The last 16 (sorry, 17) teams are automatic qualifiers from lousy conferences.
As near as I can tell, the best 16 teams in the NIT are definitely better than the last 16 in the NCAA.
This year, of the top 64 seeded teams in both tournaments combined (48 NCAA, 16 NIT), 9 are from the ACC and 8 are from the Big East. That means 81% of the ACC is in the top 64, and only half the Big East is.

The ACC is definitely not as top heavy, but they aren't so far behind at the top as to erase that difference.

(Eight of eleven Big 10 teams are in that 64, too, which is a higher percentage than the Big East, but the Big East is far superior at the top. Their eight are much, much better overall than the Big 10's.)

And the SEC is lousy. Nearly as bad as Big East football.

It's time for the NIT! I'm so excited I could pee!

Okay. You try your own rhyming title. It's not as easy as it sounds, is it?

Here are my selections. It looks like an exciting tournament. There are lots of "States", lots of hyphens, and lots of otherwise long school names, so it just has to be good.

Our beloved Wildcats will by vying for their 3rd NIT title. Not too shabby, but St. John's (the UCLA of the East) has 4. Of course, they always have home court advantage in the finals.

So even if the Cats make a magical run to the championship this year, they'll still be one behind. Luckily, Coach Gillispie seems to have his team well-positioned to establish an NIT dynasty.



What? There's another tournament? Since when? And how long has this been going on?

Past NCAA Heroes

While watching Duke (hiss) and Mississippi State win, I've googled a few heroes from NCAA tournaments of the past.
Because I was curious, that's why.

(2005) Kevin Pittsnogle
The hero of West Virginia’s run to the Elite Eight (and 2006 Sweet Sixteen) is now teaching middle school in West Virginia. He reportedly weighs close to 300 lbs.

(1998) Bryce Drew
He hit a long first-round buzzer-beater and led Valparaiso to the Sweet 16. He now helps his dad coach Valpo. Wikipedia lists Drew and Orville Redenbacher as famous Valparaiso residents.

(1992) Christian Laettner
Laettner led Duke to the title, blatantly stomped on Aminu Timberlake, and made a shot or something against Kentucky. He currently spends his time mugging old ladies, kicking puppies and setting fire to other small, furry animals.

(1983) Lorenzo Charles
His buzzer-beating dunk knocked off Houston to give NC State the championship. He lives in North Carolina. He has some poetry on the web, which is interesting (the poems are not interesting. The fact that he wrote it is).

(1981) U.S. Reed
Reed nailed a last-second, half-court shot to propel Arkansas past Louisville in the 1981 tournament. He lives in Arkansas, is a minister, and works in real estate.

I would look up some more, but I'm coming up blank on the names of other March Madness heroes. I guess that "one shining moment" wasn't enough for most of them to stick in my mind. Although I guess I could look and see what Keith Smart is doing these days...

(Editor's note: Kevin may have wasted both his time and yours with this post, but we feel he deserves credit for finding a reason to post pictures of Kevin Pittsnogle, Orville Redenbacher, and Count von Count in the same blog entry.)

Skins Game

Henrik Stenson stripping down to hit a shot out of the mud. Personally, I've never done more than take off my shoes and socks and roll up my pants.



I waited to see if Brian or Dad would mention this on their blogs. It was only fair to give them first dibs, since they are more golf-addicted than I am.

But they didn't mention it so I guess it is up to me to share these photos.

Basketball

*Internet rumors are rampant that Billy Clyde is gone. I have no idea if that would be a good thing or a bad. I certainly wouldn't fire him, but I admit I don't care much for his coaching-yet. I also don't know how good his relationship with the A.D. is.
The rumors and ruminations about replacements are addictively funny to read, though. Billy Donovan, Rick Pitino, Pat Riley, Thad Motta, Travis Ford, Darrin Horn, and some high school coach are all mentioned as ideal hires, along with any coach who won a big game in the last 48 hours.
I think Billy Donovan is the funniest, though. I wouldn't go near him with a 10-foot pole after the last go-round and the way he backed out of the NBA job.

*The same people who screamed loudest that ANYONE is better than Tubby seem to be the ones who are most upset with Gillispie. They are also the ones most fixated on that 2,000-win thing (which is mostly meaningless to me. It's just a round number). I almost hate to point this out, but if Tubby had stayed I think UK would be approaching win #2,000 right about the time they play North Carolina in December, 2009.

*2009 football predictions, to beat the August rush:
W- Miami, OH-
W- Louisville
L- Florida
L- Alabama
W- South Carolina (This is the year we knock of Spurrier!)
L- Auburn
W- Louisiana-Monroe
W- Mississippi St.
W- EKU
W- Vanderbilt
L- Georgia
W- Tennessee (Why not? I'm allowed to believe it in March.)
L- Chick-fil-A Bowl (Darn, there goes the bowl winning streak and the non-conference streak)

NIT or Bust

I've been getting a real kick out of reading the comments on the Kentuckysportsradio blog lately. The thousands of "Fire Gillispie" comments crack me up.

I, for one, am nowhere near that point. I do have issues with his refusal to ever play a zone defense. I also have questions about his full game-day practice. I also feel like he had enough talent to win a few more games.

But I feel like the best he could (should) have managed was an 8 or 9 seed, and either a first- or second-round NCAA loss. So the performance is not that disappointing.

They just don't have enough talent to be a top 20 team yet. I looked at today's box score, and by my calculation there were at least 50 minutes of playing time filled by guys who would not have been out there for an elite team. That's 1/4 of the available minutes, which is quite a big hole.

That made this year difficult. The good news is that 50 minutes can easily be filled next year. It is a lot easier to improve greatly from one year to the next in basketball than it is in football. All it takes in this case is two new faces who can contribute at a good level.

The bad news is that at least 25 of those minutes need to come at point guard, and I'm not sure that's going to happen.

Further good news-Gillispie seems well aware of the point guard problem. That's why he moved Porter from his natural (backup) 2-guard spot, signed Liggins and Galloway, and is still trying to recruit to fill the hole. He might not succeed in filling it next year, but he's trying.

All of the above is not, in my opinion, an argument that Tubby didn't recruit well enough. Last year's senior class (if all had stayed) was Rondo, Crawford, Bradley, and Morris. Any coach would have had difficulty recruiting directly behind that, so this year's weak senior class is understandable. The current junior class as recruited by Tubby is not bad, either (Meeks, Stevenson, Porter, Harris, +Jasper).

Well, it WOULD have been cute and clever, but...

At approximately 6:40 this morning I was waiting for the light to change at the Taylorsville Rd and Dutchmans Lane intersection. I looked at the street sign and thought "Oops. Honus Wagner was the Flying Dutchman. Why did I think it was Rogers Hornsby?"

So Rogers Hornsby and the Range wasn't exactly relevant.

I don't know why these things don't occur to me while I'm still signed on to the blog.

Anyway, the Dutch beat the Dominicans again last night, which is cool.
Uncle Honus wasn't in the lineup.

Going Dutch

I finally looked up the story about the Netherlands' baseball victory over the Dominican Republic.
Here are some names from the Dominican lineup: Miguel Tejada, Jose Reyes, David Ortiz, Moises, Alou, Jose Guillen, Willy Tavarez, Miguel Olivo, Pedro Martinez, Ubaldo Jiminez, Damaso Marte.
The Netherlands were led by Sharlon Shoop, Gene Kingsale, Sidney de Jong, Tom Stuifbergen, and Leon Boyd.

Baseball fans will recognize the apparent disparity.

For you non-baseball folks, imagine
-Andy Dick beating up Russell Crowe or
-Dan Brown writing better than (pick a name, any name will do) or
-Kentucky losing a basketball game to Gardner-Webb. oops, sorry.

I guess it' not such a huge upset, though. As I understand it, the winning team had players from the Netherlands, the Dutch, and Holland. Three countries against one hardly seems fair.

And finally, I had a phrase I really wanted to use, but I just can't seem to find a spot in the narrative for it. So here it is: Rogers Hornsby and the Range.

worst ever

Brian mentioned a few days ago that this Kentucky team plays worse than any he can remember. Now, he was pretty young back in 1988-1989, but I thought I should pay tribute on this, the 20th anniversary of that wonderful team.

Team captain Michael Scott led that team to a magically listless 13-19 record. The Cats, inspired by the fadeaway jumpers of LeRon Ellis, played with the heart of Ellis and the intelligence of Eric Manual. And Chris Mills chipped in some highlights in between recruiting visits to Arizona. It was craptacular.

The season began with a 80-55 nailbiting defeat at the hands of Duke and, as hard as it is to believe, only got worse.

A loss to Northwestern State was one highlight. The loss to Bowling Green in the UKIT was my personal favorite. The 23-point loss to Bobby Knight stung a little, too. The 22-point loss to Louisville wasn't so wonderful.

The Cats did manage an awesome 8-10 record in the SEC, capped by a first round loss to Vandy in the SEC tournament. Yaaaay!
Luckily, when I arrived at UK the next season I began righting the ship.

This year's team knows how to celebrate an anniversary. So far.

Here are some pasted comments from an on-line newspaper. They were posted after today's basketball game. Identifying elements have been removed.
Guess the school and coach!

1)"The problems that this team has had the entire season was their demise today.Turnovers and 3 point shooting..."
2)"...isn't the sign of a well coached team one that gets better as the year goes on. After the way the team seemingly regressed during the second half of the season, and the total collapse today one has to wonder a little."
3)"...the point guard position needs help!!!"
4)"They are done - with NCAA."
5)"When will these guys stand up to a good team? Give me a break."
6)"Falls squarely on the shoulders of Coach ____. He has been a horrible bench coach all season and it was just poetic justice that... questionable coaching decisions the entire (conference) season. Too bad the kids are the ones who have to suffer the loss because the koolaid drinkers will always find a way to defend this pitiful coach."
7)"I'm still supporting ___ but when you start (with a good record) and not make the NCAA tourney (most likely)...something is wrong. There is some lack of experience and talent deficiences (former coach's leftovers for the most part). But, the team should have been able to gut out enough wins to at least make it. The (conference) is okay...but it's not the Big East of ACC!!!!"
8)"Don't be too hard on (the coach) yet. Let him recruit more for next year plus the gained experience of this years returning veterans will allow us to judge the man in a much fairer light"
9)"The folded the complete second half of the season....As I have always said they do NOT belong in the NCAA tournament...And maybe not even the NIT....They don't deserve it the way they played.."
10)"Its obvious _____ can't coach because his teams play sloppy basketball and they didn't improve during the season."
11)"I find it incredible that people are calling for the firing of a coach who inherited a program in tatters, is rebuilding it quickly, has took every team he's coached to the ... brought in an obviously good recruiting class and has another one coming next year. .. Yes, they need better guard play. And maturity. Give him a chance."

If you guessed Minnesota Golden Gophers and Tubby Smith, you won!

Out of curiosity, I checked the Gainseville Sun's comments section attached to the article about Florida's loss to Georgia. Then I checked comments on some other basketball articles in that paper.
What stood out was not the negative comments or lack thereof. It was the complete disinterest. Nobody in Florida cares about basketball. Weirdos.

The Sky Is Falling!

A loss on Senior Night? To Georgia? Georgia?!

You know, I've had this vague feeling of unease before, about other things.

When W. was elected, I thought "This isn't good. I don't know exactly what form the disaster will take, but it's going to happen. No way can a bozo like him be president without very negative consequences."

When we were gearing up for war in Iraq, I listened to all the positive spin but didn't buy it. I didn't see any way it would be anything but a mess. I wanted very badly to believe someone knew what they were doing. I thought I guess this can end up being a tremendous success, but I really don't see how. Maybe there's something I'm missing, but I can't imagine what it might be...

Then there's this economy thing. I can't shake the feeling that throwing trillions of dollars (which we don't have) at the problem is going to fix it. Call me crazy.

But then it happened with something really important. Sure, the welfare of our nation and the conduct of wars is important too, I guess, but this is Kentucky basketball.

When Tubby left, a large portion of the commonwealth rejoiced. But while he was here he won a national championship, 5 SEC titles, and 26 games per year.

That's not bad at all. Whenever I mentioned it, though, the response was usually something like "yeah, but that's not good enough for Kentucky! We're used to Final Fours and Championships."

For one thing, Tubby had a championship. And since 1951, apart from that amazing stretch of 4 in 6 years during the '90's, there are 5 final four appearances in the 57 other years.
Sure, I thought the Cats would continue to be successful. I still do. But I thought there was an awfully large number of things that could go wrong, and an awfully small chance that any new coach could provide the NCAA success that fans were 'used to.'

I am not hoping Gillispie gets fired. Far from it. I would have been uneasy about the transition to any new coach, but I thought Gillispie was a pretty good hire. I was uncomfortable with the similarities to Eddie Sutton, but other than that...

But I can see the same thing happening to him that happened to Tubby. The fans were incredibly down on Tubby, even when he had a 5 year stretch as the winningest coach in the country in the early 00's, and then when he had two 'bad' years of 22 wins apiece fans acted like, well, Chicken Little. The environment made it impossible for him to recruit.
?
I hope the same thing doesn't happen to Billy Clyde. Especially since he seems like a coach who really, really needs to recruit. From what I've seen, he's not going to win with inferior talent. Or equal talent. Or marginally better talent. He better get players that are waaaaaaaay better than the other teams'. Right, Dale?

Reduced Shakespeare goes Hollywood

Sunday night, The Reduced Shakespeare Company will be performing their abridged history of Hollywood at the Kentucky Center for the Arts.

I'm a fan, so I thought I'd do this little advertisement and post a couple of clips (clips over there --->).

I doubt I'll go, but I'm not sure. As usual, the ticket prices are an issue- though $28 is pretty reasonable when compared to some other shows.

So at the moment I'm not going, but I may decide to go by Sunday, assuming they don't sell out. And I wouldn't be averse to someone talking me into it.