We have our annual shareholders meeting this morning.  I hate going to these.  So many stupid statements are made and we have a group that always try to start something.  Thank goodness they're in the minority.  What makes it frustrating is I'm not one for tolerating stupidity.  I have to bite my tongue to prevent me from saying things I would later regret.  So I'll try to follow my wife's suggestion or was it a strong hint to just not say anything.  Gosh that's hard for me to do.  Oh well.

The Spurs won again last night and didn't look good doing it.  They play in Minnesota tonight.  Since a couple of their starters (future hall of fame honorees) coach Pop is playing a number of inexperienced youngsters.  They haven't figured out the being on the road and playing up to their ability.  Until Leonard and Parker are back the younger players will become better and better by getting a lot of playing time.  The Spur that keeps amazing me is Manu Ginobili.  Manu will be inducted into the Hall-of-Fame when he is elgible.  He is forty years old and still dunking on opponents.  He is a calming factor when the young players get off track.  He's playing limited minutes but is making the most of them.  He played sixteen minutes last night and scored 13 points.  He made four free throws down the stretch that sealed the Spurs victory.  I don't know how he does it.

The tax bill looks like it might pass but you know Republicans can't stand success so they'll probably screw up somewhere along the line.  I wish they would get more basic when they talk to the public.  Instead of just saying you'll save more money explain that when you have lower tax rates less is taken out of your paycheck.  If the rate is 25% the federal tax takes a quarter out of every dollar you earn.  If the rate is 15% they only get 15 cents out of every dollar.  Since this happens you take home more money every paycheck.  The public has a hard time understanding taxes.  I believe a lot of people think of the lowering of tax rates begins at income tax time and not about how much is taken out of their paycheck.  That should be addressed by the Republicans.  Then they could go on about doubling the standard deduction and the rest of advantages of the proposed bill.  Just my take.

OK here are my picks

1.  TCU over Texas Tech
2.  Wisconsin over Michigan in a close one
3.  Arizona defeats Oregon
4.  Northwestern beats Minnesota
5.  Stanford beats rival Cal
6.  UCF remains undefeated with a win over Temple
7.  West Virginia in a close one over Texas (playing at home           decided my pick)
8.  Wyoming in a nail-biter over Fresno State (reason? same as above)
9.  Army in another close game
10.  USC defeats crosstown rival UCLA