Bob’s Blog

Indulge a proud father. My son, Jeff, got news yesterday that he had attained an internship this summer with MLB.com, the website for Major League Baseball. He’ll be spending the summer in Atlanta, covering the Braves.

He notified me of this news shortly after my computer crashed Tuesday night in Cedar Falls, Iowa, where I was covering the Shockers’ game against Northern Iowa. I had finished my column but lost it and had to start over. But when Jeff called, that didn’t matter.

My son loves baseball. Wonder where he got that? This is a great opportunity for him and, honestly, I’m a little envious. But more proud.

As for my travels, it is halftime of the Kansas State-Missouri game as I write this. My trip from Cedar Falls to Manhattan was a little iffy for a while because of blowing snow. There was a serious pile-up on I-35 north of Kansas City that held me up for close to an hour. But I made it and it was a competitive first half.

It will be nice, though, to get home.

For those of you following my progress on this harrowing road trip into Nebraska and Iowa, I’m reporting to you safe and sound from the Devaney Center in Lincoln. It’s about 90 minutes until the tip of the Kansas-Nebraska game.

The drive was uneventful _ 4 hours straight up Highway 81 to Interstate 80, where the speed limit is a precious 75 mph. Easy drive. I’m told by the natives that tomorrow’s drive, from Lincoln to Cedar Falls, Iowa, will be the true test. Let’s hope the weather holds up.

It was about 25 degrees colder when I arrived in Lincoln than it was when I departed Wichita. Cold enough that I stopped feeling my hands on the walk from the parking lot to the arena.

I’ll keep you posted. Look for Kansas to win tonight by 12 to 15 points. I don’t think Nebraska can slow the game down enough to stay in it all the way.

The nominations are out and, sadly, I have seen only two of the five films nominated for the Best Picture Oscar, Little Miss Sunshine and The Departed.

Both were great, in decidedly different ways. In the next couple of weeks, I will see the three other nominees: Babel, The Queen and Letters from Iwo Jima.

Not having seen those movies, though, will not prevent me from making my early Oscar predictions. These are subject to change, obviously, since I haven’t seen all of the involved movies, including Little Children, Half Nelson, Venus, The Last King of Scotland, Blood Diamond, Volver or Notes on a Scandal, all of which included nominees in the acting and directing categories.

Here goes:

Best director: Martin Scorsese, The Departed (Note: Much as it is Peyton Manning’s time to finally win a Super Bowl, it’s Scorsese’s time to win a long-overdue Academy Award for direction.) Others nominated: Alejandro Gonzalez Inarritu, Babel; Clint Eastwood, Letters from Iwo Jima; Stephen Frears, The Queen; Paul Greengrass, United 93.

Best supporting actress: Jennifer Hudson, Dreamgirls (Note: She’s an American Idol alum, which is enough for me. And I saw this movie. Musicals aren’t my cup of tea, so to speak, but she was fantastic. And it wasn’t just her singing. Others nominated: Adriana Barraza, Babel; Cate Blanchett, Notes on a Scandal; Abigail Breslin, Little Miss Sunshine; Rinko Kikuchi, Babel.

Best supporting actor: Eddie Murphy, Dreamgirls. (Note: Great role for Murphy, who is one of the most fascinating people in entertainment, in my opinion.) Others nominated: Alan Arkin, Little Miss Sunshine; Jackie Earle Haley, Little Children; Djimon Hounsou, Blood Diamond; Mark Wahlberg, The Departed.

Best actress: Helen Mirren, The Queen. (Note: This is going to be the most hotly-contested category. But Mirren nudges out Meryl Streep). Others nominated: Streep, The Devil Wears Prada; Penelope Cruz, Volver; Judi Dench, Notes on a Scandal; Kate Winslet, Little Children.

Best actor: Forest Whitaker, The Last King of Scotland. (Note: He’s winning all of the early awards and although I haven’t seen the movie, his momentum looks to be unstoppable). Others nominated: Leonardo DiCaprio, Blood Diamond; Ryan Gosling, Half Nelson; Peter O’Toole, Venus; Will Smith, The Pursuit of Happyness.

Glaring omissions: Where is Jack Nicholson for his performance in The Departed? How can the Academy stiff Jack?

How did The Departed earn a best-picture nod but only one acting nominee; Wahlberg in the Best Supporting Actor category.

Where is Steve Carrell, who was so good in Little Miss Sunshine?

Clint Eastwood is going to be difficult to beat in the directing category. I love Eastwood.

Haven’t played in a while. You know the rules.

Here’s a dandy from Thursday’s paper:

Wichita State always seems to do better after coach Mark Turgeon wears one of his solid ties.

This is a female, in her 50s or perhaps right at 60. She’s a fashion guru and attends all of the Shockers’ games. She sits across from the WSU bench and has a direct look at Turgeon during a game. Fashion means a lot to this woman; she might even make her living by writing or reporting about it. Hey, this is Bonnie Bing.

All across the world, young kids are dead because they imitated the hanging of Saddam Hussein. In the old days, we watched hangings on TV Westerns each week and didn’t hang ourselves.

This is a 70ish man who can tell you the four stars of Bonanza: Lorne Green, Michael Landon, Dan Blocker and Pernell Roberts. But I don’t remember many hangings on Bonanza, so perhaps he was a bigger fan of Gunsmoke, which starred James Arness as Matt Dillon and Ken Curtis as Festus. This person still owns a black and white television set and his living room floor is covered in green shag carpet. He collects rope.

Parks is one of our Sedgwick County commissioners whose first real act is to attempt to negotiate a re-vote on the new downtown arena.

How about a re-vote on Kelly Parks?

Is this guy for real? A re-vote on the arena?

The downtown arena is the best thing to happen to Wichita in years and years. Yes, it’s taking a little longer to get built than originally hoped. But there are a lot of hoops through which to jump and the county is rightly taking its time to make sure everything is done right.

It is reprihensible that someone new to the county commission would pick this time to consider asking for a re-vote, even if he thinks he is representing his constituents, as Parks apparently thinks he is.

The arena is happening. It’s going to be a great thing. Can we please just let it be?