Books I've Been Reading & News I've Been Following

I've been quiet in the blogosphere lately, so I figured a look at my bookshelf would be worth a little time. Lately I've been reading whatever I can get my hands on about the global war on terror (GWOT). Most have been from the perspective of an officer, but a couple have been from that of a embedded journalist. 

• The Unforgiving Minute: A Soldier's Education by Craig M. Mullaney (Army/West Point/Afghanistan/Iraq)
• One Bullet Away: The Making of a Marine Officer by Nathaniel C. Fick (Marine OCS/Iraq)
• Joker One: 

  A Marine Platoon's Story of Courage, Leadership, and Brotherhood

   by Donovan Campbell (Marine OCS/Iraq)
• Kaboom: Embracing the Suck in a Savage Little War by Matt Gallagher (Army ROTC/Iraq)
• Generation Kill by Evan Wright (embed in Iraq invasion)
• The Forever War by Dexter Filkins (embed in Iraq)
• The Good Soldiers by David Finkel (embed in Iraq)
• War by Sebastian Junger (embed in Afghanistan)
• Faith Under Fire: An Army Chaplain's Memoir by Roger Benimoff (Iraq)

A couple of other books that I've been tearing through are ones suggested to me by the above books or other military personnel.

• Three Cups of Tea: One Man's Mission to Promote Peace...One School at a Time by Greg Mortenson and David Oliver Relin
• Stones into Schools: Promoting Peace with Books, Not Bombs, in Afghanistan and Pakistan by Greg Mortenson
• The Things They Carried by Tim O'Brien (Vietnam)
• Small Unit Leadership: A Common Sense Approach by Col. Dandridge M. Malone

Perfect preparation prevents piss poor performance people.  That's what I've been reading or have on my to read list. I'd recommend any one of these books, but The Unforgiving Minute and Kaboom are probably my favorite so far. 

Moving to something much less serious, I've been absolutely obsessed with the college football conference expansion talk. What's going to happen to my beloved Cyclone Athletics? 

If Mizzou and Nebraska bolt for the Big 10, the Big 12 South teams will go to the Pac-10 to form the Pac-16. Baylor isn't part of that talk but Texan politicians will do just about anything to follow UT, Tech, A&M, OU, and OSU. Colorado will be taken by the Mountain West Conference along with Boise St. If that happens ISU, KSU, and KU are left out in the cold. 

The Big East is being eyed as a tasty tidbit by the ACC because SEC expansion rumors towards Miami and Florida State (ACC members) are out there as well. But all that may rely on whether Notre Dame joins the Big 10 or stays 1-A Independent. The Big 10 may stop expansion there. 

Levels upon levels of "what ifs". I just hope my Clones find a strong home and good competition that will be visible on the national scale. I like the suggestion that we coattail into the Big 10 with Nebraska, Mizzou, KU, and KSU, thus creating the Big 16. CyHawk rivalry becomes conference game and we get to play border states like Minnesota, Wisconsin, and Illinois? Very attractive, but unlikely. 

A new conference where we're still with KU and Kansas? Raiding and pillaging some smaller conferences for some other Midwestern teams sounds more attractive than playing in the WAC, MWC, or C-USA. 

For now we sit and wait to see what happens.