The Last 5.... (09.26.07)

The Last 5 (the shortened because I have to travel for work edition)


..... songs played in shuffle mode on my mp3 player

• Bruce Springsteen - Lonesome Day
• Jason Aldean - Hicktown
• Pearl Jam - Spin the Black Circle
• Counting Crows - Hanging Around
• The David Crowder Band - Here is Our King

....blog entries I have read

• I actually hadn't been to this site in awhile
• Which is why there are 2 links back to back
• The Video of this incident is crazy....you can you tube it or see it at espn.com
• Isn't this one of those "majic hall-of-fame numbers" guaranteeing you entry into the aformentioned Hall-of-Fame? Who knows, anyway, congrats Corey on the career milestone.
• I think the Tigers should consider signing this guy. BTW, I have purposely not addressed the Tigers since the All-Star break here on my blog. Most of you know I am a HUGE Tigers fan and being a season ticket holder attend my fair share of games. None the less, I'll have something about their disasterous season soon.

....teams in the USA Today Top 25

• 21 - South Carolina Gamecocks
• 22 - Nebraska Cornhuskers
• 23 - MICHIGAN STATE SPARTANS
• 24 - Alabama Crimson Tide
• 25 - Arizona State Sun Devils and Purdue Boilermakers

....locations I have traveled to for work

• Wilmington, OH
• Chicago, IL
• Toledo, OH
• Toledo, OH (Again)
• St. Louis, MO

Week 3 Fantasy Football

YEAH!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Roy Williams went Chad Johnson and I stayed in control pretty much all day (even with DeShaun Foster and 30+ points on the bench and knowing my opponent had Vince Young going last night).

168.05 to 141.69



So, yes, I guess I will go up against 140 points every week but I finally was the beneficiary of some spectacular afternoons by my Kool-Aid team.

My top 3 Roy Williams (52.2), Adrian Peterson (25.2), and Jags DST (24) for 101.4

His top 3 Donald Driver (26.2), Willie Parker (22.5), and Vince Young (20.3) for 69.0

The other stud "RBs"

Gore - 5.1 (39.2 season total)
Alexander - 15.8 (52.5 season total) who is now hurt with a cracked wrist
Rudi - 4.2 (39.7 season total) who now left his game in the 4th with a groin injury
Parker - 22.5 (65.2 season total)

And Peyton - 19.65 for a season total of 77.25

Top RB in the whole league is Brian Westbrook (who will not be playing the Lions every week) with 81.5 grand total. He's also the only RB to be outscoring Peyton for the year.

And while I cannot blame the top 2 guys in our league taking LT and S-Jax, they have vastly underperformed and now S-Jax is out for Week 4.

The marquee QBs and WRs are still the most consistent week in and week out. Manning and Palmer will always be available to any player who wants them, no matter what pick you have (unless people start going Do the Opposite all over your draft). And then the top 5 WRs of Marvin, Chad Johnson, Torry Holt, TO, and Steve Smith are still always the same 5 every year. You can get any of those 2 players in the first 2 rounds of every draft. Throw in the second tier players of Antonio Gates, Reggie Wayne, Roy Williams, Boldin, Fitzgerald, Randy Moss, Houshmanzadeh who are sometimes asked to carry a fantasy team's WR corp and you get them as your number #2.

Really, all that is required of you employing this method is the "sack" to pull it off and then research those mid-round rb's to see which rbs you should grab in the middle rounds. In 2005, Rudi fell to me in the 4th, 2006 Westbrook fell to me in the 4th, and this year Thomas Jones fell to me in the 4th. I grabbed Adrian Peterson in the 5th and was able to get DeShaun Foster in round 11! So I am rolling Peyton, Holt, Roy Williams, AP, T. Jones, and Foster every week.

Do the Opposite!!

Drawing the Line

Where do Christians draw the line?

Should we even draw the line?

Everyone knows by now about the Kathy Griffin comment, so no need to re-hash it here.

But why are most Christians doing more than just turning the other cheek? They're giving her a free pass. Her comment is detestable and disgusting in every way imagineable. It should be ok, that I or anyone else, find it offensive and state it so. Regardless of whether or not you are a devout follower of Jesus Christ.

I'm not advocating "condemning her" (by the way, if anyone wants to define what "condemning her means", I'm open to it). I'm not advocating a Clint Eastwood reaction to everything that rubs Christianity the wrong way. Not only is that response unbiblical, but to some very drastic results, it has been tried in the past by the whole of Christianity.

But as a Christian, it is perfectly ok and reasonable, and should be expected that you draw the line...somewhere. And a comment like this, should be one of those instances.

The missional, emergeing, let's talk about it, never argue about it type always point to the love, peace, and compassion taught and lived out by Jesus and then continued by the apostles in the beginning of the early church. They point to the fact that Jesus nor the apostles got mixed up in the politics of it all. They lived for an audience of one. I'm down with all of that, and in the last couple of years I have changed a lot in that area myself. Sure, I still talk and write about politics, but I have realized to mix that with religion isn't the way it should be. But it goes more than just abortion and gay rights, but universal healthcare and the death penalty too. But that's for a different day and time. I've grown up, not afraid to say it.

But this comment goes to the heart of the matter of the whole human race. Deliberate, willful rebellion against God and his word.

Jesus drew the line at this in his own life. Remember the incident at the temple? He literally beat out all the people, kicked over the tables, and started yelling. *Gasp* Jesus got pissed and got physical with those who were using the temple to make a financial gain (hey, I wonder if Jesus cares about the church at all...I know, different day and time). He does all this by quoting scripture. *Gasp* using the scriptures to promote a physical (violent) reaction to someone disobeying God's word.

"That's not the Jesus way"

Well maybe it is.

Look, I'm not saying I am going to go get a lead pipe and beat her over the head with it. I'm not saying it would be nice to see Rob Bell, Max Lucado, Mark Driscoll, John Piper, Brian McLaren, et al. actually take a stance on something and voice an opinion. I'm not advocating boycotting her show, or the network, or the sponsors, or the co-stars, or the picture company, or the director, or any other direct or indirect connection to Kathy, or yes, to even alter my investment choices. I'm not saying a vigilante group of Christians should get together and go up-turn the tables and break the cameras on the set of Kathy's TV show.

I'm not saying any of that. But, for me to be offended and renounce her comment as not funny and not acceptable anywhere, ever should not get me the label of close-minded, uncompassionate, and/or I am condeming her.

But I will cop to being close-minded if you tell me the comment didn't offend you, and my response to you is I'm grieved for you.

Jesus accepted everyone and anyone, but he drew the line when it came to slandering his Father's name.

Here for Kathy's inaccuracy from the Catholic perspective and here for more Catholic repsonse and why they maybe have it right sometimes.

Ummm.....Oops

Debbie Stabenow can't shake those photographs.

First there was that speech in Congress standing in front a sign that said "Dangerously Incompetent." Some Stabenow aide should have been fired for that one, but the Senator took the ribbing graciously.

Now she is in the main illustration of a New York Times story on the campaign-contribution bad boy, Norman Hsu. She's clearly having a good time with the guy. The senator takes the hit even though everybody in Congress is guilty of money-grubbing. It's the way the system works, what with contributions declared free speech.

Even Hillary got sucked in by Hsu and gave back $850,000 in loot.

The GOP does the same thing: Take the money no matter where it's from.


Something's wrong. No lawmaker don't seems eager to fix it, lest they slow the flow of mother's milk.

The Last 5....(09.19.07)

The Last 5 (the talk like a pirate day edition..Gar)

.....Ahoy mates, songs played in shuffle mode on my mp3 player.

• Blink 182 - What's My Age Again
• Jars of Clay - Flood
• Pearl Jam - Corduroy
• Pearl Jam - Leavin' Here
• The Rolling Stones - Brown Sugar
  

.....Aye, meals I ate in no particular order

• Stuffed Peppers
• Bowl of Pasta
• Cajun Burger from McCaffery's Pub in Lincoln Park
• Sheppard's Pie
• Bowl of Honey Bunches of Oats

.....Garrrr, teams in the USA Today Top 25 for College Football.

• 21 - Georgia Bulldogs
• 22 - Nebraska Cornhuskers
• 23 - Kentucky Wildcats
• 24 - South Florida
• 25 - Missouri

.....Michigan State Football Final Scores (going back to last year obviously...anyone see the pattern), Shiver me Timbers

• 11.11.06 against Minnesota 18-31
• 11.18.06 against Penn St 13-17
• 09.01.07 against UAB 55-18
• 09.08.07 against Bowling Green 28-17
• 09.15.07 against Pittsburgh 17-13

....Arrrrr blog entries I read. Aye

• Not really a "blog" entry, but it has controversy with it
• No idea why this is even remotely necessary, or why people are falling all over it as pure genius, but here it is anyway
• More Randomness
• My idea behind these serious of posts seem to be taking off....
• The church matters

....Avast there ye mateys, movies I watched

• The Ex
• Van Helsing
• Remember the Titans
• The Untouchables
• The Manchurian Candidate

Week 2 Fantasy Football

Improvement over last week...same result.

Chad Johnson went Chad Johnson on me.

In our league we have a saying called "going Chad Johnson" on someone. If you remember back to last year. CJ had a game where he went for 260 receiving yards and 3 tds. In our league that got him 70+ points. (5 point bonus at 100 yards, 10 point bonus at 200 yards, plus 2 points/10 yards after 100 yards, and 3 pts/10 yards after 200 yards). Last year, that team needed 60+ points from CJ to win their game, and it happened.

Well I got Chad Johnsoned.

131.8 to 122.3. So, so frustrating. CJ went off for 59.7 points.

I was winning heading into the Monday night game, but the team I was playing had the Philly Defense and Mcnabb going, I knew my chances were slim, very slim. I needed a McNabb injury or brutal game and a Washington blow-out. I got close but......

Riiiiiiiiiight.

His top 3 scorers: Chad Johnson (59.7), Cedric Benson (16.1), and McNabb (13.5) to total 89.3. So yes, one of his players accounted for over 45% of his scoring.

My top 3: Jags Defense for 27 (hey they showed up a week too late), Peyton 25.2 and Holt 23.1 to total 75.3.

As for the other "stud rbs

Gore - 20.5 (34.1 season total)
Alexander - 13.5 (36.7 season total)
Rudi - 26.9 (35.5 season total)
Parker - 26.9 (42.7 season total)

Peyton is outscoring them all at 57.6. Matter of fact, the onlyRB that is outscoring Peyton is Jamel Lewis!!! And he's been on the team that owns him bench for the first 2 weeks. I know it is only 2 weeks, but the funny thing is that the first 5 teams that drafted are a combined 2-8.

But, it is only 2 weeks. And I am 0-2, but only one game out of the playoffs.

But this trend has got to change. I did have Braylon Edwards riding the pine this week and if I would have played him I would have won the game. That's the way it goes.

We'll see what happens.

Throwing a Hissy Fit

MoveOn.org threw a hissy fit, taking out a newspaper ad suggesting Gen. Petraeus is "General Betray Us." Good stuff, if you like semi-snappy language that libels a soldier at war. And this, days before he even presents his findings to Congress.

MoveOn leaders pretend to know more about Iraq than the general who lives there. MoveOn was founded as a special interest group amid the bitter partisan warfare in Washington in the late 1990s. But now the organization itself vomits up partisan bile.

In a recent poll, 63 percent of Americans say they have confidence in Petraeus, who holds a Ph.D. in international relations from Princeton. His 63 percent is substantially higher than the numbers for Bush and the Democrats in Congress.

So, Moveon.org took out a full page ad in the most influential paper in the country to impugn the integrity of David Petraeus - a highly decorated four star general who has spent his life in service to America and is currently leading 160,000 of our citizen-soldiers in war - and to call him a liar two days before he offered testimony to the United States Congress. Yes, it generated "buzz." But it was still a truly slanderous, repugnant thing to do.

Mitt 2008?...getting closer now.



And one more 9/11 item......

Here is some sentiment from 6 years (it is a PDF file) and right on.

The Last 5....(09.12.07)

AND WE'RE BACK....

With Fantasy Football back and the fact I take weekends off (most times) from the Internet (except for Fantasy Football.....I said "most times") The Last 5.... will move to Wednesday's. Tuesday's will be fantasy football updates.

So anyway:

.....songs played in suffle mode on my on my mp3 player

• Silvertide - Ain't Coming Home
• James - Laid
• The Ataris - Boys of Summer
• U2 - Vertigo
• Earth, Wind, and Fire - Sing A Song

.....teams in the USA Today Top 25 this week

• Oregon
• Hawaii
• South Carolina
• Tennessee
• Georgia

.....Michigan Football Final Scores (going back to last year obviously....anyone see the pattern)

• 11.11.06 against Indiana (quite the juggernaut) 34-3
• 11.18.06 against THE Ohio State 39 - 42
• 01.01.07 agianst USC 18-32
• 09.01.07 against Appalachian St (you know, of Division 1-AA fame) 32-34
• 09.08.07 against Oregon (the quack attack baby) 7-39

.....blog entries I read

• This is why chicks dig the long ball (and not pitchers)
• I cannot give you the exact entry, but go here and look for his "Mascot Bloopers" entry
• This is fast becoming my favorite theology website...bar none.
• Ok, not a "blog" but hilarious!! Absolutely Hilarious
• American Rememberance

Week 1 Fantasy Football

What a start 115.4 points and 0-1.

That's right, I lost while scoring 115 points. Unfortunately, the team I went up against had the Pittsburgh defense and since Cleveland is continually fighting with Detroit for last place supremacy in the world of football I had to overcome a 42 point performance with the Defense.

7 pts against
221 total yards against
2 Int
4 Fumble Recoveries
6 sacks

Our league does score defenses a little higher than most leagues do (it is 11 guys rolled into one scoring category afterall) but 42 was way too much. The average starting defense scored 21 points in our league. I lost by 28. His went off for 45, mine for only 13 (Jacksonville). That's the difference in the game right there.

143.55 to 115.4 was the final score. Those that are regalar fantasy football guys that that 143.55 is pretty dang high for fantasy football. If you score 115 on a regular basis you are going to win your games more often than not.

His top 3 scorers this week were Kitna (30.15), Addai (27.1), and Pittsburgh Defense (42) to total 99.25 points

My top 3 were Peyton (32.4), Adrian Peterson (27.6), and Torry Holt (13.3) totaling 73.3

As for all those "stud rbs" I should have taken over Peyton Manning here is there breakdown:

Frank Gore - 13.6 (season totals 13.6)
Shaun Alexander - 23.2 (season total 23.2)
Rudi Johnson - 8.6 (season total 8.6)
Willie Parker - 15.8 (season total 15.8)

Remember LT, S-Jax, LJ, and Addai were the first 4 taken, I took Peyton at 5. Those 4 guys above went right after Peyton.

So after week 1 I am 0-1. But still confident in my team's ability to score points and not face 140+ points every week.

6 years

Grief has always been our most well-policed emotion. Mourning is painful, so we make it the stuff of pageantry -- of muffled drums and riderless horses and black draped catafalques. To suffer collectively is, if nothing else, to suffer prettily.

What's harder to know is, When is enough enough? A lot of Americans are quietly, and guiltily, asking themselves that question today. Today is the sixth September 11 since 2001. A sixth anniversary is an awkward thing, without raw feeling of a first or the numerical tidiness of a fifth or 10th. The families of the 2,973 people murdered that day need no calendrical gimmick to feel their loss, but a nation of 300 million -- rightly or wrongly -- is another matter.

Some have suggested that we discontinue the moments of silence and solemn speeches and all the other ceremonies that have marked our recent Sept. 11s. While many argue that would leave the day bereft of meaning, it's possible that there are deeper kinds of meaning to be had.

On Sept. 5, German authorities announced the arrest of a group planning a series of terrorists attacks described as "massive" and "imminent." The day before, Denmark pulled off a similar coup, raiding 11 locations in Copenhagen and arresting eight people who had been storing "unstable explosives" in preperation for their own terrorist strike. Both groups are said to have links to al-Qaeda.

Meanwhile, at ground zero in New York City, the steel and concrete of the building that will replace the lost towers have at last risen to street level -- not much compared with what was once there but plenty compared with the smoking hole the site had been. And in a briefly scary preamble to the week -- one in which no one was hurt -- New Yorkers jumped and then rolled their eyes as a criminal fool set off an inept built pipe bomb on a quiet street downtown. The locals, who now know a thing or two about what real danger is, made a few jokes and then went about their day.

There are many ways to remember the dead. It's hard to argue that learning how to defeat real evil, slap aside pretenders and rebuild in the face of abiding sorrow aren't three very good ones.

Politics, Fans are Stoopid!

Matt Hasselbeck and Mack Strong attended a recent Republican fundraiser where they presented President Bush with a Seahawks jersey. Naturally, people were self-righteous dipshts about it.

"How dare Hasselbeck declare Bush an honorary Seahawk," wrote one. "Who is
Matt speaking for? Bush is no Seahawk. He is the worst president of my lifetime,
and I'm almost 60. Shame on you, Matt."

"To learn that two of the most popular Seahawks are strong (Bush)
supporters ruins the season for me and my family," wrote another

...Added Hasselbeck: "I don't understand. This is America. We're not going
to agree on everything."

Whoa, whoa, whoa. Did he not get the memo? Athletes aren't allowed to have opinions on politics. He should have done something less damaging to his reputation, like cheating on his wife or getting a DUI. At least that wouldn't have ruined the season for fans.

Fantasy Football Updates

I'm going to put my neck out there all year and show you how my Do the Opposite strategy to fantasy football can and will work to as much or even more success than the vaunted you must take a RB in each of the first 2, if not 3 rounds.

For an explanation of the Do the Opposite click here.

Or for a quick synopsis read this: Unless you can draft LT or S-Jax, I say go Peyton Manning in the 1st round, and then take an elite WR in rounds 2 and 3, and mop up rounds 4 - 8 with sleeper rb's and the 2nd half of those teams that incorporate a RBBC approach.

And then finally, to prove to you I practice what I preach, here is the team I ended up with.

Or for a quick synopsis read this: I had the 5th overall pick and took Peyton. Followed up by Holt in the 2nd, and Roy Williams in the 3rd. In rounds 4 - 8 I went Thomas Jones, Adrian Peterson, Fred Taylor, and Ladell Betts.

And boy, do I like my chances....

Last night the Colts beat up on the Saints 41-10. Peyton Manning is still the same freakish football robot, churning out touchdowns and commercials like arrest warrants for Bengals. Manning went 18-30 for 288 and 3 touchdowns (no INTs) last night while the Saints heralded offensive stars, Drew Brees and Reggie Bush, combined for a California king full if feces, which is infuriating because -- most people took Reggie over Peyton (gotta have that stud running back).

The other notable performance last night was by Saints corner Jason David. He arrived in New Orleans via free agency after starting for the Colts in the Super Bowl, so you think he might have some kind of advantage against his former team, having practiced regulary against Marvin Harrison and Reggie Wayne. Or, you know, maybe he got torched for three touchdowns. (To his credit, he also forced a fumble and returned it for the only Saints TD.) Which just further proves the "never trust someone with a first name for a last name" theory.

The team I am playing against did have Marvin Harrison and Joe Addai. But Peyton outscored both of them individually.

Peyton went off for 32.4 points while Addai (27.1) and Marvin combined (14.3) for 41.4.

So I am down only 9 points and the other teams "stud running" back has already played.

I like my chances.

Daily Routine - Podcasts

There was no Last 5 this week, so I adapted today to provide this as a free endorsement to impose on your life today.

Honestly, if I could, I'd have like 10 frames or panels to the right and left of this main page on my blog. It would contain sections for all the websites, blogs, and podcasts I frequent quite, well......frequently.

Most of them are there already and many times I drop websites in and out a lot, but do not really say anything to anyone. If you realize it, you do, if you do not then you do not. Maybe some day I'll go with the frames and provide all the links I'd like to.

But for now, I feel like I'll just give you a list here of the Podcasts I frequently listen too quite, well.....frequently.

In No Particular Order:

NPR Shuffle - NPR Shuffle mixes it up every day, offering an unpredictable sampler from 'Morning Edition', 'All Things Considered' and other award-winning NPR programs. Enjoy listening to this podcast just as you would enjoy listening to NPR - ready to be surprised by the next great story!

AM 1130 WDFN - The local sports talk radio show I enjoy on my daily commute. The podcasts are broke out by the 3 main shows on the station. Lots of great interviews, discussions, and hilarious "bits" too.

NPR Driveway Moments - Listeners' NPR favorites. Riveting stories from Morning Edition, All Things Considered and other award-winning NPR programs.

Coffee Cup Apologetics - Not quite a podcast, but still worth your time and I can plug in headphones and work while listening, so.....

This American Life - Probably the reason podcasts should have been started, but probably wasn't.

Hometown Tales - Weird, different, cool, boring, exciting, lame, enjoy at your own convenience.

I am sure there are more I am forgetting, but these are the ones at the top of my mind and the ones I frequent most often.

Enjoy listening

Take your pick

Do you know why I don't join television news anchors, Al Gore and the San Francisco jobless, in a tizzy about the environment?

Because I think there are many more dire "events" that affect our world than turning your Michigan furnace on in June and August because of global "warming."

Case in point:

When a woman is pregnant with her third child and tells people "...I'm not pregnant. It's a cyst..." and then the baby is found in the garbage "...mixed with old papers, microwaveable food containers and junk..."

Hmmmm...now I wonder what has a more damaging effect on the "environment?"

Mothers murdering post-partum?

OR

Their home's carbon footprint?

Without Even Knowing It

I broke my own personal record for posts in a month.

August had 19 posts.

WOW!!!

I didn't even realize I was posting that frequent through the month. The way it goes sometimes I guess.

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No Last 5 today, coming back from a holiday weekend leaves no time to do much research on boring mundane things to fill up 3 minutes of your day.

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I take some umbrage to the nominations Corey posted for his space golden globe oscar trophy thingie. He nominated a post written in September (no offense Toby, great work) for an award regarding August work....this is two months in a row that scandel has rocked the space heisman trophy. Could it be the end?

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The Tigers have 25 games to win at least 90 games (my self-proclaimed majic number of wins any team in baseball will need to make the playoffs). This means they have to go 17-8 just to get to 90 wins. Can they do it? We'll find out. They have 6 against the White Sox, 6 against Minnesota, 3 against Seattle, Texas, Cleveland, and KC, as well as one make up game against Toronto. Of their final 25 games, 16 are at home. All starts tonight with Bondo.

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And I would be remiss if I did not mention the monumental upset, biggest choke of all time. UofM managed to go Buckner in the Big House and lose to a 1-AA team.

HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA

No wonder Michigan always ducked the 1-AA squads when assembling their schedule.