College Football Roundup

Go Gators!

Ok, so I understand that playing Western Kentucky is not exactly a hardship. It is practically a scrimmage. But it did prove that Tim Tebow can throw the ball. My brother called me at the end of the 1st quarter to announce that Tim had not thrown a single incomplete pass. He had only thrown 3 passes at that point, but none of them were incomplete! He had also already thrown for over 100 yards.

The final score (after just over 51 minutes of football)* was 49-3. There were some old timers out there, but more new names and faces! Here's to a great 2007!

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In other news,

1. Michigan lost to Appalachian State. I really love typing that! What a joke. This was the team who felt they should have played for the National Championship instead of Florida last year and who many had picked to play for the National Championship this year! Plus, DSD is a Colombus, Ohio born and bred Buckeye, so I get to hate the Wolverines by default. (He hates the 'Noles, that is what love is all about!).

2. DSD and I participate weekly during college football in a friendly little football pool organized by our friends at our neighborhood watering hole. There are 10 games each week, winner is the person who picks the most correct wins. If there is a tie, one game is chosen as a tie breaker and the person who picks the number closest to the combined total score wins. I first started playing during the 2004 season and I didn't get to play every week, but the weeks I did play I would win 3 out of 10 or 4 out of 10. I never used REASON, you see. I made all my picks on emotion. Pick FSU to win? Not bloody likely!
During the 2005 season I did better. I was even tied going into the Bowl pool, the last one of the year.. worth the most money. Unfortunately, Texas and USC kept scoring and scoring and scoring and my tiebreaker was not that high.**
Last year I won the next to the last weekly pool (Thanksgiving weekend football!) AND the Bowl pool! (I was starting to sweat when no one scored in the 3rd quarter of the National Championship game. I needed that last TD to win. The fact that it was a Gator TD just made it sweeter!)
So far this week, I am 9 for 9. DSD chose Wake Forest in the BC/Wake game, so he is only 8 for 9. The last game is tomorrow night at 7 CDT. The Bowden Bowl. I didn't pick FSU to win, but that is because they usually don't when they play Clemson. And my tie breaker number is 54. Wish me luck, I could use the money!

3. I had Auburn in the pool and I like to support the SEC teams when they play out of conference, but I would have been thrilled if KState had pulled out the win. My best friend, P, is from Manhattan, KS and practically her entire family has attended KState. I figured Auburn would win, but it was a really great game and I hope that is a sign that KState is going to be competitive in the Big 12. Plus I have a special place in my heart for them since their defeat of Texas last year led to my Gators in the National Championship game!***


* Game was called on account of lightning before the middle of the 4th quarter.
**The loss would not have been so horrendous, but the winner was a girl who made her picks on uniform color and has no interest in college football normally.
***It really is all about the Gators, you know!

Misc Sunday Thoughts

Michael Vick is a scum, sucking pig. He deserves to be sent up the river for a very long time and to never be allowed to even watch football again. What he did and allowed to be done to those dogs was cruel and inhuman, but (to me) the part that he truly needs to be punished for is taking the gifts that he was given and flushing them down the toilet.

I don't know a lot about his childhood, but my understanding is that it wasn't very "Leave it to Beaver". When I looked up Vick on Wikipedia there were a lot of references to the crimes that he pled guilty to, but there is also plenty of insites into the neighborhood and public housing that he grew up in. It didn't sound like a fun place, but his parents were together and both (according to the article) were honest and hardworking and he had something that a lot of people in that situation do not have... A WAY OUT.

I feel for the poor, the needy, the uneducated. I am constantly looking for ways to help them, although I am usually disapointed in my own efforts. Michael Vick did not need my help or anyone else's. His talent, whether you consider it God-given, genetic or just pure dumb luck, allowed him to receive an education and then elevated him to a place that most only dream of. He was a shining example that hard work and dedication will allow a person to fulfill their dreams (although maybe not the tune of a $40 million signing bonus for everyone). And he blew it. Not only did he break the law, but he thumbed his nose at every single person (and the list includes me) who has cheered for him through the years. He basically said "Eff off" to all of us who appreciated where he came from and what he had made of himself.

I do not feel that he should be punished any more or less than any other NFL quarterback because he is black. If Rex Grossman (my fave QB because he is a former Gator) were caught in this situation, I would be devastated, but I would feel he deserves the same punishment. I don't believe this has anything to do with race. I think it has to do with basic human decency and anyone committing the crimes that Vick committed obviously does not understand what those words mean.

What Kind of Liberal Are YOU?

My Liberal Identity:

You are a Reality-Based Intellectualist, also known as the liberal elite. You are a proud member of what’s known as the reality-based community, where science, reason, and non-Jesus-based thought reign supreme.

Take the quiz at www.FightConservatives.com

Blog or Work?

Well, sadly work is winning the blog or work battle this week. I have started posts on the beginning of college football, Michael Vick's insanity and Senator Craig's BS, but none have been posted due to the fact that I am taking off a half day tomorrow and all day Friday. It never seems to fail, but when I am planning time off deadlines start appearing from thin air. They really aren't going to do well when I take 2 weeks off in October are they?

If I don't manage to post again before the weekend, I hope everyone enjoys the long Labor Day weekend, and, of course,

GO GATORS!

Reading and Breathing are the same to me

When I am taking classes at the local community college (because one day, I will have a degree), I spend most of my free time doing homework or studying. I only allow myself to pick up a non-school book on the rare occassion that I have no homework and no tests scheduled in the very near future. By the time a long weekend, or spring break, or the end of the semester arrives I feel like a drowning man straining back to the surface for one more breath of air. Or maybe I feel like a heroin addict willing to steal, kill and lie for my next fix. All I know is that I can not comprehend going an entire year without reading a book. If I am not in school, I can not imagine going an entire WEEK without reading a book (or 2 or 3).

Right now I am reading Sandra Brown's "Play Dirty". I read her "Ricochet" last week and I have read at least one other in between the two. Some weeks I will read a book a day so I do not understand people who do not read. According to a recent study most people would rather watch TV or play video games or go to the movies, some don't read at all, ever!

I do not leave my house without a book. It does not matter where I am going or what I am going to do there. Many times I can go all day without opening the book I am carrying, but many times I get stuck waiting for someone and I am prepared. I just pull my book out and I am quite happy! Without a book? I tend to get a little pissy over tardiness.

I do not have a favorite genre, not really. I don't read a lot of science fiction or fantasy*, but that does not limit me. Yes, I will read an occassional romance novel, my first "grown" books were Harlequin Romances and Danielle Steel** (I will probably 10 or 11). But I love James Patterson, Stephen King and John Grisham. I read biographies and autobriographies and history. Hell, I read technical manuals and road signs if there is nothing else available.

I dreamed of being a writer when I was younger. I didn't plan on writing the Great American Novel, I just wanted to write to entertain. But I do not have the patience, the imagination or the skill to write actual books and I haven't written short stories or poetry in years. So I will continue to read everything I get my hands on... and pity those who don't.

*Harry Potter being the obvious exception

** Every book at least once, including her biographical "His Bright Light"

Going to the Chapel of Love

Holy shit, I'm getting married! MARRIED. In 2 months! The invitations went in the mail today. What if we run out of food? What if we run out of alcohol? What if no one shows up? What if everyone shows up? Why didn't I just run off to Vegas and have an Elvis impersonator do the ceremony?



Well I didn't really want to run off to Vegas. I ran off to Texas (not as cool, I know) the first time and the only person I knew (or thought I did) was the guy I was marrying. DSD and I have been together for almost 7 years. We have talked about getting married for a while and we both just felt like it was time. And, frankly, I wanted a wedding. A huge, party to celebrate what we have with those we care about.

So we have saved and planned and spent and now we are getting down to the wire. The invitations are gone, the booze is bought (bar opens 30 minutes before the ceremony) and I am working on getting cable run out to the beach so that our guests can watch football during the reception.* Did I forget anything?

Holy shit, we're getting married!


*It is a very long story as to WHY we are getting married right in the middle of football season. I swore it wasn't going to happen then and now it is! Oh, well, I really do plan to have the televised games on if possible, so hopefully people really will stay for the reception!

WTF?

I posted yesterday, but it is not showing up on the main page. It will show up if you click on August or even 2007, but not if you click the blog title.

What the hell is up with that?

Long Live the King

I am not a whack job, I swear. For the most part I am a (fairly) intelligent, rational person so mired in reality that I miss some of the simple pleasures. My beliefs, however, on what happened 30 years ago today in the Memphis mansion called Graceland are probably as far-fetched as they come. My family will not even mention Elvis in front of me because they are sick of my trying to convince them I am right.

No, Elvis did not voluntarily leave the life and people he loved. He is not now, nor has he ever been, a member of the FBI, CIA, or DEA. He did not just make a run for it because he was bored. SOMETHING happened in that 2nd floor bathroom. A heart attack? A stroke? A drug overdose? Something. But, I honestly don't believe Elvis died. There is just too much unexplained weirdness.

Why were there 2 death certificates? Why was there only 1 permit filed to move Elvis and his mother to Graceland from the cemetary where they were originally buried? Was Gladys left behind? Or was there only 1 body to move? I don't buy Vernon's BS explanation about the name on the grave either. "Elvis always wished his middle name was spelled Aaron". Yea, okay. The life insurance that was never cashed in, although we all know Elvis was broke as a joke on 16 Aug 1977. (Thanks Col Parker, you useless, thieving POS.) Have you looked at the picture of Elvis in the coffin? Why was it suddenly 1958 again? Why did the coffin weigh so much? Sure Elvis had packed on the weight, but he wasn't bedridden. And the sightings? I don't really lean toward believing he was seen every week at the local gas station. But the ones where he was seen in the backseat of a limo leaving Graceland at 4am? And weren't there some who swear he waved at them from the bedroom window when they were touring Graceland? What about the pictures of Lisa with a man who DID look remarkably like an older Elvis (from the back)?

I think Elvis sustained brain damage that fateful day. I believe he was probably left with the mentality and personality of a toddler and he lived his remaining days on the 2nd floor at Graceland. The grief would have been real, Elvis, who he really was, was gone. The body remained with a childlike innocence, but the essential "Elvis" really was dead. And Priscilla stepped up to protect her only child and Elvis' only heir. She turned into a tiger trying to protect her cub and the memory of a man who belonged to all of us.

Whether I am right or not does not matter. I believe, if he survived that fateful day, he is gone now. Elvis is at rest, although he will never be forgotten. His music will survive as long as there are those of us who know what an amazing talent he had, as long as we pass it on to our children, as long as there is one person who appreciates the story, the music, the struggle.

The King is Dead. Long Live the King.

Elvis Aron Presley
Born 8 Jan 1935
"Died" 16 Aug 1977
Rest in Peace. You are missed and will never be forgotten.

One down, two to go

I am not going to spend an immense amount of time posting about the departure of Karl Rove back to whatever rock he originally crawled out from under. I am glad he is gone; I wish he had never been in D.C. I am glad his dreams of a permanent Repulican controlled government were dashed.

I only wish he would have taken W and Dick with him.

Is it Jan '09 yet?

Thanks for the Memories

I don't remember Merv Griffin in movies, and, until I read the article, didn't know that he was the brain behind Jeopardy or Wheel of Fortune. All I really knew about him was that, in the pre-cable era, when I was home sick from school, he was funny and entertaining and kept me from total boredom.

Thank you for that, Mr. Griffin. Rest in Peace.