Question: If a man had shot his sleeping wife in the back and killed her, taken his children and fled, admitted it to multiple law enforcement officers, and lost $17,000 to Nigerian scammers, would he still be able to make bail?



Of course, that's a joke, because not in a million years would he be offered bail.

Prediction: For her next trick, Mary Winkler will throw herself on the mercy of the court on account that she is a widow.

Dr. Helen just posted some information on Borderline Personality Disorder. I've dealt with borderlines in my life, and they wreak nothing but pain and suffering on those around them. A friend of mine was married to one, every other week she went from princess to monster and back again. I won't delve into my personal experiences, I'll just say that while they were horrible, I was fortunate enough not to marry or date one. That's one thing I disagree with Helen's post about: borderlines certainly are NOT good dating material. They are unstable and vicious, and any long term interaction with them is bound to end badly.

I'm no professional, but I think Borderlines are the most undiagnosed personality disorder in America today. In fact, many suspected borderlines are famous or even celebrated for their behavior, such as Madonna, Princess Diana Roseanne (dubious claims of being an incest victim, and of being a psychic who is "one hundred percent correct at all times", Omarosa of the Bachelor, etc.

Many reality shows have contestants with strong borderline traits. Like a car wreck, they're hard to ignore. They cause drama, hopefully (if you're a producer) increasing ratings. And many fashion magazines encourage women to act in borderline fashion. Is it any wonder the disorder is frequently undiagnosed? Borderline behavior is so commonplace that it is sometimes excused as normal, or (worse?) misdiagnosed as Bipolar.

The two best stories I've read online about Borderlines are My Trip to Oz and Back (a lesbian recounts her years with a borderline partner), and Thomas Scoville's tale of being married to a borderline, Borderlands. If reading those two stories hit close to home for you, GET OUT OF YOUR RELATIONSHIP NOW. Because offering a borderline help or emotional support often makes them worse, it is a tricky disorder to treat, and probably not possible for someone with an emotional investment in the person.

Virginia Football Commitment Reviews

I spent some time collecting the names of football players who committed to Virginia each of the past 15 years, and grading them on their careers. The asterisks (*) are indicative of the player's ranking coming out of high school. The pluses (+) indicate how well that player's career went. I gave one plus mark for each year of starting, and an additional plus if that player was all ACC caliber. I then adjusted the rankings slightly (usually no more than one plus added or sutracted) for my personal impressions of that player's career. A four or five plus player is considered a "star", and a two or three plus player is considered a "contributor".

Then I added the each player's score to give a total class score. According to how I have scored the players, 1992 was the best Virginia football recruiting class ever, and 1998 was the worst.

1990
1991
1992
1993
1994
1995
1996
1997
1998
1999
2000
2001
2002
2003
2004
2005

You absolutely must see this flash animation about ebaumsworld.com.

Yeah, I know who I am. I'll admit Virginia deserves to be in the top 25 now.

Earlier this season, the Hoos' offense was scaring no one, and our defense had given up over 1,000 yards and 70 points against Maryland and Boston College. We'd beaten bad teams like Western Michigan, Syracuse, and Duke, looking embarassingly average.

Virginia had a much more talented and experienced defense last year at every position. We lost two starting linebackers (Dennis Haley has been off and on with the Jets), and our best linebacker has been hurt for months. We lost our two best defensive lineman from last year (Andrew Hoffman has been on the Browns' practice squad). We're starting a true freshman at one cornerback and a true sophmore at safety. Our starting running back has been dinged up all year. We lost two of our three best offensive linemen from last year, and three of our current OL starters have missed significant time. Our wideouts are average, our two best tight ends from last year are in the NFL now (not to mention our best running back). And we have a quarterback who must have been standing on a telephone book when they measured him at 5'11".

So how did we jump up and beat the number four team in the nation, after looking like crap in our first five games?

Florida State did not start the season in the top 10, and had shaky quarterback and offensive line play all year. Without a fumbled snap on a late field goal, Miami likely would have beaten them in overtime. Against Boston College they returned an interception for a touchdown, and had two short touchdown drives after another interception and a blocked punt. FSU's defense has been good but not great. They weren't impressive or dominating (even in their other games), yet rose to #4 mostly on reputation and no losses. In retrospect they seem overrated.

Virginia made the plays they had to to win though. The offense played absolutely all out, with four trick plays in the first half. (None of them worked, I guess that's what makes them so tricky.) We threw the ball constantly, with maybe ten designed runs in the first 53 minutes. Eleven players caught passes. Wali Lundy made his first big play of the year, making the catch at the 10, breaking a tackle at the 5, and powering into the end zone late in the first half. Even Maurice "we have a number 80?" Covington made a big catch!

Florida State didn't help themselves with several critical penalties and mishaps. Cornerback Tony Carter was burned all day long by multiple receivers. He had two pass interference penalties on the first drive that led to a touchdown. And he gave us our last first down with another pass interference call. A Lorenzo Washington touchdown was called back for holding. An interception was nullified by a late hit. They were all the correct calls, but were the type of calls that don't go our way much of the time.

On the other hand, it could have been worse for the Seminoles. The first interception (by Marcus Hamilton, having perhaps the best year of any Virginia defender not named Kai Parham) was a horribly overthrown ball. On the second int, with FSU at their own 1, Chris Gorham was backpedaling even before the snap. Weatherford threw the ball straight to him. The third, game sealing interception was blanket coverage by Tony Franklin, the ball never should have been thrown to that receiver. And there were at least three other passes that hit Virginia defenders right in the hands. Twice Deyon Williams was open behind the secondary for sure touchdowns but was a step behind the ball.

Give the Virginia defense credit. Outside of the 58 yard touchdown, FSU only ran for 37 yards. After a personal foul gave FSU first and goal at the 2, Brennan Schmidt had perhaps the biggest defensive play of the game. He came in unblocked and caused a five yard loss. Six plays inside the 10 for FSU, but only three points. I saw the 3-4, the 4-3, zone blitzes, safety blitzes, passes knocked down, and good run support everywhere.

But the biggest reason we won Saturday: Marques Hagans. I've said before we might be a four win team without him. Anybody who watched the game now knows why. Countless times he was pressured from the pocket only to make incredibly accurate throws on the run. Countless times he dodged sure sacks and made FSU linemen look silly. Without him we might have lost by three touchdowns. He was that good.

Coming up: FSU has games against Maryland, NCSU, Clemson, and Florida. They could go anywhere from 4-0 to 1-3. FSU is vulnerable, but none of those teams is overpowering.

Virginia has a tougher schedule. Two more top 10 teams in Virginia Tech and Miami, plus pick-em type games against Georgia Tech and at UNC. (Plus Temple.) GT and UNC are very important games for bowl eligibility and positioning, and a win against the Hokies or Canes would be some very tasty icing.

The Yellow Jackets and Tar heels are far from gimmes. Getting seven wins is going to be tough. If we manage to beat both of them (which would make me pretty happy in and of itself), it could set up a HUMONGOUS game at home against the Hokies.

I can only hope the game turns out to be that big. This is why I love college football.

Monday night I saw a special free screening of Serenity, the movie followup to the TV series Firefly. The series is a bit complex to give a full rundown, but I'll try to give a three sentence summary.

It's 500 years in the future and mankind has moved to a new frontier in a new solar system, with an 1880s style Western flavor. Mal, a former soldier on the losing side of a civil war, captains his starship Serenity trying to make a living as an honest outlaw. His motley crew and passengers include a pilot, mechanic, two ship's mates, courtesan, preacher, doctor, and the doctor's young sister.

While I am a big fan of the series' clever dialogue and character interaction, I tended to get bored with the long term subplot of the mystery of River, the doctor's sister. I was afraid that the movie would center on that and try to view River as some deep and obsessive mystery. Look, she hears voices and dances! Oooo how mysterious!

Fortunately, while she does take up a large piece of the plot, it isn't too overdone. The characters are seemingly disparate, but manage to fit together. There's plenty of dark moments, but you can't blame the characters for their choices. Their motivations are complex and their actions understandable. There's plenty of laugh lines. At the end, the mysteries are solved in satisfyingly dark fashion. There's room for a sequel, but no call for one. (As a side note, the soundtrack didn't have as much a Western flavor as the series' music, you may view that as a plus or (like me) a slight minus.)

There are a couple of weak parts, including a weak start (certainly forced by the movie company to introduce people who hadn't seen the show before). Afterwards the movie catches stride. It raises the bar set by the series, not a huge leap but a noticeable one. Serenity ends up much more character driven, funny, and engrossing than any science fiction story this side of Battlestar Galactica.

4 stars out of 5.

Last minute UVa - Maryland thoughts:

Neither team has impressed so far, and both have similar (tough) schedules the rest of the way. UVa is 3-0, but Maryland has had a tougher schedule. I think Virginia has slightly more talent, but the team has not gelled yet. It is critical that we build on last week's win against Duke and put together quality effort as a team. The team can't show up and be confused by what Maryland throws at them, it could push back the team's growth at just the wrong moment. And Maryland is the kind of team that could come up with wrinkles and tricks in their offense to confuse our young defense.

This is shaping up to be a very important game. It could very well decide who goes to a bowl and who doesn't. A loss to either team could be a setback that reverberates through the rest of the year.

I wouldn't be surprised if UVa LB Ahmad Brooks makes his season debut.