Potpourri

Yup, this is going to go a lot of places, so I hope you can keep up.

Even though Fall officially began more than 2 weeks ago, today it made its first appearance. Temperatures never got higher than the mid-50s, with the wind making it feel like it was in the 40s. Usually, I can run in a t-shirt and shorts in 55 degree weather, but not today. With cooler weather on its way, I hope that we have a mild winter. I know everyone loves seeing snow for a little while, but I'm hoping for no snow. Why may you ask? Well, although the price of oil seems to have steadied, the price of natural gas continues to increase. The hurricanes have added to the price increases by damaging natural gas pipelines in the Gulf of Mexico, disrupting production. A major component of one's gas heating bill is the adjustment for price fluctuations in natural gas during the billing period. So if natural gas prices continue to rise, so will heating bills, slowing down the economy.

In hurricane-related news, the Mayor of New Orleans doesn't want to wait 3-5 years for New Orleans to get back on its feet. He wants to establish parts of downtown New Orleans as gaming zones, which would allow casinos to come in and open up shop. Yes, this is a short-term solution that would probably bring in a lot of money. But, I don't know if New Orleans is the type of city that can support this in the long-run. Yes, Las Vegas works, but Las Vegas was built with new, 20th century money. Its history is gambling. New Orleans is a lot more than that, which unfortunately includes the 25% of its population that lives in poverty. I think gambling and New Orleans are a bad mix, which could include an increase in crime. When trying to achieve long-term economic prosperity, the key word is: long-term. Short-term fixes usually backfire in the long-term.

Northmont defeated Miamisburg 28-14 to go to 6-1, which should keep them in the Region Top 8. Next is a road trip to Piqua.

Tomorrow, I'll be watching:
Georgia vs. Tennessee. Is Georgia for real and can Tennessee play a complete game on both sides of the ball?

Ohio St. vs. Penn St. How good are Penn St.'s freshmen and how will Ohio St. respond to their first road game?

And every other game that is on tv.

I would include Texas vs. Oklahoma in this list, but it won't be on locally. Thanks to ABC regional coverage, I'll be forced to watch Michigan defeat Minnesota for the 22nd time.

Surprise, surprise, Serena Williams won't be playing tennis the rest of the year. One would hope she will get healthy and get back into playing shape, but something tells me that's not going to happen. I would also like to think she'll donate more money to the hurricane relief fund, but I don't think that's gonna happen either. Someone should make sure that Venus knows a second hurricane hit the area since she doesn't watch the news.

That's all I've got, kinda tired tonight.