Olebiker

To hear him tell it, he has never lost a race because he made a mistake. It was always Roush's fault that they didn't put him in cars that were good enough, or some rookie was in his way, or someone else wrecked him. The guy looks like he is on the verge of tears every time he is interviewed after a race.

Martin's a very talented driver, but what a whiner! His personality keeps me from being much of a fan.

This guy usually claims to be in the military and getting deployed somewhere.

I am a pretty big Carl Edwards fan, but NASCAR better do something quick or they are going to lose their fan base. Anyone notice the empty seats last year? What we have now is nothing more than IROC racing with the best cheater winning. As someone else mentioned, local racing is where the real competition is. It still beats the heck out of open wheel racing. :

That girl in the red dress looks like a tote sack full of bobcats. Break it off, we're fishing for money.

From what I have read Genmar has a lot of functional duplication in its various plants. I expect that they are taking this opportunity to consolidate some manufacturing processes for different boat lines under fewer roofs. It's less politically painful to do it in bad economic times than when things are going well.

That press release is all I have seen about the boats.

Has anyone been to the Minneapolis boat show to see the new FinCraft bass boats that Genmar is introducing? I saw a picture of one of their walleye boats, but none of the bass boat.

Several years ago we got a new Assistant Pastor at our church. At his first Mass he was giving a homily on Jesus calling His first apostles. He got kind of fired up when he talked about Jesus calling James and John. His voice raised and he proclaimed, "James and John. . . sons of Zebedee. . . SONS OF THUNDER!" Right on cue lightning flashed outside and a trmendous clap of thunder hit us. Father Tom looked up, grinned and said "Pretty good, huh?" I wouldn't call it spooky, but it was pretty cool.

Ingram spent a lot of time on the show last week touting those fishing jeans. I will admit that it got me to look at the manufacturer's web site. The fishing jeans are not even available yet and the jeans that are available cost more than three pairs of the ones I wear.

I loved it when Ray Charles did it. Aretha. . . not so much.

First, let me say that I love Aretha's music and think she is one of the finest talents of my lifetime, but the inauguration is not Filmore East. The inauguration was not about showcasing her voice or Ray Charles' talent for arrangement. Maybe it was just that gawdawful hat she was wearing. . .

Yesterday, while watching the inauguration, I kept hoping someone would step in and stop Aretha Franklin. That was just plain embarrassing and painful to hear.

These manatees are pretty much trapped at the springs for the winter. They come up the river where the temperature stays constant and, if they don't leave the river early enough, the Gulf gets too cold for them. The same thing happens to manatees who go up into canals at power generating stations. They get stuck there for the winter and the electric company can not shut the units down for maintenance during the winter for fear of killing the manatees. One good thing about the manatees coming up into the Wakulla River is that they eat hydrilla.

Talquin will still be in pre-spawn at that time, but the fish will have largely moved from deep water to the flats in the major creeks and rivers. Little River and Rocky Comfort (I love that name) are my favorite areas this time of year. Plan to cover a lot of water with a lipless crankbait, but have a Carolina rig handy in case a cold front comes through. Texas-rigged paddle-tail worms are a local favorite.

Wakulla Spring boils to the surface just south of Tallahassee. The water stays at a constant 70 degrees all year round. Last year some manatees made their way up the Wakulla River to the vicinity of the spring and stayed for the winter. They are back this year. I took my 2 year old grandson to see them yesterday. This one just hung around the dive tower all morning, so we got to get a good look at him. When a snorkeler got in the water the manatee immediately went to check him out. He was probably wondering what in the world an otherwise sentient being was doing in 70 degree water. Everyone on the dive tower was joking that he was probably telling the guy how goofy he looked wearing a Speedo.

I still have them and use them. They were nearly as good as the original Rapala. I've caught a lot of bass on them.

I have the big honkin' green one and just love it. I can carry everything I need for a tournament in that bag.

Yeah, but you would never have time to go fishing Tell me about it. I used to do a lot of bicycling and thought having a bicycle business would be just the thing. I never had time to ride and was sick of seeing bicycles day in and day out.

Holy cow! Shaw Grigsby just weighed in a 13 pound bass.

My wife's gynecologist back in Louisville was Dr. Hyman. We also had a Dr. Needleman.

I've got to believe that local knowledge is going to pay big dividends in this tournament. That cold front is going to have them bunched up, holding close to cover, and shut-mouthed. Watch now, they will all come in with big sacks and make my evaluation look foolish.

The hull on my 1984 Bass Tracker Tournament TX is .092. This one is .090. My old boat has held up really well. That being said, for that kind of money you could buy a much nicer used aluminum bass boat. As for loading on electric only lakes - my boat is 17 feet and I have never had any trouble loading it and never have to get my feet wet doing it. I do it just like Wayne P described.

Esso is now Exxon. I thought Gulf had been bought out by BP years ago, but I saw a Gulf station recently. I remember getting S&H Green Stamps when we bought gas. I remember my Dad telling the attendant, "Fill it up with Ethyl."

38 out of 56 I remember gotting up on Saturday morning and watching the test pattern on the TV while waiting for cartoons to come on.