Thursday Thoughts

--So now there's a woman from Centreville, IL suing the Lowes company for allowing a bird to fly into her head and supposedly causing all sorts of physical damage. She was allegedly shopping in the garden department...which is not under roof...and this big, bad bird came swooping down...at the direction of Lowes management I'm sure...and knocked her down. Where will it all end? Has anyone ever heard of the word accident? Or is someone, somewhere, always responsible for someone else's misfortunes? As you already knew, the lawyers are out of control.

--My predictions in yesterday's post were close. But along with the rest of "American Idol" fans I was pretty shocked that Bo Bice was in the bottom three. When you think about it though, he has been pretty ordinary the last couple of weeks. And, I'm sure he and Constantine draw votes from the same base of fans. Constantine has continued to impress and improve...while Bo has stagnated.

--Once again, former Cardinals pitcher Steve Kline is trying to remove a rather large foot from his mouth. He told Rick Hummel of the Post-Dispatch the other day that he missed St. Louis and was miserable in Baltimore. Yesterday he called his teammates and the Baltimore press together to tell them that he really didn't mean it that way. Kline has always had a way of saying things before his brain is warmed up.

--One of the late Johnnie Johnson's biggest fans was Eric Clapton. It will be interesting to see if Clapton puts in a St. Louis appearance at Johnson's funeral.

--I see where the statistics are in for teen birth rates. In 2002 the rate of teens giving birth was down markedly. The very positive side-effect--fewer kids living in poverty and on the welfare dole. I wonder if the word is finally getting through that having babies when you are still a kid and living with your parents...or parent...or guardian...or (insert parental unit here)..is not such a great thing, and no badge of honor. I'm guessing that the trend away from actual intercourse...and toward Bill Clinton-type activity...is also partly responsible.

--Prediction--Next week on Idol--Scott Savol's luck runs out.