Lady Raider Basketball

The Texas Tech Lady Raider Basketball team has a new coach this year: Candace Whitaker,
http://www.texastech.com/sports/w-baskbl/mtt/candace_whitaker_846454.html is a former Lady Raider player under Coach Marsha Sharp.

Kristi Curry, the previous coach has moved on to the University of Alabama http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kristy_Curry.  She had a valid contract with Texas Tech, and took a pay cut to make the move.  But she never fit in at Texas Tech.

I am sure that the Athletic Department at Texas Tech, in hiring Candace Whitaker, was hoping to replicate the excitement and interest in Lady Raider Basketball that the hiring of Kliff Kingsbury http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kliff_Kingsbury engendered in the Texas Tech Football program.  Kingsbury succeeded the very respectable Tommy Tuberville http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tommy_Tuberville who came to Texas Tech from Auburn University.  Tuberville also never fit in.  It was probably not his fault: he succeeded the immensely popular Mike Leach, and the football community held a grudge against Tuberville that really needed to be directed to the Texas Tech administration, at the way they treated Mike Leach, no matter his faults.

It is my hope that as the Lady Raider Basketball season progresses, the excitement Kliff Kingsbury has engendered with the football program, will transfer to Coach Whitaker and her staff and team.

I am not very happy about the cost of season tickets, though.  Last year, with my employee discount, I paid $80 for season tickets to the Lady Raider Basketball games.  This year, so far as I can discern, the season tickets are $140.  Almost double the price. I have not found an employee discount. Even so, there are 17 games in Lubbock, including an exhibition game, so the cost per ticket is $8.24. This is not a bad deal, but not the bargain I was able to access last year.

I will wait until closer to the opening of the season, to see if there are some other options, discounts, or employee options before I buy season tickets.  But I will probably buy season tickets. 

The last several years, there has been a tournament in Lubbock over Thanksgiving, but this year, the schedule has the team playing in the Barclay's Center Women's Invitational at the Barclay's Center in Brooklyn, New York over Thanksgiving.  They will play Michigan, and then they will either play LSU or Rutgers.  I have no idea if these games will be televised or even aired on the radio, but at the very least, I would hope for the latter.

The Lady Raider Basketball program has changed. It will be interesting to learn how it has changed.

Blizzard!

This afternoon, the National Weather Service http://www.srh.noaa.gov/lub/ issued a blizzard warning for an extensive area of the South Plains, until Monday.  I usually am prepared for whatever.  I had planned to have Monday off, but was intending to run some errands, although I could have done some today.  I did decide to run to the grocery store for a few items, and went about 5:30 PM.

The grocery clerk acknowledged that business had picked up after the National Weather Service announced the possible blizzard.

I was just looking at the radar, and the precipitation seems to be tracking to the northeast, and not east enough to impact us, but that could change. 

We are also expecting cold and high winds.  We shall see what the weather has in store for us.

We shall see what happens.

My Skin

This time of year, my skin becomes very dry.  My skin becomes scaly. It cracks, and even bleeds.

This has been true for years. At least since the early 1980s.  I have learned to use high quality lotions or creams that are not greasy and have curative powers. I have also learned that a layer of lotion or cream helps to make my skin feel warm on really cold days.

I do not think I am unusual or unique in this part of the world.  The lack of moisture in the atmosphere in this part of the world is known for sucking the moisture out of human skin, hair and what have you.

Just part of living in the desert.