Boise

College Football Week 1: 4 Winners, 4 Losers Among Coaches, Heisman Candidates, QBs

Thursday night college football is fun. The Friday night ESPN game, at least under the magical watch of Joe Tessitore, has become somewhat sneaky over the years. But the college football season truly begins on that first Saturday. So when I fired up the television Saturday morning, then and only th ... More >>

The Gothic Council on Maintaining Facebook Sanity

The illustrious, honorable, and not at all to be taken seriously Gothic Council went on a membership drive this week, seeking the cream of the goth world for their inspiring insights into every day life... Or I just grabbed the first six people I found in my newsfeed. One of those. The reason for ... More >>

5 Questions to Ask Yourself Before Trying to Sneak Into a Nickelback Show

Rewind: So Chad Kroeger and Avril Lavigne Are Engaged: How Should You Feel? Saturday Night: Nickelback & Bush at Toyota Center I'd like to tell you a cautionary tale. A few weeks back Kevin Beaudette of Tupper Lake, N.Y., decided he really a) wanted to see Nickelback and b) wanted to see them for ... More >>

The Coolest and Uncoolest Songs About America's Coolest City (Us)

Above is Dean Martin doing "Houston" on his television show. Epic fail, but nice outfit. As you may have read, Forbes magazine recently determined that, by their measurement criteria, Houston is now America's coolest/hippest city. Of course, while the rest of the world has looked down its nose for ... More >>

Cinco de Mayo As Celebrated in Five of America's Whitest Cities

Cinco de Mayo is tomorrow, meaning restaurants and bars are all going Mexican-themed with their specials and events. The day has grown to be a big deal in the U.S., if not Mexico, where it's not Mexican Independence Day or anything. Everyone's hopping on the Cinco de Mayo bandwagon, including some ... More >>

Last Night: Built To Spill At Fitzgerald's

Built to Spill Fitzgerald's March 12, 2012 After an interview last week with Built to Spill front man Doug Martsch, we noted how humble the rocker was. Modest, even. Our observation was upheld Monday night, as Martsch and his bearded band walked onstage, setting up their own gear before their sold ... More >>

Idaho Gem

Built to Spill's Doug Martsch is the most laid-back guy around, except when talking about basketball.

Football! My Texans Prediction and Other Weekend Best Bets

Baby needs new gear...​Every year at about this time, I wind up investing several hundred dollars in various pieces of Texans gear for my two sons (ages 13 and 12, and I'm fairly certain the only two Texan fans in their Chicago-area junior high school), and while the attitude in this, the most ... More >>

Comment of the Day: Let the Coog Hatred Bloom

We have some great commenters here on Hair Balls, and it's time we paid some damn attention to them. So we'll be highlighting a Comment of the Day each morning, from the previous day's work. Maybe two comments, even. This will all be determined by a highly rigorous scientific formula involving wit ... More >>

A Very Special BCS Edition of 4 Winners, 4 Losers

For the first time in the history of my Texans fandom, their bye week left me with a palpable void. Sure, I love having NFL football in this city, even bad football is better than no football, so the bye week always feels a little weird. However, this season's team is a little different. If the Te ... More >>

Football! This Weekend's Best Bets -- Crushing Las Vegas

Vgeas is begging you to bet on a dog​For years, the rule in Las Vegas (because that's the only place you can wager, online wagering does not exist..cough, cough) has been that squares (wagering parlance for "Joe Q. Betting Public") bet favorites and overs a vast majority of the time. And for ... More >>

Five Oddly Timed or Just Plain Odd Texas License Plate Offerings from MyPlates.com

​The folks over at MyPlates.com, who bring us just about every custom license plate our Texas hearts could desire, just released a batch of new offerings we didn't even know we needed. The mostly-sports-themed releases provide citizens of our great state the opportunity to show pride in their ... More >>

Texans-Saints, Etc. -- 4 Winners, 4 Losers

Big winner: James Casey​The easy fall back after Sunday's 40-33 to the New Orleans Saints is to say "Same ol' Texans," and in a way, I understand. Red zone issues, fourth quarter brain farts (23 points allowed), the untimely turnover, same ol' Texans. But I choose to look at the glass half f ... More >>

College Football Week 1 Recap: 10 Things

Coming up roses, again​College football is back, and probably for the first time I can remember, the feeling that the return of football brought with it more than anything else was relief. Finally, we can stop obsessing over agents, runners, tattoos, memorabilia, and Nevin Shapiro. The games ... More >>

Prediction Mania! -- Weekends Best Bets and 2 Bonus Season Bets

Yes, big things are predicted (again) for ND​I've never been one to just dip my toe in the water on anything. If there is a job to do, a party to attend, or a giant calzone to eat, you can count on me to go "all in" on whatever the task may be. So when we have our first full weekend of colleg ... More >>

NFL & College Football -- Weekend's Best Bets

When it comes to college football, I'm not a staunch traditionalist. I believe the season is more compelling when the longtime powers are strong (Translation: Texas, Florida, Michigan, Notre Dame, and Miami all being mediocre is, to me, a bad thing.), and yet I picked Boise State before the season ... More >>

NFL & College Football -- Weekend's Best Bets (with Tales of Deceit, Adultery and Ron Artest)

We see....FAIL in Ron Artest's future​Drayton McLane apparently has plans to sell the Astros. This comes as no surprise, those rumors have been swirling for some time. Now I don't know if he'll get his $800 million asking price, but I did call Drayton and make an offer and we now know that $9 ... More >>

Last Night: Built To Spill At House Of Blues

Photos by Jason Wolter​Built to Spill House of Blues October 21, 2010 While Thursday's chatty House of Blues crowd mingled and awaited Built to Spill's 10 p.m. set time, most hardly noticed that the band was already strolling the stage, casually setting up their own gear. Such nonchalance may ... More >>

There Is No Enemy

Built to Spill regains 90s form on new album.

Texans-Giants, Debacle: The Sequel -- 5 Winners, 5 Losers

Big Blue leaves a bruise in Houston​Driving down Murworth to the media lot on Sunday morning at around 10 a.m., if it weren't for signs directing us to various colored lots and a few orange cones, you'd have barely known there was anything going on at Reliant that day, let alone an NFL football ga ... More >>

Les Miles for President (Also, 5 Winners and 5 Losers From This Weekend)

Everyone's talking about Les Miles, and not in a good way​"In the game of life nobody -- repeat, NOBODY -- is playing with more house money than Les Miles." -- Me on Twitter just after LSU's 16-14 win over Tennessee As Homer Simpson would say, it's funny because it's true. The truly funny th ... More >>

Houston Texans -- F the Cowboys (or #FDACOWBOYS on Twitter)

cutline​Not long ago, I got into a brief discussion on Twitter with another radio personality whom I am forbidden to name whose name I don't exactly recall. I don't remember the crux of the tweet-versation (something having to do with blogs and the inherent evil that blogs possess to anyone over ... More >>

Game Time: Stephen F. Austin Football -- The "F" Now Stands for "Fakers"

Dr. Nick will testify SFA players WERE really hurt​My birthday is on January 22. (I don't say this because I want you to get me anything -- although I wouldn't say NO -- I am merely pointing it out to illustrate how I feel this time of year.) Growing up, it was great having a January birthday bec ... More >>

Game Time: College Football Week 1 -- Ain't No Party Like a Boise Party

Boise State is ready to rumble​Last night, as Boise State quarterback Kellen Moore gathered the Bronco offense in the huddle to concoct one final haymaker in their prize fight with Virginia Tech, guaranteeing we were going to see some sort of fantastic finish -- either a game-winning touchdown or ... More >>

FAIL: Prince, Johnny Rotten, Too Short, Auto-Tune

Photos by John Seaborn Gray​Internet Not As "Over" As Prince Had Hoped: Remember last week when Prince said the Internet was "over," and that was why he's now giving copies of his new CD away for free whenever you buy a copy of that thriving and relevant medium, a British newspaper? Well, ent ... More >>

Game Time: We Interrupt This Tebow Documentary For Seven Other Reasons To Watch The Senior Bowl

​Every year around this time, NFL prospects gather in Mobile, Alabama for the beginning of what amounts to a three-month job interview, complete with numerous forty-yard dashes, questions about their upbringing, and requests to "cough while I stick my fingers right...HERE!" It's a fascinating tim ... More >>

Game Time: 2009 Bear Bryant Award, Chalk One Up For The Good Guys

​I'm not sure if any of you have noticed, but the last few weeks have not been all that kind to the perception of the college football coaching profession. If it's not Jim Leavitt getting fired from South Florida for allegedly slapping around a special teams player at halftime of a game, then it's ... More >>

Game Time: 2010 Fiesta Bowl....Thanks For Coming, TCU

​The winner and NEEEWWWW Intercontinental Champion...the Boise StateBRONCOS!!!-- me on Twitter last night after the Fiesta BowlFor those of you who don't get the analogy, I'll give you the back story. In professional wrestling, World Wrestling Entertainment (known better by the acronym WWE) has th ... More >>

Aftermath: Dinosaur Jr., Built to Spill and a Whole Lotta Gear at Warehouse Live

Photos by Jody Perry​ Fans in the crowd at Warehouse Live's Dinosaur Jr. show Friday night should have known what was in store for them when J Mascis' roadies began setting up his equipment. Six amps for a single guitar player. If you thought the show was loud, imaging standing three feet in front ... More >>

U.S. Military Deserters Once Again Flock to Canada to Avoid War

Looks like this time they picked the wrong country.

The Last Piece Of Good Economic News?

The 88 major job markets across the U.S. lost a total of 1.2 million jobs in 2008, according to a study by Bizjournals.Only 15 of the 88 markets saw a job increase in the year. And the city with the largest increase of all -- Houston.We added 57,300 jobs in 2008. While that may have been a good mont ... More >>

Mama’s Texas Bean Burger

Houston Press Music Awards Winners

Devin the Dude, Katie Stuckey and The Dimes clean up

Lean In Real Close, Cuz He's About to Scream

Lean In Real Close, Cuz He's About to Scream

Lean In Real Close, Cuz He's About to Scream

Guitar-Shredding on the High Seas

Built to Spill and the Decemberists offer alternate takes on alt-rock

Gambling on Iraq

Hundreds of Houstonians have signed up for wartime jobs with KBR. The hefty paychecks come with a scary, bloody price.

Blockbuster Beats

New York shut down their popular club gig, so DJs Sasha and Digweed hit the road

Famous Potatoes

Idaho's Built to Spill survives the indie-to-major metamorphosis with its street cred intact

Home Court Advantage

The Rockets rack up frequent flyer miles.

The Love Barge

Sorry, Not an Instant Winner

Go Her Own Way

Me'Shell Ndegeocello can't find a niche -- not that she really wants one