Worthy and Unworthy

I've been a little deep lately in my blog, and I feel like I need a little balance here.  So today, I start up a series of blogs entited "Worthy and Unworthy" - in which I rate things as "worthy" or "unworthy" (based on nothing other than my opinion, of course).  Feel free to disagree with me if you wish... I probably won't get offended :-)

So let's get this started:

Ketchups 

This is a topic that my friend Josh Adams has brought to some attention, with a discussion on his Facebook page about the fact that he will actually bring Heinz ketchup into a place if they serve something else.  While I'm a huge fan of Heinz, I do think there are other worthy ketchups.

Worthy!

• Heinz - The original and still the best.  
• McDonalds - I don't know what it is, but their ketchup and fries form a powerful duo.
• Whataburger - This ketchup that Whataburger own-brands is some really amazing stuff.  It's got a kick that you don't see in many other ketchups.  I wish they sold it in the grocery store.  I actually go to Whataburger just to eat fries with their ketchup.

Unworthy!

• Hunts - Believe me.  Hunts ketchup is a dissapointment.  I won't touch it.
• That generic stuff that Sysco delivers to restaurants - not as bad as Hunts, but seriously the restaurant should just ante up and get the Heinz.  It's not that much more.  
• Store brand - See also Hunts.  

College football coaches hired in the last 2 years

Given I live in the South and most everyone talks about football this time of year, the fact that I'm discussing this topic shouldn't come as much of a surprise.

Worthy!

• Bo Pelini (Nebraska) - Considering that Bill Callahan turned the Husker Nation and the feared "Blackshirt" defense into a joke, the turnaround the he has made in Lincoln has been amazing.  Virginia Tech, which we're finding out is a pretty good football team (spanking "The U" last week), needed a miracle play at the end of the game to beat the Huskers... which wouldn't have been seen under Callahan.
• Steve Sarkisian (Washington) - Everyone was writing off LSU's season when Washington stayed with the Bayou Bengals in week 1 (after going 0-11 in 2008).  No one is doubting now.  A stunning home win vs. #3 USC has got people believing that the Huskies are in good hands.  While they may not be "back" to National contender yet, I wouldn't be surprised if they are soon.
• Art Briles (Baylor) - Baylor?  They still have a football team? Seriously.  Art Briles turned Cougar High from a laughingstock into a (CUSA) contender, and it looks like he's doing the same turnaround in Waco.  When Baylor blew out a "cupcake" opponent last week, it said something because that same team 2 years ago would have been a challenge for the Bears.  Baylor has a QB actually talked about in the Heisman darkhorse race and I think their days as an "off week" for Big XII teams are soon over.

Unworthy!

• Lane Kiffin (Tennessee) - Seriously.  This guy shouldn't talk smack about "singing Rocky Top all night long after we beat Florida" until they have the moxie on the field to actually play with Florida.
• Rich Rodriguez (Michigan) - The Wolverines have gone backward, not forward with Rich's system.  He may have been good at beating up on Big East chumps with that system, but not the Big Ten (which values strength and smash mouth?).  I think Wolverine fans are actually looking fondly back at the Lloyd Carr regime.  
• Rick Neuheisel (UCLA) - So far, the magic hasn't come to Hollywood.  He really should have never got into that Fantasy Football pool ;-)

Now, being a Fighting Texas Aggie... if I put this list together last year I'd have surely put Mike Sherman on it, but somehow we're showing the world that the excuse of "Coach Fran emptied the cupboard" is actually true.  Over 16 true or RS Fish have played for the 3-0 Aggies that have turned things around in almost every statistical category.  We pull out a few more wins and I'll put Sherman up in the worthy list... Win the Big 12 South and I'll put him in "miracle maker" status :-)

News/Political Commentators

I've armchair quarterbacked these cats for a while... let's make it official :-)

Worthy!

• Bill O'Reilly - This guy might be a jerk, but he's a fair jerk and will ask the tough questions of everyone who gets on his show.  He gave Barak Obama his toughest interview of the campaign, and now President Obama didn't really fare quite that well.  I think some voters are now wishing they watched that one.  
• Laura Ingram - "Dr. Laura" has the same m.o. as Bill.  She doesn't take any crap and is tough on everyone that gets on her show.  
• Anderson Cooper - I really like how Anderson digs into stories and goes places that a lot of other journalists will not.  He always has something interesting to talk about on his shows that's more than the usual "talking points" out there.

Unworthy!

• Michael Moore - You knew since I'm a populist conservative and not a bleeding heart liberal that I was going to trash on this guy.  I mean, the guy is an idiot and goes for sensationalism with every single "documentary" that he does.  There are much better liberals to listen to and consider their opinions than Moore... Plain and simple.
• Glenn Beck - As a conservative, I really wish this guy would chill out.  All he does is scream and yell that the world is coming to an end (and brings charts to support his "the sky is falling" theories).  After a while, is anyone going to listen to that stuff?  I mean, this guy is like those Y2K crazies repackaged.
• Sean Hannity - I agree with Sean about 95% of the time and I have heard that the Freedom Concerts are really cool, but on his show he really offers up nothing more than the typical RNC talking points.  I feel like I'm in a Republican version of Aggie Midnight Yell when I watch his show.... great for getting the "rah rah" feeling going but not really of much more value than that.  To my fellow conservatives, please come up with better things to talk to your liberal friends about than what you hear on Hannity.  Believe me, they've heard all of our "talking points" already and are not going to be convinced by hearing them for the 96th time.  

That's all for now.  I'm sure this thread will make a comeback at some point.