We did not fare so well with last week’s picks.

I did pull one out by picking Virginia Tech to beat Ohio State.  Yes, I wanted it to happen.  Still, I had a hunch that Frank Beamer was due.  What he has done in Blacksburg is of epic proportion in this day of win or else we will find a replacement for you only to find we should have kept you.  See Ole Miss and David Cutcliffe.

Texas was the big disappointment last week.  I thought they would beat BYU at home.   Instead they got thumped 41 to 7….at home!   Shadows lift up and remind us of Indiana’s last victory over Ohio State.  That was the first weekend in October of 1988.  IU won 41 to 7.  It was the most surreal game I have ever witnessed in person.  We couldn’t believe what we were seeing.  And for good reason.  Twenty-six years later IU is trying to beat Ohio State again.  Good luck with that.

Michigan State went to Oregon and got it handed to them.  I was hoping Oregon would stumble and I still hope they do.  They have ugly uniforms…all twelve of them.  Most of them we have not seen yet…but they will be ugly.

So two weeks into the season speaktherights.com has a 15 and 5 record.

This is our breakout week.

Week 3 picks are as follows:

Marshall will beat Ohio…there will be green all over “The Joan”.  Herd green will win out.

Indiana will beat Bowling Green….I want to pick the Falcons but I am trying something new with the Hoosiers…optimism.

Louisville beats Virginia….Card fans will like Charlottesville and they might find some books without pictures down there as they look around.

Duke beats Kansas….Coach Cut gets it done again.

Ole Miss beats LA-Lafayette…just waiting for Bama on October 4th.  Game of the year.

Notre Dame beats Purdue…and tries to stay interested while doing so.  PU lives up to its name.

Florida beats Kentucky….though I want to pick KY…there is something called the natural order of things…just ask IU fans hoping to beat Ohio State.

Alabama will beat Southern Miss…Brett Favre couldn’t help this USM team.

Va.Tech beats East Carolina….though I hope the Pirates win.  We love Ruffin here.  He is awesome.  His teams are always fun to watch.  Hope I lose this pick.

Cincinnati beats Toledo….the Bearcats could be tough this year.  Going to be fun to see if Gunner Kiel has the muscle memory to hit a receiver more than thirty yards down the field. I think he will do fine.  I hope so.  Tommy Tuberville teams are usually fun to watch.

My dear wife, Carrie, and I will be in Huntington rooting on the Thundering Herd this Saturday.  A visit to Joan C. Edwards Stadium to watch the Herd is a special time for us.  We look forward to getting away and enjoying each other’s company as we watch Rakeem Cato for one last season.  He is always fun to watch.  On our three trips to The Joan last year, The Herd scored over 50 points against the three opponents we saw them play.  So far they have scored 42 at Miami of Ohio and 48 last week against Rhode Island at home.  This should be a game with a few more amps.  These two teams have quite the history…I don’t think they like each other too much.  Should be fun.

Or as Keith Jackson used to say: “It should be a good one.”

Looking forward to week 3 as we speak the football rights.

Danny Johnson

I often reference to the students I teach the value of knowing the whole dynamic that is understanding that the use of the English Language is “situation specific”.

We talk about public speaking.  If I am going to address a 1st grade class about a given topic, I need to use words they understand.  I need to talk to them with the appropriate tone so I do not intimidate them or make them fall asleep.  If I am going to talk to the school board about a given topic at the school board meeting, I need to use the proper words for that audience and I must use a stronger more forthcoming delivery than what I would use if I was addressing 1st graders.

This whole rattling on about “situation specific” is important.  Most students never hear an explanation of how the English language can be used to their benefit in these terms.  I think it is very important.

Know this, I am not giving anyone pointers on how not to use the English language properly.  There is a time and a place… I try to accentuate HOW SIGNIFICANT… to use language to one’s advantage.  It is the answer to the age old school question:  WHY DOES THIS MATTER?

If we show students both sides of the equation, they can process the wherefore, how to, and why with much more clarity.  It is good for them.

If I play cards with my high school friends,  there is chance a word or two may come out that we would not say in Sunday School Class.

If I play football with a bunch of 5th graders, I darn well better be the best example I can be and say good, positive things about the events of the day.

There is a difference.

I learned this many years ago in part from having a great 12th grade English teacher.  Mrs. E was awesome.  She would talk to us…not down to us.  Maybe that was because she only stood about 4’11.   No…that wasn’t it.  She was the tallest one in the room and we all respected the heck out of her.

Mrs. E and I hit it off.  She provided me with one thing most of my high school teachers never achieved as far as I was concerned: motivation.  I thought so highly of the lady given her words, deeds, ethos, and sheer honesty…I would have done anything I needed to do to gain her favor and approval…thought I inherently already had both of them from her, I wanted more.  I was willing to work to get it.  She thought enough of my abilities to draft me to help my own senior classmates with their reading prowess.  They were not gifted readers.  They were gifted friends.  Helping them was an honor and much more important than I ever thought about at the time.

My favorite “situation specific” story I share with my students is from a day in December of 1985 when I gave my “Senior Speech” over an English literary giant.  My speech was about the poet Dylan Thomas.

Though no one in the room had a better chance of butchering up the English language in the class like I did…as I did so often…I gave what Mrs. E would call a “letter perfect” speech about the Irish wordsmith.

I stood up in front of my cronies and classmates and told it just like I practiced it.  I looked them all in the eye.  I threw up a hand in meaningful gesture now and then.  I paused for effect.  I asked a few questions.  I gave wait time.  Most importantly, I knew about the poet Dylan Thomas.

After wrapping up my conclusion, shocked as I felt like I was just getting warmed up, I ended my speech and walked to the back of the room where Mrs. E was seated.

I can still see Mrs E’s eyes glimmering behind big brown framed glasses and that huge smile on her face.  She held up a paper for me to see.  It was her critique of my speech.  It had a HUGE “A” circled on it.  And believe me, that was one vowel that she did not hand out without you earning it.

I then sat down next to her, glanced at my paper and said the following:  “I done good, didn’t I”.

Before the last syllable died, Mrs. E snatched the paper from my hand a put a big -minus sign- next the A on my paper.

Her idea of situation specific did not end when one left the lectern.

I am glad I lived to tell the story.

Speaking the speeching rights…..

Danny Johnson

I must report that I have been getting some unsolicited comments about this website.

I am not impressed.

I get spamesque messages that say something about how they like what they see on my site and think I put too much work into it and are offering me ways to cheat with my posts and make them something they are not.

Wrong.

I hope this is not considered the American Way.

It is not my American Way.  I like to think for myself.  I like to write.  I like to put forth that which I hope entertains and makes one think on occasion.

I am put off with someone suggesting I cheat because it appears that I “work too hard…”  Hogwash!  What made this country great?  Taking the easy way out?  I don’t think so.

So, all you spam spouters….know this:  I enjoy writing.  I plan on bringing forth nothing but original thought to this space and you can all eat more possum!

While you’re at it….leave speaktherights.com alone.

Just speaking the rights.

Danny Johnson

Don’t tell my doctor…but I kicked some footballs today.

Last August 10th I injured my planters fascia as I was kicking field goals and I was not good with my mobility on both feet until October.  It was quite painful.  My doctor basically told me I needed to act my age.  Talk about tough speaks.  I think he gave me the “we aren’t as young as we used to be” speech.  I sat there trying to feign interest.

Pay no attention to the date…it was today, September 6, 2014.

Today I took it easy.  I punted a little.  Then I kicked 9 out of 9 from 25 yards (20 yards is a traditional extra point kick) and I was 5 out of 6 from 30 yards.  I was happy.  I did not hurt.  It was all good.  In fact, it felt very good.  I ended my session by throwing for distance.  I stood inside the west end zone and threw three balls over 40 yards and my arm stayed in tact.  Victory was mine.  It has been 29 years since I kicked the school record field goal that still stands to this day.  I am delighted that I can still swing my leg this many years later.

Speaking and kicking the rights…as I watch Ole Miss whip Vandy!

Danny Johnson

You have heard the song title and subsequent references for said title many times. I’m Back in the Saddle Again.

Well…the weather is cooperating and I am back on the back porch again this beautiful and reasonably cool Saturday morning.  This is quite the juxtaposition from where we have been the past week or more when it has been intensely hot and even more-so humid.  Like many of you, my pipes can’t take that recipe too well.  Translation:  I have breathing difficulties within the confines of a weather pattern that will run me indoors in a hurry.  I don’t like that.  I like being outside when I type my speaks!  Just like many miss the sound of a banging clanging typewriter when they write, I enjoy hearing the occasional bird or jet that is losing altitude as it takes the west to east pattern over my head to Louisville’s Standiford Field.  Squirrels in the walnut trees scurry and yammer a bit, like only they can.  Throw in the crickets and the tree frogs and you have quite the natural symphony that one can’t get when relying on piped in clean cool air to sustain and preserve one’s ability to breath clearly.

Translation:  Man I’m glad to be on the back porch again!

Last weekend my dear wife, Carrie, and I stopped at an eatery in North Vernon, Indiana just on the east end of town as we were heading west on Highway 50.  Grateful Grubb was the name of the place.

Now understand what I am about to suggest is something I would not suggest you eat on a daily basis.

Some of us were not blessed with a genetic code that allows us to eat what we want, when we want, and as much as we want without serious repercussions.  I am one of those people.  I am proud to say that going on more than two years now, the is much less mass of me than there was.  I lost a considerable amount of weight and I have been able to find my way without finding it on me again.

I can look real hard at 5 or 6 doughnuts and that alone will make me have to loosen the belt on my pants.  If I smell them for any considerable amount of time, I might as well sit down and rest for a few minutes.

Grateful Grubb in North Vernon was one of those days I threw caution to the country road.  We were on a Highway that runs from Ocean City, Maryland to San Francisco.  I felt I owed it to the spirit of sea to shining sea…it was time for a tenderloin!

The tenderloin sandwich is indigenous to Indiana, so I have heard.  You won’t find it (at least I have not found it) on the menu in North Carolina or Texas or Mississippi or Colorado or Hawaii or Maine…but I think you may find it in Wisconsin and Illinois.

There is a considerable German-Dutch population in Indiana and much of the Midwest and the tenderloin may just be an American way of saying  Wiener Schnitzel…Austrian in origin and enjoyed by many around its borders in Europe.

The tenderloin is a pork cutlet that in most cases is pounded and pounded some more until it is about a quarter inch thick and breaded and fried.  They are usually placed on a small bun (in the places I have ordered them) and one must fold the tenderloin a few times just to get it within the confines of the bun.  I warn you against such a practice.

My tenderloin eating experience…and I consider myself well-versed… has led me to the practice of tearing off the pieces that hang over the bun.  I set these pieces aside and look around the table for the nearest bottle of ketchup.  After acquiring the ketchup, I proceed to place a handsome amount of the tomato delight on my plate and I use my fingers, as I think the Lord intended, to take loose tenderloin pieces and dip them in the ketchup before placing them properly in my chewing factory.  Enjoy.

Grateful Grubb in North Vernon had all the great expectations of a good tenderloin experience…but…oh my…their tenderloin was indeed truly tender.  It was a half-inch thick and was not tough at all.  It was moist, juicy, and bordering on the tenderloin unheard of “fluffy”.  Wow.  It was the best tenderloin I have ever had.  The service in the Grateful Grubb was impeccable and right now my waistline is glad the Grateful Grubb is over 80 miles from our house.  Otherwise their tenderloin supply would be in considerable danger and so would I.

It is not often that I am compelled to photograph a sandwich.  This time, I just knew I was headed for greatness thanks the good folks at Grateful Grubb.

Speaking and eating the rights.

Danny Johnson

So it went so-so for a first week of predicting football games for the first week of the season.  There were some very competitive games.  In this age of playing tougher competition in order to make your way into the so-called play-off at the end of the season, we are seeing some tougher match-ups earlier than usual.

My hat goes off to Wisconsin for trying to beat LSU in the early going.  Georgia played Clemson last week.  Neither was a skating match for the other.

The team I made such a blow-off prediction about with regard to being so wonderful, South Carolina, made me feel pretty silly.  I am sure a few of you enjoyed that.

Week 2 speaktherights.com College Football Picks are  as follows:

Ole Miss beat Vandy….the Reb D was most a thing to behold in week one

Kentucky will beat Ohio….the Wildcats will best the Bobcats

Michigan State will beat Oregon….the marquee game features Sparty still looking for respect

North Carolina will beat San Diego State

Texas beats  BYU

Notre Dame will beat Michigan

Western Kentucky will beat Illinois

Iowa will beat ball State

Marshall will beat Rhode Island…like a drum

Virginia Tech will beat Ohio State…I dreamed a dream of time gone by…..

Season record 8 wins 2 losses.

The Marshall Thundering Herd play their home opener Saturday.

Speak the rights.

Danny Johnson

When I look at his picture I think about optimism.  What we have here is the sun coming up on the Atlantic Ocean to greet a brand new day.  That just sounds and feels good.

There is a great phenomena that goes on each and every morning as I drive to work.  On my 54 mile drive to work I go from the dark of the early morning to the sun showing itself and bringing forth the light of a brand new day.  That is a reason for optimism.

Have a great day!

And…speak the rights.

Danny Johnson

Fifteen years ago I stepped in front of a microphone at a recording studio in Louisville, Kentucky to record a song that I had written.  Just me and a guitar that I played badly at best and a song I enjoyed singing in the confines of my home music room with no one around to listen and…perish the thought…try to tell me what I was doing wrong.  I didn’t know if it was right, wrong, or indifferent.  I just wanted to sing my song.

So began a friendship between me and Jeff Carpenter, owner and engineer of Al Fresco’s Place Recording Studio.  Jeff handled me with kid gloves.  I suppose he realized he had such little raw material to work with at the time that he was best served just to let me be.  It worked out.

This many years later, I am ready for it to work out again.  The last time I recorded proper was a great session that produced six worthy numbers two years ago.

Let me back up.

In 2001 I recorded a collection of 14 of my own songs.  We called it Leap of Faith  because for me it was just that.  One day, when I am ready to hold forth on such a subject, I will report here how it came to be that I turned to playing the guitar and writing songs at the age of thirty.  I needed it.  Just ask Carrie, my dear wife.  Thank God I figured it out.

Over the course of recording sessions in 2004 and a renewal in 2006, I finished 14 more songs.  We called this one The Best Thing You Did Yesterday.  One of those songs was called She’s Gone with the Wind.  This is a hit song.  I can say I wrote a hit song.  No…it has not been recorded by anyone famous.  It has not received acclaim or radio airplay.  But…everyone that has ever heard that song, even some folks I don’t think really like me, have been thrown for the best when they heard it.  It still sounds very good.  I never tire of listening to it.  I can’t say that about many of the songs I have written and recorded.

Jeff Carpenter has been at the controls of every song I have ever recorded.  He is a Louisville Music Scene Institution.  All he wants is to make good music and be respected for doing it.  He has an ear that is true to what a song needs and a diplomatic streak that can talk the most umbrage seeking rock and roll wannabe into agreeing that, yes, Jeff (I call him Jefferson) is spot on with his assessment.

There is something so very special about being in the throes of a recording session.  It is like we are inside a little cocoon.  Nothing else is heard.  Nothing else is seen.  Nothing else finds its way between us and the music until our sensibility and better judgement has left us only to call time and live to record another day.  I think the word organic may actually fit here.  And I hate the misuse of that term.

I wrote a post here about Tim Krekel and how he helped me to make The Best Thing You Did Yesterday what it was.  Tim died in 2009.

When I went back to the studio in 2012, I knew I didn’t have Tim to fall back on as far as being on our side of the glass.  Jefferson did and does more than anyone could ask for on his side of the glass, as he is taking care of the sound and arrangements.  But…on my side of the glass…while I was working with guys I liked and respected… my safety net (Tim) was gone.  I had to grow up.  It was the most satisfying recording for me as an artist.  I was helping drive the sound this time. My guitar came alive and held its own.  I know…it may sound silly.  Yes….I did write all the songs (words and music).  Still, in the past I just handed them over and said okay, what can we do with this?

I have the itch again.  I want to call Jefferson and get some recording going.

The song I am hanging my biscuits on is a song I wrote for my dear wife, Carrie.

The Way I Wanna Go

Alongside the wintertime                                                                                                         There’s a laughter in the air

That still flows…not sure where it goes

But I know that we were there

We spoke of dreams we could share                                                                                     Through the highs and very lows…never sure how it will go

But as long just as long as you’re no more

Than an arm’s length away from me

Just as long as I can reach out

And pull you close to me

Well I know…that’s the way I wanna go

As the shadows grow longer

On the Eastern side of the ground

And the ocean that’s in front of me

Never ceases to bring me down

We’ll walk along this sand again

Not needing to say a word or make a sound                                                                         There’s a sweet roar in the air that follows us                                                                         Wherever we are bound

And I hope and I pray and I pray and I hope

As I place my arm around your shoulder

With you it feels like I am getting younger

As I am growing older

And I know….that’s the way I wanna go

Yes I know…that’s the way I wanna go

Speaking and singing the rights…

Danny Johnson

Well…8 out of 10 ain’t bad.

The University of Louisville team shocked me last night.  There were very impressive.  I thought they would lose.

I also thought South Carolina would beat Texas A&M on the way to a magical season.  There are 11 more regular season games to produce.  I hope they find a way.

More picks for Week # 2 of the College Football Season later in the week at speaktherights.com

Did you get the grill out today?  I did.  I suppose it is a bit of a Labor Day Holiday tradition.  If it is not raining, I am going to get the grill out.

It was a mixed grill.  Garden Burgers….yes they are healthy and I really do enjoy them…were among the fare.  I also cooked four chicken breasts.  I grilled some hot dogs too.  Not to be lost in all the meat, a few small sweet peppers found a way to be seared on the hot iron lines.

Additionally to augment the rest of the meal, my dear wife, Carrie, creamed some cauliflower and she also prepped some honey-glazed carrots.

The unofficial end to summer…that is what I have heard Labor Day called a couple of times these past couple of days.  It should be referenced as such.  It feels like summer is turning the corner to walk away from us until it decides to come back around again in 2015.

Have a good week.

And don’t forget to speak the rights.

Danny Johnson