Dalton the key to a Frog victory

The Frogs face a tough challenge on the road tomorrow against UNLV. They have been great at home this year, but have struggled on the road. Let's ignore the OU game because they were not supposed to win. The Colorado State game was less than inspiring. They had to hold on at the end to win, 13-7. But it's also unfair to use that game to judge their ability to win on the road. Why? Andy Dalton was out of the lineup against the Rams. And while Marcus Jackson is a good backup, Dalton has established himself as a big-game quarterback who could do some special things at TCU. He'll be ready for the Rebels.

So much for the short lines

The line at our polling place stretched out the door and into the parking lot this afternoon. Today was the last day for Texans to vote early, and plenty of Denton County residents were waiting patiently to cast their ballots at our nearby public library. Many of them had undoubtedly heard of the long lines, but they had still come out to vote today.

I guess they thought the lines this afternoon would be shorter than those on Election Day. Maybe they looked at the Carrollton Web site and saw the banner at the top of the page encouraging registered voters to vote early so they could "avoid the long lines" Tuesday. Something tells me the folks who designed that banner would like to change the wording a bit, especially when the early voting totals are released. Records are likely to be shattered across the region -- and probably throughout the state.

Despite the long line this afternoon, the polling place was operated smoothly. Election officials did an outstanding job keeping the line moving. It took only about a half-hour for me to reach the voting booth. One election worker told me that at the beginning of early voting two weeks ago, it was taking about 90 minutes to get through the line.

Needless to say, I was glad I waited to cast my ballot.

No more advice, please

All this debate advice for Gov. Sarah Palin strikes me as similar to the unsolicited tips given a slumping golfer by his buddies. Many of the columnists and analysts offering pointers are probably well-intentioned, but she would be better off not listening to anyone.

Swing away, Gov. Palin.