Last weekend our weather was perfect and I noticed that our fruit trees in the back yard have awoken from their winter dormancy and are displaying flowery buds. Above is a picture of some buds on our pear tree and here’s what our peach tree is showing off:

It won’t be long before bluebonnets start appearing along the highways to signal the real arrival of spring in the Hill Country!

I went to Book People Monday evening for a book signing. Governor Rick Perry was signing copies of his new book called On My Honor: Why the American Values of the Boy Scouts Are Worth Fighting for. I picked up a copy for myself and another for my nephew Cameron who is an Eagle Scout. There was quite a crowd there and lines were long, but the Governor was cordial and I was able to get my photo taken shaking his hand.

As March Madness approaches I am always in the mood to read a good book or two about college basketball. Last year I read an excellent book, The Miracle of St. Anthony: A Season with Coach Bob Hurley and Basketball’s Most Improbable Dynasty by Adrian Wojnarowski as well as John Feinstein’s Last Dance: Behind the Scenes at the Final Four. While Feinstein’s books are always well-written and his insights into the NCAA basketball championship were fascinating, the St. Anthony’s book was absolutely inspiring, and I sent an email to the author to tell him so. I highly recommend it to anyone looking for a great basketball book to get them primed for March Madness, even though the story revolves around a Catholic high school in New Jersey.

This year I selected two books: Bob Knight: The Unauthorized Biography by Steve Delsohn and Mark Heisler, and Bill Little’s Hoop Tales: Texas Longhorns Men’s Basketball – Great Moments in Team History. I’ll be the first to admit that Texas doesn’t have the legacy of a school like Kansas or North Carolina when it comes to basketball, so it’s not surprising that this book is only 168 pages long. The Knight book was an impulse selection based mostly upon his decision to retire this year. I’ve read about half of it. While interesting and certainly more up to date, it pales in comparison to John Feinstein’s excellent Season on the Brink that chronicled Knight’s 1985-1986 season coaching the Hoosiers.

I won’t deny that freshman Michael Beasley of Kansas State has incredible talent and certainly deserves consideration for player of the year honors in NCAA basketball. But maybe he needs a PR handler to help keep him from making declarations like this before a game like he did last night.

Beasley was held to 5 points in the first half, and 17 for the game as the unranked Nebraska Cornhuskers sent them home with a loss that cost them a share of first place in the Big 12.

My vote for player of the year goes to Tyler Hansbrough of North Carolina. Check out the highlights from the ESPN video on this page. Hopefully the people who vote for the ESPN and AP Player of Year awards and the Naismith, Wooden, and Rupp awards were watching SportsCenter last night to see Beasley’s bold commentary and Hansbrough’s actions that speak louder than words.

My pal Kevin introduced me to a very cool widget builder called Sprout. I made my first Sprout this evening. It was inspired by seeing Ingrid Michaelson on a morning talk show on Valentine’s Day while I was in Ann Arbor. I liked the song she sang so much I went immediately to iTunes and bought it. Maybe you’ll do the same!

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