I do hate January. I hate the short, cold gray days. I hate that everything is dead. It’s a stupid time of year. One of these years, I’m gonna say, fuck it and move somewhere that is warm and bright. Florida, Arizona, Somewhere.

I get depressed. I don’t want to, but it seems to be out of my control. I’m sure this has to do with the general deadness of everything. And the lack of sunlight. Every year, I struggle through it.

On the bright side. I have a new toy.

After two and a half years and 100 plus episodes of Shitty Blog Radio, it seemed like it was time for some better equipment. It took me a few hours to get it all working, but after a good test drive tonight, I think I’ve got it.

Of course, new mic or not, Shitty Blog Radio will still suck. You can increase the sound fidelity but it won’t fix the content. You can (of course) tune in Thursdays at 10 PM EST to decide for yourself.

Work has been a drag. Budget cuts and bullshit politics have ground my project to halt. I am beginning to wonder if I am working in the right place.

So, to amuse myself, I follow the Ravens hunt for head coach and watch as the Patriots march on to history. And the good news is… by the time they get there, this god forsaken month will be over.

This sinus thing continues to kick my ass. I’m not happy about this at all. I go to work and deal with everything as though it were normal to have a headache 24 hours a day. I hate it. And I think I’m dangerously close to whining. I hate that too.

I had a heart to heart conversation with the Dish Network People. We decided that I didn’t really watch Showtime and HBO so we would cancel those. We also decided that I deserved a better HD package. Of course, I’d need a new receiver box, for $100.

No deal, says I.
You can get a get a $100 rebate if you commit to 18 months, they counter.
Sold, say I.
Or you could get the really nifty dual tuner box that will let you get true picture in a picture…
Mmmm…
And DVR….
DVR?
For $150…
I’m not so sure.
And you still get $100 back.
Sold.

Sometimes I love being upsold. Isn’t that odd?

To replace the HBO, we’re gonna get Netflix. The only bummer is that they do not have HD for my local channels. But I’m set up for it. If it becomes available… I’ll get it.

And let’s not think about how much money, I’m spending here. This is about the Football. Mostly.

Ravens Camp started this week. Which fills us with thoughts of FOOTBALL. The only good thing about the end of summer is the beginning of football season. I can’t wait.

Super Bowl predictions anyone? (Just off the cuff, I have the Patriots beating the Saints… but I think the Ravens have a good shot at going deep in to the playoffs)

I lost a post. Temporarily. I found it again. (It was the time stamp thing. It’s fucking with me.) For the brief time it was gone, I though I had lost what was left of my fragile mind.

Also, Thank you Utopia!

Thanks, for not killing me. Cause we all have a healthy fear respect of your mad scientist skills. Also thanks for the pledge. YOU ARE A WINNER!

I saw that one of Mike Vick’s co-defendants is going to cop a plea. This doesn’t look good for Vick. To add insult to injury it looks like Nike is going to severe their ties with him. They didn’t do that to Kobe. This is going to get ugly. Which is good, cause I was out of Paris Hilton news.

The Ravens report to training camp in just over 24 hours. I can’t wait.

I can’t believe it is after 3:00 PM. I seem to be unable to keep track of what’s going on. I’ll blame Mango for no discernible reason.

This just in… this post sucks. Hell, this blog sucks.

And that’s OK, I didn’t really want suggestions for Shitty Blog Survivor tasks… (Yes I did. That was sarcasm.)

At least the Red Bull was tasty.

I think I need to find my happy place.

Yes. I am going to say Brian Billick should be coach of the year. He won’t be. But he should be.

You should understand that I don’t say this simply because I’m a Ravens fan. Honestly, I was one of the ones who last year was calling for Billick to be fired. The team was a disaster. Ray Lewis was injured and not speaking to anyone. Jamal Lewis was mad at the terms of his new deal. The Defense was openly criticizing the Offense for not be able to stay in games. There was no discipline. And Billick instead of addressing it, made excuses for it.

By the end of the season, most people felt that he would (and should) be fired. But Biscotti did something rarely seen in pro sports. He held a press conference, with Billick in attendance, and announced to the media that Billick would not be fired, but he expected changes. He went on to list them. Billick would stop being so arrogant. He would stop condescending to the media. He would be more connected to the team. He would listen to players. He would stop being soft in practices and at training camp.

I think all of us have probably had, at some point or another, a conversation with a boss where that boss outlined how we could be a better employee. It’s not fun, especially, the points that we know are right. I cannot image how it would feel to have that conversation happen in front of the entire world, should they be inclined to watch.

By the time you read this, Sean Payton of the Saints will have won the Coach of the Year honors. And what he has done as a rookie coach has been impressive. But he’s had some help. The other new arrivals in the Big Easy (Drew Brees, Reggie Bush, Marques Colston and Mark Simoneau) had a lot to do with the turn around season for the Saints.

The Ravens on the other hand haven’t changed much in the way of personnel. As a matter of fact the most significant change has been the addition of Steve McNair. But you have to understand that before signing McNair, Billick had to first admit he was wrong about Boller. Something he had been unwilling to do in the past.

Billick has done something most of could not have. He decided that he wanted to stay and he wanted to win, so he swallowed his pride (and in Billick’s case that is no small task) and made the changes demanded by Biscotti.

And the changes have paid off. The Ravens are the number two seed in the AFC and on top of the tough AFC North. They have an impressive 13-3 record, the best in team history. They swept the arch-rival Steelers and are favorites to make it to the AFC Championship Game.

Billick took a 6-10 team full of locker room divisions and sloppy play and turned them into a team that has every right to believe that they belong in the Super Bowl. He did it by putting his ego aside and doing what needed to be done. And for that he deserves Coach of the Year.

I’m in a shitty mood this morning. Of course, it is almost afternoon. This isn’t helping my mood out at all. But none of that matters.

From inside my skull:

I’ve been looking a bit at the new Vista OS. It’s pretty good, of course it ought to be after 5 years or so of development. I have been planning to make some changes to my ’supercomputer.’ Initially, I was thinking of putting some flavor of Ubuntu on it, but now I’m considering Vista. Linux or Vista? There are good reasons for both. I love the whole Open Source thing and the implied geekiness that goes with Linux, but Vista is new and shiny. Plus, sooner or later I’ll be supporting Vista at work, the more familiar I am with the better off I’ll be. At the moment, I’m totally undecided.

I can’t help thinking that we haven’t seen the worst of this Iraqi sitiuation yet.

There are all kinds of playoff implications in todays games. Not only in the NFL but in my Fantasy Football League. So in addition to the Ravens, I’ll be rooting for LT, Jerricho Cotchery and Eli Manning.

Monday Night Football presents me with a unique dilemma Assuming the Ravens win today. If Indy wins, the Ravens clinch the AFC North. If Cincy wins we clinch the Playoffs but not the AFCN. However we will move into Second Place in the overall standings in the AFC. I think I’ll just go with my gut here and root against Cincinattica.

I really need to go backpacking. This mild weather has only made this fact more obvious to me. Spring cannot get here fast enough.

The middle of next week will mark the shortest day of the year. I look forward to it, only so I can start seeing the days get longer again. All this darkness puts a hurting on my psyche.

I hurt my foot while running the other week. Nothing serious, but it does hurt when i put my weight on it. I kept running each day, hoping that it would work itself out. It did not. I believe that my sneakers were the culprit. So I switched shoes, but the pain is still there. And there is nothing more pathetic than seeing a middle aged guy hobbling along in a half run-half limp on the treadmill. I bought some new running shoes this weekend, which in the long run should help. My problem is what to do about the short term. I don’t run on the weekends, so it has had a chance to heal some, but if it still hurts tomorrow, I’ll have to make some choices. Either I just take a week off, I use the Elliptical Machines for a week (which will put less strain on my foot, but causes my knees problems,) or I just keep running. None of those are great options.

Every time I hear about Hilary Clinton getting ready to run for President, it makes me happy. Not for any particular reason, it just feels like a good thing.

I am sick of work. Luckily I’ll get the last week of the year off. Hopefully, I can come back re-charged.

No I haven’t taken break yet…
I’m holding out for pizza!

The Ravens have reported to Training Camp.
Apparently Ray Lewis likes the team again and Billick claims he is control.

Of course.

I guess the same thing plays out all over the country this time of year.
Nearly every team is ready to make the playoffs. All the problems of last season have been addressed. The acquisitions during the off season have filled the teams needs.

Fans everywhere believe that their team can do it this time.

By week 3, we will have a better sense of reality.
But right now.
Right now, Our Team is going to go all the way!

It’s a great time of year.

If Could write a post with out going on and on about whatever it is that I think I have to say, this would be easier.

Luckily, this post has no point.

I think I just got a pledge for 5 pounds.
British Pounds.

Thanks.

I have no idea how much money that is. But that’s ok. I could go look it up, but like I have time for that.

Ravens Camp is going on right now. I could be there. But I’m here blogging. Dammit. I’ll just have to skip work one day next week to head over there.

I’m curios to see Steve McNair in action. We haven’t had a real quarter back in Baltimore since the Colts were here.
I’d love to be very optimistic about the Ravens this year, but first of all that’s not me and secondly, the AFC North is going to be very tough this year.

Are you listening to Mango Radio?

We (the DJs) will be on the air all day.

You can hear us here. Or not.

I want some lunch. I’ll be back. Of course.

The Steelers won the Superbowl. I hate the Steelers. If you’ve been listening to SBRadio you know all about it.

A Steelers victory could not make happy under any circumstances, bet the horrendous officiating in that game made it even worse. The Seahawks were in that game until halfway through he Fourth Quarter, but every time they had a chance to make something of it, something went wrong. In one case it was a bad call. A touchdown pass negated due to an Offensive Pass Interference Call. Please. That almost never gets called. Ask any DB, they’ll tell you. And what happened on that play may have broke the letter of rule, the contact certainly looked incidental to me.

The Officials have been blowing it all year and they did it again tonight. Maybe the Steelers would have beat the ‘Hawks no matter what. I don’t know. What I do know is that the Zebras put themselves in the middle of the game to many times. A well officiated game is one that you don’t give the refs much thought. Not the case here.

Don’t tell me about Sour Grapes. I don’t want to hear it.

The only silver lining to this whole fiasco is that Jerome Bettis is retiring. I like him better already. The longer he is no longer a Steeler, the more I like him.

Now I have to endure months of shit from Squeelers Fans. There were too many of them around here as it was, and it seems that the band wagon is town, cause I’ve never seen so much yellow and black as I did today.

At least Spring Training will start soon and I can trade my footballs woes for baseball ones.

I know that some people don’t like baseball. I didn’t really care about it that much when I was younger. But in my old age I have come to appreciate the sport more. Now baseball is as much a part of spring as birds singing and mowing the lawn for the first time.

I particularly like to listen to the games on the radio. It is wonderful to hear that announcer paint the action with his words. They have a certain lingo. Phrases they use to quickly give you a lot of detailed information with only a few words.

Here comes the one and one pitch. Deals. Low. Outside. Two and one.

I can picture it in my mind. I can tell how hard the batter swung at the ball by the intensity of the announcer’s voice. It is a beautiful thing.

As I was driving home from an appointment last night, listening to the game. It occurred to me how much I enjoyed this. I remembered the first Big League game I ever saw.

It would have been 1978. I got tickets to see the Phillies because I had completed the one and only season of baseball I would ever play. It was tee ball. Yes, I did strike out, thanks for asking. My dad took me and my brother to the game. I believe they were playing the Giants. I was 6 or 7 so I didn’t follow most of it.

My dad had brought a long a portable radio, which happened to look like Bullwinkle. We listened to the call on Bullwinkle and watched it play out below us. Mike Schmidt came up to bat. I asked my dad if he would hit a homerun? He was one of the two greatest baseball players ever as far as I was concerned. Pete Rose was the other. Why wouldn’t he hit a homerun, isn’t that would great ballplayers do? My dad said something like, “we’ll see.” Schmidt hammered one. Homerun. What more could a kid want than to see his baseball hero hit a homerun.

But it was what happened next that is very clear in my mind, even today. Greg Luzinski was up. Luzinski was in a slump. How did I know that? Cause my dad said it, the guys behind us said it, the announcer voice coming from Bullwinkle said so. Luzinski stepped to the plate. And everyone booed. I was confused, my dad said it was bad to boo, why we would be booing someone on “our” team. Dad said it was because he hit better when he was mad, and the crowd was trying to make him mad. I asked if it was okay if I booed. He said, it was. Years later, I would realize that Philly fans would boo anyone given half a chance. Santa Claus, Allen Iverson, Dr. J., Donovan McNabb. Anyone.

Luzinski stands at the plate. Here’s the pitch, a swing and a miss. Strike one. The boos get louder. Even from the upper deck, I could see that it was working. He looked mad. A couple more pitches. The boos are deafening. The Wind Up. The Pitch. He Swings. And it’s a Fly Ball. Deep Center. It’s still going. It’s a homerun! Back to back Homeruns! Greg Luzinski’s slump is over!

I didn’t even know who Greg Luzinski was before that moment, I must not of had a card for him. I thought the Phillies consisted of Pete Rose, Mike Schmidt, Garry Maddox, Steve Carlton and Tug McGraw. And some other guys. Hey, that’s who I had cards for. But at that moment, I could feel the electricity. Something special had happened and I was there.

Sometimes, when I listen to the O’s on the radio, I still picture the game from the Upper Deck Of Veterans Stadium. The air thick with humidity. The action so far away, yet so close. And the announcer’s voice coming from Bullwinkle. Just for a moment. Then, I remember that they play at Camden Yard, a different place, different team, different generation.

There is something timeless about listening to baseball on the radio.

These Random Thoughts posts are so not popular, I was tempted to abandon them. But, I won’t my blog, my thoughts, though shit. Without further ado:

The US has pulled its ambassador from Syria and is demanding that Syria withdraw from Lebanon. Not a good sign. Memo to the Bush Administration— NO starting new wars till you finish the ones you have now! And to think we thought Iran would be next. Well don’t rule that out either. Or better yet let’s take them both on. In the regrettable words of our President, “Bring ‘em On!” I think anyone who has read this far knows that I am opposed to war in general. But what I’m talking about here is common sense. We can only engage so many “evil-doers” at one time. Don’t think that Iran and Syria are unaware of this. North Korea knows it too. That’s why these countries are getting bolder. Are strategy of bold talk and unilateral action doesn’t seem to be worrying these folk. We need a new plan. Dr. Rice we are waiting.

And Please can we just shut up about Jose Canseco. Yes, he did steroids. Yes, he knows about others that did. But he hasn’t named any names that are truly shocking. This is not news. This is an attempt by a messed-up individual to cash in. Spring training is starting, can’t we hear about the normal drivel … Can A-Rod step for the Yankees, Can Boston do it again, Will the O’s ever get any pitching?

The NHL, meanwhile, is enjoying more coverage about the pending cancellation of their season than they had all of last season.

I’ve been using the Microsoft Anti-Spyware Tool Beta 1 for a few days now, and Monday it got its first real test. I was looking to download some cracked free password recovery software (stop looking at me like that, a user forgot the password she put on an Excel document. Really. It’s true, I swear) and well let’s just say I got infected pretty good with some spyware. It tried to stop the stuff from installing, but it was unsuccessful, it did however tip me off that something was up. I ran the cleaner and it deleted a bunch of junk. I ran AdAware afterwards and it only found traces of the infestation to clean up. Not too shabby. And big Bill just announced that the product will be free once it is released. Good job Microsoft.

Microsoft has been pressured by the Upstart browser Firefox. The Software Giant says it will not be able to release a new version of Internet Explorer until the next Windows product is released. The reason is that IE is too integrated into Windows for them to upgrade it independently. Good job Microsoft. It just goes to show there was no reason for the Justice department to worry itself over whether Microsoft was be anti-competitive when they integrated IE into Windows. Now, that same move has made it impossible for them to compete. Firefox will release several new versions before the Next Windows Product (Code Named Longhorn, Nicknamed Longwait) is released.

Yes, it is Super Bowl Sunday. One of the grandest of American Traditions. A day when folks who don’t know the difference between a Tight End Slant and a Safety Blitz sit down to watch the Big Game.

I have this sneaking suspicion that most of my few readers aren’t football fans, but I am. So today is huge for us. We are making Chili and Wings, have friends and family coming over and will watch the game in all of its big screen glory.

Ok the last part is not quite true. And I’m more than a little upset about. We bought a 65″ Widescreen High Definition TV this summer. And we bought it for one reason only, FOOTBALL. Sure, Jimmy Neutron is most impressive on the big screen, but who cares. Yes, that’s what my TV plays most of the time: Nickelodeon and Disney. But when I’m watching it, it plays football. Well in those other months when there is no football, its been known to play basketball, baseball, hockey (but not this year), and arena football. Oh wait that is football too. The point is I shelled out more money than I really should have spent to watch Football In HD. And my stupid cable company doesn’t offer FOX in HD. As a matter fact, FOX doesn’t come in that well at all. So the Game will be BIG, but it won’t look that good. I considered switching to the Dish, but I’m not sure that I don’t just end up spending more money and then end up with the same problem if it rains during a game I want to see.

I’ve called my stupid cable company several times, just to rant about this. But it doesn’t seem to make any difference. And those customer service people are so polite about the whole thing, it ends up making me feel guilty.

Anyway, if you somehow don’t know, The New England Patriots play the Philadelphia Eagles tonight. My Dad grew up in Philly, we lived there last time the Eagles actually made it to the Super Bowl, so he will be rooting for the Iggles. I, of course, root for the Ravens. They won’t be there, but one loud mouthed wide receiver will be. (OK Freddy Mitchell will be there too, but no one takes him seriously.) I was upset when Terrell Owens whined his way out of being traded to the Ravens, and he only offended more by bad mouthing our star player (Ok everyone has something to say about Ray) and our General Manager, who is by all reports a great guy and one of the best GM’s in the league. So I don’t want to see TO get a ring tonight. Besides Pittsburg was the best team in the NFL this season and New England dismantled them. I get a little tired about all this talk about Belichick being a genieus, but he’s doing something right.

My Prediction:
Pats 34 Iggles 16

wikipedia defines fascism as: any system of government resembling Mussolini’s, that
exalts nation and sometimes race above the individual,
uses violence and modern techniques of propaganda and censorship to forcibly suppress political opposition,
engages in severe economic and social regimentation.
engages in corporatism¹

“Strength lies not in defense but in attack.”
- Adolf Hitler

“The gravest danger to freedom lies at the crossroads of radicalism and technology. When the spread of chemical and biological and nuclear weapons, along with ballistic missile technology - when that occurs, even weak states and small groups could attain a catastrophic power to strike great nations. Our enemies have declared this very intention, and have been caught seeking these terrible weapons. They want the capability to blackmail us, or to harm us, or to harm our friends - and we will oppose them with all our power.”
- George W. Bush

“America will never seek a permission slip to defend the security of our people.”
- George W. Bush

¹Corporatism is used in reference to tendencies in politics for legislators and administrations to be influenced or dominated by the interests of business enterprises (limited liability corporations). From Wikipedia.

The NFL has reduced itself to 4 teams. By the end of the day we will know who is going to the Super Bowl. My Bold Prediction: Patriots vs. … well, that’s thing. I don’t know who to pick for the NFC. AFC, no problem. The Steelers host the Patriots. The two best teams in football, duke it out. The advantage goes to the Pats for three simple reasons. First, Tom Brady is a veteran quarterback who has stepped up in the playoffs for this team time and again. Second, Corey Dillon. Dillon provides the pats with balance on offense. He helps them set their tempo, and will keep the Pittsburgh defense honest. Third, Bill Belichick. No one game plans as well as Belichick. He has seen this Steelers team before, at their best. He is 13-0 against teams in the second match up against a QB. It will be a competitive game, but the Pats should win.

Across the Keystone state we have the other match up. The Eagles have a more balanced offense, a better defense, experienced coaching with Andy Reid, and home field advantage. They should be easy pick. But… they have been here before. The last three years they have been here and lost. Last year, they were clearly the better team but they were dominated by Carolina. Add to that, nasty cold weather that will minimize the passing game and of course that walking breathing X-factor we call Michael Vick. The Eagles should win this game, but I don’ think they will. I’m going on record for Atlanta.

Closer to home, the Ravens have revamped their Coaching staff, Jim Fassel is now Offensive Coordinator and Rex Ryan is the Defensive Coordinator. I think we have a big upgrade in coaching as a result. But is it enough? Probably not. We still need a big play receiver. And we are probably not going to get one. The free agent market is thin. Our best option is possibly to trade up in the draft and take Mike Williams. There is another option. One that would have been blasphemy here in Charm City just a year ago. I propose we trade Ray Lewis for Randy Moss.

I can here the nay-sayers now. Ray Lewis is the Heart and soul of that team. Randy Moss is a cancer with off field problems. True enough. But I contend that Ray’s leadership, is as much a hurt as a help. He means well, I have no doubt. But last season the defense didn’t play as cohesively as they have. And the offense is still treated like a support cast. We have more talent on Defense than you shake a stick at. Ray only has so many good years in him and it’s not like he’s going to take a pay cut. He would make an immediate impact on the Vikings D. He would raise the level of play of the other players. Its time for Baltimore to hand the torch to the next generation: Ed Reed. And let Ray go.

Moss on the other hand would give our Offense immediate Credibility. Defenses would have to plan for him, this would only improve the play of Todd Heap and Jamal Lewis. As far Randy’s dedication, he had some of his best years when Brian Billick was his OC. Billick is a master of motivation. If anyone is going to get a full effort out of Randy, it’s Billick. Maybe he is a cancer in Minnesota, but look at Corey Dillon. He was a malcontent in Cincinnati, but in New England he is a Team Player. Some times a change of address is just what is needed. Off field Issues? I hate to say it, but we’re used to those here in the Free State.

Call me Crazy but I think it’s a win-win for both teams and I would love to see it. If you’re a football fan let me know what you think.

Winter has finally arrived in the Mid-Atlantic this week. We got a dusting of snow last night and temps in the low 20’s today. Looks like that’s how it is going to be for the next couple days.

The playoffs are coming to a head. Pittsburgh will host New England and Philly will host Atlanta. Both Pennsylvania teams have a history of choking in the Conference Championship Game at home, it will be interesting to see if history repeats itself. I’m personally apathetic about the whole thing right now. The two teams I did not want to see in the Super Bowl are favored to go. I would have liked to see Peyton Manning and the Colts step it up and beat the Pats, but it wasn’t to be. I guess if I have to root for a team, it’s the Falcons. I mean Michael Vick is an incredible athlete and puts on quite a show.

My own beloved Ravens are going through major coaching changes. On Offense, it looks like Jim Fassel will be the new Offensive Coordinator with Neuheisel coming on as QB coach, we will probably see more changes on offense before this over. On Defense, it looks as though Mike Nolan will be the next coach of the 49ers. Rex Ryan will likely be promoted to Defensive Coordinator. Change is good thing for this team, even on defense. Hopefully, it will be enough to put us back on top of the division. That won’t be easy, since it looks like the Steelers have found the Real Deal in Roethlisberger.

It appears that my diet combined with regular trips to the gym are paying off. There is about 30 pounds less of me than there was at Thanksgiving. I’d like to see myself another 20 pounds lighter but I’m definitely moving in the right direction.

Early tonight I was listening to Lucy (on the XM Radio) and Howard Jones came on. You remember … Things can only get better and What is Love. I was sort of humming along when it occurred to me how truly simple these New Wave songs were. At the time they seemed very fancy with the synthesizers and what not (it may also have something to do with the fact that I was 13 when those songs came out,) but by today’s standards they are really kinda quaint. I really love hearing music from the early eighties. I even seem to enjoy song that I didn’t care for when they came out the first time. That may have something to do with the fact I didn’t have some of the music that is out now to compare those songs to. Madonna sounds pretty good compared to Britney Spears. Or maybe its just me.

In more Tragic news, the NFL’s Regular Season is over and my Ravens have missed the playoffs. We fired our Offensinve Coordinator, which was long overdue and Phil Savage (director of player personnel) is headed to rival Cleveland Browns. Now I get another month of Football while I watch Playoffs. I guess I’ll be rooting for Peyton Manning and the Colts. If that doesn’t work out, I’ll have to resort to root against the Eagles and the Arch-Rival Steelers. Now I just have to remember what it is I do on Sundays for those other 6 months of the year.

Lastly, I could tell you to vote me again, but I’m beginning to sound too whiney even for me. Instead, I’ll help out a fellow SBC Member: Fat Eye For The Skinny Guy!. He’s up for one of those swanky BoB awards (Most Humorous Blog) and his blog is much better than the compitition. Head on over and vote for him.

I’ve wanted to write about the NHL season for a while, but I really don’t know anything about it, and I’m too much of a bum to do the research. So I’ve brought in a guest blogger to do the honors. My good friend KGE doesn’t have a blog of his own but I’m trying to talk him into it. Give it a read and leave him a comment with some feedback. Maybe we can talk him into starting a blog of his own.

Why millionaires should not have a union:
MHO about the NHL Lockout
– KGE

As of the start of this writing the National Hockey League has been locked out for 53 days, 15 hours, 25 minutes, and 12 seconds. There are no negotiations scheduled, and at this point none likely for the foreseeable future. And almost nobody cares. That is what should scare the hell out of professional hockey, both management and labor. This season is on the brink of disappearing and almost nobody cares. The Stanley Cup may not be awarded for the first time since it was cancelled due to an influenza pandemic¹ and almost nobody cares. Half of the league could potentially disappear if this goes on for more than a season and almost nobody cares.

Here is my message to the National Hockey League Players Association: MORONS!! YOU ARE KILLING THE GOOSE THAT LAYS THE GOLDEN EGGS!! MAKE A %$^#ING DEAL!!

I don’t blame the owners. It is kind of hard to do that. They have spent the last decade inflating salaries beyond any reasonable level for a sport that gets the same TV ratings as arena football². They have had two franchises file for bankruptcy, with a third perilously close, in the last 5 years. They know that they are foolish, shortsighted men who are not to be trusted. And so they are seeking a system to protect the sport from themselves. A salary cap will prevent somebody from going on a drunken rampage and giving Bobby Holik 8 million a year. A salary cap will keep the Detroit Red Wings from acting like the Yankees³ and keep the New York Rangers from acting like the Redskins⁴.

It is hard to blame the players too. They don’t want the good times to end. They want salaries to continue to escalate out of control. I can see where I might like my salary to jump like that too. But something has to give. Under the proposed CBA the average NHL player’s salary would be 1.4 million dollars a year. Average! It is awfully difficult to feel sorry for a group when the base proposal would make the average player a millionaire. Players have said that they will never accept anything even vaguely like a salary cap, and cite the NFL as why they won’t. Unless I am mistaken, under the current system in the NFL the sport has thrived, taken over the #1 spot in America from baseball, and everybody has gotten filthy stinking rich!

I am just a fan. All I want is to watch my Flyers play this year. Hell, I will settle for watching any hockey this year⁵. But if a deal isn’t done, and soon, then the NHL could slip from irrelevancy into oblivion. In the United States almost nobody cares about hockey. An extended work stoppage will make it so that almost nobody will even remember hockey.

¹- Raise your hand if you remember the pandemic. If you are less than 85 years old, put your hand back down, you stinking liar. It happened in 1919.

²- Nothing against the AFL mind you, I think it is a cool sport. Go Rampage!!

³- That would be spending huge amounts of money to contend for the championship every year.

⁴- That would be spending huge amounts of money to crash and burn every year.

⁵- I have been watching as much minor league hockey as I can. Go Phantoms!!

Last week sucked for football. May fantasy team lost and I only got 5 of my picks right dragging my season total down to 73 - 43. Oh yea, the Ravens lost and TO did the Ray-Ray dance in the endzone. That was first time I was sorry that I have a 65″ HDTV. On to the Picks:

Sunday, Nov 7, 2004
1:00 PM New York NYJ (6-1) vs. Buffalo (2-5) J-E-T-S win
1:00 PM Oakland (2-6) vs. Carolina (1-6) Panthers win
1:00 PM Dallas (3-4) vs. Cincinnati (2-5) Bengals win
1:00 PM Washington (2-5) vs. Detroit (4-3) Lions win
1:00 PM Arizona (2-5) vs. Miami (1-7) The Fish pick up win number two
1:00 PM Philadelphia (7-0) vs. Pittsburgh (6-1) The Steelers upset the Iggles
1:00 PM Kansas City (3-4) vs. Tampa Bay (2-5) Chiefs win
4:05 PM New Orleans (3-4) vs. San Diego (5-3) ‘Bolts win
4:05 PM Seattle (4-3) vs. San Francisco (1-6) “hawks win
4:05 PM Chicago (2-5) vs. New York NYG (5-2) Giants stay hot
4:15 PM Houston (4-3) vs. Denver (5-3) Broncos win at Mile High
4:15 PM New England (6-1) vs. St. Louis (4-3) The Rams show up and win this one. Too many injuries for the talented Pats right now.
8:30 PM Cleveland (3-4) vs. Baltimore (4-3) Ravens show off swanky new Black Uniforms on National TV. And the take out their frustration on the Browns.
Monday, Nov 8, 2004
9:00 PM Minnesota (5-2) vs. Indianapolis (4-3) Colts beat the Mossless Vikes in a shoot out.

My fantasy team is in trouble. At least Bulger and Portis are back from their bye weeks. The 3-5 Charm City Bruisers (my team) faces the 5-3 PSU Returns in ‘04. I run a real risk of falling to 3-6 which is going put my playoff aspirations on the ropes.

Ok Football time again. I picked 9-5 last week. Miami, Cincinnati, Arizona surprised me, and everyone else last week. My record for the season is still a very respectable 68-34. My picks for week 8:

Sunday, Oct 31, 2004
1:00 PM Detroit (4-2) vs. Dallas (2-4) Lions stay perfect on the Road
1:00 PM Jacksonville (5-2) vs. Houston (3-3) Jags win
1:00 PM Indianapolis (4-2) vs. Kansas City (2-4) Colts O is to much for Chiefs D
1:00 PM New York NYG (4-2) vs. Minnesota (5-1) Vikes win
1:00 PM Cincinnati (2-4) vs. Tennessee (2-5) Titans hold on at home
1:00 PM Green Bay (3-4) vs. Washington (2-4) Redskins win after the Bye
4:15 PM New England (6-0) vs. Pittsburgh (5-1) Pats remain perfect
1:00 PM Arizona (2-4) vs. Buffalo (1-5) Cards win (yes the Bills are this bad)
4:05 PM Carolina (1-5) vs. Seattle (3-3) ‘Hawks win
4:05 PM Atlanta (5-2) vs. Denver (5-2) Broncos bounce back this week
4:15 PM Oakland (2-5) vs. San Diego (4-3) ‘Bolts (Chargers) win
1:00 PM Baltimore (4-2) vs. Philadelphia (6-0) Ravens win (yes you can just call me homer)
8:30 PM San Francisco (1-5) vs. Chicago (1-5) Bears win (some one has to win right?)
Monday, Nov 1, 2004
9:00 PM Miami (1-6) vs. New York NYJ (5-1) J-E-T-S win

My fantasy team, The Charm City Bruisers (3-4), lost again last week. By two points. If only Terry Glenn had completed the pass into the endzone. Bulger is on bye this week so we will hold our breath and go with the rookie, Carson Palmer. Luckily we are facing the Happy Horses (2-5) so we may have a chance.

Well this is just great. I was all ready to write a post about how great the Curse of the Bambino was. How the best part of the whole World Series was when the inevitable happened and the Sox lost. It would have been brilliant. But no! The Curse is over. Boston, it would seem, is TitleTown. 2 Super Bowls, 1 World Series, some jinx. I blame Shelly. She declared herself the anti-Curse and look at what’s happened.

I was looking around on Blog Explosion and found that my site had been rated 4 times. Yea! With an average rating of 4. I suck! My first instinct was to whine and ask everyone who came through on BE to rate my site. As I thought about that, I decided it would be much worse if 100 people had rated my site and I still had a 4. Blog Explosion has been cool. When I first started this, this summer, I did not know anyone else who blogged. It was very difficult to get noticed or networked. I feel BE has really helped with that. Later tonight I’m going to add some links, mostly folks I’ve found through BE. The extra traffic has been cool too, I’m very glad so many of you have taken the time leave comments. I know that takes more than 30 seconds.

At work, I’ve been tasked with creating an Intranet site. I started putting together a prototype last week and showed it to the boss. The scope creep began immediately. Could we have files uploaded that the associates could then access, e.g. new employee hand book. Could this be down with editing the site? Could we attach it to a database and use to collect data? Exciting, but close to being out of my league. The good news is that I’m not supposed to be web designer or a developer so the expectations are low. The bad news is I still have all of my other responsibilities.

I was prepared to download Slackware and build my Linux box, but Jon posted a message and suggested that I give Gentoo a look. I checked out their site. And I was impressed. This weekend, if time allows I will start setting the Linux Box with Gentoo.

Not having a great week. It started out well enough with a Ravens win on Sunday, but went down hill from there. Monday, I had to set up the general manger with his new Blackberry. That wouldn’t be so bad but I have no idea how they work, we don’t use them. The division he is going to, however, does. I got on the phone with their IS manager and she walked me through it, which left me with the impression that she did not know how they work either. She had update the template his mail file in Lotus Notes (for no apparent reason) as part of the process. This in turn hosed up his mail, till I got it straight again. I do not like it when things like that happen to computer of the GM. Nope. Not liking it at all.

Monday night of course I blew up the blog.

Tuesday, I got a call from the principal of my son’s school. Not good. No need to get into gory details, but the principal doesn’t call to tell you how great your kid is doing.

Now, its Wednesday and it appear the BoSox are gonna sweep the Cards. OK that’s not really that bad, but it sure takes the wind right out of my Curse ranting. That’s just great. What am I supposed to believe in now? Some cockeyed goat curse in Chicago, no thanks.

Do not fear. Things are looking up. My boss goes on vacation starting Friday, so that’s practically a vacation for me. I’m planning another hiking trip. Hopefully we’ll get that in, in about two weeks. And Halloween is coming. I really dig Halloween. First of all my first date with wife was a Halloween party. Secondly I love how excited the kids get about Halloween. But the best part is that we live in a neighborhood with about a million kids (just a rough estimate, accurate to +- 999,700.) It is incredible to see all of the little monsters and whatnot out there running around. Last year we had 8 bags of candy and we ran out. This year we have 11 but I bet we run out again.

Look at that, I think I just cheered myself up. I knew this blogging thing was good for me.

It’s Official. The World Series will be the Boston Red Sox against the St. Louis Cardinals. And I’m rooting for the Cards. Ok, I’m not really, I don’t care about the Cards. Sure they have a great team and I’m sure they’ll be competitive, but that’s not what this is about for me this year.

It’s about the Curse. The Curse of the Bambino. I’ve heard a lot of people talking about how the Curse has been broken, because the BoSox beat the Evil Empire. I don’t think so. The Curse doesn’t say that the Yanks own the Sox. It says that the Sox will never win another World Series. And not only that, but they’ll get close, oh so close, and then have it snatched away from them. It’s been well documented. So I say the Curse is alive and well and waiting. The Boston fans know it too. I watched them last night. Damon hit a grand slam, they cheered but moments later that has that look. The look that says, I don’t know when and I don’t know what, but its coming.

You see I’m rooting for the Curse. I feel that the Curse is good for baseball. I mean really that’s what has everyone watching again this year, isn’t it? I think so. I think a fair amount of people, myself included, were sure the Astros would win, just because Roger Clemens against the Sox in the World Series makes too much sense. It didn’t work out that way, and that’s fine. The Curse will find another way. It must.

What if the Red Sox won? Then what? I’m pretty sure Boston would self-destruct before too long. The curse is a part of them, its older than most of them. They wouldn’t know what to do with out it. And baseball needs it. Its part of the lore. Its right up there with Satchel Paige and The Babe himself calling the Homerun he is about to hit. Baseball has enough problems. Steroids, escalating salaries, Pete Rose. Can it afford a world with out the Curse?

I say no. I need the Curse. We all do. So with all do respect to the peoples of Boston and St. Louis. I won’t be rooting for either of your teams. I’ll be rooting for the curse. Looking for that moment, (you Red Sox fans know the one I’m talking about) that quirk that will snatch a World Series Victory from The Red Sox. Again.

Once Again its time to talk football. Last week my picks went an amazing 12-2. My total for the season improves to 59-29. Without further ado, here are my picks for Week 7:

Sunday, Oct 24, 2004
1:00 PM Jacksonville (4-2) vs. Indianapolis (4-1) Colts win
1:00 PM Atlanta (5-1) vs. Kansas City (1-4) The Chiefs pull out a win at home
1:00 PM Tennessee (2-4) vs. Minnesota (4-1) Vikes win
1:00 PM Detroit (3-2) vs. New York NYG (4-1) The Lions win on the road
1:00 PM Chicago (1-4) vs. Tampa Bay (1-5) The Bucs get a break against a lousy Bears Team
1:00 PM St. Louis (4-2) vs. Miami (0-6) The Rams get their turn to beat up on the Fish
1:00 PM Buffalo (1-4) vs. Baltimore (3-2) Ravens D gets it done at home
1:00 PM San Diego (3-3) vs. Carolina (1-4) Chargers win
1:00 PM Philadelphia (5-0) vs. Cleveland (3-3) The Iggles are on a roll and won’t stop in Cleveland
4:05 PM New York NYJ (5-0) vs. New England (5-0) One of these teams is gonna lose, but the Pats’ streak will stay in tact one more week
4:15 PM Seattle (3-2) vs. Arizona (1-4) ‘Hawks win
4:15 PM New Orleans (2-4) vs. Oakland (2-4) Raiders win
4:15 PM Dallas (2-3) vs. Green Bay (2-4) The Pack wins
Monday, Oct 25, 2004
9:00 PM Denver (5-1) vs. Cincinnati (1-4) The red hot Broncos win

My fantasy team, The Charm City Bruiser, on the other hand, suffered a gut wrenching loss last week to the Happy Lemons. The victory was in our sites, but a fumble and an interception for Marc Bulger put it out of reach. This week we face the WoodChucks Gone Wild and we need a win. We are 3-3 right now and need some separation from the rest of the pack. I’m confident that my studs; Bulger and Curtis Martin; can beat his studs; Plummer and Ahman Green.

The Ravens are back from the bye, but without Jamal Lewis. The Bills are suffering and this should be a good chance for Boller to establish himself and build some confidence. I don’t expect greatness, just presence and decision making. If they can’t find some offensive rhythm this week, it could get ugly in Philly next week.

First up, its seems likely right now that the Red Sox will go the World Series. Johnny Damon had a huge game. I just hope that means he is going to cut his hair now. I mean he looks ridiculous. The question now is what about the curse? But that is a discussion for another day.

Hi there to all you Blog Explosion surfers. Thanks for stopping by. You have to stay for 30 seconds so go ahead and read a bit. It makes the time go faster that way.

XM Radio announced today that they had partnered with MLB. This so cool. I’ve been an XM Subscriber for almost 2 years now and I have to admit I was feeling a little left out; seeing that Sirius had partnered with the NFL and they got Howard Stern. Now, it is all good. I’m not gonna listen to football, I have a 65″ TV. And I’m not going to listen to Stern either. But Baseball I would listen to. Baseball on the radio has always seemed perfect to me. I am looking forward to hearing many a game on the ole XM next season.

I have decided that I want one these iPods. Of course I’m not about to pay for it. A while ago I got registered in the free iPod “pyramid” thing. If I can suck five people in. I get a free iPod. If you are interested in a free iPod click here to get sucked in. You’ll have to sign up for something to be qualified. You can get a credit card and cancel it or just be the highest bidder at some point in an eBay auction (you don’t have to win.)

Finally, I think i need some Linux in my life. I’m going to convert my #2 box to the penguin. It is a PIII 533 MHz, 256 MB RAM not a bad box. In the past when I’ve set up a Linux distro it had been on a dog of a box, and as a result I never used it much cause I’d rather use the better boxes. I’d convert the #1 box but the wife and kids have no tolerance for that kind of thing.

***Playoff Update: The Red Sox are now ahead 10-3. I never thought they’d make it to the World Series***

Sorry about that. Anyhow, I want to set up a Linux box. The question now is what distro? I have the most experience with Red Hat but a lot of what I’ve read about them makes me think that they are not truly embracing Open Source. So I want to try a new distro. So I am posing an open question here. What distro do you recommend (excluding Red Hat.) Any advice or warnings appreciated.

Last week I was 10-4 on my picks, not too shabby if I do say so
myself. My total for the season is up to 47-27. My fantasy team, as
predicted, was crushed. The Ravens pulled out a win Sunday night, but
it was ugly. Defense and Special Teams played well but there was no
Offense. And the calls for Boller to be benched have begun in
Baltimore, along with the perennial call for Matt Cavanaugh’s job
(Raven’s Offensive Coordinator.)

This weeks picks are as follows:

Sunday, Oct 17, 2004
1:00 PM Washington (1-4) vs. Chicago (1-3) ‘Skins gets healthy
against the ailing Bears
1:00 PM Houston (2-3) vs. Tennessee (2-3) Titans win
1:00 PM Cincinnati (1-3) vs. Cleveland (2-3) Browns win
1:00 PM Green Bay (1-4) vs. Detroit (3-1) Loins win
1:00 PM Kansas City (1-3) vs. Jacksonville (3-2) Jags keep it rollin’
1:00 PM Seattle (3-1) vs. New England (4-0) Pats remain perfect
1:00 PM San Francisco (1-4) vs. New York NYJ (4-0) J-E-T-S win (I
love this Team)
1:00 PM Carolina (1-3) vs. Philadelphia (4-0) Iggles pay it back to
Panthers for NFC Championship Humiliation
1:00 PM San Diego (3-2) vs. Atlanta (4-1) Falcons win
1:00 PM Miami (0-5) vs. Buffalo (0-4) One of these teams is going to
have to win, but it won’t be the Fish
4:15 PM Denver (4-1) vs. Oakland (2-3) Broncos win in the Black Hole
4:15 PM Pittsburgh (4-1) vs. Dallas (2-2) Steelers win
8:30 PM Minnesota (3-1) vs.New Orleans (2-3) Vikes win
Monday, Oct 18, 2004
9:00 PM Tampa Bay (1-4) vs. St. Louis (3-2) Rams win

I’m feeling pretty good about the Charm City Bruisers (my fantasy
team) this week we are up against the Happy Lemons and I think we are
pretty evenly matched, so we’ll see. The Ravens are taking a week off
and it could not have come at better time. We’ll see how I did next
week.

Picks for Week 5:

Sunday, Oct 10, 2004
1:00 PM New York NYG (3-1) vs. Dallas (2-1) New York Football Giants win
1:00 PM Minnesota (2-1) vs. Houston (2-2) Vikes have it
1:00 PM Oakland (2-2) vs. Indianapolis (3-1) Colts win
1:00 PM Tampa Bay (0-4) vs. New Orleans (2-2) Saints win
1:00 PM Cleveland (2-2) vs. Pittsburgh (3-1) Steelers win
1:00 PM Miami (0-4) vs. New England (3-0) Pats won’t end their winning streak on the awful Dolphins
1:00 PM Detroit (2-1) vs. Atlanta (4-0) Falcons win
4:05 PM Jacksonville (3-1) vs. San Diego (2-2) Jags win
4:05 PM Buffalo (0-3) vs. New York NYJ (3-0) J-E-T-S Win
4:15 PM Arizona (1-3) vs. San Francisco (0-4) I’ll pick the ‘9ers but a Cards upset would not really surprise me.
4:15 PM St. Louis (2-2) vs. Seattle (3-0) ‘Hawks win
4:15 PM Carolina (1-2) vs. Denver (3-1) Broncos win at Mile High
8:30 PM Baltimore (2-2) vs. Washington (1-3) Ravens bounce back after being embarrassed on MNF (I hope)
Monday, Oct 11, 2004
9:00 PM Tennessee (1-3) vs. Green Bay (1-3) The Pack wins

My Fantasy team is due for a loss. Extreme luck has got me this far with a 3-1 record, but my luck has likely run out. I’m up against the 3-1 Vegas Vikings. With Peyton Manning, Joe Horn and Edgerrin James on his team, it will take more than luck to win this one. That’s why I made a blockbuster trade. I traded Reggie Wayne and two lesser Wide Receivers for the apparently ageless Curtis Martin. I am hoping that will give me a boost. We’ll find out tomorrow.

It was an ugly week of football to be sure. My picks were only 50% right this week (7-7,) bringing my record for the season to 37-23. My fantasy team somehow managed to win. But it was a bittersweet victory, if the Baltimore Ravens Defense wasn’t so average the Mini-Drews wouldn’t have had any trouble winning.
As for the Ravens, I hope Billick has them better prepared for the ‘Skins. I can’t handle getting embarrassed on National TV two weeks in a row.

Here are the Picks. This week I’m call for a road show. I expect 10 teams to win on the road. A difficult task in the NFL. Here’s how it breaks down:

Sunday, Oct 3, 2004
1:00 PM New York NYG (2-1) vs. Green Bay (1-2) Packers Win
1:00 PM Oakland (2-1) vs. Houston (1-2) Raiders win with Collins at the helm
1:00 PM Philadelphia (3-0) vs. Chicago (1-2) The Iggles won’t lose at Chi-Town
1:00 PM Washington (1-2) vs. Cleveland (1-2) ‘Skin get healthy against a dysfunctional Browns team
1:00 PM Indianapolis (2-1) vs. Jacksonville (3-0) Colts show up over-achieving Jags
1:00 PM Cincinnati (1-2) vs. Pittsburgh (2-1) Steelers win at home
1:00 PM New England (2-0) vs. Buffalo (0-2) Pats remain perfect
4:05 PM New Orleans (2-1) vs. Arizona (0-3) Saints beat up on Cards
4:05 PM Atlanta (3-0) vs. Carolina (1-1) Vick and the Falcons win this one
4:15 PM Tennessee (1-2) vs. San Diego (1-2) McNair couldn’t be hurt enough not to win this one
4:15 PM New York NYJ (2-0) vs. Miami (0-3) J-E-T-S are on a roll they won’t stop yet
4:15 PM Denver (2-1) vs. Tampa Bay (0-3) Broncos run all over the Bucs
8:30 PM St. Louis (1-2) vs. San Francisco (0-3) 9ers upset the Rams
Monday, Oct 4, 2004
9:00 PM Kansas City (0-3) vs. Baltimore (2-1) Ravens D stops explosive Chiefs Offense

My fantasy team is in trouble. We have a stiff match up against the Mini-Drews. If Clinton Portis doesn’t step it up, we could find ourselves at a 2-2 record. The Mini-Drews are throwing T.O., Warrick Dunn, and the Baltimore D at us. The Bruisers are putting up such studs as Justin Griffith at RB and Randy Hymes at WR. It doesn’t look good, but we will just have to see how it plays out.

My picks for Week 3 were a respectable 10-4, bring the total for the season up to 30-16. KC’s inability to win is the biggest surprise to me. And honestly, with their lack of defense, I think they run a very good chance of going 0-4 after playing the Ravens next Monday.

My fantasy Team squeaked out another win, bring their record up to a winning 2-1. The difference was Terry Glenn’s TD. Thrown to him by fullback Ritchie Anderson. I love plays like that.

Finally, the Ravens looked good this weekend, even with several starters out. Kyle Boller played smart and managed the game well, but he will have to spend some time with running backs coach if want to keep scrambling like that. He needs to learn how to carry the ball and avoid those costly fumbles. Jamal Lewis was back with vengeance and the defense was solid. If the team continues to play this well, there are few teams in the league who can beat them.

Another Week, another Round Of NFL Picks.

Sunday, Sep 26, 2004
1:00 PM Houston (0-2) vs. Kansas City (0-2) The Chiefs Out Shoot the Texans
1:00 PM Chicago (1-1) vs. Minnesota (1-1) The Vikes Handle Da Bears
1:00 PM New Orleans (1-1) vs. St. Louis (1-1) Rams Exploit the Saints
1:00 PM Jacksonville (2-0) vs. Tennessee (1-1) Titans bounce back this week
1:00 PM Cleveland (1-1) vs. New York NYG (1-1) NY Football Giants win
1:00 PM Pittsburgh (1-1) vs. Miami (0-2) Steelers get their shot at a screwed up Miami Franchise — Steelers Win
1:00 PM Arizona (0-2) vs. Atlanta (2-0) Mike Vick and the Falcons beat up on the Cards
1:00 PM Baltimore (1-1) vs. Cincinnati (1-1) Ravens D welcomes Carson Palmer to the NFL - Ravens win
1:00 PM Philadelphia (2-0) vs. Detroit (2-0) I’m Picking Philly but the Lions are looking good
4:05 PM San Diego (1-1) vs. Denver (1-1) Broncos have no problem beat the Bolts
4:15 PM San Francisco (0-2) vs. Seattle (2-0) ‘hawks beat 9ers
4:15 PM Green Bay (1-1) vs. Indianapolis (1-1) Talk about a tough way to start the season … but the Colts win their Home Opener (hopefully on the legs on Dominic Rhodes)
8:30 PM Tampa Bay (0-2) vs. Oakland (1-1) Oakland gets to Pay Gruden Back for Super Bowls Humiliation-Raiders win
Monday, Sep 27, 2004
9:00 PM Dallas (1-1) vs. Washington (1-1) ‘Skins Wins (this one will be ugly)

On the fantasy front, my Charm City Bruiser (1-1) face the Hope Village Heros (2-0). I still have Running back problems, but I’ve gambled on Dominic Rhodes. He’s been very active this season anyhow and with the Edge being a little gimpy I’m hoping he gets even more carries this weekend. I’ve dumped Dallas as my defense and picked up Detroit. Currently they are the number 1 ranked D. Who knew? Also it helps a lot that the owner of the Hope Village Heros seems to have an interesting strategy for dealing with bye weeks. He leaves the guys in. Instead of try to rotate guys on and off the bench and chancing putting guys on waiver to make room, he just takes his lumps. The good news is all three of his Wide Receivers are on bye. Which is fine by me, I need all the help I can get to win.

My fantasy team, The Charm City Bruisers, won 54-50 this week. Bringing our record up to 1 and 1. My picks were also more successful this week; I got 11 right. For the Season I am 20 -12, which is respectable. Heck, it’s better than all of the experts over CBS Sportsline.

I want to personally say right here, how disgusted I am with Joey Porter.

If you are a Ravens fan or happened to see the Ravens-Steelers game yesterday, you may understand what I’m talking about. In case you didn’t, I’ll explain.

During the game, Todd Heap’s leg got pinned under another player and hurt his ankle pretty bad. The Ravens were running the two minute drill and Heap being the true tough guy that he is, did not want to cost his team a time out so he hobbled himself back to the line of scrimmage knowing that Boller was just going to spike the ball. He got himself there, but was obviously in pain, he couldn’t put any weight on his leg. He had both hands down on the turf to hold himself up. Joey Porter, linebacker for the Steelers, lined up across from Heap. When the ball was snapped, the ball was spiked, and Porter launched himself into the injured Tight End, knocking back and right off his feet.

I understand that the Steelers and Ravens are bitter rivals, and I understand that the players take these games very personally. But to hit an injured player, for no reason, is deplorable. I know that it was a legal hit, Heap was lined up. But its not as thought the Ravens were actually running a play. It was a mindless blow from a very small man. He says he did it because maybe Heap was faking it, in order to trick him. He says he’s seen that lots of times. I don’t even know what to say about that.

I believe in Karma and I believe that Joey Porter just put a huge hurting on his Karma wheel. But I don’t feel sorry for him. If were to run into him on the street, I’d have tell him, “Nice Job, Joey Porter, Way to hit a man when he was down.”

We are on the eve of week 2 in the NFL which means another week of fantasy football and more picks.

First with the picks:

Sunday, Sep 19, 2004
Cleveland (1-0) vs. Dallas (0-1) Cowboys Win
Chicago (0-1) vs. Green Bay (1-0) The Packers own the Bears and they win again tomorrow
Carolina (0-1) vs. Kansas City (0-1) The Chiefs win at home
San Francisco (0-1) vs. New Orleans (0-1) Saints Win
Washington (1-0) vs. New York NYG (0-1) Clinton Portis is the difference - Skins win
Denver (1-0) vs. Jacksonville (1-0) Broncos win
Houston (0-1) vs. Detroit (1-0) Lions win
St. Louis (1-0) vs. Atlanta (1-0) Mike Vick and the falcons win
Pittsburgh (1-0) vs. Baltimore (0-1) Ravens D at Home is too much for Duce and the Steelers
Seattle (1-0) vs. Tampa Bay (0-1) ‘Hawks win it (especially if Shaun Alexander is healthy)
New England (1-0) vs. Arizona (0-1) The Pats haven’t lost since week 4- 2003 season, they will not change their winning ways in Arizona
Buffalo (0-1) vs. Oakland (0-1) Raiders win
New York NYJ (1-0) vs. San Diego (1-0) J-E-T-S win
Indianapolis (0-1) vs. Tennessee (1-0) Colts win this week
Miami (0-1) vs. Cincinnati (0-1) The Bengals win
Monday, Sep 20, 2004
Minnesota (1-0) vs. Philadelphia (1-0) Vikings win in a shoot out — I’ll see your TO and raise you one Randy Moss

My fantasy team has had a rough week. First Charles Rogers is out for the season. We brought in Tai Streets as free agent. He should step up for Lions to take Roger’s place and he and the Mooch have history. If he doesn’t cut it I still have Terry Glenn and Marcus Robinson on the bench. They both looked good in week 1 but I need to see more before I make either of those guys starters. Then at the last minute I found out that Stephen Davis needs knee surgery. I cut the bum. Neither of my bench warmers, Willis McGahee or William Green, are ready for primetime. So I had no choice to bring a veteran and hope he can hold up. Who to pick? None other than old Catch-22 Emmitt Smith. I have to admit that I’m not feeling very confident having to make this many adjustments this early in the season. This we face the Rented Mules led by Daunte Culpepper this week. It could be a long day tomorrow and an even longer Monday Night.

It’s funny how things get twisted around. As I talk to people at work and elsewhere about family life as it comes up. I find myself feeling guilty. Why? Because it seems that most people are unhappy with their marriages. I am not. I couldn’t be happier with my marriage. I won’t get all yucky by going in to that, but I’m truly happy. As I find myself in conversations where folk go on about how their ex is doing them in or how that can’t stand to be around their spouse I fell as though I can’t participate. What I am supposed to say? Gee guys, my wife and I have lots of funny together. That would be like rubbing their noses in it. So I stay quiet and end up feeling a little guilty that I have something they do not. But I can live with that :)

There has been a lot of talk about this reliever for Texas pitching the chair in to the stands, and what is acceptable fan behavior. Its this simple, Frank Francisco has no excuse for his behavior. None. On the other hand, fans are rude. In every game, at every stadium, there are fans behaving like buffoons embarrassing themselves and everyone around them. I hate to take my children to sporting events for just that reason. How twisted is that? I’d like to blame this behavior on the beer flowing at these events, but that’s only part of the problem. What it comes down to is this, as a culture we have lowered our standards. Just walk into any retail store, its almost impossible to get a sales person to pay attention to you. It makes me cringe every time a waitress tells me sorry about the wait we are understaffed. That’s not customer service, don’t tell me about your problems, just smile and say here’s your dinner and I’d probably wouldn’t have even thought about the wait. But customer service is no longer part of the job, we’ve lowered our standards.

Mozilla has just released Firefox 1.0. If you aren’t happy with IE you might want to give it a try. I just downloaded it and so far so good. One noticeable improvement over previous versions — I can now listen online to ESPN radio.com with out having to use IE. There is also a feature that identifies when a page has RSS feeds available but the “live” bookmarks that go with that seem to be hit or miss.

Not a good football weekend at all. The Charm City Bruisers were defeated 51-47 by RestoreTheRoarin04. The season ending injury to Charles Rogers might have been the difference. As for my picks I got 9 right. Not setting the world on fire but we’ll see how the season shapes up.

I had a fun weekend if you don’t count that sorry excuse of a football game. On Saturday my wife and I took my brother and sister-in-law for an old fashioned train ride. It was a blast. We got to ride in a dining car while the steam locomotive pulled us through the mountains of Western Maryland. When you think about how important the railroad was to the history of our country, it’s just cool to get a feel for what it was like back then. And the scenery was breath taking.

That night my father and I went fishing for catfish. And lo and behold, I caught one. Only 11 inches or so but worth keeping. Pretty cool. I’m happy to actually catch a fish this year, but those things are creepy.

For the football festivities on Sunday I made Suicide wings with Suicide sauce I had bought at the bar that is the home of the original Buffalo Wings. We had been to Buffalo in May and I had been saving it for football season. I also made some very hot chili, spiced with jalepenos, red chilis, and a dose of Dave’s Insanity Sauce. Good stuff! Not a bad way to keep your mind off the game.

It is a bad feeling to wait all this time for the beginning of the football season just to have your team lose. I’ll take comfort in the fact that the fans of half the teams in the NFL feel the same way I do, right now. I won’t go in to the details of the game, but I will make a couple of points.

1. Contrary to what I’ve been hearing, I think Boller looked OK. Consider his first game last season, the Steelers blitzed the hell out of him. He looked like a deer in the headlights for most of the game. Sunday, he stood in the pocket , for the most part, and he threw the ball well enough. But more importantly, he didn’t ever looked confused.
2. Too much credit its being given to the Brown’s defense for holding Jamal to 57 yards. There are two factors that contributed to that. First, perennial Pro-Bowler, Jonathan Odgen was out with a sprained knee. Second, Brian Billick hates to run the ball. That may seem counter-intuitive if you are only looking at the stats, but it is true. Sure he does have Jamal run a lot, but is not want he wants. That is what happened Sunday, Billick knew that Cleveland would pack 8 or 9 in the box, leaving the receiver in Man to Man coverage. So he tried to exploit it. Great plan, unless you have a inexperienced quarterback and a underachieving receiving corps.
3. The Ravens’ Special Teams sucked. They stunk. Too many penalties, short punts, a kick off out of bounds. The Ravens offense needs good field position to have a chance to score points and the Special Teams Unit did everything they could to give up field position.

The good news is that there are still 15 games left to play, and like all the sports radio guys keep saying, here in Baltimore, the last 4 teams to go to the SuperBowl lost in week 1.

Football Season officially starts tomorrow. For the record I predict that the Baltimore Ravens will defeat the Seattle Seahawks in the Superbowl. For whatever that’s worth. I’ve never picked that correctly, but its fun to try. And hey this year if I do get it right, it will be documented. Just for fun I am going to put my weekly picks on here. We can keep score.

Indianapolis (12-4) vs. New England (14-2)— Colts win (but it will be close)
Arizona (4-12) vs. St. Louis (12-4)—Rams win
Detroit (5-11) vs. Chicago (7-9)—Lions win
San Diego (4-12) vs. Houston (5-11)—Texans win
Seattle (10-6) vs. New Orleans (8-8)—Seahawks win
Oakland (4-12) vs. Pittsburgh (6-10)—Raiders win
Tampa Bay (7-9) vs. Washington (5-11)—Bucs win
Jacksonville (5-11) vs. Buffalo (6-10)—Jags win
Baltimore (10-6) vs. Cleveland (5-11)—Ravens win … duh
Tennessee (12-4) vs. Miami (10-6)—Titans win (Miami will have a tough season)
Cincinnati (8-8) vs. New York NYJ (6-10)— J-E-T-S win (I’ll take Chad Pennington over Carson Palmer anyday)
Atlanta (5-11) vs. San Francisco (7-9) —Falcons win
Dallas (10-6) vs. Minnesota (9-7)—Vikings win
New York NYG (4-12) vs. Philadelphia (12-4)—Iggles win
Kansas City (13-3) vs. Denver (10-6)—Chiefs win
Green Bay (10-6) vs. Carolina (11-5)—Panthers win

Wow … Now that I look at it I’ve picked 10 road teams to win this week. That seems unlikely, but I stand by the picks, at least until I’m proven wrong. You may have noticed I didn’t address the spread. That’s because I don’t gamble and I love the game I want to know who wins not who beat the odds. If you gamble … I wouldn’t risk your money on my predictions. I’ll post my results on Tuesday as well as the results of my fantasy team … The Charm City Bruisers. I am so ready for this … Football season truly is the best time of the year.

I’ll take a night off on the RNC. I heard Dubya talk, same ole song and dance. Nothing new to cover and nothing I didn’t expect.

Kobe’s off the hook. I’m not sure how I feel about it either. I think most people have said all through this process that, only two people really know what happened that night, but I was hoping that this trial shed some light on Kobe’s actions. Now, we have nothing. No verdict, no evidence. People will believe what they want to. All I can say is, I hope he was innocent of the charges made. It would make me sick to my stomach if I knew that he was out there living the superstar lifestyle after committing that kind of crime.

O’s won again. Why do I think I might be the only person who cares? I’m a fan. I can’t help it.

I spent all day at work trying to get our Wi Fi Infrastructure set up. The trick is this; we have to get our Intermec Handheld Terminals on the same infrastructure as the other Wi Fi Devices (Laptops and such) and at the same time have some level of security. The Plan is to implant 802.1x security for devices that support WPA. Devices (like the handhelds) that do not support WPA will use WEP encryption. I had a lot of trouble to getting the handheld to use the WEP key. Finally, we got it going. I then tried to authenticate a laptop using 802.1x, it would authenticate to Radius Server without any trouble, but it couldn’t negotiate an IP Address from the DHCP server for some reason. I’m stumped. I’ll be back at tomorrow, we need this up by week’s end. If you have thoughts or suggestion, I’d be happy to hear them.

I just finished my first homework assignment. Just a basic review of HTML. Ordered Lists, Tables, Links. Kind of fun. For extra credit he had us use an external style sheet. I’d never done much with CSS, just things to screw up this blog really. It’s actually not too complicated. Hopefully we’ll get more in to style sheets in the class. I might actually be able to customize this blog the way I want it.

I finished Angels and Demons today and I loved it. TO me it was better than The DaVinci Code, but that may be because I have always been fascinated with the Illuminanti. They were both good books and I highly recommend them. The DaVinci Code is better packaged for mass consumption, but I thought the “twist” in Angels and Demons was incredible.

The O’s won again and have reclaimed 3rd place in the AL East. Hopefully they will end on a positive note.

The instructor that emailed yesterday emailed me back today and informed me that there was a class available, Advanced Web Page Authoring, and it started tonight at 6:00 PM. That sounded interesting, so I get my stuff in gear and got myself registered. Should be a cool class. We will learn some ASP.Net and some Server Side VB.Net. I am excited and relieved. Its bad enough that I am accumulating credits at a snail’s pace, missing a semester would’ve been terrible.

It appears that Deion is indeed coming, although it is very funny that everyone (me included) is making this much of deal about a 37 year old nickleback.

I’ve add the Google site search to my page, but it doesn’t work. This is because Google hasn’t indexed my page yet. My traffic stats say the google has checked the site, so it should index it before too long. I hope. I’ll leave the code in place. The Web Search Feature still works fine. I also have the AdSense ad down the on the sidebar. In theory the ads it puts in place should some how relate to my content. I am forbidden to click on them, cause that against the rules. I am curious about how it gathers click thru percentages and such. So if you have nothing better to do click on one and let me know what on the other side.

I have managed to give to Gmail invites away and for my efforts Google in its infinite wisdom has granted me another invite. The offer still stands.

The O’s managed to win in the 12th inning against TB. They had better find 3rd place in the AL East and keep it if Lee Mazzilli wants to keeps his job. I like the guy, but Angelos spent a lot of money to make this team better, I don’t think he is going to be patient if the Orioles finish in 4th place for the 6th straight year.

I’m doing my best to ignore the Republic National Convention. I realize that I have a Civic Duty to pay attention and all that. But they make me so mad. Tributes about 9/11. As though 9/11 belongs to the Republican Party. That the Terrorist attacks on our nation prove that Bush is a good leader.

“You can count on him, especially in a crisis” - Laura Bush
“He is a leader who doesn’t flinch, doesn’t waver, does not back down” - Arnord Schwarzenegger
“He has been tested and has risen to the most
important challenge of our time, and I salute him,” - John McCain

Bush handled the immediate aftermath of the attacks admirably. As I hope that any President of the United States would. Are the Republicans claiming I should vote for him just because he didn’t crack under the pressure? 9/11 is not a platform, it is a tragedy. See, I’m mad again just typing about it.

Now that I’m Fired up let hit a couple more points. You may recall the Republicans try to paint Kerry as waffling and indecisive. For example. All I can say is Karma’s gonna get you baby. Bush has put himself squarely on both sides of the statement he made about not being able to win the war on terror.

And I’m real sick of all this talk about the liberal media. Please! The media does what it does for reason that have nothing to do with politics. The don’t support Bush (although it seems like sometimes.) They don’t support Kerry. They move only where the mighty dollar tells them to go. And right now the dollar pushes them to the right. Don’t mistake cold calculated marketing for a political preference.

No. No. No. Seems to be word of the day. My three year old might tell you that No is the word of the day every day.

I went to register for my Intro to VB class today on my lunch break. And the lady there told me … No! The class was cancelled due to lack of interest. I attempted to explain to her that I was very interested in the class and maybe they should reconsider. She would have no part of it. I am not put off that easily, so I figured I would just sign up for another one. (My work had only approved payment for that particular class, but when you sign up for classes on the day that they are scheduled to begin you need to act fast!) I asked her if I could register for Into To Java Programming. No! Cancelled. How about Principles of Computer Technology? No! Cancelled. How Microcomputer Operating Systems? No! Cancelled. How about the Internet Section of he VB Class? No! Cancelled. I am beginning to wonder if the ole Community College still has a Computer Information Systems Program. I sent off an email to one of the program advisors, but for now it looks unlikely that I will be able to take a class this semester. On the positive side, this may be enough to push me in to getting off of my ass and finding an actual undergraduate degree program to pursue.

No Internet Explorer! At least that is how I feel about it. I can’t stand it. Even with the fixes in XP SP2 it still just ticks me off. It seem that a lot of people still use IE because they don’t realize they are allowed to use another a browser. You are! Don’t know what your Choices are? Go Here! Its a cute little site that gives “success” stories of people who have made the switch. Kind of a take off of the Mac commercials from a year or so ago.

No! Deion “Prime Time” Sanders is not a Raven … but he could be as early as tomorrow. (So technically this is really a yes, but I had to keep with the no theme.) Chris McAlister did report to the team today, signing his one year tender that locks him in the team’s Franchise Player. It also pays him a cool $7.1 Million. It seem that the Ravens and C-Mac are still no where near agreement on a long term deal. It is unlikely that they will negotiate once the season starts. It is not unreasonable to imagine that C-Mac is going to get “tagged” again after this season.

Took a nice drive today up into Pennsylvania. Drove past Caledonia State Park throughout the Michaux State Forest to Pine Grove Furnace and from there up into the Cumberland Valley to Boiling Springs. In Boiling Springs we stopped at the Appalachian Trail Conference Regional Head Quarters. There wasn’t anyone there, But I looked through the register and saw that many thru-hikers I met this summer had made it that far. Very pretty country up there, not a bad way to spend a Sunday afternoon.

Tomorrow, I should be starting a new class. Intro to VB. I don’t have much programming experience, so it is a real blast for me to take these classes. I hope get to learn some cool stuff, what I can do now in VB is very limited.

I watched the Ravens third preseason game last night. The offense still looks a little lack luster, but they are making progress (slow but progress.) And I see a glimmer of something exciting between Kyle Boller and Kevin Johnson. They seem to be getting on the same page. And BJ Sams looked good. I think Lamont Brightful will be looking for work when the next round of cuts comes around.

The O’s won. Breaking a 12 game losing streak. I wish I had more to say but…

I am now up to 6 gmail invites. I can’t seem to give them away. So please, please let me know if you want one.

I liked The DaVinci Code so much that I bought Dan Brown’s Angels and Demons. I’m most of the way through it and in a lot of ways I like it better than The DaVinci Code, of course how it ends will affect my final judgment. At any rate, I can safely say that I’m becoming a big Dan Brown fan.

We just finished our fantasy draft. I did pretty good considering that we have 12 players this year.
The Starting Line-up looks like this:

QB Marc Bulger
RB Clinton Portis
RB Stephen Davis
WR Chad Johnson
WR Charles Rogers
WR Reggie Wayne
TE Alge Crumpler
K Josh Brown
DEF Dallas

Not exciting, I know. But my running game should be solid. And Running Backs win fantasy football. I pledge (or threaten depending on your opinion) to keep you updated on the progress of my fantasy team: the Charm City Bruisers. Unless of course, I really start to suck then I might find something better to blog about.

ESPN.com - MLB - Recap

The good news is football season is almost here. 11 in a row! Yuck. It’s not like I thought they would go to the post season, but maybe at least stay above 500 and keep third place. Its all pitching … well a lot of its pitching.

Speaking of football … My fantasy draft is Sunday … stay tuned!

The Men’s Olympic basketball team is now playing for the Bronze. On the bright side US Women’s Softball and US Women’s Soccer have won the gold. And the US Women’s Basketball Team is playing for the Gold. I still haven’t watched much of the Olympics. Seems kind of pointless. I know all of the results before NBC bothers to air the events. It just seems too packaged to me.

In the NFL Preseason game apparently Eli Manning had a rough night. What’s surprising is that anyone is surprised about this. I don’t care how good he is… he’s still a rookie. And part of me (the part that bleeds purple and black) is happy to hear it. A lot of teams have rookie or second year quarterbacks right now and those teams know that the kids will have some bumps along the way. But since Eli is in the Big Apple everyone acts like he’s going to be as good as … oh just Peyton… overnight. What short memories we have. Everyone knew Peyton was gonna be good, but he’s just in the past two season’s really started to come into his own.
The Ravens face the Lions tomorrow night. Still with a weak secondary, but should be able to put on a good show. I am really looking forward to seeing Randy Hymes get some time at Wide Receiver since Travis Taylor probably won’t play. And BJ Sams will have a chance to beat out Lamont Brightful for the Return Specialist position.

Anyone want to venture I guess as to how many the O’s will drop before they break this streak. I’m scared to even think about it.

Yahoo! News - Marbury Leads Dream Team Past Spain 102-94

Is it really fair to the “Dream Teams” of Olympic past to keep referring to this team as the Dream Team. First, they are not even the best of the NBA. Too many of those found reasons not to go. Second, they aren’t playing that well. Let’s simply refer to them as the US Men’s Basketball Team. If you want a dream team, check out the US Women’s Basketball Team.

I called Eureka! yesterday and the lady there was more than happy to give me a new set of poles as a warranty item. She didn’t even want any proof of purchase from me, which confirms my suspicion that these poles tend towards this nature of defect. The only problem is that the poles are on back order till November at the earliest. I asked if it was possible to upgrade to aluminum poles. And it is. So for the small sum of 21 denarios, including shipping I will have a new set of stronger and lighter poles for my tent. Unfortunately, they won’t get here until Monday. So this weekend I’ll be taking my chances with the old poles, if tenting is necessary.

The Ravens have given Deion Sanders a deadline to decide about this comeback. So the suspense will be over soon, one way or another we will find out if Prime Time is going to be a Baltimore Raven.

After almost a week of testing, troubleshooting, phone calls, and emails we finally have the handheld units for our new software package syncing data with the database. Now we get the users testing and this project moving forward again. Yea!

Yahoo Sports NFL New charge filed against Jamal Lewis

I probably shouldn’t even comment on this piece of news, but it looks like this more a matter of changing the way they are prosecuting Jamal as opposed to some new evidence.

Only trial will bring out all the information, or at least most of it. What has been made public so far doesn’t sound that insemination. Yes, Jamal’s childhood friend is a coke head. Yes, he took a phone call from some other crackhead, who, as it turns out, was an informant at the time. And that’s it. She (the informant) did all the talking. If she would have been a cop, you’d being talk of entrapment. I can’t help but wonder if this new charge is not a move by the prosecution to get Jamal to testify agents his friend. It just doesn’t seem like there enough evidence here to found him guilty of anything.

Let’s put this in perspective. If Jamal did everything the State is accusing him of,then what he did is this: He thought about purchasing some drugs, talked to this informant about it (after she approached him,) and then he decided against it. That’s right. No drugs were even sold.

I find it hard to believe that our tax dollars are being spent on bringing charges on a prominent athlete for deciding to not buy drugs 4 years ago. Just makes my blood boil. It might be different if he was on your team, but he’s not. He’s on my team and we love him. 2066 yards last season, 2nd most ever, 295 yards in one game, most ever. Funny that the D.A didn’t notice him before those accomplishments.

ESPN.com - NFL - Prime Time special: Deion weighs comeback

According to the Baltimore Sun and ESPN.com Deion Sanders is considering playing football Again. And the team he is eying up? The Baltimore Ravens. General Manager Ozzie Newsome and Head Coach Brian Billick are playing it safe, saying that Deion is retired and until they hear differently they have to assume he is unavailable.
I’m not sure that this is a great move for Ravens, if Deion were to actually come to Baltimore. That’s a whole lot of ego to add to a locker room that already has plenty of ego. And to put it gently, Deion is not as young as he used to be. But the bottom line is this, the Ravens have a need at nickelback. So I say, if Deion is the best player available, bring him aboard.

Here is my analysis of the Ravens first preseason contest. I know .. its not like anyone wants to hear that… I mean most Ravens fans wouldn’t want to be bored with my analysis. But that is why I have a blog. So I can ramble on and on about what ever my heart desires. So here it goes…
Overall the Ravens looked good. The Defense, as expected, looked great. They kept Vick quiet (for all tree snaps he was allowed) and they did not allow Atlanta to score. A shut out is a shut out … preseason or not. In particular, I was happy to see the secondary playing well even while they were playing short handed. The Offense got off to a slow start, but Kyle Boller was able to lead the on a 95 yard drive down the field that resulted in a very pretty TD pass. There are still some who can’t seem to help themselves in criticizing Boller, but I think all thing considered he looker good. I was impressed with Kevin Johnson who stretched out and grabbed a pass to keep that drive alive. The first team Offense looked to me as though it was very much missing the presence of Orlando “Zeus” Brown at Right Tackle. Ethan Brooks was filling in and got beat by defenders several times letting the Atlanta defense in the back field.
Other Notes…
I thought Kordell Stewart looked horrible. This guy has oodles of experience and he led the Steelers to playoffs in 97 and 01. And there he was making poor decisions and looking confused against a second string defense. Not only that, but when he did manage to throw a touchdown pass , he ran towards the endzone like he was going to celebrate but no one was there for him to celebrate with. If he can’t inspire those he’s on the field with he serve no do us no good as a back up quarterback if we ever need him.
If Jamal Lewis is going to miss some time this season due to his pending legal situation (I’m sure I’ll have more to say about that as the court date gets closer,) Musa Smith is going to have to step it up. He looked OK, but I hope to see significant improvement from him over the next few preseason games.
Overall, this team looks to me as though they could go deep into the postseason this year, as long as Boller continues to develop and the team stay healthy (and out of jail.)

baltimoresun.com - O’s remain in zone out West, win 8th in row

Go O’s!! The lowly Orioles… owners of 4th place in the AL East for 4 straight years … the team with no real pitchers … Sydney Ponson an ace … hah … playing in the shadow of the Red Sox and the Mighty Yankees … those O’s have won 8 in a row and are heading for a respectable 500 record.
They aren’t likely see the wild card race, but it is nice that they are playing like a Big League Team. For the first time since May, I’m excited about baseball. Melvin Mora and Miguel Tejada are playing extremely well and the pitching is improving. People are talking about the O’s and in Baltimore that’s hard to do this time of year. Usually the Ravens steal the show and the O’ plod to mediocrity. This is a nice change. I can handle having two winning teams in town. I hope it turns out that way.

Tonight I am on my way for a week of fishing, swimming, reading and relaxing. Ahh… sounds good doesn’t it. With any luck I will, I will shake this cold. The only thing worse than going to work sick is going on vacation sick. Anyhow … I just bought the DaVinci Code, and I will read it over the course of the week. If it is as good as everyone says it is, I suppose I will add my opinion about it here.

Which reminds me, I signed up for that Amazon Associates thing and put some links to books I have enjoyed. I find it highly unlikey that I will make one red cent off of this, but if someone would happen to want to buy a book cause of my recommendation … Cool.

A couple of thoughts before I go on vacation:

I keep reading about how John Kerry is too stiff and not engaging and “seems to require endless, occasionally tiresome explication” Newsweek 8/2/04
I can’ t believe that we are worrying about this stuff in a president. I don’t want this guy to be my best friend, I want him to lead. The fact that he can explain himself is a plus for me. Quite a change from the utter lack of real substance with the current administration.

Training camps have started across the NFL. I can’t wait for the season to start. Go Ravens!

I’m not really much of a fisherman. So I have been reading up some of the tricks of the trade. The ironic thing about that is .. I don’t really like to eat fish. If I actually catch something worth keeping I’ll have a dilemma about what to do. I know I could always catch and release … but part of the problem with being not a very good fisherman is I usually hook them in an ugly way. So I don’t have much confidence in its survival if I were to release it.

The Olympics are coming and I don’t really care. That’s terrible, and I know it. Maybe once I actually start watching the events (I’ll probably watch) then I’ll care. It just seems like everything about these games is negative. NBA players feeling too self important to represent their country. Marion Jones Doping allegations. The only positives I have heard are about Michael Phelps.

Well, I’m sure I’ll have some thoughts to post from vacation. And hopefully, I’ll get to really unwind.

Ricky Williams

Ricky Williams is going to retire from football. All over the country, there are guys who have already drafted their Fantasy Football Teams who are feeling very nauseous right now. Its bad enough to have your first round pick get injures in the preseason … but to have him just decide he’s no longer interested, that just sucks. And poor Dave Wannstedt. He was already on the hot seat and now his best player just walked away from the game. I’d feel even more sorry for the Dolphins if they didn’t play the Ravens in Week 17!

BoSox and Yankees

And I thought A-rod was such a nice guy, but he lost it. Nothing like a bench clearing brawl in Major League Baseball. And from the clips I saw it looked like Varitek would have killed Rodriguez if left to his own devices. And with these wins, Boston is now a half game over Anaheim for the Wild Card. If Boston can make the playoffs I predict more fireworks from these two teams.

Other Thoughts

OK, I’ve said before but I can’t help it. Lance is just plain awesome. Lindsey Davenport beat Serena William and went on to win the title. Is Serena losing a little of her dominance? Maybe spending too much time design clothes and not enough time on Tennis. Time will tell. The Steelers extend Cowher’s contract two more years. Incredible. The Steelers haven’t had a great season in quite a few years now, I would’ve thought that Cowher’s job wasn’t that safe. Shows you what I know

Armstrong Wins Record Sixth Tour De France

Simply Incredible! Not only does he win for the sixth time, which no one else has ever done, but he absolutely dominated. Armstrong represents what sports can be at its finest. His performance in the Tour de France (or as us fans like to call it the Tour de Lance) represent what can be accomplished through dedication, training and sheer will. He climbs better than anyone else and now this he killed in the last time trials. As I’ve said before, I have nothing but respect and admiration for this phenomenal athlete.

Yahoo! News - Lance Wins Mountain Climb, Retains Lead

Is there a better athlete in the world? I don’t think so. Lance’s single minded dedication to winning this event is just inspiring. Go Lance!