The Thursday Morning Rush for Feb. 23, 2012

GOODYEAR, Ariz. - It's Thursday, Feb. 23, 2012:

BIG WORDS, SMALL TALK: The latest debate among Republican candidates was held nearby in Mesa last night, so I turned it on.  The anchor guy for the local station on the 6 p.m. news told us it would be the most consequential and influential of the debates so far. Then he said it again a few minutes later. He was using his Thesaurus again.

A CIVIL TONGUE: I'm an Independent when it comes to politics, but I wanted to listen to the conversation.  A few minutes in, Ron Paul called Rick Santorum "a fake."  You can't beat good old fashioned political name-calling. If Ron Paul became president, might he refer to a foreign leader as a creep or a moron?

CAMP DUSTY: I started to nod off after 15 minutes of pitcher pickoff drills. Thursday is the final day of the camp with only pitchers and catchers.

BOOM OR BUST? The Phoenix area has one of the highest home foreclosure rates in the nation, but there is still plenty of expansion on the westside of the city.  For those coming to watch the Reds, you'll be interested that there's now an In-N-Out Burger on the way to Goodyear.  Also, I saw a new Raul and Theresa's Mexican restaurant on Litchfield Road Wednesday. It can't be as good as the original in Avondale.

WELCOME BACK: For 15 years, Jim McNally was in charge of the Bengals offensive line. He developed some great lines. Of course it helped that he had Anthony Munoz as an anchor for most of those years. Regardless it was a great to see that the Bengals are utilizing Jim as a consultant for the O-line. You have to think there's a blocker who will be drafted high by the Bengals in April.

THE FILET OF FISH FINAL FOUR: Did you see that Kentucky is starting a new varsity high school sport? It's bass fishing and it will crown a state champion in 2013.

BATTLES NORTH AND SOUTH: Two Titantic struggles for a couple of local hoop teams tonight.  No. 17 Louisville is at UC. Both are 9-5 in the league.  Gotta be a big game if UC doesn't want to sweat out Selection Sunday. In Highland Heights, No. 8 NKU entertains No. 2 Bellarmine in Division II.  It would nice for the NKU students to come out to support the Norse.

IN OR OUT? I was watching ESPNU for a little bit tonight and it was all about college basketball. Bracketologist Joe Lunardi says he believes that Xavier will make the NCAA tournament, but barely. He says they're among the last four teams to get in.  Another guy named Tim Welsh on the basketball show says Xavier won't make the tournament. He says the Musketeers haven't done enough.

HOCKEY TALK: Home ice doesn't seem to be a big advantage for the Cyclones.  They fell to Gwinnett 2-0 on Wednesday night.

THUNDERING: When I was having dinner last night, the Celtics-Thunder game was on the television and while I was there, the Celtics were leading by a dozen. I walked around for a few minutes, grabbed a cup of coffee and by the time I got back to the hotel, the Thunder were leading by 23. I couldn't believe it!  They scored 72 points in the first half. Two very entertaining teams.

Time to hit the hay...have a great Thursday,

Popo