You are currently browsing the monthly archive for April, 2009.
Too tired to write anything coherent. Cards won again. So did the Pepperdine volleyball team. Yea.
I plan to win a study endurance award in a couple of weeks. Gotta go to bed.
I’ve had a hard time finding the proper motivation for studying for these crazy law school finals, but when classes ended today and I took a good, hard look at how close finals actually are, I found it.
It’s called Fear.
Hey, whatever works.
I attended my last Contracts and Criminal Law classes today. Both were anticlimatic.
Last fall, Professor Green (our visiting Torts professor) delivered an inspirational message at the end of our last class of the semester, and we all applauded. Well, we applauded at the end of Contracts and Criminal Law today, but it just wasn’t the same without the inspirational message. A breathless scramble to finish “third party rights and obligations” in Contracts, and a breathless review of the entire Crim Law semester just weren’t the same.
Oh well.
Tomorrow we say good-bye to Torts, Civ Pro, and Property. We’ll see how those go.
I know the burning question in everyone’s heart is, “What does Al think about the Cowboys’ draft this year?” Well, I turned down all of ESPN’s calls to devote my opinions exclusively to the blog. So, here goes.
First of all, everyone that knows anything gave the Cowboys a “D” or “D-.” That is completely understandable – no draft picks in the first two rounds kinda makes it hard to pick up anything that looks useful. However, given the team we have, I sort of like the overall draft. And, truth be told, I believe the Cowboys’ major problems weren’t going to be solved by a draft in the first place.
Things I like:
* I like getting twelve draft picks. So much of the draft is a crap shoot (see Ryan Leaf), so the odds of finding a diamond in the rough are much greater when you have lots of extra choices.
* I like the fact that we picked up lots of special teams help. We need it (see Last Year).
* I like picking up 7 defensive players, split fairly equally between defensive backs, linebackers, and defensive linemen – we could use a boost in each area.
* I like that we didn’t sell out for an Anquan or Plaxico or trade something we need for a shot at a Michael Crabtree. We have 4 really good receivers already. Plus, we stole a good Oklahoma receiver in the 7th round that just might be a helpful addition.
* I like the Stephen McGee choice. Surprised me at first, but after reading about him, he might turn out to be the best pick in the entire draft. Probably not, but I say it’s worth a shot.
* I like (a lot) getting the kicker from USC. I can’t remember how many times I asked last year why we couldn’t get a kicker who could kick the ball in the end zone on a kickoff. Now, I realize there’s a question as to whether you can carry 2 kickers and 3 quarterbacks on a 53-man roster, but I suspect we’re paying a coaching staff to figure that out.
So, as you can tell, there was a lot I liked about the draft. I’d give it a “D” as to picking up big, named players, but for the needs of our team (that could be addressed in a draft) I’d give it a “B+” or an “A-“ at least.
Cowboy problem: Leadership (and its corollary, flashes of stupidity on the football field).
That’s it. THE problem as I see it.
So, is there a solution? Well, maybe. I think getting rid of T.O. was a good move. Romo is just not a natural leader – he is a fun-loving guy who can really play football, and people like him. But he isn’t a get-in-your-face-when-you-need-it leader. He tried to please T.O., and for the Cowboys to be successful, we’ll need to surround Romo with responsible, self-starters who don’t need to be coddled or… well, led. Maybe that’s what we have now, but that remains to be seen.
I wonder about our defense. They played on the stupid train a lot last year, too, and I don’t know if they have a real leader. Maybe Brooking is the perfect guy to bring in. I’m hoping so.
And the special teams units were just bad last year. But maybe our draftees’ athleticism will help there.
Anyway, I am currently launching into heavy study mode, but I plan to check in every evening before bed to think about something other than law school for just a few minutes. I’ll see you then.
Go Cowboys!!!
In my opinion, everyone needs a good graduation sermon every single year. Preacher Ken delivered an excellent one this morning titled, “When You Come to Royal Position.”
Here’s the LINK.
Football: Watched a LOT of draft coverage.
Baseball: Pujol’s slam took down the Cubbies!
Basketball: Caught a little of the NBA Playoffs on the tube.
Volleyball: Watched Pepperdine win a thrilling tournament match!
Tennis: Played for an hour with Hillary.
When I get a free day before finals, I sure make it a good one. 
It is very close to finals season. No, not the NBA Finals. I’m talking law school.
I plan to enjoy this weekend (by “enjoy,” I mean, not study). But this attractive prospect of a weekend will be followed by twenty consecutive days of ugly. We had four finals last semester that nearly killed us. This semester, we have five. Some of us might not make it.
We only have three days of classes left – a grand total of eight class periods is all I have left in my 1L year. Wednesday afternoon, at 2:30pm PST, we will have completed said classes. But as I’m approaching these suckers, two days before, Monday, finals season begins. That is approaching quickly.
I spent the biggest part of this afternoon printing off practice exams from our instructors. Taking practice exams is the secret to success on law school finals. The hard part is that you have to complete your outlines first, followed by learning what is in the outlines second, followed by funneling the outlines down even further to manageable terms third… and then, if you actually have time, you take practice exams. Many students never really get around to it all for all the exams – and that is completely understandable. It is a near impossible feat of endurance and balance.
I’ve kept up with my outlines on a weekly basis all semester, so with just a few classes left, my outlines will easily be completed. I hope to narrow them down to “attack” outlines by Wednesday evening (fingers crossed on that one). Then, I’ve developed a study schedule where I’ve apportioned about eight to ten hours per class just for trying to memorize my outlines. Finally, I’ve scheduled time to take about five practice tests for each class. All in all, I’ll be spending about twelve hours studying for twenty consecutive days. That’s the best I can do.
But for the next two days, I plan to rest. Then, it is time to seriously get to work.
1) The new U.S. News & World Report law school rankings are hitting the newsstands, and Pepperdine has climbed once more, this time to #55. This rise in the rankings came in spite of the fact that, in a temporary lapse of judgment last year, they admitted me to the school.
2) My former CASA director sent a link to a really good CASA article on The Huffington Post blog. I think you’ll enjoy reading it (CLICK HERE).
With deep apologies for any foul Japanese language potentially desecrating this clip, check out what YouTube bills as The Greatest Pitch Ever Thrown.
Look, I am an old man masquerading as a law student, and I’m trying to stay afloat. Therefore, for those of you who read my daily entries, I’m afraid you can’t depend on me for much anything of substance. I’m spending my brain cells trying to understand concepts like land-use regulations, contract remedies, and the federal appeals process. Even if those things were interesting to talk about, I never understand them well enough to share.
But, every once in a while I just might stumble across something that might stimulate your thinking muscles in worthwhile ways, too. Like, maybe today.
I’ve caught enough of the headlines to know that there’s something going on with the Obama administration and the CIA techniques used with prisoners in recent years (aka America’s version of torture). There are all sorts of levels on which to discuss that topic, but I’ll use it as a springboard for the Christian level of discussion.
Preacher Ken has just completed a series of sermons on all sorts of controversial topics, one of which sniffed around this sort of issue. This past Sunday, he made available a bibliography handout with many of the resources he has used throughout the series. One of them – the focus of this post – is from a Pepperdine professor titled, “The Christian and War.”
It appears to me that the OVERWHELMING evangelical Christian position is that it is perfectly acceptable to kill in certain situations. I find this a bit baffling, but I’m not even going to go so far as to say that there can’t be philosophical underpinnings for that concept (though I will say that practically everyone I’ve talked to about this idea doesn’t seem to have worked out this concept philosophically). But I do find it baffling – and rather sad – that there is little interest in hearing a different viewpoint.
So, here it is. A different viewpoint. It’s worth reading, considering, and wrestling with for just about all of us. Read it HERE.
