Wednesday, September 29, 2004

Heat Updates

Amazingly, all three South Florida newspapers had Heat stories today, and all on different topics, so I thought I would just leave those links here.

Gold Medal -
The Sun-Sentinel's Ira Winderman has an interview with Dwyane Wade
Heat guard Wade measures success one step at a time

Also, The Sun-Sentinel beat the other two papers to the Kobe-Shaq sex story, but that's all I want to say about that.

Silver Medal - Chris Perkins has this column in the Palm Beach Post. The title doesn't do it justice. It should say No Chance. Jordan Comeback? Wishful Thinking

Bronze Medal - The Miami Herald has a story about how the Heat are Maimi's best chance for a winner. You have to be a member to view the whole story, so I'm not linking it. You can find the paper on the right, though.

That's it. Back to the pennant races.

Tuesday, September 28, 2004

College Football Weekend Update

It took three years for it to happen, but this last week produced two scenarios that were not considered by The Captain's College Football Manifesto(over on the right):

1. The SEC admitted to Florida officials that the referees of the Florida-Tennessee game had made a mistake.

2. Pittsburgh went to overtime to beat a team from a lower division at home.

Let's take the Gators-Vols situation first. Originally I had said that I would stick with the official score, if only because I could not possibly know about every perceived injustice in college football, and so I would not rule on any. But it does seem like I can know about every league apology. I mean, that just doesn't happen every week. So from now on, any game that is followed by an apology from the conference will be open to interpretation. I've decided to give neither side credit for the victory, and to give both teams credit for a half-Acceptable Loss. This is the same scoring that would have happened if the home team, Tennessee, had won in overtime. It's not perfect, but it's certainly better than calling it a straight Tennessee victory, because everyone watching knows they lose that game without referee interference.

The Pitt situation kind of solves itself because they already had an Unacceptable Loss, and so going to OT at home to beat anybody would have eliminated them. But Furman? If it's a half-Acceptable Loss to beat a Division 1 team at home, then a home win in OT against a lower-division team must be worse, so we'll call it an Acceptable Loss.

Here's this week's standings. Teams that have beaten a Top Ten team have a * next to them.

Unscathed Teams Who Have Beaten a Top Ten Team (1)
Miami*

All Other Unscathed Teams (20)
ASU, Auburn, Boise St, Cal, Col, Fresno St, Georgia, Louisville, Minn, Oklahoma, Ohio St, Ok St, Navy, Purdue, S Miss, Texas, USC, Utah, Virginia, Wisconsin,

Teams With Half-Acceptable Losses (6)
Florida, FSU, Maryland, Tennessee, Wake Forest, WV

Teams With Acceptable Losses (9)
BC, Florida, Iowa St, Memphis, Michigan, Missouri, Notre Dame*, SD St, Tex Tech

Teams With 1.5 Acceptable Losses (1)
LSU

Teams With 2 Acceptable Losses (1)
N Illinois

Teams With Unacceptable Losses Protected By The Three Weeks Rule (16)
Arkansas, Baylor, GT, KSU, Nebraska, NC St, Rice, Rutgers, South Carolina, Stanford, Texas A&M, UAB, UCLA, USF, Wash St, Wyoming

Monday, September 27, 2004

Hurricane Shudders - Part 2

This is we're I've been:

1. Worked a 7:00 am to 8:00 pm shift on Thursday.
2. Got home from work at 4 on Friday, which gave me just two hours to hang my hurricane shutters . . .


  • (not me, but you get the idea) and clear out enough room in my garage to get both cars in before I
    3. Fasted for Yom Kippur, and
    4. Hurricane Jeanne came.

    Got more water just like with Frances, and had the same tree knocked down again. Then I got internet service back up just long enough to drop fifty dollars on the Lions.

    So yes, I'm thrilled to have power, and hopefully I have more time off of work. If I do, there'll be blogging for sure. But regardless, expect the College Football Weekend Review at least, and any Heat news that breaks.

  • Wednesday, September 22, 2004

    Jordan Joining The Heat?

    So far, I've done a pretty good job of ducking the rumor mill. Stories of possible deals for another mediocre small forward just don't interest me a lot in August. But how can I let this one pass by?

    "The loose talk around the league is Michael Jordan has been working out like a demon, testing the possibility of joining forces with Shaquille O'Neal in Miami, according to Vandeweghe."


  • Are you kidding me? This comes courtesy of the Denver Post, via HoopsHype. I don't know if it's true or not, and the man is 40 years old, but it sure is fun to think about.

  • Monday, September 20, 2004

    College Football Weekend Update

    I know, I know. It doesn't add up to a 117 teams. And I'm sure there's a couple of mistakes, but here's the updated standings. If you can resolve any of these things please let me know, and if you don't know what any of this means, please read the Manifesto at the right.

    I decided to include the Florida-Tennessee game by it's actual result, because I realize that teams must get screwed all of the time (although not that blatantly), and I can't possibly keep up with all of it.

    Teams Already Eliminated (43)
    Akron, Arizona, Arkansas St, Army, Ball St, , Buffalo, BYU, C Michigan, Cincinnati, Clemson, CSU, Duke, ECU, E Michigan, Hawaii, Houston, Idaho, LA - Laf, LA-Monroe, Marshall, Miami (OH), Michigan St, Mississippi, Miss St, New Mexico, NM St, North Texas, Northwestern, Ohio, Oregon,, Oregon St, , SMU, TCU, Temple, Toledo, Tulsa, UCF, UNLV, UTEP, Utah St, Vanderbilt, Washington, W Michigan

    Teams With Unacceptable Losses Protected By The Three Weeks Rule (3O)
    Air Force, Arkansas, Baylor, BYU, GT, Illinois, Indiana, Iowa, KSU, Kentucky, Kent St, La Tech, MTSU, Nebraska, Nevada, NC, NC St, Pitt, Rutgers, SJ St, South Carolina, Syracuse, Texas A&M, Tulane, UAB, UConn, UCLA, USF, Wash St, Wyoming

    Teams With 2 Acceptable Losses (1)
    N Illinois

    Teams With 1.5 Acceptable Losses (1)
    LSU

    Teams With Acceptable Losses (12)
    Bowling Green, Florida, Iowa St, Kansas, Michigan, Missouri, Notre Dame*,Penn St, SD St, Tex Tech, Troy St, Va Tech

    Teams With Half-Acceptable Losses (4)
    FSU, Maryland, Wake Forest, WV

    Unscathed Teams Who Have Beaten a Top Ten Team (3)
    Miami*, Tennessee*

    All Other Unscathed Teams (27)
    Alabama, ASU, Auburn, BC, Boise St, Cal, Col, Fresno St, Georgia, Louisville, Memphis, Minn, Oklahoma, Ohio St, Ok St, Navy, Purdue, Rice, S Miss, Stanford, Texas, Tex Tech, UCLA, USC, Utah, Virginia, Wisconsin

    Sunday, September 19, 2004

    ESPN

    I just heard Mark May and Trev Alberts say the game should be petitioned. It comes down to this - if the referee, who's staring directly at BOTH PLAYERS, calls offsetting personal fouls as he should have, I believe the play is run over. In this scenario, Florida calls another running play, the clock runs down to about 10 seconds, then the Gators punt, giving the Vols about five seconds to score. If I'm wrong, and the penalties were called after the play, then the clock would have stopped, but the 15 yards wouldn't have been assessed, and the Vols would have needed one more successful play to get within field goal position, highly suspect with that much time left.

    For me, I have to decide if the final result should be counted as official in the Captain's College Football Championship Series. It's a tough decision. This is the worst I've felt since Grady "My Brain Is Extremely" Little cost the Red Sox a trip to the World Series.

    Saturday, September 18, 2004

    Fixed

    If you were watching the Florida-Tennessee football game, you just saw the worst call of your life. With 55 seconds left and the clock winding down on fourth down, the ref, staring directly at a Gator and Volunteer, watches the Volunteer slap the Gator, then watches the Gator slap him back, and calls a personal foul on the Gators, costing them fifteen yards and stopping the clock. I can not fathom for the life of me how that call could be made, and if that guy doesn't lose his job, there's really something wrong. He must have had a motive. There's no other possible explanation. It's beyond incompetency, and tonight the whole game is disgraced.

    Friday, September 17, 2004

    Christian Laettner

    This is how we all remember the guy, right?


  • That's Christian Laettner, hitting the shot to beat Kentucky in the 1992 Eastern Regional Final (I like this camera angle. On TV, you always see the shot from the back). He's certainly an interesting name to add to the Heat's roster. Forever part of college basketball folklore and a former lottery pick, everyone has heard of the guy. But what kind of player are the Heat getting today? Let's take a closer look.

    - He turned 35 last month.
    - He played in only 48 games last year.
    - He hasn't been in a playoff series the last four seasons.
    - He hasn't played in the playoffs and won a series since he was 27.
    - In the time he was on the floor last season, his team (the Wizards) outscored their opponents 13 times. They were outscored 34 times. This percentage is less than the team's overall winning percentage.
    - For every 48 minutes Laettner was on the court last season, his team was outscored by 8.2 points. None of his teammates who played as many or more minutes had a worse percentage.
    - His Efficiency Rating (Efficiency is a new stat the NBA developed in 2002. It is calculated using the following formula: ((pts + reb + stls + asts + blk) - ((fga - fgm) + (fta - ftm) + to))/g) was his lowest since he was 29, when he played in only 16 games.

    Now some good news. Laettner ranked 4th out of 115 power forwards (as listed by ESPN))in assist/turnover ratio. He was pretty average in everything else.

    Laettner played 20.5 minutes a game last year. On a team with only Udonis Haslem and Malik Allen at the power forward position, it's safe to say that he could get near that total again. But what we have here is a player on the tail-end of his career, who didn't even play well enough to help the Wizards. He might look good in a half-court set, either feeding the ball in to Shaq or kicking it outside for a three, but you have to be concerned about his overall effectiveness on the floor. We'll see.

  • Tuesday, September 14, 2004

    College Football Weekend Wrapup

    Really, would you rather read about the upcoming Laettner signing? There will be plenty of time for that when it happens. Same with Albert Miralles staying overseas. We'll get to it. But college football is full steam ahead, and the Captain's College Football Championship Race must be addressed. Below are the current standings. If you have no idea what I'm talking about, scroll down to The Captain's College Football Manifesto, written last week. Team with an asterisk have already beaten a Top Ten team.

    Teams Already Eliminated (24)
    Houston, Mississippi, C Michigan, UNLV, CSU, Arkansas St, Clemson, Idaho, SMU, Toledo, Miami (OH), Tulsa, North Texas, NM St, ECU, Oregon St, Northwestern, UCF, Marshall, Ball St, Akron, Temple, Duke, Buffalo

    Teams With Unacceptable Losses Protected By The Three Weeks Rule (35)
    Air Force, Arizona, Arkansas, Army, Baylor, BYU, Cincinnati, E Michigan, Hawaii, Illinois, KSU, Kentucky, Kent St, LA-Monroe, Miss St, Nebraska, Nevada, New Mexico, NC, Ohio, Oregon, Rutgers, SJ St, South Carolina, Syracuse, Texas A&M, Tulane, UCLA, UTEP, Utah St, Vanderbilt, Washington, Wash St, W Michigan, Wyoming

    Teams With Acceptable Losses (11)
    Bowling Green, Iowa St, LA - Laf, Michigan, Michigan St, Missouri, N Illinois, Notre Dame*,Penn St, Tex Tech, Va Tech

    Teams With Half-Acceptable Losses (4)
    FSU, LSU, TCU, Wake Forest

    Unscathed Teams Who Have Beaten a Top Ten Team (1)
    Miami*

    All Other Unscathed Teams - Would you believe only 42?

    Tune in later this week for the College Football Weekend Preview, and stories on Laettner and Miralles.

    Friday, September 10, 2004

    The Captain's College Football Manifesto

    I know it's late, but anyone who visits here on even a semi-regular basis knows why. For the same reason, the examples given are from the 2002 season. It made more sense to get this out quickly than to hold off to write new examples. The Manifesto is largely copied from last year's system (if you've followed me here from my old site) with a few very minor new wrinkles. Enjoy.


    Voting to decide the championship of any team sporting endeavor is a ridiculous idea. Yet those of us who are College Football fans have had to endure that very thing, having our Champions traditionally decided by two polls. One was a vote of the coaches, who knew everything about only three teams - the one they played last week, the one they play this week, and their own. The other is a vote of sportswriters, who know nothing about everything. Letting those two groups (or any group, really) choose who the Champion was, especially when bowl games did not even necessarily match the best teams, robbed College Football of what is basic to sports, a chance to settle things on the field of play.

    The Bowl Championship Series was an incredibly feeble attempt to rectify the situation. Stirring together polls, computer models, and strength of schedule formulas into one giant vat of Predictor's Stew, all the BCS wanted to do was make sure that the perceived Top Two teams met in a Bowl game. While this seems like a simple enough goal, it dodges the obvious problem: It is just as hard to figure out who the top two teams are as it is to figure out who the top one team is, maybe even harder.

    A tournament is needed. Every other level of every other team sport in America has some sort of playoff, and 1-A college football should be no different. Of course, there's a better chance of Shaq naming his next child Kobe than there is of there being a 1-A tournament. So what to do in the meantime? The Captain has come up with an answer.

    The idea is to figure out all of the things we expect a Champion to do, and all of the things we expect them not to do, and then hold each team accountable. There are certain acts that all of us would probably agree on. Should a Champion go undefeated? Well, it would be nice, but the best team might have stumbled along the way. So are all losses acceptable? Of course not. Should a Champion win their Bowl game? Absolutely.

    But then there are other things that are less clear. Is it fair or wise to declare only one Champion without a tournament? Should a bad loss at the beginning of the season count as much as one at the end? What kind of loss is acceptable, and what kind isn't?

    What I’ve has tried to do is set up a list of rules that teams need to follow in order to end up one of The Captain's College Football (CCF) Champions. In general, we have leaned towards being more inclusive than exclusive, so that there can be little doubt that a non-CCF Champion is deserving. We do this because without a tournament, there really is no way of knowing for certain who the best team is. Also with CCF, every single one of the 117 Division 1-A teams has a chance to be an CCF Champion.

    Every week this football season, The Captain and Shaquille will have updates about who is eliminated from CCF Championship contention, and who is still alive. We will have previews of key CCF matchups of the upcoming weekend, and forecasts as to team's chances of becoming an CCF Champion.

    Below are the CCF Championship Rules, and examples of how it worked last season.

    THE CAPTAIN’S COLLEGE FOOTBALL CHAMPIONSHIP RULES

    1. The Three Weeks Rule - Cap and Shaq recognizes that some excellent teams will trip up very early in the year. Any loss of any kind in the first three weeks of the season will not be cause for elimination from CCF Championship contention provided that they are perfect - no losses, Acceptable or Unacceptable - the rest of the season.

    2. Acceptable and Unacceptable Losses - This is a key component of the CCF Championship. Unlike the polls, not all losses are equal here. If you have a road game at Oklahoma and you lose, that doesn't mean that you aren't the best team in the country. EVERY team would be an underdog in Oklahoma, just like Oklahoma would be an underdog in a half-dozen other cities. That has to be accounted for in some way, and we try to do that here.

    A. Definition of Unacceptable Losses - An Unacceptable Loss immediately eliminates you from CCF Championship contention. This is what constitutes an Unacceptable Loss:

    - 1. Any loss on your home field, in regulation or in overtime.
    - 2. Any loss in regulation on a neutral field.
    - 3. Any loss by 17 or more points on the road.
    - 4. Any loss to a non-Division 1A opponent.

    These are things that should never happen to a team of Championship caliber.

    B. Definition of the Acceptable Losses - Acceptable Losses do not automatically eliminate you from ECF Championship contention. These losses include:

    - 1. Losses on the road by 16 or fewer points.
    - 2. Overtime losses on a neutral field.

    Some have questioned the 16-point marker. This is set for two reasons. First, the goal was to stay inclusive. A 10-point road loss is sometimes a very close game, and not always a true indicator of who would be favored in a rematch. Second, 16 was settled upon because it is inclusive, but also because it works better than most numbers. For instance, if you’re down 19 and kick a field goal, it makes at least a little strategic sense, in that it has brought you within two scores of the other team. However, if the number were changed just one to 17, there could be trouble in that a team could be down 20, kick a field goal to be down 17, and move from an Unacceptable Loss to an Acceptable one, even though the field goal in that scenario is illogical, because you still need three scores to win. The Captain does not want CCF rules to affect field decisions in any way.

    3. The Overtime Rule - Cap and Shaq considers the current overtime rule of the NCAA to be ridiculous, but we'll use it. However, we'd like to tinker with it a little.

    a. An OT win by the home team is considered a tie, half win - half Acceptable Loss, for both teams. If a home team can not prove they are the better team in regulation, than they aren't.

    b. An OT win by the road team is considered to be a win for the road team, and an Unacceptable Loss for the home team.

    c. An OT win on a neutral field will be a tie, half win - half-Acceptable Loss for the OT winner, and an Acceptable Loss for the loser.

    4. Accumulation of Acceptable Losses - At some point, Acceptable Losses become unacceptable. Most teams are allowed to accumulate only 1.5 Acceptable Losses throughout the regular season. Because teams that have played in and won a conference championship game have in essence won a second Bowl Game, we allow them to accumulate 2.0 Acceptable Losses throughout the regular season. Any amount of Acceptable Losses beyond these numbers - 2.0 for conference champion winners, 1.5 for everyone else - will eliminate a team from contention in the CCF Championship.

    5. Conference Championship Games - All teams that play in a conference championship game must win it, either in regulation or overtime.

    6. Bowl Games - If two CCF-eligible teams are playing in the same bowl game, then the winner, either in regulation or in overtime, will be declared one of our CCF Champions. Any CCF-eligible team facing a non-CCF-eligible team in a bowl game must beat them in regulation time to be declared one of our CCF Champions, unless there are no other teams that qualify for the championship. Failure to appear in a bowl game will be cause for elimination.

    7. The Top Ten Rule - Teams must beat another team that is in the Top Ten in either Poll when they play, or in the Top Ten later in the season. This is to insure that strength of schedule is considered, and gives our poll-loving fans something to do.

    8. The Everyone is Eliminated Rule - If by some chance, after the bowl games, all 117 teams have been eliminated, there will still be at least one CCF Champion. The way the CCF Champion is then chosen is by the following rules:

    a. Only bowl game winners are considered.
    b. The first game of every team is eliminated.
    c. If any team or teams would now qualify for the Championship, they would be declared the CCF Champions.
    d. If no team qualifies, then the second game of every team would be eliminated. If there is anyone would qualify, they would now be considered the Champions.
    e. If no team qualifies, weeks from the beginning of the season will continue to be eliminated until we have a winner.

    Examples of the Rules from 2002:

    1. Iowa - Iowa lost at home to Iowa State, an Unacceptable Loss. However, because it was in only their third game of the season, it was protected by Rule 1, The Three Weeks Rule. If Iowa had been perfect the rest of the way, with no Acceptable or Unacceptable Losses, they could have still been an CCF Champion. They won from then on until they lost to USC in the Orange Bowl.

    2. TCU - TCU lost their opening game at Cincinnati in overtime, a half-Acceptable Loss. They then won eight in a row before losing at East Carolina, 31-28, an Acceptable Loss. With only 1.5 Acceptable Losses, TCU would have been an CCF Champion after beating Colorado State in their bowl game. However, they violated Rule 7, having never beaten a Top Ten team the entire season, and were eliminated.

    3. Georgia - Georgia was 8-0 going into its game with Florida, known as The World's Largest Cocktail Party. The Bulldogs had been routinely thrashed by Spurrier's Gators, and the entire state of Georgia was salivating over the chance to make amends against Ron Zook's less than stellar squad. It was not to be though, as Georgia fell to Florida once again, 20-13. This was an Unacceptable Loss, a violation of Rule 2A-2, which states that you can not lose games in regulation on a neutral field. The Florida game eliminated Georgia.

    4. USC - USC lost at Kansas State 27-20, an Acceptable Loss, and then again two weeks later at Washington State 30-27 in overtime, a half-Acceptable Loss. With only 1.5 Acceptable Losses for the season, USC was alive for a share of the CCF Championship entering the Orange Bowl game with Iowa (Rule 4). They trounced Iowa 38-17 to become an CCF Champion.

    5. Oklahoma - Oklahoma was 8-0 when they lost at Texas A&M 30-26, an Acceptable Loss, and they were 10-1 when they suffered another Acceptable Loss, 38-28 at Oklahoma State. Fortunately for Oklahoma, they still qualified for their conference championship game, because they would need that win to overcome the two Acceptable Losses(Rule 4). Oklahoma crushed Colorado 29-7, and then Washington State in the Rose Bowl 34-14, to become an CCF Champion.

    6. Miami and Ohio State - Both teams went through the season perfectly, so what was known as their BCS Fiesta Bowl matchup was also a game for a share of the CCF Championship. Ohio State won 31-24 in overtime to become an CCF Champion.

    In 2002, the season finished with three CCF Champions. All three teams had incredible years, staying within the CCF Rules, and to try to choose who would win between them is folly. Those three teams were Ohio State, Oklahoma, and USC. Last season there were many, many upsets, and the only team to survive and be crowned Champion was USC. This year, USC goes for a share of it’s third CCF Championship in a row. Tune in every week for updates and analysis. If you have any questions about the format, please email me.



    Thursday, September 09, 2004

    Shelter From The Storm

    Survived Hurricane Frances, and just got back online. Hurrican Ivan is now headed towards me, so this blog may be halted again. But we fight on. From my bunker, expect to read about the following things in the days ahead, weather permitting:

    1. Hurricane Ivan - It's hard not to talk about something that could kill you next week.

    2. The 2008 Olympic basketball team - I've already picked the point guards, so you'll be seeing stories about the rest of the roster.

    3. College Football - Not a prime topic of Cap and Shaq, but I swear, I have the best damn system for determining the college football championship that you've ever seen. It's logical and fun and based on performance. I'll have weekly updates throughout the season.

    Saturday, September 04, 2004

    One More Cup Of Coffee

    Hurricane Francis is now exactly east of my home. If you ever want to learn the latitude and longitude of your dwelling, move to a hurricane zone, beacause I'm spending a lot of time hoping to see the bulk of the storm move beyond my coordinates. As it turns out, it now looks like its landing somewhere between Ft. Pierce and Stuart, which makes a big difference to me, because Stuart puts us just within reach of the eye of the storm.

    The lights flickered a couple of times this morning, and that's when I realized, MAKE COFFEE! So I'm going to enjoy a cup of Joe, flashilight in pocket.

    Friday, September 03, 2004

    Hurricane Shudders

    Maybe the sun is shining
    birds are winging or
    rain is falling from a heavy sky -
    What do you want me to do?
    - Box of Rain, Grateful Dead

    Blog it baby! 10 pm, Hurricane Francis down to a Category 2, and according to the security camera that televises over my cable system, everything's beautiful. The camera is vital, because with my windows covered completely with aluminum shutters, the peep hole in my front door is the only other view I have of the outside world.

    This is a good time to write about how the naming process of Hurricanes pisses me off. I mean, it's a storm that's going to kill people, and scientists are naming them after there old girlfriends, or mothers, or something. Give a Hurricane something that's faceless and unemotional, like Hurricane 247. Or go the other route, and name them after public enemies like Hurricane Osama, or Hurricane Duvalier. I'd even settle for naming them after intimidating NBA players, like Hurricane Rasheed. The current process is just way too light-hearted for what's going on out there.

    Thursday, September 02, 2004

    Beating The Deadline

    Got some guys to put up my hurrican shutters pretty cheap. True to the South, two of the three had Confederate Flags as part of their attire, one across his belt, the other on a T-Shirt that had the flag on one half of the back, and a portrait of a woman on the other half with the caption "Southern Tail Chaser" under it. Of course, the leader of the three had no such thing, and was in fact wearing big bulky shorts that could have come straight from the hood. They all worked hard though, and didn't take advantage of the crisis, so they're fine with me.

    One interesting blog note: For many bloggers, the struggle is reaching your audience. I know there must be plenty of Floridians who would be interested in this site (not today obviously), but if you type in "Miami Heat" on any search engine there's something like 30,000 sites that come up before mine. But today, somebody found this site in Spanish typing in only "Shaquille". I tried in English and you know what? I'm on the first freakin page! Try it yourself.

    Anyway, after my shutters were safely attached, I got to wondering . . . who's taking care of Shaq's house?


  • I mean, the picture doesn't really do it justice, but it's supposed to be almost 20,000 square feet. How many windows is that? Does it have the attached shutters that you just need to roll down? Does Shaq have to climb on the roof?

    Shaq, if you're reading this, email the Captain, and let us know that all is cool.

  • Wednesday, September 01, 2004

    Hunkering Down

    I'm smack in Palm Beach County, waiting for the Hurricane, so Cap and Shaq will be sporadic at best for the next few days. Tomorrow morning I have someone coming to hang the hurricane shutters (The Captain writes, but isn't good for much that's practical) and there are no more flights out of town, so it looks like we're staying at home. We've thought about a shelter, but how much safer could that be than our own house with the shutters? And it's certain to be more dismal.

    We'll keep you posted.

    Links Email The Captain Click for West Palm Beach, Florida Forecast
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