Monthly Archives: August 2011

BEARCATS PICKED TO WIN SIXTH STRAIGHT MIAA TITLE

 The Northwest Missouri State Bearcats football team has been picked to win the MidAmerica Intercollegiate Athletics Association title in 2011. This would be the sixth year in a row for the Bearcats to win the conference championship, but their first without legendary coach Mel Tjeerdsma, who retired after last season. The Bearcats have won twelve of the last Continue reading

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FRONTIERADO WEEK: FOUR NEGLECTED WILD WEST FIGURES

 With the Frontierado holiday coming up this Friday, August 5th (and isn’t it great to have a holiday that falls on the Friday of its three-day weekend, not on the Monday?) it’s time for another seasonal post. Since Balladeer’s Blog loves to cover under-the-radar subjects today’s post is about four real Wild West figures who don’t get the pub of the big names. My attitude, as always, is that in real life the legends of the west were thugs and worse but Frontierado is about the myth of the west, not the grinding reality. 

1. TEXAS BEN THOMPSON – That’s our number one figure depicted to the left. Ben and his brother were often called Texas Ben and Texas Billy and I  think using the nickname as often as possible will help Ben’s myth get more attention. Texas Ben served in the Continue reading

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GENERALS PICKED TO ONCE AGAIN WIN THE OLD DOMINION ATHLETIC CONFERENCE

 What football fan doesn’t love the coolness of the logo and the name of the Washington and Lee Generals? Here at Balladeer’s Blog that logo is the honorary 27th letter of the alphabet, forming a combined w and l sound like in “bowl” or “knowledge”. The Generals are the defending champions of the Continue reading

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FRONTIERADO WEEK: THE TOP FOUR WESTERNS BASED ON REAL-LIFE FIGURES

butch cassidy and the sundance kid 2We all know that in real life the celebrated “heroes” of the old west were a pack of corrupt and/or outrightly criminal thugs who would have had a pretty redneckish worldview. And let’s face it, by our standards their personal hygiene habits would have been pretty disgusting. But since the Frontierado holiday is all about celebrating the myth of the West and not the grinding reality of it here’s my list of the Top Four Westerns Based On Real-Life Figures. Coming up with lists like this is one of the perks of being the international commissioner of Frontierado (along with the seven-figure income and a staff of three hundred people).

butch cassidy and the sundance kid1. BUTCH CASSIDY AND THE SUNDANCE KID (1969) – Redford and Newman set the standard for the “buddy western” with this magnificent movie. Newman once described this flick by saying Continue reading

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