Baylor Football Moving in Right Direction

ESPN.com's Tim Griffin talks about Baylor's solid start this season and the challenges they face ahead.

http://myespn.go.com/blogs/big12/0-3-101/Baylor-is-developing--but-will-face-killer-finish.html

When will University Parks be completed?

The sinkhole is more than two-years-old, and University Parks Drive is still not open. I'm happy that some repairs have been made, but the crew being so close to completion is making me a little impatient.

Does anyone have any news about when the road will reopen? It has to be soon - everything looks too complete. I see trucks driving on the new bridges everyday. There must be something that I don't know about holding it up.

If you know something, let us know.

Basaberu Up and Running, Townhouse Motel-Hotel Crumbling

Banson Fan has brought to life his newest creation, Basaberu, after what may have been the longest construction process for a restaurant in this city’s history. But one of Fan’s other properties, the Townhouse Motel-Hotel, is falling further into disrepair. And it appears Fan has no intention of doing anything to change that.

In late 2007, Fan said he intended to convert the Townhouse into a housing development. That hasn’t happened. In fact, the property hasn’t changed much at all in the past several months. The only change is the amount of broken glass and trash on the property, which has increased steadily.

There is a fresh red tag from the city on the door dated Feb. 21, 2008. I tried to reach Fan to ask if he planned to make any repairs or demolish the Townhouse, but all attempts to contact him have been unsuccessful.

The city sued Fan in November, but it’s had no effect. Basaberu is open for business. Fan’s publicizing it. The Townhouse is still waiting. There’s a temporary injunction hearing in the 414^th District Court scheduled for March 7. Fan hasn’t done anything in more than two years – I doubt this will do anything to change his mind.

But I think a lull in traffic to Basaberu would change his mind. People should stop going to Basaberu until the Townhouse Motel-Hotel is either repaired or demolished. This is the one situation where you can get involved directly in the beautification of downtown Waco. Most deadbeat property owners have nothing to lose, but Fan has everything to lose.

Make Fan accountable for the property he purchased and then left to rot. If his parking lot at Basaberu is empty for long enough, he won’t be able to ignore the blemish he left on the city.

If Fan lacked the resources or the energy to repair the Townhouse, he should have never purchased it. His intentions were to use the property to his own benefit at the expense of Waco taxpayers. He never filed for a construction permit. He never took a positive step toward repairing the Townhouse.

He doesn’t care about this city. Why should we care about his newest project? Boycott Basaberu. It may be the only way to get his attention.

We’re waiting Banson. Surprise us.

Welcome Back Writers

Good news from Hollywood. According to NPR, the Writer’s Guild of America may be coming to an agreement with the studios to end the 15-week writer’s strike. Exact terms of the agreement have not been released, but it’s safe to assume the writers will get their share of the revenue generated from material distributed online and via DVD and other home media.

But it’s the American people who are getting the biggest benefits. We finally have something to watch again. After nearly 15 torturous weeks of reality TV and reruns during what’s typically the home stretch for network television, the end is in sight.

If ever there was a time to be a reality television producer, it was this season. Even marginally-appealing spin-offs of other marginally-appealing shows enjoyed a larger than typical share of the viewing audience.

There’s no way of knowing exactly how many brain cells were killed during reality TV’s 15-week bender in the national spotlight. America may not recover for a decade. Our education system is far behind those of other developed nations. An overdose of reality TV just adds fuel to the mountainous book fire already ablaze.

Welcome back writers. Even the worst you have to offer is better than watching fat couples being yelled at by an angry skinny woman.

The Ranger Statue is Following Me

I was halfway across the country from Waco, and someone asked me about the proposed 70-foot Texas Ranger Statue. It isn’t even off the drawing board, and already it’s embarrassing.

I don’t know where this other traveler found out about the statue, but he obviously thought it was funny. This idea just won’t go away. The Trib still has the comment section up (and it should be), and it’s still a topic of conversation around town – and out of town as well. It should be talked about now because the statue (if constructed) will put a permanent blemish on the city. But it should have never been news at all.

When the idea was brought before the powers that be, Bill Warren, the man leading the committee seeking to erect the statue, should have been laughed out of the room. His committee says they hope to gather $650,000 in donations for the project. There are many local issues that need some financial help before statues are built.

I’m glad the Waco Chamber has said no. Waco is already the butt of enough jokes. The last thing it needs is a statue next to the highway. It’s about as smart as putting toll roads on I-35.

No more excuses please

I've heard far too many Aggie excuses after the game to be nice. Even after a great, hard-fought game, Aggie fans just can't take a loss. (I'm surprised no one has tried to blame this loss on Coach Fran somehow.)

The classic Texas A&M spirit - one excuse after another. Aggie nation, take off the maroon-colored glasses.

Baylor Basketball ranked in ESPN’s Power 16

They’re at the bottom, but it’s the bottom of a list that has the best 16 teams in the NCAA according to ESPN.com college basketball writers. It’s a list of some big names that regularly appear deep in the NCAA Tournament. The list is a composite of rankings reported from 12 ESPN.com writers and college basketball analysts.

There are three teams from the Big 12 on the list – (1) Kansas, (12) Texas and (16) Baylor. ESPN.com senior writers Pat Forde and Andy Katz ranked Baylor higher than Texas.

The Bears have a less than favorable schedule ahead (Oklahoma, at Texas, Texas Tech and at Kansas) and may see their rankings in this poll (and with the AP) fall in the event of a loss. But if they continue to play at a high level, it should all balance out in the end.

And with the increased media exposure, more writers will pay attention to Waco for the right reasons.

One more thing – please stop talking about Scott Drew’s contract at the beginning of the conference season. It’s as if good news makes fans in Waco uncomfortable. Enjoy the win streak and enjoy this season.