Lou Pickney's Online Commentary
National Merit
Saturday
October 28, 2006
Is it possible that Paul Maguire can bring on a migraine headache? I was listening to him goofball it up during a break in the Georgia Tech/Miami game... and then, as if on cue, the symptoms of an oncoming migraine headache hit. I popped an Imitrex; as I type this, I'm waiting for it to take effect. Better to catch it now vs. what happened Friday at 1:30 AM, when I woke up with a full-blown migraine. Those are torture; I think the Baclofin muscle relaxers I take have helped against them, but the migraine battle is not one you can outright win. At least not me.
It's been amazing to see all of the scholarship offers and deals that are being offered to my sister Mary Beth, who is all but guaranteed to be a National Merit Scholar (with a high SAT and 3.9+ GPA.) She has a few criteria that will help her whittle down her choices (needs to be a few hours driving distance from home, needs to have Japanese as a minor, etc.), but she still has all kinds of opportunities with it.
Interestingly, National Merit Scholars are highly coveted by most universities. They are sought out and offered all sorts of major deals; some schools specialize in recruiting National Merit Scholars. Mary Beth has already been offered free rides from Alabama, Oklahoma, and Texas A&M, among other schools, based in large part on her National Merit status. Much like how a cornerback who can run a 4.4 40 yard dash is recruited, there are some who have the academic equivalent who are sought after with surprising ferocity.
Quick hint for anyone with dry skin: try Cortizone gel. It's supposed to be for itchiness, but it has helped me tremendously. I have an oily scalp but a dry face. And, believe me, I'm no expert about this sort of thing at all, but I found that Cortizone works.
Last night I went to the Father Ryan Homecoming football game. FRHS has been on the downside on the gridiron in recent years, but they're back up now, in a year when they are going to be in the playoffs. Granted, Tennessee high school sports was ruined soon after I graduated when they split public and private schools (Brentwood Academy beating Murfreesboro Riverdale for the 5A state title in 1995 was the final straw.) Now it's private schools only in their own playoffs... which cheapened the process for everyone.
I don't want to sound like an old-timer, but I liked the old three-division setup: A, AA, and AAA. Let the best of the best battle it out and let that be it. Naturally, the big public schools didn't like being embarrassed by relatively small schools like BA, and thus they made the split.
In the game, which was Father Ryan's Homecoming, FRHS lost to McCauley at Vanderbilt's stadium. FRHS used to play all of its home games there, but when Vanderbilt put in natural grass, the field was more vulnerable to wear-and-tear... so Father Ryan was frozen out. It was interesting to see how good McCauley was at the deep pass... and how Ryan simply couldn't throw deep. Also, the PA announcer sounded suspiciously like Bigfoot from the Howard Stern show; I was waiting to hear, "Father Ryan first down, it is."
In about an hour I'm going to ride over to Ryan's campus, where the 7th/8th grade league championship game is taking place. My cousin Patrick Pickney is playing in that, and I look forward to it.
Tonight I'm going to be hitting a party. Tomorrow I have a standing offer from my Dad to go to the Titans/Texans game, though with my schedule (needing to get back to my apartment) I'm not sure if that will fit in my plans. It's a tight enough turnaround as it is, working two days in Alabaster, then heading back up here... before going to a major trade show on Wednesday in Myrtle Beach, SC. The beat goes on...
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