Round 2

What in the h is in the water down in Tampa!?!?! Both 12's and both 13's pulled out victories...unreal. This means we are guaranteed at least 2 double digit seeds in the sweet 16. We could have 4, which isn't a lot, but no matter what 2 of them will be 12's or 13's...that's crazy.

Well, my Elite 8 (and Final 4) for both brackets are still alive. I did lose a couple sweet 16 teams (UCONN and Vandy) but almost everyone lost UCONN (except my wife...of course she took San Diego, just like she took Siena and W. Kentucky...however, Zona in the elite 8 wasn't too good and a Final 4 of Tenn, Wisco, Texas, and UCLA with Wisco beating UCLA was probably her downfall...but crazier things have happen).

I was right on my 2 "for sure" giant killers of Western Kentucky and Kansas State, but my other maybes weren't even that close. Winthrop lost by 31 (even though they were tied at halftime), Cornell lost by 24, Baylor by 11, Oral Roberts by 19, and St. Joe's was the closest with 8.

I'm still covinced Xavier and Duke are overated (I have both losing in the next round) and they both almost proved me right (that's what March Madness is about...it's the "almost" and the "Giant Killers").

Looking at just the seed number, my next wave of upsets are Notre Dame, MSU (sorry Corey, they DO NOT suck), Marquette, West Virginia. This means in both my brackets I have these 4 teams making it to the sweet 16 by beating a team seeded higher than them.

I also like Purdue and Kansas St.

One thought I've been going over is that I'd like it if we could get a couple of us together on a blog and "live blog" as the tourney plays on. Maybe next year. I think that'd be cool, to see our progress and emotions through the tournament. It would be some work and require some time, but I think it wouldn't be too hard to do. Just keep the post creator open and every 5-10 minutes provide some random thought/update.

Maybe I'm crazy....this makes 2 nights in a row I'm up past 10:30 nevermind the fact past 12:30....and that's just crazy!!!




A special for those that missed it or just to re-live it. (Accoring to Michele that was out loud scream at TV, followed by jump off the couch number 37 so far...I think half of those came during the MSU game anyway)...

March Madness Time

Well, here goes another attempt at prognosticating the future, college basketball style.

2 brackets this year

Brack et#1

Elite 8
North Carolina, Tennessee, Kansas, Georgetown, Memphis, Marquette, UCLA, Purdue

Final 4
Tenn, Kansas, Marquette, UCLA

Kansas over UCLA for the Champ


Bracket #2

Elite 8
NC, Tenn, Kansas, G-Town, MSU, Texas, UCLA, West Virginia

Final 4
NC, Kansas, Texas, UCLA

NC over Texas


Now, the obvious one awesome element to the Madness are the Giant Killers (lower than 10 seeds who spring upsets on the "Giants"). With playing 2 brackets I switched some up here and there but a couple remained consistent in both brackets:

Kansas St over USC
Western Kentucky over Drake

The other Giant Killers I liked but not enough to put in both brackets:

Winthrop
Baylor
Cornell
Oral Roberts
St. Joe's

I also have Duke losing in the 2nd round in both brackets and the South bracket looks to be the one where I think the most "madness" will happen.

XLII

1. The best team won. I am happy the Giants pulled it out and I really found myself at the end getting nervous and rooting so hard for NY. And the miraclous Eli escape/35 yard heave to some guy named Tyree/who caught it by pinning it to his helmet play IS probably the best Super Bowl play I have ever seen.

2. TV is ruining sports. It really is. The game dragged and dragged last night. I am tired of watching commercials and long commercial breaks are killing the Super Bowl experience for me. Everyone wonders why these games are not usually great? Well how can anyone get into a rhythm when every stoppage in play is a two minute commercial break!!! This has to stop and if you watched the NBA playoffs last year, it was also an issue. And I am a use to have to write essays every year on the Super Bowl commericials because I am Marketing Degree toting Head of the Advertising Team of my church kind of guy. Part for the game in and of itself...sucks.

3. Corey Webster. The much maligned cornerback got beat by Randy Moss on the go-ahead TD for New England in the late stages of the fourth quarter, only to bounce back and make play after play against Moss on the last drive. I was happy for the kid that he dusted himself off, got up, and got the job done the next time. It is a lesson for everyone out there.

4. Fox did a great job on the broadcast. They really did. The super slo-mo shot of David Tyree's catch was incredible. There whole new slo-mo camera technology is awesome actually.

5. Classless move by three classless guys, Bill Belichick, Richard Seymour Cheapshots, and yes, Golden Boy Tom Brady for not staying on the field until the clock hit all zeroes. Sissy move and classless. Brady laughed at Plaxico's prediction earlier in the week and said "we are only gonna score 17 pts"? YES TOM how about 14!!!!! Man up and go shake hands with the guys who pummeled you next time! Especially since your team's motto was you never stop coaching and playing 100% until the clock hits triple zero's. You don't end the game, the officials end the game. You will never by the way hear the Michigan sports writers or fans call out Brady for this. Too much of a man crush by the whole state on this guy. "He went to Michigan so I gotta cheer for him..." So did Amani Toomer???

6. Why in the heck can't the Lions find guys like David Tyree and Ahmad Bradshaw. 6th and 7th round draft picks that are having an impact not only in the NFL but in the SUPER BOWL!!!!! The New York Giants have been to 4 Super Bowls in the last 22 years. 1986, 1990, 2000, and 2007. The 86 and 90 teams were kind of the same team. But in the other Super Bowls, it has been an entirely different cast of characters and teams leaders to get them there. As well as 3 different head coaches and 3 different QB's. As for the Lions?

Sick

The whole household. Seth has an ear and eye infection. Michele got a bit of the flu and I seemed to have gotten the middle ground. A high fever (101.3) and the aches and pains but at least I could keep food down. But talk about feeling helpless. I'm trying to be this big tough guy dad male macho and I'm watching my family travail in sickness and unable to do anything. I could barely pick Seth up and carry him to Michele when he needed to eat. But I'd feel 100% guilty if Michele went to get him herself, never knowing when she'd need to run down the hall to....well you know.

So that is why I was MIA Tuesday and Wednesday.

So here is a quick run down.

I lost this week in Fantasy Football, so I am playing for 3rd place. Which still results in winning money.

And no Last 5 this week and there will be none until after the new year.

Matter of fact, things will be very light around here until after the New Year. I have some posts already done and just waiting for me to hit "publish" so you'll get those and I'll let you know very quickly what happen this weekend to my fantasy team, but that's about all you'll get from me after Friday.

And?

Who cares?

Does it even matter anymore?

40 years ago a highly anticipated report was released that was supposed to put to the rest the controversy and questions surrounding the assignation of the President of the United States. 40 years later, no one knows anything. The Warren Commission report was supposed to put to the rest the assassination of JFK. Instead it left it wide open.

Similarly, the Mitchell report will be released today and its purpose is to put to the rest the issue of Steroids within MLB.

Well whoopdee do.

Does anyone even care by now?

People are more curious about the “80 players” that will be named in the report. It’s a curiosity thing more than it is a caring thing.

Alex Rodriguez?

Pudge Rodriguez?

Gary Sheffield?

Roger Clemens?

Randy Johnson?

If those names appear what’s going to happen to the sport of baseball?

Nothing.

Don’t get me wrong. I’m going to be sure to be at my computer at 2pm today when the report drops on the public. I want to see all the names too. But this isn’t like the Black Sox scandal of 1919. This isn’t guys “throwing a game” This isn’t Pete Rose betting on a game he is competing and/or managing. I know, I know, Pete Rose admits to gambling on baseball, admits to gambling on the Reds, but he never gambled against the Reds, or so he says. The integrity of the game has been tarnished, but none of us go to a baseball game and are suspicious the outcome has been “fixed.” We just expect to see a home run every inning.

Big Deal….right?

I’ve said it here before, so I won’t waste anymore of your time except to say this is a glorified book report. The issue of steroids is a bummer to baseball fans, no doubt about it. I don't like it. Bonds is an a-hole, that’s why he gets beat up the most. But he’ll make the Hall of Fame. McGwire? Probably won’t make it. But steroids aren’t a moral issue like the media wants to make it.

What we have is a great Oliver Stone script. Just as Oliver spent 3 hours presenting every freakin nuance of the JFK assassination, he has all the makings of a great 3 hour extravaganza making a mockery of a National Pastime.

Think about what this whole story has. Drugs? Check. Good guys? Check. Bad Guys? Check. A shady gray area between the Good guys and Bad guys? Check. A suspect leader? Check. We have speculation, conspiracy, back door shenanigans, and cover-ups. We have old pictures as possible evidence. We have interviews and taped testimony. We have (unfortunately) death and deceit. We have a massive investigation. We have a hyped media. We have one person who is the sole “patsy” of the witch hunt, and we have a slew of characters that have a shade of suspicion around them. And now we have a book report. A year and a half in the making that the public is waiting with bated breath to view. And all it will do is confirm what we all already knew……

Which is what?

Lions are to good football as Global Warming is to...

I'm Brian A. Maloney and I approve this message.

Al Gore has just been awarded the Nobel Peace Prize, an honor he shares with Yasser Arafat and Le Duc Tho. Gore has received a number of awards and honors from Europeans, who seem to wish to punish George Bush's policies by showering awards on his defeated opponent. (Gore would have been president had he carried his own state of Tennessee, but he couldn't manage it.)

Unfortunately for Europe, the United States has been independent now for more than two centuries. It's nice for Gore that he won the prize, but who now remembers Frank Billings Kellogg, who won the Nobel for co-authoring the Kellogg-Briand Pact of 1928, which outlawed war? How's that pact working out?

Americans have happily been ignoring Europeans for quite a long time, except when they have dragged us into their various wars between awarding people peace prizes.

The Nobel Peace Prize Committee likely cares little about Al Gore's "moral and spiritual challenge to all of humanity" or his green cult or its pagan Earth-god. Gore's Nobel is just the latest evidence of the committee's use of surrogates like the ex-veep and Jimmy Carter (in 2002) and Mohamed ElBaradei (in 2005) to embarrass the United States - a state of mind that says more about European elites' insecurity in the modern age than anything else.

But as much material as the Gore Nobel feeds people of like political mindness like myself, the dimunition of the prize's seriousness is a tragedy.

The Nobel can have real power in shining a light into some of the world's darker corners.

In Burma, courageous monks are defying a brutal military dictatorship. In Iran, men and women die for their civil rights at the hands of religious despots. International chess star Garry Kasparov and others have been arrested resisting that country's slide back to authoritarian rule.

The Nobel could help elevate these causes to international attention. Instead, preening Nobel leftists throw their baubles at a rich ex-politician so that he can assuage his guilt of flying on gas-guzzling private airplanes to green fundraisers in sprawling Hollywood mansions.

Paid for by the committee to stop the FEARMONGERING!!

Why Does This Never Get Old?

Ripping on Notre Dame that is

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.

Fantasy Football Draft Time - Do the Opposite

The mantra of Fantasy Football over the years has been RB-RB in the first 2 rounds of your draft. Well this year, unless you hold a top 3 or 4 pick, stop doing that. Stop being a clone. Zig when others are zagging. Do the Opposite!!

LT and S-Jax are the top 2 Rbs and top 2 players in all of Fantasy Football. After that, things are up in the air for the other RBs mentioned as "elite"

LJ - Contract, no other offensive threat, inferior o-line ravaged by injuries
Alexander - that majic age of 30 is upon him, the foot injury, and he lost his top o-line teammate
Gore - Broke his hand (Clinton Portis of this year)

So what if you grab one of those guys and what I mentioned above happens?

I hold that after LT, and S-Jax the next 4 RBs in no particluar order are:

Joe Addai
Rudi Johnson
Frank Gore
Willie Parker

But who is better than other? Will Rudi finally break down? Can Addai handle all the workload himself? Will the broken hand really affect Gore? Will other teams put 8 guys in the box and stop Willie Parker every game?

And then there is Peyton Manning. Year in and year out he performs. He still has Marvin and Reggie. A top o-line and you can chalk in a passing TD or 2 every week.

So you take Peyton in the 1st round. Rounds 2 and 3? Go elite WR.

Torry Holt
Marvin Harrison
Terrell Ownes
Chad Johnson
Steve Smith
Marques Colston
Roy Williams
TJ Whosyourdaddy
Reggie Wayne
Javon Walker
Larry Fitzgerald
Anquan Boldin
even Antonio Gates

could and will all be available to you in rounds 2 and 3.

So you start with this

QB - Peyton
WR - Holt
WR - Boldin

BUT I HAVE NO RB!!!

So what! Big Deal!. You clean up everyone's "sleeper" rbs in rounds 4 - 8. Or, with so many Running Back by Committees (RBBC) nowadays you take the guy who is still left behind. Consider that the final 4 of last year in the NFL all employed the RBBC mode.

Indy - Addai and Rhodes
Bears - T. Jones and Ced Benson
Patriots - Dillon and Maroney
Saints - Reggie Bush and Deuce

All were serviceable and performed well enough to play on their own.

So, all you need is one of these guys to strike it big and you're already cleaning up at QB and both WR spots and now one of your running backs hits it big and you got 4 guys ROLLING every week.

Who'd stop you.

Think sleeper backs do not strike it big?

Consider this.

Maurice Jones Drew
Frank Gore
Joe Addai
Laurence Maroney
Marion Barber
Ladell Betts

They were all "sleeper" running backs last year (taken after the 3rd rounds or not drafted at all last year for most leagues) who struck it HUGE and became #1 backs.


Meanwhile

Clinton Portis
Lamont Jordan
Shaun Alexander
Edgerrin James
Warrick Dunn

were all backs that "had" to be taken in the first couple rounds last year that bombed out...BIG TIME.

So in rounds 4 - 8 you grab all the other running backs. And there are a laundry list of guys you can grab here:

Marshawn Lynch
Duece McAllister
Adrian Peterson
Thomas Jones
Brandon Jacobs
Deangleo Williams
Jerious Norwood
Julius Jones
Cadillac Williams

You'd probably be able to get any of these guys you want in the middle rounds and if one guy hits it big....I'll see you in December with the championship trophy, just as I have doen myself.

And, I can tell you from experience, you'll get mocked for taking the QB first and nearly laughed out of the draft if you go WR in the 1st round, and then laughed at again for the WR or QB in round 2, but then in round 3 when you take another WR and people start crapping the bed because they realize you cornered the market, they'll start reaching for their QBs and WRs and sometimes a real good RB falls to you in the 4th round.

2 years ago (2005) I got Rudi in the 4th round, last year (2006) I got Brian Westbrook in the 4th round.

This was after drafting Torry Holt and Steve Smith with my first 2 picks in 2005 and Marvin Harrison and Holt again with my first 2 picks last year (I held 9th pick in 2005 and 11th pick last year). In 2005 I grabbed Palmer in round 3 and last year Bulger in round 3. Manning was gone before I could get him every year...so I am hoping with the 5th pick this year I get him and continue by Do the Opposite strategy.

I'm telling you, Do the Opposite works. You just need the "sac" to do it.

DO THE OPPOSITE, I've employed it for 4 years now and never once regretted it.

It'll Never Work

Injured David Beckham hasn’t managed to play in a game that counts yet, but he has already drawn criticism from the last guy ordained as the savior of American soccer. Pele, in a interview last week, warned Beckham about the glitz and glamour of off the field Los Angelas and called the Brit more of a “pop-star” than a “footballer.”

Actually, Pele, Beckham is more of a ghost than a pop-star. At least pop-stars at some point make a record. Beckham hasn’t even practiced yet. His wife is more visible than he is (unless she turns sideways). As for his impact on American fans? Oh, he’s had impact. He’s ticked them off. Why else would they have bought tickets to his 3 no-shows? It’s like going to the red carpet and seeing…carpet.

Every 5 years, people predict soccer could “take off” in America. Every five years, it doesn’t happen. Why? Because Americans don’t want to watch anything less than the best possible athletes. That’s why the USFL and Arena Football failed as TV sports, that’s why the CBA doesn’t have a TV contract, and that’s why ESPN2 doesn’t show minor league baseball every night.

Pro soccer can’t become a major American sport when 99.7% of the quality players play overseas. It’s a fact.

So what’s my silver lining? That people keep stupidly perpetrating the “every kid grows up playing soccer – those are the kids who become adults and who might buy tickets” argument. You know what else I did as a kid? I gave myself a Muslim name. I ate my own boogers. I seethed because Wile E. Coyote never caught the Road Runner. I checked my closet every night to make sure an evil clown wasn’t there. I left my baby teeth under my pillow because a fairy gave me money for them. None of these things has any correlation to my life now. The fact remains: Americans will never care that Beckham is playing soccer in a league of half-decent guys, just like English people wouldn’t care if they had a mediocre baseball league and the London team had A-Rod.

In time Beckham will actually kick a ball, but the circus has moved on. The NFL is around the corner and so is baseball pennant chases. And soccer elitist will once again have this lesson slapped across their black and white checkered cheeks: Just because the rest of the world loves it, doesn’t mean we have to.

But here is a tip for the next guy you want to hand $250 million to as the savior – make sure his ankles are healthy you’re putting a lot of weight on those babies.

It's Officially Time to Talk About.....

August 1st the last 5 or 6 years has taken on a new meaning with me lately. It makes it official to start talking about (drum roll please).................................








































Fantasy Football!!!!!

HEE-HAW!!!!

Draft is in T-Minus 23 days.

10 team this year and I hold the #5 pick. There has already been a lot of chatter throughout the office since we picked our draft order a couple weeks ago. And here is what people are saying:

Team 1 - LT
Team 2 - S-Jax
Team 3 - Shaun Alexander (because LJ is a hold out and Gore hurt his hand yesterday)
Team 4 - Peyton (we are a QB heavy league...more on that later)

What am I going to do, who will be there for me to take at 5. Take a chance on LJ? Joseph Addai? Brian Westbrook? Rudi Johnson? Carson Palmer even?

Now considering the assumptions above and I am not naive enough to think teams 3 and 4 are 100% sure this is who they will take. They may just be throwing rumors out there. If LJ actually does hold out, then he will be available at 5 I am sure. But I would assume the Big 3 will be gone. That being LT, LJ, and S-Jax. Gore with a broken hand will not go unless some kind of miracle happens. Gore will make it pass me as well. I am very sure that Peyton is going to go off the board at 4. As I said, we play in a QB heavy league where each TD is 6 points and you get bonus for length of TD pass. So a 27 yard TD pass is 9 points. 1 point for every 20 pass yards, 6 points for the TD and 2 point bonus for the TD being between 20 and 30.

I would have thought Alexander would be to me at 5 and I'd swoop him and get him, but this LJ thing could throw a monkey wrench in.

But I did say I am considering Palmer in the 1st. Sounds crazy I know. But consider this. LT, S-Jax, Alexander, and Peyton are all gone. LJ is holding out, Gore broke his hand. That leaves 3 guys in the next group of RBs. Westbrook, Addai, and Rudi. Which one do you take? Who is better than anyone else? That's why I think Palmer. But I do think Palmer could fall to me in the 2nd round on the come back. So I flip a coin and hope to grab the RB who will be better than all the rest.

Maybe I go crazy and take Palmer in the 1st round, a stud WR in the 2nd AND 3rd rounds (Holt, Harrison, Johnson, etc.) cornering the market on top notch QBs and WRs. Then in the 4th - 7th rounds I pick up all RBs and figure out which 3 to play every week. Guys like Julius Jones, Marion Barber, Duece McAllister, Jerious Norwood, Cadillac Williams, etc. would all be available. We start 2 rbs and 2wrs and 1 UTL player. I could plug in a top tier Qb and 2 Wrs every week and play musical chairs with my rbs. 2 of them are bound to break out from the pack in the middle of the season and if I strike gold with even one of them, I can ride them to the championship.

What team looks better.

QB - Carson Palmer
WR - Chad Johnson
WR - Roy Williams
RB - Julius Jones
RB - Cadillac Williams
UTL - Jerious Norwood

or

QB - Drew Brees
WR - Chad Johnson
WR - Plaxico Burress
RB - Rudi Johnson
RB - Edgerrin James
UTL - Jerious Norwood

I think I'd go for team 1.

I think this may be my strategy this year. But there is a lot of time to go and a lot of preseason football still to go. I can change my mind easily.

By the way, to find out how I decided which players for the above scenarios, there is a web-site that runs mock drafts 24 hours a day all day long. It is a pretty sweet site and you can get a pretty good idea on what guys will be available at what time.

Check it out at fantasyfootballcalculator.com

It isn't exact science as they have some guys rated pretty high and others pretty low. But it's still cool to have a live mock draft and see how things unfold. You can pick an 8, 10, 12, or 14 team size league and participate yourself.

Great way to blow a lunch hour!!!

Enjoy and good luck to all of you in fantasy football this year.

Big Mac

Well it finally seems that former Senator George Mitchell doesn't really have the cooties afterall. After a year of getting the cold shoulder from Major League Baseball (MLB) Players and their obstructionists union, MLB's top drug cop is finally getting a trickle of cooperation from the players. Jason Giambi talked to him a few days ago and Gary Sheffield, who can't stop talking to anybody about everybody and anything, has said that he will talk frankly with Mitchell as well. That's wonderful. That's great news that just might lend some smidgen of credibility to this glorified book report that Mitchell has been conducting. But as memory serves me, weren't we suppose to be hearing some rather frank, anti-steroid chatter from another famous, muscle-bound, swollen headed, steroid using home run leader?

No not him.

I'm talking about Mark McGwire. It's been just over 2 years and 4 months since he sat before Congress and told us, with alligator tears flowing from his eyes, that he would speak up, loud and clear, to the youth of America and tell them, with his own unusual conjugation how bad steroids were. And now here we are. We're still waiting Mark. And your silence is another reminder to everybody that Barry Bonds isn't the only villain in this story of baseball and steroids.

Arghhhh...?

I hate Lebron James!



Since uttering those words Thursday night, Friday morning around 1am.....

Let's say the weekend was crazy.

We all know about Thursday night and LB effin J. Arghh.....

Well Friday night wasn't much better with the Tigers blowing a 4 run lead in the bottom of 9th by giving up 5 runs to the freakin' CLEVELAND INDIANS. Arghh.......

Then after the game, saying good-bye to the brother in law and sister in law, my computer starts to reboot and shut itself down constantly. Arghh.......

Brother-in-law is a computer tech-head for Quicken Loans though, he says the Operating System is still there but something has corrupted a registery or one of the start-up programs. He can fix it! So we disconnect the tower and the external hard drive we have and he takes all of that to his home friday night, he pulls out the hard drive, hooks it up to a computer of his (he has like 5 of them...he is a serious tech-head, but not the geeky kind that wears glasses and listens to Radiohead all night, but geeky enough that he goes to "Network Partys" where 5 or 6 dudes bring their laptops hook them all up to one big network and play games) backups what he can off of my computer onto the external hard drive and then does system restore.

Problem still though, he's going to Cleveland to watch game 6 and Michele and I are leaving at 9am to head up-north for my sister's High-School graduation. Michele works exclusively from home now with her job at Quicken Loans. Without the computer having the right VPN and Term Web application she cannot work on Monday and will have to go into the office. Arghhh....

However, Quicken tech support always has to have a person on hand just in case something (like this) happens. We find out that we can take the tower to the Troy office (which is on the way up north), drop it off and the tech person will upload all the necessary software. Sweet! It's on the way. But, can't take it there until after 11am. We want to be 2 hours into our trip up north by then. Arghhhh.....

Saturday morning, its 80 degrees at 7am already! Holy crap, the humidity. Load up the Ford Taurus. The AC isn't working. Arghhh......

Unload the Taurus, load up the 4 cylinder Contour and get ready to head up. We can't go over 70 but at least we'll have ac. Arghh.....

Arrive up north (after deciding since we're late, we stopped in Reese to visit the in-laws so they can see their grand-child) aroun 6pm. Roughly 5 hours later than planned. Arghhh..... (but the time at the in-laws was worth it and actually provided a good break. Besides, Seth rolled over for the first time, on his own, twice!!).

Armageddon type storm around 7:30 or so in Wolverine is showing on the horizon. Time to batton down the hatches. Storm hits, tree in backyard falls over. Dish Network Satellite isn't working and game is going to tip. Arghhh....

Storm eventaully passes, game is on, watch Daniel Gibson score 31 points, Rasheed plays his last as a Piston (more on that later), and I really hate Lebron James. Went to bed with 4 minutes to go in the game. Used the baby as an excuse...pathetic. Arghh......

Wake up Sunday, watch sister graduate high-school, very cool and very awesome. Decide to head out for home right away (it's 4pm). It rains the whole way home. All the way from Indian River to Detroit it never stopped raining, honest. Slow drive results in kid waking up in car seat screaming. He's hungry. Stop off at the grandparents home in Saginaw to feed Seth and do dinner. Get back on the road and not home until 11:30pm Sunday. Arghh.......

Hook up computer to check everything out. 95% of all mp3 files are gone! 7 years of downloading illegal music gone! Over 5,000 files gone! Arghhh.....

Let me take a moment to state that this may be the one and only time I'll admit my music snobberish. I hate it and I hate people who think they "know music." They claim what is good music and what is bad. No one knows that (except maybe Rick Rubin and Brendan O'Brien...maybe). The only bad music is rap (and that is the politics of it all, not the art form) and "critically acclaimed" is a joke in the music industry. I know good music when I hear it. I know crappy music when I hear it. My favorite song of all time is Just Like Heaven by The Cure. Favorite album of all time is The Verve Pipe - Freshmen. My favorite band of all time is Pearl Jam. Best concert I have ever been to is Kenny Chesny and Keith Urban (Urban opened for Chesney). The last CD I bought was Audioslave - Revelations and I already have on reserve for pickup on June 19 Icky Thump the new release by The White Stripes. I know music. But I will very, very, very rarely ever talk about that fact because music is for you and what you make it. What you like you like and I'm just glad you like music and know what it can do for you.

Anyway, that has been the last 96 hours of life. A big Arghhhh.......

But it has all been fun and worth it. It sucks having lost the music and some oher random files and having to load back up Photoshop and Office and all the updates from Microsoft. But we did get to travel up north safe and sound. We did get to see both parents, see my sister graduate high-school, and drive in an air conditioned car, even if we couldn't go 75-80 like we wanted to.

And of course, there is Seth

734*

So what date did you draw in the Barry pool?

He is relatively healthy, so he will break the record.

How does 2 weeks before the All-Star break sound?

Next Question:

Should we celebrate it?

What an awful question. I mean, think about it. Barry Bonds is about to break one of sports marquee records. We are looking at history; it should be a fun time. But unless you are a die-hard Giants fan, you like me are uncomfortable. There is a Mt. Everest of circumstantial evidence that suggests that his great push towards the record was aided by performance enhancing, eh… materials.

There is also a book, “Game of Shadows” that is necessary read for those that think he has been clean. Even without the performance enhancing issue, he is a smug, colossally arrogant, and thoroughly unrootable figure. The feeling I am left with is not anger it is resentment. This joyless pursuit of Hank Aaron’s record is bad for baseball. I love baseball; I resent what he is doing to it.

I just hope he gets within one homerun and has the guts to retire.

XLI

Surprisingly the Super Bowl was pretty entertaining and one of the craziest since Super Bowl XXXVIII when Carolina and New England played and they went nuts in the 4th quarter for 37 combined points (plus there was the whole "wardrobe malfunction thing").

But the sloppy weather conditions lead to 5 fumbles and twice the fumbles happen on back-to-back plays. I really had no rooting interest either way. I was neither bummed nor excited when Indy won. Even Michele wondered at one point during the game, "Who are you cheering for?" So I think that contributed to me thinking it was entertaining.

The commercials this year sucked big time. The Budweiser commercials all sucked pretty bad and the slapping commercial reminded me too much of John L. Smith (the former Michigan St. Football coach who would slap his players for a job well done. I seriously wonder if he was the inspiration for the commercial). The Coca-Cola commercials were pretty cool as was the Dorotios one that was directed by some kid. Careerbuilder.com had some good commercials too with the employees embarking on "survival style" endeavors to succeed.

Prince was ok, he is one of the best ax men around but why do all the covers? Do your own songs. If the NFL wanted Foo Fighters and Ike and Tina, they would have hired them.

But I was left wondering after the game...

Who is more bummed out Indy won the game, Da Bears fans or Dan Marino and Alex Rodriguez?

If you get that joke, you are a true sports maniac and may need help (like me).

C-Webb to Detroit? Absolutely!!

For those that do not know, I am NOT a Michigan fan. Oh sure, I am fair weather fan enough to cheer for them against USC and sometimes against Ohio St. but I am a Spartan. By the way, did you watch that Florida/Ohio St. football game on Monday. I thought Jim Tressel coached the Buckeyes? It sure looked like John Cooper and Lloyd Carr morphed into Jim Tressel. Ohio St was so unprepared for a big game (Cooperesque) and then made no adjustment in the 2nd half (Carresque). Crazy.

Anyway, just know that I do not eat the Michigan cornbread.

But Chris Webber coming to Detroit is a good thing and will probably happen for sure. He will probably go right into the starting lineup as our 5, replacing Nazr Mohammed. I think this is a good move.

It sets up Detroit to make a splash at the trade deadline with Flip Murray, Dale Davis, and 2 number 1 draft picks to this year's draft. That is alot and more than most teams, in a title contention, can offer any other team. The team really needs backcourt scoring off the bench. Blaylock and Hunter do not offer that at all. Webber does not address that need but aquiring him opens up the possibility to make the trade to get that.

Webber doesn't make Detroit the prohibitive favorite. It is not as much a slam-dunk as landing Sheed in 04 was, but it is a great move for a little over 1 million dollars. It is good to see a homeboy come back.

Oh Come On......

Take a look at the statement below and see if you can figure out what Ann Killion was referring too?

"Can I look my kids in the eyes when I tell them whom I selected?"

The first, second, third, and maybe even fourth thoughts that popped into your heads are all wrong. While your thoughts may have focused on possible governmental candidates for various positions she may have been consdiering, you couldn't be further from the truth. But, I do know most of you are astute readers and probably think I have sarcasm to accompany this qoute and because I own a computer, can type, and have my own blog, I feel like I have the authority to speak to the subject matter. To which I say, right on. You are correct.

So what could it be?

I think that even if I gave you 4 more tries at guessing you'd be wrong.

Ms. Killion is a columnist for the San Jose Mercury News and holds the pretigious position of being a voting member for the Major League Baseball Hall of Fame.

With Mark McGwire's inclusion on the 2007 ballot, we have officially entered the Let's Blackball the Potential-Steroids-Guy Era.

McGwire had his shot at a public redemption ... and called for an intentional walk. Some writers won't vote for McGwire because he probably used steroids -- keep in mind there's never been proof that he did, other than a visible bottle of andro and those 130+ pounds of muscle he added from 1990 to 2002 -- which would be fine if they weren't so pious about it. Not content with simply dismissing McGwire's candidacy and moving on, they need to climb on their high horses and rip the guy to shreds. We're supposed to believe they would refuse the chance to take a drug that would enable them to do their job twice as well and make 10 times as much money? Yeah, right.

These people have now become the self-proclaimed moral judges of baseball, and they need you to know that Big Mac cheated, disgraced the game, deceived the public, tainted the record books and pushed the sport into a spiritual free fall. They rush to tell you that they can't vote for McGwire because their conscience won't allow it. Ms. Killion, being one of these individuals, wrote that she can't vote for McGwire because she wouldn't be able to explain it to her kids.

She concluded her column with this:

"All I can do is cast my own vote judiciously. And be able to look my kids in the eyes when I do it."

Ann, I'm glad you're such a thoughtful mom. Seriously, that's great. But a vote for McGwire isn't exactly an endorsement of drug use. And anyway, part of our country's problem is the shortsighted way we "protect" our kids from life's harsh realities. Janet Jackson's nipple slip was such a traumatic moment for Americans that some live sporting events now run on tape-delay, and Howard Stern fled to SIRIUS to escape the clutches of the increasingly fascistic FCC. Meanwhile, any kid can glimpse Britney's crotch if he or she is even remotely familiar with Google, and anyone can be slandered anonymously on a blog or message board.

Look, our country is screwed up. Whether we like it or not, people will always gamble, use illegal drugs, drink and drive, cheat on their spouses, cheat on tests, lie and steal, ditch their families, swear and fight, use performance-enhancing drugs. Banishing Mark McGwire from Cooperstown isn't going to make any of that go away. Let's stop pretending that the Baseball Hall of Fame is a real-life fantasy world -- a place where we celebrate only the people and events we can all unanimously agree deserve to be celebrated -- and transform it into an institution that reflects both the good and bad of the sport. Wait -- wasn't that Cooperstown's mission all along? Shouldn't it be a place where someone who knows nothing about baseball can learn about its rich history? Isn't it a museum, after all?

Imagine if the rest of the world worked like this. Word is, JFK cheated on his wife. Should we change the name of the airport and remove all his memorabilia from the Smithsonian?

Forget the fact that there were no testing procedures in place to catch him. If he took steroids, he did break the rules. All that does is give him something in common with Hall of Famers like admitted ball doctorer Gaylord Perry and Ty Cobb, a virulent racist who deliberately tried to hurt other players and was accused of fixing at least one game. Are we really going to play the morality card for Big Mac when Cobb is in the Hall?

I hate to break the news to Ann Killion's kids, but people have been cheating in baseball for decades. They've fixed games, stolen signs, corked bats, slimed balls, popped greenies and, yes, injected steroids and rubbed HGH cream. We're told that baseball is America's pastime, the implication being that it mirrors real life. And you know what? It's true. A long time ago, Babe Ruth showed us that athletes, like everyone else, are imperfect. More recently, Rose hammered home the point for any of us who might have forgotten it. What did McGwire make clear? That human beings are always searching for an edge, and when they find it, they use it.

We'll find out tomorrow (Tuesday) when the list of indctees is announced.

It's Official, it is all over

For the first time in the many years I have played fantasy football, my team has failed to make the playoffs.

I still cannot believe it.

My squad at the end of this week looked like this:

qb - Marc Bulger
wr - Torry Holt
wr - Marvin Harrison
rb - Brian Westbrook
rb - Ronnie Brown
flex - Chester Taylor
te - Jeremy Shockey
k - John Casay
DST - Baltimore Ravens

I know what you are thinking and.....

Exactly, how does a team that good not make the playoffs and currently sit at 3-8 (I am in a 5 game losing streak).

Here is how, by having 1300 points scored against you. I ran into buzz saws all year. The guy who had Tomlinson was in my division and LT scored 8 tds against me in the 2 games I played him.

Another team in my division had Peyton Manning and Peyton threw 7 TDs against me in the 2 games. The week I played the team with Larry Johnson, he had 4 tds. I also lost 2 other games (that did not involve LT, LJ, or Peyton) where I scored over 130 points.

Just one of those fluke seasons where nothing went my way. I guess that is what I get for having everything go my way last year and winning the whole thing (thanks to LJ, Carson Palmer, Chicago's DST, and Steve Smith). I'll just try and play spoiler to a couple other teams I have left play.

As I said, this is the first time my team did not qualify for the playoffs, now what?

My first repost...Awesome!!!!

About a year ago this time, I published this post right here on this blog:

"On the banks of the Red River..."

Well, tomorrow is the Notre Dame/MSU game up in East Lansing and we are going to caravan up there tomorrow morning and Sparty On. Only difference we are departing 10am and not 5am like last year, no tailgating can start until noon....that is a huge bonus.

Anyway....

I felt I should communicate the message I sent then and take inventory of where I am now.

I know I have progressed some in my witness at my job, but not where I want to be. Yet, my "fervor" for Spartan athletics has not diminshed as I have had fun all day at work talking "trash."

Anyway, read the old post and maybe take inventory as well. Someone once said "reminsce sometime."

Oh yeah, my prediction this week.

MSU - 40
Notre Dame - 20

seems like I have done this before....