The Heath Mullikin Project

Karen and the kids left for Ohio yesterday for some holiday time with her family. It’s become a tradition the last few years to travel there a big Thanksgiving. The Hurlbut’s live south of Cleveland and I’ve tried to go to a Cavs game every time we’ve been, but no such luck. We did make it to the Rock n Roll Hall of Fame which was kind of a dissappoinment. Anyway, this isn’t the first time Karen and the kids have traveled away for a week or more. Several years, they went to New York during the summer while I was at camp. Now, I like to think of myself as the life of the party. I love being around people. But, when Karen is out of town, I retreat into some sort of cocoon and try to catch up on my movie watching. One year, I tried to see as many Oscar winners(that I hadn’t seen before) while she was gone. We have different tastes in movies and there are many she has no interest in seeing. Movies like the Deer Hunter, the Sting, etc. Well, last night I picked up Ocean’s 13 and Children of Men. Let’s just say: I won’t get those 4 hours back. I was pretty unhappy with both of them so now I’m gun shy for the next few days. I don’t want to sit through any more bad movies. Of course, I could catch up on some reading. Surprisingly, everything is ready for Sunday, my sermon and worship lyrics. Timmy may come up Saturday night for the Sixers game. I guess what I’m looking for some movie suggestions. If you know me then you know my love for movies. I’m thinking about Rescue Dawn, Evan Almighty, and Superman Returns(jk). So, how should I spend the weekend? Several families have invited me over for Thanksgiving dinner, but the Pusey’s asked first so they win the contest. I tried to work it out where I could go to several places throughout the day, but apparently, everyone in Delaware and Pennsylvania eats at 4 pm on Thanksgiving. My mouth is starting to water just thinking about the feast. I have so much to be thankful for especially in a year full of self examination, self doubt, and moving away from home. God is so good. I do not deserve his friendship. I do not deserve His continuing love. I rest in Him. I have put my family in a position where we are totally dependent on Him. We rely on miracles to get through every day. Why is that so hard? I know God is going to “show up” yet still I get antsy when He takes His time. Also, when He doesn’t “fix” everything at once. I guess it’s because He’s really trying to “fix” me and that takes time. Apparently, lots of it. So, just know that I’m up here on Riverside Dr., resting, chillin, watching whatever movies you suggest, enjoying God’s company, and eating the rest of the Halloween candy. Sounds good to me.

I know you’ve heard me complain about how bad my fantasy football teams are this year. I am in four leagues. 2 of my teams have 1 win and the other 2 teams are doing ok. Now, I do not give the same amount of time to each of the team. I have 2 on espn that I only fill out the lineups for, 1 on yahoo, that I monitor semi-regularly, and 1 on sportsline with people from my church that I keep up with daily. I only drafted two teams myself and the other two had to be drafted for me because of scheduling conflicts. Now that I’ve said all of this let me break down my “church” team for you.

I had the third pick of the first round of this 12 team league. I coveted Stephen Jackson who went second behind LT. This left me with a big decision: Take Larry Johnson, who was in the middle of a holdout, or another player. It was one of those choices where I knew taking LJ was a risk, but I did not want the guy with the 4th pick to get a big season out of him after I passed him up. Needless to say, I picked him and he has been terrible. I resisted a season long urge to trade him and he did start to play like a first round pick around week 6. Then he got hurt…bad. Gonna miss at least two games. Of course, Stephen Jackson has been even worse. In the second round, I faced a similar decision. Conventional wisdom is to load up on running backs although I’ve found QB’s to be higher scorers in this league so so much for conventional wisdom. I took Deuce McCalister in the 2nd round even though he was probably going to lose carries and time to Reggie Bush. Instead, he stunk it up and then tore up his knee early on. My third round pick was Chad Johnson who has not disappointed though he has battled injuries. 4th round-Ahman Green, who has been hurt most of the year. So, there you have it. The easiest way to have a last place team is to have your players get injured. Also, to have Eli Manning as your starting QB. Ironically, Tom Brady, having maybe the best fantasy season ever, went at the end of the 2nd round-two picks behind McCalister. Hindsight is 20-20 or 1-9.

It wasn’t me. After fixing my entire Saturday around the Clemson-BC game. After txting and talking to buddies who were telling me how electric Death Valley was. After waiting for a game like this for 16 years, where Clemson had a shot at the ACC title…I fell asleep. That’s right. At 7-3 at halftime I was out. Woke up briefly to see it 10-3, but that was it. I started feeling sick at supper so I took some unlabeled sinus medicine which wasn’t non-drowsy, but VERY-drowsy. So, I woke up at 5:15 am(Drake was crying) and checked this out. Clemson-BC recap
So what did I miss? I didn’t need a Hollywood writer to write this ending for me because I’ve seen it before. Missed field goals. A late comeback loss at home. Missed opportunities. Close but no cigar. Folks, this is Clemson football under Tommy Bowden. Middle of the pack in the ACC, big wins against small teams, heartbreaking losses, games where you wonder if Clemson is even on the field, and an aw shucks attitude from the coach. I can’t be the only one who is not surprised by any of this. Now, to be fair, Bowden’s record measures up against every other Clemson coach except one: Danny Ford. And that, friends, is the real problem. Ford had 4 10 win seasons, with one National Championship, in his tenure. That’s about as many 10 win as all the other coaches have combined. My point is, we got spoiled in the 80’s. My generation grew to think that Clemson had always been a football powerhouse because it was when we were young. The sad fact is that Danny Ford is not coming back on a white horse to save the day. That time has passed. What we have to decide now is whether or not we’re happy with where we’re at as a program. We have to answer two questions: Can Bowden take us to where we want to go? and Is this Clemson football?

I think I blogged about blogging on the Presidential race and my computer shut off before I posted it a few weeks ago. I had a friend ask me my thoughts on the field. I figured I would just go ahead and get some things out of my head.

1. If Ross Perot hadn’t run for President in 1992 then the Clinton’s would be a footnote in history.
2. With that said, if Bush Sr. had won(does anyone else remember the SNL state of the union skit with “Operation Desert Storm” drawing a standing ovation every time. Gotta love Dana Carvey) I do know that Dan Quayle had no shot of ever being president.
3. Let me say this too: Republicans tend to choose a nominee by who’s next in line. Democrats normally go with who gave the best speech at the previous Democratic National Convention(see Clinton and Obama).
4. My biggest issue with the Democratic party right now if their failure to move on(.org) from the 2000 election. Bush would have probably won Florida by a wider margin if the news networks hadn’t started calling Florida for Gore at noon before half the state had voted. For 8 years, they have built a platform on “Hate Bush” and I can’t think of any meaningful legislation that they’ve passed. They haven’t presented any new ideas. It’s all about the hate. Now, has Bush messed some things up? Yes. Harriet Myers, “Mission Accomplished”, No Child left behind, immigration, Katrina response. However, most of the Democratic hatred has been based on half truths and lies(stole the election, lied about WMD’s, war for oil, voter suppression, he doesn’t like black people). Most of the Democrats are running against Bush who last I checked isn’t eligible to be President again. The Democratic front-runners have to realize that “Bush Lied” won’t fly on Inauguration day. They’re going to need a fresh plan and fresh ideas.
5. Now, I’m a big conspiracy theory buff and if it goes Bush Sr., Mr. Clinton, Bush Jr., Mrs. Clinton, then I will start drinking the “there’s one family that runs the world” kool-aid. Of course, I think the Mormons are up to something too which would lead me away from Romney.
6. For the Democrats, you’ve really only got Hillary and Obama who have a chance. Edwards couldn’t win reelection to the Senate while running for President and VP in ’04 so he didn’t even run for Senate. It’s a shame that Joe Biden isn’t getting a good hard look. He is a straight shooter. However, now that he’s my Senator, I have discovered that he is not exactly beloved in Delaware. He has more foreign policy experience than anyone on either side and I would make him my Secretary of State in a heartbeat. If a Republican wins, that’s what they should do. Gov. Richardson is running for something else probably a Senate seat and he’s done well in the debates. Kucinich is there only to represent the far-left of the party. It’s weird cause I really like him. He makes me laugh. He’s kinda like the Democratic Perot. No one had ever heard of Chris Dodd before, but his exchange with Hillary at the Philly debate and Spanish greeting last night with live forever as sound bites.
7. So, what are the differences between Obama and Hillary. Basically, they only disagree on licenses for illegal immigrants. They both want the government to provide everything for you from opportunity to health care to paid time off to free and easy abortions. They go about these things in different ways, but it’s all semantics. If Obama does not win the nomination then the Clintons will make him pay for his attacks on Hillary. Personally, I think they will end his political career somehow. Over the past 15 years, we should have learned at least one thing: Don’t mess with the Clinton’s. I have done extensive reading on Hillary and I have come to the conclusion that she would be the most secular, liberal, far left nominee of all time. It is very scary to me.
8. You have to realize that Bill only ran for President to open the door for Hillary to run for president. I believe this was the plan all along. The Democratic Party has a huge choice to make. For them, the Clinton years were great and there is a strong desire to return to those “good ole days.” They do need to realize that a lot of Republicans viewed the Clinton Administration as corrupt as the Democrats now view Bush’s. A Hillary presidency would unite the party but not the country. If Hillary is elected, it will be 4 or 8 more years of the rugged partisanship that we see now. Their other choice is to move away from the Clinton’s and create a new legacy. If so, then Obama is the nominee. The other guys are just taking up air time and auditioning for other posts at this time.
9. Later this week, I’ll look at the Republicans and also at how I have reexamined almost all of my political views in the past two years. Frankly, I’ve come up with more questions than answers. So, what’s your take on all of this? Have I lost my mind?

Maybe it was me. I don’t know. For some reason over the last 8 years Tommy Bowden could not get the Tigers over the hump. No 10 win season, no ACC championships, no BCS bowl appearances. Now that I’ve moved away, Tommy has the boys in a one game playoff for a bid in the ACC championship game. Tomorrow they will play Boston College and a win gets them the nod. If they lose, they can still win the division if BC loses the next week. However, it would be better for Bowden and everyone if they just took care of business themselves. Otherwise, it’s another week of “Tommy can’t win the big one.” Now, there has been no more vocal critic of Bowden than me. I think everyone who knows me knows how I feel about his coaching skills(or lack thereof), but I won’t rehash that or my disdain for Superman Returns. I will say this. If the man gets the job done and wins the last 3 to stand at 11-2 with an ACC championship then I will be the first to praise him. Frankly, in the 8 wins they have looked like we’ve been hoping for since Bowden arrived. They now run different formations AND different plays. Cullen Harper has been so good that QB-n-waiting-since-his-11th-grade-year Wily Korn will probably redshirt. 7 months ago this would have been unthinkable. I don’t know if it’s the absence of my negativity in the Clemson area, a weak ACC and non-conference schedule, or everything finally coming together, but this year has been different. It makes you wonder what we’d be talking about if we had shown up against Georgia Tech and Virginia Tech. I firmly believe we’re better than both those teams and 2 wins there would have us atop the BCS standings. Instead, we’ve got Saturday. I would be there, but I don’t want to rehash THAT story either. I will be firmly rooting for the Tigers. I will put my personal feelings about Tommy Bowden aside and cheer for a solid victory. Even a skeptic like me can see…he ain’t going anywhere. This morning I went to change my son Drake. I almost put on his Clemson outfit, but I stopped. I wanted him to wear it tomorrow night for the big game. The Tigers are 0-2 when Drake wears the outfit. Maybe it’s him.

Here’s what I’m hoping for the future of this blog: a different topic everyday such as sports, politics, my Bible study, jokes, and family updates. So, with that in mind here comes some stuff.
1. Does anyone else find the name Star”bucks” ironic?
2. As I’m watching the Democratic debate right now, does anyone realize what would happen if all the troops came home from Iraq tomorrow? It’s a great country that a man like Dennis Kucinich can run for President. He has no chance, no clue, but it sure is funny to hear people applaud his crazyness.
3. What has John Edwards been doing for the past 3 years?
4. Hillary Clinton has held one more political office than me.
5. Working on my Thanksgiving sermon. Gonna be different than the last few that I’ve done.
6. Going to see Rob Bell on the 26th in Philly. Did you hear that Mark Driscoll may think he’s a heretic? Do you know or care who either of those guys are?
7. Spanking kids is a tough job. Eating their leftover fries is a fringe benefit.
8. Who’s a bigger joke, Stephon Marbury or Isaiah Thomas?
9. Is it ever right to make a decision based solely on money?
10. My grandmother had a nasty fall the other day and broke her nose. Gotta get home soon.
11. To everyone going to be in SC around Christmas: National Treasure 2 at the Amstar on the 21st?
12. I am hooked on the Ultimate Fighter although it makes you realize that if we can outlaw the f word then most people would have alot less to say.
13. Bee Movie. See Movie
14. Did you realize that Iowa and New Hampshire will decide who will be the Republican and Democratic nominees for president?
15. What would you do if you were elected president? Here’s my top 5.
a. Make the Fairtax law and shut down the IRS.
b. Write all Middle Eastern countries and inform them that we will not be buying oil from them anymore and start drilling our own oil.
c. Start a college football playoff.
d. Take all the leaders of communist countries on a hunting trip with Dick Cheney.
e. Make all professional athletes play for a pastor’s salary for one year while allowing all pastors to work for a pro athlete’s salary.
16. By the way, I’m still working on my revenue sharing plan to present to the Wesleyan Church
17. How many times has John Edwards said,”it’s not personal” during this debate? When someone says that, it is personal.
18. My blackberry has been on the fritz. Talk about a bad week. It has been really quiet around the house. I’ve actually liked it.
19. I think a bigger problem than atheism is “I”theism.
20. No matter how hard I try, I can’t stop watching wrestling and wanting to give it a shot.