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The Inaugural Hookstead’s Friday Mailbag Is Here — Check It Out

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David Hookstead Sports And Entertainment Editor
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Welcome to our inaugural “Hookstead’s Friday Mailbag.”

I’ll be taking questions on any topic. There is literally nothing that is off-limits in this mailbag. Ask me about sports, politics, culture, entertainment, life advice and anything else you can think up. I will ALWAYS give you my unfiltered and straightforward take on the situation.

Let’s get started.

So, my best friends from college, five of us total, all live in different cities across the southeast. One lives in Mississippi, another in Baton Rouge, another in Atlanta, another in West Texas and the other in Washington, D.C. We had planned a trip together to go to a fishing camp in the Gulf of Mexico for a long weekend. The camp is in the middle of nowhere (no cell service, no running water, nothing) so it would be a great opportunity for us to catch up after being out of school for a few years. Three of us are single, one has a girlfriend he doesn’t care much for, and another has a serious girlfriend that he plans to marry (not anytime soon, probably 2-3 years from now). She was living in Dallas but moved to the same city as him to be closer to him. The move was going to happen the week after the fishing trip, but she had to push it up a week for her new job. So now it conflicted with the trip. We had all already bought plane tickets and were excited about the trip. The friend with the serious girlfriend backed out so that he could be there when she moved in. What are your thoughts on this? Bitch move? Or smart man for being there for the woman he is going to marry eventually?

This is not an easy situation. First, your buddy’s fishing camp sounds like an awesome place. We all need a place like that to get away to from time-to-time. Secondly, there are no really good options for your buddy here. It’ll surely piss off his girlfriend if he goes on the trip with his buddies. On the other hand, it should upset all of you if he bails. Helping her move is a good excuse. But is it good enough to ditch his buddies? I’m not sure.

The reality of the situation is your buddy is at a point in his life where he has to start deciding if this is a woman he’ll marry, and thus, prioritize over his college buddies. If I was your buddy at his age, I’d simply tell my girlfriend I can’t ditch my close friends over a planned trip when they’ve already bought the plane tickets and it’s been on the schedule. She’ll either understand and move on, or she’ll throw a fit for the ages. Both will be an indication of how the future will be. Marry her if she’s cool with it, and be very cautious if she freaks out. That is a serious red flag.

LSU fan here, and you may remember last year the lucky victory the Wisconsin Badgers had over us in a meeting at Lambeau Field (Les Miles is no longer our coach, thankfully, though I love who he is as a man, not a coach). I want to thank Wisconsin for giving us the greatest victory by allowing Dave Aranda to come be our assistant head coach and defensive coordinator. You heard it here first: over the next two years LSU will have arguably the greatest college defense of all time. The talent we have (levels for which Ohio State would never have, let alone Wisconsin lol) paired with the genius of Aranda, I legitimately believe at minimum we will win the championship next year and will without a doubt be in the mix for it this year. So my question is, why did Wisconsin allow Aranda to get away? And with what I believe to be pending success at LSU (I don’t believe we will be able to keep him long when we win championships), what’s a potential landing spot for him as a head coach?

That wasn’t a lucky victory. That was the Badgers defense bottling up LSU, and the Tigers’ quarterback play being exposed as even worse than people thought. Wisconsin was simply better that day.

As an alumnus of Wisconsin, I actually have a lot of great insight on the Aranda situation. It simply came down to the Badgers believed he could be replaced at a great rate and without losing much on the field. Their gamble paid off. The Badgers defense has been rock solid, and we haven’t lost anything since Aranda left. Having said that, Aranda is an incredible coach. I’d be very worried if I’m an LSU fan that he’ll leave soon for a head coaching job. I can’t think of a single coordinator in all of America who is more likely to be nabbed for a major head coaching job right now than Aranda. There is a strong chance I’d give him a look for the Ole Miss job or the Arkansas job if both are open at the end of the season.

Finally, let’s slow the roll on LSU winning national championships just yet. Win the SEC West before we start talking about hoisting national championship trophies.

So, one of my roommates is a few years out of college and works in the House. As many folks know, Members of Congress have college students come to DC every semester to intern in their offices and learn about how the city works. So, being a congressional staffer, my roommate has interns that work under him. Last spring, he got a little too friendly with an intern who worked in the opposite chamber of Congress and ended up dating her for the last week or so of her internship. Then they broke up in the following weeks when she moved back home. Sure, that’s fine to date an intern that works on the other side of the Hill. Now, this summer my roommate’s office had a cute girl interning in HIS office. Well, same thing happened. They got a little friendly with each other and ended up starting to date two weeks before she went back home. Another note: not a single person in his office know he is dating this chick. What are your thoughts on this? Bad move or no big deal?

This move can only be judged once we know how well your roommate loves his job. Does he love and value his job? Well, then it’s probably a stupid move and not worth the risk. If he doesn’t care, then what’s the downside? He gets cut loose and moves on. Not a big deal.

Even if word leaked that they started dating two weeks early, I imagine he could find a way to wiggle out of trouble. He’d have to deny, obviously, but I can’t imagine there is a ton of evidence in a two-week period.

Generally speaking, I’m 100 percent against getting into relationships with interns. It’s a potential lawsuit waiting to happen. It also depends a lot on the woman. A woman who is relatively sane isn’t going to represent much of a risk. It’s a whole different ballgame if she’s crazy.

Crazy women can be incredibly fun, but the downside can’t be overstated. They might feel the urge to spout off if they’re bitter when the relationship ends.

Overall, if your roommate is a smart guy with good judgment, I’d lean toward saying this isn’t a big deal. We kind of have to wait and see how this one plays out before we can be totally sure.

If you had to pick one, which celebrity would you rate a perfect 10?

I never rate anything a perfect 10 because it means I’m literally putting a cap on anything ever being better. Having said that, if I had to pick one celebrity as the most attractive in the game, it’d be Gal Gadot — without a doubt. “Wonder Woman” doesn’t screw around when it comes to being the most attractive woman in Hollywood.

(Photo by Tim P. Whitby/Getty Images)

LONDON, ENGLAND – MAY 07: Actress Gal Gadot attends the World Premiere of ‘Fast & Furious 6’ at Empire Leicester Square on May 7, 2013 in London, England. (Photo by Tim P. Whitby/Getty Images)

(Photo by Andrew H. Walker/Getty Images for Gucci Fragrance)

NEW YORK, NY – JULY 14: Actress Gal Gadot attends the Gucci Bamboo Fragrance launch on July 14, 2015 in New York City. (Photo by Andrew H. Walker/Getty Images for Gucci Fragrance)

Gal Gadot (Credit: Getty Images/Andrew H. Walker)

Gal Gadot (Credit: Getty Images/Andrew H. Walker)

Hey, David, one of your biggest fans here. 

My question is: We all know you write about hot women all the time, but what hot women are in your life right now? As an ardent defender of hot women’s rights and women’s rights in general, I’m sure you have many lined up for a date. Please list descriptions and pictures of the hot women that dominate your love life.

I am one of the biggest supporters and fiercest defenders of the rights of hot women. Thank you for recognizing the countless sacrifices I have made. However, being one of the fiercest defenders of women also means not throwing private women up all over the internet. I don’t want to wake up one night being given a non-voluntary vasectomy because a woman is upset I described her to my millions of readers. Respect the game.

Night games have become much more common in recent years, but many schools (such as Michigan) still prefer to play their games during the day. If you were running Wisconsin, how many night games would you schedule each year?

I would schedule a lot in the years when we’re great, and not many in the years the school isn’t expected to be a top-25 program.

The pros for a night games are pretty simple to grasp. You get to play on primetime television if you’re a highly ranked school, it’s great for the atmosphere of the school, and it’s great for recruiting. I saw Russell Wilson and the Badgers play Nebraska in their inaugural Big Ten game under the lights, and it was incredible. That atmosphere is only possible in a nighttime setting.

There are only two negatives in my eyes. One, you run the potential of getting blown the hell out on primetime television. That’s a horrible look. There is also a serious safety concern. October and November nights in Wisconsin can get brutally cold. It’s without a doubt cold enough to get incredibly sick or even die.

I went to Wisconsin, and have been drunk at plenty of football games. I was also smart enough to dress for the weather. Some people don’t have functional brains. It’s a disaster for the campus if a student freezes to death because they passed out drunk outside when it’s below zero degrees.

So, if I was running Wisconsin or any other major program, I would schedule as many night games as possible. I would also want one major night game a year early in the season against a non-conference opponent.

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