Gees! I never got a chance to post about the Vegas trip. First of all, thanks to all who joined us for Derek's party. I hope we all made it a special weekend for Derek - and thanks to all the attendees for putting up with us degenerate gambling addicts and our idiosyncrasies over the few days.
And - financially - I ended up about even for the weekend, based on two shocking turn of events at the end of the trip.
Random thoughts from the weekend:
1) Dumbest move: When I arrived, I sat down with Derek and 7 others at lunch int the House of Blues restaurant. The waiter came over and asked if I wanted anything; I hastily replied "Vodka Tonic". Uh sure - you can pay $7 for it now, or pay... let's see... $0 for it in 20 minutes.
2) I'm saddened that I turned 8-10 people away from the Blue Jackets for the rest of their lives.
3) I saw a row of "Blazing 7's" slot machines on Friday; I called Kermit to tell him I was thinking of him - I believe he was on the internet at that moment searching out plane tickets to come out for Saturday. He better make it out in March - right, Mer?
4) On every trip, you can look back and see a "turning point" - the point where (from a gambling wins/losses standpoint) went south. I believe that would be waking up on Saturday. (that's better than some trips, where the turning point was getting in the cab at the airport!)
5) Dammit, if you know for a fact that the Terps are going to lose - then bet it! Bet it big! Don't do this pansy ass $22 bet against the Terps. Betting against a favorite sports team is NOT the same as betting don't pass. Agree?
6) It was great fun sitting at the sports book for 12 - TWELVE - straight hours on Saturday. However, I've got to adopt the Don Hershey eating cycle for those sessions, since it is VERY easy to not eat for 12, 15, 18 hours. Stomachs and intestinal systems don't like that very much.
7) Forgot about the craps session at the Excalibur. That was fun, even though we were all losing money.
8) I don't have the absolute hatred of teh Excalibur that others do, but it is a weird place. Even the pit bosses are creepy - one talked to me for 10 minutes about his son's baseball team in Iowa while I was playing Texas Hold Em (the table game). I was going to scream "I don't care!" but I was winning, so that helped my mood.
9) Went back to the Monte to buy magic tricks for the boys. I walked thru on Sun afternoon - there were $5 craps, blackjack available - and a $5 Pai Gow table! How do they make any money on that at all?????
10) Can't tell you how depressing and deflating the Browns' loss was in the sportsbook. That was harsh.
11) Played $5 craps at the Luxor later that day. I took Keith over with me - I think he had a great time observing the table and all the various bets and action. He doesn't know this, but I caught myself getting pissed at him. We were there for about 45 minutes,I was up $40, 50 or so - and I asked him what the score of the game was. He said he'd check, and left to the book.
next roller - establish a point, seven.
next roller - craps, establish a point, seven.
next roller - craps, craps, establish a point, seven.
Of course, we know whose fault this is. WHERE THE HELL IS KEITH????
(just kidding,Keith...)
12) But then had a fabulous black jack session over there. I'll blog about this later, but at a $10 table where I sat by myself, I turned $125 into $600 in 20 minutes.
I was supposed to meet Jay and Keith back at the Mandalay at 8 pm to leave for the airport; I left the craps table about at 7:30. I was walking thtough the Luxor when my eye caught an completely empty $10 BJ table. The table seemed to be under a little more light than the others. As I was still walking by, I looked at the dealer.
He gave me a small smile, held out his hand, and said, "Sir?"
I didn't intend to play, but it looked so inviting, and I had 20 minutes... .ok.
Let's just say the dealer was perfect - the one I want to have if they have blackjack in heaven. He was foreign - Turkish or Central Asian, I think, and spoke with a thick accent.
He was very formal - but not at all unfriendly. There was no small talk, but there was no doubt that he wanted you to do well. He said "thank you" every time you put a bet out for him - not just when he won. And then of course, when he won with me, he said "thank you" again. I sawre, in a 5 minute period, he said "thank you" 30 times.
His actual dealing was impeccable. It was not slow, but it was not overwhelmingly fast. I was able to think and process the cards without being rushed, nor was I waiting for the dealer to deliver the cards.
And I was the only one at the table - and when you have a limited amount of time, that's the only way to play.
I won a few right off the bat, so I started to increment the base $10 bet by $5 everytime I won.
I got to $25 and then started to put a $1 delare bet on hands over $25.
I eventually got to a $70 bet. That's how good it was.
13) I never play slots at all - but had some time in the airport so I put $20 in a video poker machine. About 10 minutes in, I drew "A-7-A-8-A".
Wow! I wonder what four of a kind pays? I look - it says 400 credits ($100).
Cool - I draw - I get a 2 and another Ace!
The machine starts binging. I look and confirm the pay - only the four of a kind line was not lit.
The next line above was "Four Aces". That payed 800 credits. But that was not lit.
The line about that was "Four Aces with a 2, 3, 4". That payed....2000 credits.
The only thing I know about slots is that if you hit a jackpot, don't touch anything and yell for help. So I let out a weird "aaaaaaaaaaaa!", not much in joy but more of a scream when you find a garter snake in your basement. The attendant came over, smiled, told me how to cash out, and I was on my way with $500 in profit.
14) I recovered much better this time from the red eye. I was able to work on Monday and was fully recovered by Tuesday (compared to a recovery date of Thursday in the spring). 4 cups of Starbucks on the trip home certainly helped.
Dec 2, 2006
Week 13 NFL Picks: Pathfinder
Sorry about all the non-posting, everyone. I have at least 17 topics to post on, including the Vegas trip. I promise that will be the next post.
Week 13's theme is "Pathfinder". Will the teams find a path to the playoffs? Or will they take 3 or 4 consecutive wrong turns that leads them off the stage with their Turtle Wax in hand as a parting gift?
(You know, when I was young, I always thought they said "party gifts". Wow - adults give Turtle Wax out at parties? That must be cool... . Of course, I was 8 at the time.)
So some teams better find the right digit # on the Pathfinder board this week, else it's off to the Showcase Showdown. This means you, Falcons and Jaguars and Giants and Panthers. Three of those will carry on, while one slips further down. On with the picks:
Chi 23, Min 10. And I have Chester Taylor. Yikes.
Pit 27, TB 10. Geesh, Tampa is terrible. That reminds me - the last 2 games for the Browns are Tampa and Houston. How much would it take for you to watch those two games for 3 hours non-stop? $50? $100?
StL 24, Arz 20. I benched Bulger in my fantasy league - he's like Jake Plummer to me.
Ind 31, Ten 13. Lost in the comeback last week is that the Titans were shut out through three quarters. Without gifts from the opposition, the Titans will struggle to score.
Jax 20, Mia 17. Just when you think it is over for the Jags...
NO 31, SF 14. NewOrleans is quietly heading to a possible #2 seed in the NFC. Wow.
Atl 23, Was 16. Why am I picking the absolutely INSANE Jim Mora, Jr.?
Cle 20, KC 17. No reason at all.
NE 31, Det 20. Kitna will have good garbage time stats.
SD 24, Buf 13. How can you go against the Chargers now? (Is that a gooch? I believe so.)
GB 23, NYJ 20. The Jets are horrid. The only reason they are 6-5 is their schedule. They are 5-1 vs. teams with a losing record... and we know who that "1" is. They are like the Bears from last year - if the Browns can beat them, how good are they?
NYG 27, Dal 24 (OT). Just a gut feeling. Buck has an orgasm in the booth over this game.
Hou 19, Oak 16. Of course, I will be watching this game instead, because I like train wrecks. (I watched the Hou-SF game in last year's week 17 versus the Was-Phi game. I had money on the Texans!)
Sea 27, Den 20. I don't buy this Jay Cutler = Tony Romo stuff, not againt Holmgren.
Phi 20, Car 17. What's that again about Monday Night underdogs at home?
Last week:
Eric: 9-7; overall: 98-87-7
Derek: 9-7: overall: 95-97-1 (how do you go through ~200 games and only have 1 push????)
Best bets for this week (16):
Chi -9.5
Pit -7
Ind -7.5
Jax pick
NO -7
Atl +1.5
Det/NE Over 42
SD -6
Buf/SD Under 42
GB pick
NYG +3.5
NYG/Dal over 43 1/2
Hou +3
Sea +4
Sea/Den over 40 1/2
Phi +3
Nov 30, 2006
Cigars
Quick Question- What is the easiest way to get Cuban Cigars into the US? One of Carol's friends said that he just took them out of the wrapper and the custom agents didn't ask him any questions. Is it that easy? Any thoughts?
Nov 29, 2006
Bowl Games
Did anyone else notice the bowl schedule this year? I'm annoyed that they string the BCS bowl games past New Year's Day, but whatever, I can live with that. But have you seen the two bowl games scheduled for Jan 6th and 7th? C-USA #2 vs Ohio on the 7th and W. Michigan vs Big East 4/5. Now I'm not saying that I won't watch these games (or gamble on them for that matter), but why are they after New Year's Day?
I'm doing my picks now since I might not have time over the next couple of days.
CMichigan -3.5
WV -10
Navy Over 49
Cal -28
USC Over 48
San Jose St. -4
Louisville -27
Colorado St. -2.5
Nebraska +3.5
GA Tech -2.5
Pro
Ravens +3
Indy -7.5
Cowboys -3.5
KC -5
Bears -9
Rams -6.5
I'm doing my picks now since I might not have time over the next couple of days.
CMichigan -3.5
WV -10
Navy Over 49
Cal -28
USC Over 48
San Jose St. -4
Louisville -27
Colorado St. -2.5
Nebraska +3.5
GA Tech -2.5
Pro
Ravens +3
Indy -7.5
Cowboys -3.5
KC -5
Bears -9
Rams -6.5
Nov 26, 2006
Week 12 NFL Picks: Squeeze Play
Well, this is the time of year where teams are sorted out - "squeezed out" of playoff contention. It starts to become clear who the real playoff contenders are and who are just digits to be discarded on the floor by Bob during one of my favorite games.... Squeeze Play!
The Browns, of course, were picked out last week and thrown to the ground as a digit obviously not belonging to the pool table as seen below. They were the digit "1" in the example seen here.
Now, who will be asked to leave t
he Squeeze Play set this week? Here are the picks:Buf 16, Jax 13. The Jags' up and down season continues. And who else out there cut Lee Evans 2 weeks ago?
NYJ 20, Hou 13. Wow - if you need to sleep, watch this one - oh wait, Gus Johnson is announcing the game.
Bal 27, Pit 13. You know, many people over the year ask me "who do you hate more, Baltimore or Pittsburgh?" I usually pause and think about it - not knowing how to answer. Well, if anyone asks me that question again, I just need to think about this week. I want Pittsburgh and Toothlessberger to be exposed as the absolute fraud they are. I'm so pissed we couldn't finish them off last week. It took me about 2 days to get over the Browns' 15-14 loss to the Ravens; I'm still pissed about last Sunday. I want the Ravens to win 99-0 if they could. God, I can't believe I'm saying this. Ravens - beat the hell out of Pittsburgh today.
Cle 27, Cin 24. I had a dream last night that we were losing 21-0 to tbe Bengals in the 2nd quarter when it was called for rain. I hope that's not a sign to come.
Min 24, Az 13. What to say about this?
StL 27, SF 24. Bulger will throw for 3 TDs - AND HE BETTER, since I didn't play Romo in one of my leagues this week!
NO 31, Atl 28. Talking about frauds - here's the Falcons!
Car 17, Was 13. I can't figure out this Panthers team.
NE 20, Chi 17. Should be a classic. And yes, this is a 'punt' pick for the game.
Ind 31, Phi 10. Even the flex schedule can't save Sunday night this week.
Ten 24, NYG 21. I hope the Giants season implodes -a nd I know that means Dallas will become the default champion of the NFC East. I'm already sick of that "BallIn' " jump shot. What does that even mean?
SD 27, Oak 10. I need 6 TD's, LT. Let's get to work.
Sea 31, GB 20. Is Shaun healthy? We will see.
13 best bets for today:
Buf +3
Jax/ Buf Under 35 1/2
Hou/NYJ Under 39 1/2
Bal -3
Min -6.5
SF/Stl Over 44 1/2
NO +3
NO/Atl over 48
Ind -9
Ten +3
SD -13
SD/Oak Under 43
GB/Sea Over 44
( we were 2-1 on Thanksgiving...)
Records to be updated soon.
Nov 23, 2006
Quick Picks
I'll update this later with the lines. Just wanted to get my picks up.
Detroit
Chargers
Indy
USC
USC Under
Louisville
CMichigan
Nebraska
TN
Maryland
WV
Rutgers
Missouri
FSU
VA Tech
Hawaii
Detroit
Chargers
Indy
USC
USC Under
Louisville
CMichigan
Nebraska
TN
Maryland
WV
Rutgers
Missouri
FSU
VA Tech
Hawaii
Nov 21, 2006
Picks
What the hell happened to me???? My picks tanked this week. Now I think I have way too much ground to make up on Eric. 6-10. Ugh. And this picture will haunt my dreams for the next several nights.Pro
Denver (loss)
Jacksonville (win)
College
USC (win)
MD (Loss)
Wake (Loss)
Ga Tech (win)
Ohio St (loss)
Oregon St (win)
Washington St. (loss)
Wisconsin (loss)
Missouri (loss)
ND Over (Loss)
Uconn (loss)
Louisville (win)
W Michigan (win)
Rutgers (loss)
Vegas
Just wanted to say thanks for everyone coming out this past weekend. Had a blast, eventhough it seemed as if we didn't do anything. All I wanted to do was go out there and spend some time with my friends and gamble. We didn't make it to the nice dinner on Saturday, but we had more important things to do at that time, like watch the second half of the USC game. Anyway, just a couple of quick notes from the trip.
1. Sportsbook- Remember that it is a long season. No reason to wager a lot of money on the second half line of the Apple Cup (Washington St. vs Washington) to make up the money you lost earlier in the day. Be patient, like waiting for the Utah St. vs Drake night game in Alaska to make up the losses.
2. Stay away from teams everyone is behind that are undefeated and playing on the road. They will not win. Period. And Wiz, the Rutgers team plane did not crash on the way home.
3. When you have a bunch of degenerate gamblers sitting at one table, searching for a game to bet on, you should just get up a leave and ignore all the talk. Its amazing to how desperate people are when it comes to finding a game to bet on. And I'm including myself in on this one.
4. Rutgers is a Fraud. A fucking fraud. And Eric, I don't want to hear it from you on college football again, until all the games are played.
5. Time out....Time out.
6. I didn't think I would enjoy spending so much time in the sportsbook, but having a table, along with some comfortable chairs made the 12 hours go by so quickly.
7. Got back into playing some poker. Did OK. I just really like the feel of the Mandalay poker room so much more than the Monte and the Mirage.
8. What makes you decide on which casino to stay at? We aren't whales so its not the comps and we aren't cheapskates so its not the low end tables anymore. In my mind it is all about customer service. Friendly dealers and fast drink girls. If I was a manager there, I would just be focused on these two items. I have never seen such a big swing between ultra friendly and just plain mean dealers at one casino. Just crazy. This probably makes me not want to stay at the Mandalay anymore, despite having an amazing sportsbook, nice layout, and a great poker room.
9. I don't mind going into the Sahara or the Golden Nugget, but for some reason I get so disgusted going into the Excalibur. What a shithole. I just feel so dirty.
10. Played a game with Ben on the way home. Got into Baker, which is 1 hour outside of Vegas. Ben asked if I could make it back home in 2.5 hours, which would put us there at 1:30. I said sure, and then forgot about it for a while. I hit some traffic outside of Barstow, but when I got to Victorville, which is about 75 minutes from our place, I thought I was going to be able to make it in time. For the last hour of the drive, this is all that we talked about. I must of averaged close to 100mph on the toll roads back into Dana Point and 75mph on the side roads. As we were approaching our place with only 2 miles to go, I had three minutes left to make it. As I made the last left hand turn with 45 seconds to spare, I hit a fucking red light on the straight away approaching our place, which sent both of us into hysterics. As I pulled away from that intersection somewhat slowly, we both see a speed trap ahead at the St. Regis. Close to 3 cop cars pulling everyone over. Can you imagine how fast I would of been going if I made the left hand turn, going into the straight away with a green light with 45 seconds left to hit the 1:30pm mark? The only good luck I got all weekend and I will take it. Oh, and I pulled into my parking spot at 1:31 exactly. So close.
1. Sportsbook- Remember that it is a long season. No reason to wager a lot of money on the second half line of the Apple Cup (Washington St. vs Washington) to make up the money you lost earlier in the day. Be patient, like waiting for the Utah St. vs Drake night game in Alaska to make up the losses.
2. Stay away from teams everyone is behind that are undefeated and playing on the road. They will not win. Period. And Wiz, the Rutgers team plane did not crash on the way home.
3. When you have a bunch of degenerate gamblers sitting at one table, searching for a game to bet on, you should just get up a leave and ignore all the talk. Its amazing to how desperate people are when it comes to finding a game to bet on. And I'm including myself in on this one.
4. Rutgers is a Fraud. A fucking fraud. And Eric, I don't want to hear it from you on college football again, until all the games are played.
5. Time out....Time out.
6. I didn't think I would enjoy spending so much time in the sportsbook, but having a table, along with some comfortable chairs made the 12 hours go by so quickly.
7. Got back into playing some poker. Did OK. I just really like the feel of the Mandalay poker room so much more than the Monte and the Mirage.
8. What makes you decide on which casino to stay at? We aren't whales so its not the comps and we aren't cheapskates so its not the low end tables anymore. In my mind it is all about customer service. Friendly dealers and fast drink girls. If I was a manager there, I would just be focused on these two items. I have never seen such a big swing between ultra friendly and just plain mean dealers at one casino. Just crazy. This probably makes me not want to stay at the Mandalay anymore, despite having an amazing sportsbook, nice layout, and a great poker room.
9. I don't mind going into the Sahara or the Golden Nugget, but for some reason I get so disgusted going into the Excalibur. What a shithole. I just feel so dirty.
10. Played a game with Ben on the way home. Got into Baker, which is 1 hour outside of Vegas. Ben asked if I could make it back home in 2.5 hours, which would put us there at 1:30. I said sure, and then forgot about it for a while. I hit some traffic outside of Barstow, but when I got to Victorville, which is about 75 minutes from our place, I thought I was going to be able to make it in time. For the last hour of the drive, this is all that we talked about. I must of averaged close to 100mph on the toll roads back into Dana Point and 75mph on the side roads. As we were approaching our place with only 2 miles to go, I had three minutes left to make it. As I made the last left hand turn with 45 seconds to spare, I hit a fucking red light on the straight away approaching our place, which sent both of us into hysterics. As I pulled away from that intersection somewhat slowly, we both see a speed trap ahead at the St. Regis. Close to 3 cop cars pulling everyone over. Can you imagine how fast I would of been going if I made the left hand turn, going into the straight away with a green light with 45 seconds left to hit the 1:30pm mark? The only good luck I got all weekend and I will take it. Oh, and I pulled into my parking spot at 1:31 exactly. So close.
Nov 20, 2006
Thud
Its 4:30 EST on Monday and I am finally up, showered, and moving about like a normal person. Red eye flights just kill me. I can't sleep on a plane. Can't do it. The lack of sleep, combined with not eating a meal since the 1st Half of the Colts/Cowboys game caused me to feel nauseous for the last two hours of the flight. Not good times.... Anyway, had a great time this weekend (although it felt like I was gone for a week for some reason). Some personal highlights (and lowlights)
- Even though I dropped $200 at the craps table, it was worth it for Eric's outcry for all the sports bets gone wrong with each roll. "This is for Rutgers!!!", "This is for the Service Academies!!", "This is for the Cavs!". High comedy.
- On a positive note, I landed in Vegas with about $400 in my wallet, I am home now and still have $302. Includes paying for some small meals, my excellent dinner on Friday, a (losing) bet for my dad, taxis, and airport parking. Not bad at all.
- A quick F-U to NY area teams. Why was I betting on them????? The Nets, Jets, and Rutgers all cost me money. Although I did have the 1st half Cinci line, but I almost felt guilty since Wiz had so much riding on it. Anyway, I broke my cardinal rule of not betting on NY teams
- A moment of weakness on Sunday afternoon, I decided to bet the NYJ money line (vs Bears). My main reasoning? I really wanted to shout out "The Bears are who we thought they were!! The Bears ARE WHO WE THOUGHT THEY WERE!!!!!". Alas, the NYJ are who we thought THEY were.
- Another downer was losing my carefully crafted NBA schedule flow chart. Damn! That had all my wagers on it (including some football). I ended up forgetting which games I picked. I know some of you are saying why can't you remember?? Well, as Dr Henry Jones Sr said in the Indiana Jones movies about the Grail Diary..."I wrote them down so I wouldn't HAVE to remember!" Sigh.
- I was outside for a grand total of 11 minutes the entire weekend. Warrants mentioning.
- Last trip I felt like I didn't play enough poker, this trip I feel like I didn't play enough Black Jack.
- My near vomitting aside, I had a great experience with TED airlines. They upgraded me to "Economy Plus" for free which includes seats in the front of the plane which are a little wider and have more leg room front to back. Much more room than SW. Plus, they offered a movie and some TV which was a nice touch. I had nightmares of a small prop plane pulling up to the terminal since I had never flown them before, but I was pleasantly surprised. So if you are looking for low fares, don't be afraid to check out TED.
- There is a chance I can go out in March. Its up for debate in the Senate over the next two months.
- Overall I was happy with the Mandalay. The only negative is the isolation factor. You kind of take for granted being able to "change it up", and quickly walk to the other casinos (MGM, NYNY, etc). But the rooms were really nice, and the poker room and SB are fabulous. The tables could have been a notch lower, but whatever. I would stay there again, but I'm not committed.
- Had a great time, and look forward to seeing everyone in the Outer Banks!
- Even though I dropped $200 at the craps table, it was worth it for Eric's outcry for all the sports bets gone wrong with each roll. "This is for Rutgers!!!", "This is for the Service Academies!!", "This is for the Cavs!". High comedy.
- On a positive note, I landed in Vegas with about $400 in my wallet, I am home now and still have $302. Includes paying for some small meals, my excellent dinner on Friday, a (losing) bet for my dad, taxis, and airport parking. Not bad at all.
- A quick F-U to NY area teams. Why was I betting on them????? The Nets, Jets, and Rutgers all cost me money. Although I did have the 1st half Cinci line, but I almost felt guilty since Wiz had so much riding on it. Anyway, I broke my cardinal rule of not betting on NY teams
- A moment of weakness on Sunday afternoon, I decided to bet the NYJ money line (vs Bears). My main reasoning? I really wanted to shout out "The Bears are who we thought they were!! The Bears ARE WHO WE THOUGHT THEY WERE!!!!!". Alas, the NYJ are who we thought THEY were.
- Another downer was losing my carefully crafted NBA schedule flow chart. Damn! That had all my wagers on it (including some football). I ended up forgetting which games I picked. I know some of you are saying why can't you remember?? Well, as Dr Henry Jones Sr said in the Indiana Jones movies about the Grail Diary..."I wrote them down so I wouldn't HAVE to remember!" Sigh.
- I was outside for a grand total of 11 minutes the entire weekend. Warrants mentioning.
- Last trip I felt like I didn't play enough poker, this trip I feel like I didn't play enough Black Jack.
- My near vomitting aside, I had a great experience with TED airlines. They upgraded me to "Economy Plus" for free which includes seats in the front of the plane which are a little wider and have more leg room front to back. Much more room than SW. Plus, they offered a movie and some TV which was a nice touch. I had nightmares of a small prop plane pulling up to the terminal since I had never flown them before, but I was pleasantly surprised. So if you are looking for low fares, don't be afraid to check out TED.
- There is a chance I can go out in March. Its up for debate in the Senate over the next two months.
- Overall I was happy with the Mandalay. The only negative is the isolation factor. You kind of take for granted being able to "change it up", and quickly walk to the other casinos (MGM, NYNY, etc). But the rooms were really nice, and the poker room and SB are fabulous. The tables could have been a notch lower, but whatever. I would stay there again, but I'm not committed.
- Had a great time, and look forward to seeing everyone in the Outer Banks!
Nov 16, 2006
Week 11 NFL Picks: Blank Check!
Crap! I had this post all done and ready to go - comparing the trip to Vegas to the Blank Check game, where contestants fill in a check, add it to the price of a prize, and if it falls between a certain range, they win the prize and the check - but just as I was about to post, my IE crashed. $$#$%#&(^^&(*$$#$%#&#$^@$&^.
Anyway, here are my picks:
KC -9.5
KC/Oak under 35 1/2
Ind -1
NO/Cin Over 51
Ten +13
Bal/Atl Under 41
Stl +6.5
Hou -2.5
NE/GB Over 44
TB -3
Chi -6.5
Mia -3.5
Az -2.5
Det/Az Under 46
Sea/SF Under 44 1/2
SD/Den Over 42
And if I lose my bets, I'll still have the souvenirs of the losing betting slips - like this contestant, who had his check voided by Bob....
I can't believe....
1. I can't believe we haven't heard Derek protesting the possible A's move to Fremont. I also can't believe he's not in this video:
Protest video for the A's.
2. I can't believe it's been 10 years since...
a) Ohio St. beat Indiana 27-17 to clinch its first trip to the Rose Bowl in 14 years, and...
b) I married the love of my life, Janice.
(everybody together....awwwww. But notice which event came first in the list above...)
10 years have flown by. Wow.
Protest video for the A's.
2. I can't believe it's been 10 years since...
a) Ohio St. beat Indiana 27-17 to clinch its first trip to the Rose Bowl in 14 years, and...
b) I married the love of my life, Janice.
(everybody together....awwwww. But notice which event came first in the list above...)
10 years have flown by. Wow.
Nov 15, 2006
Football update
Here are the long-awaited results and standings of teh Derek v Eric challenge:
Derek:
before week 8: he was 50-61-1.
Week 8: 10-6
Week 9: 11-6 (one extra game)
Week 10: 9-7
Overall: 80-80-1.
Eric:
before week 8: 58-48-6
Week 8: 5-11
Week 9: 8-8
Week 10: 9-7
Overall: 80-74-6, up 2 1/2 games.
Derek - do you want to take a pass this weekend since we will be in Vegas?
And I expect an apology from you after you compare me to Saddam, yet wonder why "for some reason decide(s) to root against me." (See Derek Rant, 10/16).
Derek:
before week 8: he was 50-61-1.
Week 8: 10-6
Week 9: 11-6 (one extra game)
Week 10: 9-7
Overall: 80-80-1.
Eric:
before week 8: 58-48-6
Week 8: 5-11
Week 9: 8-8
Week 10: 9-7
Overall: 80-74-6, up 2 1/2 games.
Derek - do you want to take a pass this weekend since we will be in Vegas?
And I expect an apology from you after you compare me to Saddam, yet wonder why "for some reason decide(s) to root against me." (See Derek Rant, 10/16).
I believe....
1) I believe that Freddie and Warren don't like Almond Joys, even though they have never tried it.... so I'll just take it from their Halloween basket without them knowing. What are they missing?
2) I believe that the Browns have a shot at the playoffs this year. Hear me out.
First, we've got to predict a record for the final playoff team. With NY Jets & KC tied at that last spot now at 5-4, I think 9-7 will be in a tie for the final spot.
Now let's take a look at the Browns - their past (3-6) and future this year.
Home games: The worst team the Browns have played at home so far is 5-4, and the Browns won that game. They lost at home to teams with records of 6-3, 7-2 and 7-2.
"Now Eric", you say, " you're not going to somehow say that the Browns are going to beat a 7-2 team at home in the 2nd half of the year, are you?"
I don't have to.
The best team the Browns play at home the rest of the way - 4 games - is a 5-4 Chiefs team. The other teams are 4-5, 3-6 and 2-7.
So I believe there is a chance - not a great chance, but a possibility - that we could sweep these games and go 4-0.
Now for the road games; we've played 5 road games so far. We've lost to a 7-2 team; played two 5-4 teams and spilt, and beat a 2-7 team.
We have a 7-2 team, a 3-6 team and a 2-7 team upcoming on the road.
Why can't we win 2 of those?
That would give us 6 wins in the last 9 games, putting us at 9-7.
And a 9-7 record would most likely tie us with the Jets and Chiefs , who we have already beaten (Jets) or plan to beat (Chiefs, in Cleveland). There's the Jaguars also at 5-4, but we won't play them this year.
And for those that pooh-pooh this argument, but think the Steelers can still get back in it, let me compare two teams:
Team A: Record: 3-6. In those 9 games: 4 home, 5 away. Opponents record so far: 48-33
Team B: Record: 3-6. In those 9 games: 5 home, 4 away. Opponents record so far: 44-37
So Team B has played 1 more game at home against a weaker schedule, and still has the same record as Team A.
Of course, Team A is the Browns and Team B is the Steelers.
That's why this Sunday's game is sooo important. We need to prove we are better. At home.
3) So I've been thinking about the elections. I'm trying to figure out the Republicans' loss - and make no mistake, the Republicans LOST it, the Democrats didn't win it.
The Republicans shot themselves in the foot so many times over the past year:
"Bridge to Nowhere"
Doing nothing on immigration, until the fence... and then...
Not publicizing the fence
Not caring about the deficit
The whole Rumsfeld fiasco
and so on...
I finally gave up and said "It's as if they didn't WANT to win..."
and then a light bulb went off in my head.
That's the plan. They sacrificed this election.... in order to win 2008.
They knew that the Speaker of the House -and then the DE FACTO leader of the Democratic party - would be Nancy Pelosi.
Nancy may be smart, but certainly does not come across as a warm and fuzzy lady. She seems to be - and can be portrayed as - a cold and calculating liberal.
The Republicans are gambling that turning over the House to a lady with this demeanor is a small price to pay - in order to show the people that liberal women would be disastrous for the country. (Due to their politics).
And - what a coincidence!!! - who is the leader right now for the Democratic nomination for President in 2008???
Of course, Hillary.
After two years of Pelosi, would this country be ready to elect Hillary President as well? They're thinking no.
So - sacrifice 2006 with the intention of keeping the White House in 2008 by effectively disqualifying Hillary due to Pelosi's leadership and style.
Will this work? You males out there tell me - would you vote for a country with Hillary and Nancy as our leaders?
I'm not judging, I'm just asking the question....
2) I believe that the Browns have a shot at the playoffs this year. Hear me out.
First, we've got to predict a record for the final playoff team. With NY Jets & KC tied at that last spot now at 5-4, I think 9-7 will be in a tie for the final spot.
Now let's take a look at the Browns - their past (3-6) and future this year.
Home games: The worst team the Browns have played at home so far is 5-4, and the Browns won that game. They lost at home to teams with records of 6-3, 7-2 and 7-2.
"Now Eric", you say, " you're not going to somehow say that the Browns are going to beat a 7-2 team at home in the 2nd half of the year, are you?"
I don't have to.
The best team the Browns play at home the rest of the way - 4 games - is a 5-4 Chiefs team. The other teams are 4-5, 3-6 and 2-7.
So I believe there is a chance - not a great chance, but a possibility - that we could sweep these games and go 4-0.
Now for the road games; we've played 5 road games so far. We've lost to a 7-2 team; played two 5-4 teams and spilt, and beat a 2-7 team.
We have a 7-2 team, a 3-6 team and a 2-7 team upcoming on the road.
Why can't we win 2 of those?
That would give us 6 wins in the last 9 games, putting us at 9-7.
And a 9-7 record would most likely tie us with the Jets and Chiefs , who we have already beaten (Jets) or plan to beat (Chiefs, in Cleveland). There's the Jaguars also at 5-4, but we won't play them this year.
And for those that pooh-pooh this argument, but think the Steelers can still get back in it, let me compare two teams:
Team A: Record: 3-6. In those 9 games: 4 home, 5 away. Opponents record so far: 48-33
Team B: Record: 3-6. In those 9 games: 5 home, 4 away. Opponents record so far: 44-37
So Team B has played 1 more game at home against a weaker schedule, and still has the same record as Team A.
Of course, Team A is the Browns and Team B is the Steelers.
That's why this Sunday's game is sooo important. We need to prove we are better. At home.
3) So I've been thinking about the elections. I'm trying to figure out the Republicans' loss - and make no mistake, the Republicans LOST it, the Democrats didn't win it.
The Republicans shot themselves in the foot so many times over the past year:
"Bridge to Nowhere"
Doing nothing on immigration, until the fence... and then...
Not publicizing the fence
Not caring about the deficit
The whole Rumsfeld fiasco
and so on...
I finally gave up and said "It's as if they didn't WANT to win..."
and then a light bulb went off in my head.
That's the plan. They sacrificed this election.... in order to win 2008.
They knew that the Speaker of the House -and then the DE FACTO leader of the Democratic party - would be Nancy Pelosi.
Nancy may be smart, but certainly does not come across as a warm and fuzzy lady. She seems to be - and can be portrayed as - a cold and calculating liberal.
The Republicans are gambling that turning over the House to a lady with this demeanor is a small price to pay - in order to show the people that liberal women would be disastrous for the country. (Due to their politics).
And - what a coincidence!!! - who is the leader right now for the Democratic nomination for President in 2008???
Of course, Hillary.
After two years of Pelosi, would this country be ready to elect Hillary President as well? They're thinking no.
So - sacrifice 2006 with the intention of keeping the White House in 2008 by effectively disqualifying Hillary due to Pelosi's leadership and style.
Will this work? You males out there tell me - would you vote for a country with Hillary and Nancy as our leaders?
I'm not judging, I'm just asking the question....
Nov 13, 2006
Things I really like right now
1. NBC's selection of the Sunday night game. This should of happened years ago. The best idea from the NFL in a long time. I'm just worried this doesn't turn into the NFC East Sunday Night Game. Last night's game was so nice to have.
2. Idiots like JD Drew. For some reason this made me smile when I saw that he opted out of the last three years of his $36 million deal. What an idiot. What is he thinking?
3. College Football- Love it that everyone is going crazy over Rutgers. Let's see them win out first and then we can talk about the National Championship. And this is the genius behind the people who run College Football BCS rankings. Eric, who is not a college football fan, is all fired up and watching regular season Big East games and Pac 10 games because of BCS implications. REGULAR SEASON GAMES!!!!! The conferences are cleaning up because of this in television contracts. Throw in the boatload of money each conference gets for bowl games, and the happy alumni that gets to have a nice winter vacation to go to a bowl, and this my friend, is why we don't see a playoff system in college football. Every year, college football is the lead story on every single sports talk show for 2 straight months since they are all bitching about the system and who is getting robbed. THEY WANT IT THAT WAY. This forces you to watch to see if USC will lose against Cal, or if Rutgers can beat WV, or Florida can beat out which ever cupcake SEC team they need to play. Its come to a point this year, where OSU vs Michigan isn't the top college football story right now. Its Rutgers and how they might get robbed. Why does this surprise everyone???
2. Idiots like JD Drew. For some reason this made me smile when I saw that he opted out of the last three years of his $36 million deal. What an idiot. What is he thinking?
3. College Football- Love it that everyone is going crazy over Rutgers. Let's see them win out first and then we can talk about the National Championship. And this is the genius behind the people who run College Football BCS rankings. Eric, who is not a college football fan, is all fired up and watching regular season Big East games and Pac 10 games because of BCS implications. REGULAR SEASON GAMES!!!!! The conferences are cleaning up because of this in television contracts. Throw in the boatload of money each conference gets for bowl games, and the happy alumni that gets to have a nice winter vacation to go to a bowl, and this my friend, is why we don't see a playoff system in college football. Every year, college football is the lead story on every single sports talk show for 2 straight months since they are all bitching about the system and who is getting robbed. THEY WANT IT THAT WAY. This forces you to watch to see if USC will lose against Cal, or if Rutgers can beat WV, or Florida can beat out which ever cupcake SEC team they need to play. Its come to a point this year, where OSU vs Michigan isn't the top college football story right now. Its Rutgers and how they might get robbed. Why does this surprise everyone???
Nov 12, 2006
Emptying of the mind
A lot of topics to post on that are flying around in my mind. Please indulge me in the cleaning out the cobwebs of my mind:
1) Janice and I had a great trip to OC last weekend. On Saturday we went on a boat ride - that's where that picture was taken of me. Three hours on the boat sailing the seas about 1-2 miles off the shore. I have a feeling that I enjoyed it the least - I wasn't feeling too good for about the first hour until I stood up for the rest of the ride. I wasn't seasick, but just uncomfortable.
2) Sunday was the Browns-Chargers game; the Browns kept it close for a while (leading with 1 min left in the 3rd!) before losing, 32-25. I hope those 6 FGs by Dawson won the game for you, Derek. There were a lot of Browns fans there that surprised Derek. Chargers fans were nice to us; there were plenty of fights we saw 2 section over in the 4th, mostly caused by alcohol.
3) Charlie Frye did not look good - too many throws into double and triple coverage; he missed more than a few open receivers, and there was the gift TD that he gave SD by putting the ball on the ground at his own 5.
Derek - a neutral observer - was not impressed. Period. However, one professional writer was impressed:
Charlie Frye's better than I thought he was.
Yep! Of course, Peter King.
4) I did get Derek to root for the Browns and to wear the vaunted 26-year-old Browns scarf during the game. So that was a success.
5) I didn't do well with the jet lag for the quick trip: I was up at 4 am on Saturday and 3:30 on Sunday (Pacific Time). Just couldn't adjust quickly. And that, coupled with the game on Sunday, meant I was completely wiped out at 8 pm on Sunday. barley made it to the end of the Pats- Colts game!
6) I have never been a fervent cult follower of Starbucks, but....
the Maple Macchiato is heaven. Wow.
Memo to Peter King: the Starbucks in terminal G of the O'Hare airport is a good one. Those Maple Macchiatos (2, one on Thu morning and one on Sat morning) were perfect. The yogurt parfait was a bit watery, however.
7) One quick note on the election: boy, am I pissed at George Bush right now. Congrats on the Democrats by the way on winning.... they successfully turned this into a national referendum without providing any specifics on what they would do differently.
Anyway, Bush ends up firing Rumsfeld after the election. What the hell, George?
You knew he was unpopular 6-12 months before the election... yet you kept him around. I thought it was because you still had faith in him and his performance - which is entirely possible given the constant (and mostly unwarranted ) witchhunt against him...
But you get rid of him. Why? What the hell changed? the election? What does that matter?
You should have either:
a) fired him 6 months ago - AND MOST LIKELY SAVING 5-10 SEATS IN THE HOUSE AND 1-2 IN THE SENATE; OR
b) stick to your PRINCIPLES and re-iterate that you believe in him despite the unpopularity.
Why the hell did you fire Rumsfeld NOW? I can't explain it....
Well, I have one possible theory why... it's a devious plan for 2008. I'll explain that, and how the Browns can make the playoffs, in a future post.
(PS - I'm spell-checking this post; it suggest I replace "FGs" above with "fags". How is that in the dictionary????)
1) Janice and I had a great trip to OC last weekend. On Saturday we went on a boat ride - that's where that picture was taken of me. Three hours on the boat sailing the seas about 1-2 miles off the shore. I have a feeling that I enjoyed it the least - I wasn't feeling too good for about the first hour until I stood up for the rest of the ride. I wasn't seasick, but just uncomfortable.
2) Sunday was the Browns-Chargers game; the Browns kept it close for a while (leading with 1 min left in the 3rd!) before losing, 32-25. I hope those 6 FGs by Dawson won the game for you, Derek. There were a lot of Browns fans there that surprised Derek. Chargers fans were nice to us; there were plenty of fights we saw 2 section over in the 4th, mostly caused by alcohol.
3) Charlie Frye did not look good - too many throws into double and triple coverage; he missed more than a few open receivers, and there was the gift TD that he gave SD by putting the ball on the ground at his own 5.
Derek - a neutral observer - was not impressed. Period. However, one professional writer was impressed:
Charlie Frye's better than I thought he was.
Yep! Of course, Peter King.
4) I did get Derek to root for the Browns and to wear the vaunted 26-year-old Browns scarf during the game. So that was a success.
5) I didn't do well with the jet lag for the quick trip: I was up at 4 am on Saturday and 3:30 on Sunday (Pacific Time). Just couldn't adjust quickly. And that, coupled with the game on Sunday, meant I was completely wiped out at 8 pm on Sunday. barley made it to the end of the Pats- Colts game!
6) I have never been a fervent cult follower of Starbucks, but....
the Maple Macchiato is heaven. Wow.
Memo to Peter King: the Starbucks in terminal G of the O'Hare airport is a good one. Those Maple Macchiatos (2, one on Thu morning and one on Sat morning) were perfect. The yogurt parfait was a bit watery, however.
7) One quick note on the election: boy, am I pissed at George Bush right now. Congrats on the Democrats by the way on winning.... they successfully turned this into a national referendum without providing any specifics on what they would do differently.
Anyway, Bush ends up firing Rumsfeld after the election. What the hell, George?
You knew he was unpopular 6-12 months before the election... yet you kept him around. I thought it was because you still had faith in him and his performance - which is entirely possible given the constant (and mostly unwarranted ) witchhunt against him...
But you get rid of him. Why? What the hell changed? the election? What does that matter?
You should have either:
a) fired him 6 months ago - AND MOST LIKELY SAVING 5-10 SEATS IN THE HOUSE AND 1-2 IN THE SENATE; OR
b) stick to your PRINCIPLES and re-iterate that you believe in him despite the unpopularity.
Why the hell did you fire Rumsfeld NOW? I can't explain it....
Well, I have one possible theory why... it's a devious plan for 2008. I'll explain that, and how the Browns can make the playoffs, in a future post.
(PS - I'm spell-checking this post; it suggest I replace "FGs" above with "fags". How is that in the dictionary????)
Crickets....
I'm glad the Zahn boys are still around, I was beginning to think that you guys left the country following Tuesday's results.
I hope you guys are looking forward to next weekend. Are you already scoping out some high value games for betting? I wish I could be there, I'm bummed I can't go.
I'm in DE right now, and can't watch the Pats Jets game. Damn I hate not having Sunday Ticket. I'm addicted.
I hope you guys are looking forward to next weekend. Are you already scoping out some high value games for betting? I wish I could be there, I'm bummed I can't go.
I'm in DE right now, and can't watch the Pats Jets game. Damn I hate not having Sunday Ticket. I'm addicted.
Week 10 NFL Picks: "The Race Game"
Yes, I am racing to try to get my picks in for this week. It feels like I have only 45 seconds to get my picks in for today. Here we go:
KC 27, Mia 17. Chicago gave the game away to Miami last weekend. Miami won't be as lucky this week.
Jax 24, Hou 13. Do these two teams play every 3rd week?
Cin 26, SD 20. I'm not impressed with SD. If you put pressure on Rivers, he's toast.
Atl 20, Cle 13. The worst rushing D in the league going against Vick, Dunn and the Falcons- on turf. Yikes.
Bal 27, Ten 17. McNair will be ready.
Ind 31, Buf 17. A typical 14 point win for the Colts with the questions on the team (Rush D) still lingering.
NO 27, Pit 24. Is this the week that a) I finally pick against Pit, and b) they find themselves and win? Of course it is.
Phi 24, Was 10. I don't want to say this is a lock, but....
NYG 20, Chi 17. Should be a great game.
Min 27, GB 20. I don't care about this year's version of the team - throw the records out when these two play in the dome. It's a shootout.
NE 28, NYJ 10. I'm still unimpressed with the Jets after the Browns game 2 weeks ago.
Det 27, SF 13. I like Kitna and co. in this game. Who knows what type of team the 9ers are...
Den 20, Oak 7. Just like the 13-3 game a few weeks back.
Stl 23, Sea 20. Another fun game when these two get together.
Dak 30, Az 17. I'd LOVE for Parcells to blow his top if they lose, but they won't.
Car 20, TB 17. It will be locser than people think.
16 best bets:
KC +1
Cin +1
Bal/Ten over 38
NO +5.5
NO/Pit over 46
Phi -7
Phi/Was under 41 1/2
GB/Min Over 39 1/2
NE -10
Det -6
Det/SF Under 46
Den -9
Den/Oak under 33
Stl +3
Dal -6.5
TB +9.5
And Derek - who's better in the NFL,a team at 8-7-1 or 8-8? A tie game is half a win and half a loss. THat's how it is judged as.
Hopefully, this will be my result at the end of the day:
And Derek will pull the lever and see..
Nov 11, 2006
The Ace of Spades
Now that Saddam is on his way out, we have a new target. This is my enemy!!! Yes he looks friendly enough, but it is coming down to crunch time in our little competition.Eric: 71-67-6
Derek: 71-73-1
Now, we need a little clarification on the rules of the contest. Is it the person with the most wins, or is it the person with the best winning percentage?
Before I get onto the picks, can I just say that I love Harrison Ford!!! Watching Star Wars/Empire/Jedi on HBO this morning and its just amazing to see that the only real difference between the old trilogy and the new trilogy is Harrison Ford.
And this brings me to my next little subject. Whenever I drive and I'm being a little too aggressive, I always tell my passenger "Hang on Chewy" and its usually Ben, Jon, or someone like that who will always respond with a Chewy yell or at least chuckles. Well now that Carol is the main person riding shotgun, she gets a little offended when I call her Chewy. She wants me to call her Leiah, but I can't since she never rides shotgun, unless its Chewy driving, but since I'm Han, then she's got to be Chewy. The wedding was almost called off as I went through this explanation with her.
Anyway, onto the picks:
Terps -3.5
S Florida -10
PSU Under 45
BC -29.5
Arkansas -5.5
Washington -19
ND -11.5
ND Over 54
Uconn +8
Illinois -3
Wake +8.5
Clemson -18.5
UCLA +2
USC -8.5
I hate all the pro games this week.
Chicago Pickem
Ravens -7
Nov 8, 2006
One more casualty from last night
I'll have more thoughts on the election later, but first, we have to mention some words about Jim Leach.
Jim Leach, R-IA, was my congressman when I was in Iowa. He started serving in 1976 and is widely known as one of the top 10-20 liberal Republicans in the house. The district was redrawn in 00, causing him to be placed in the more Democratic areas of Cedar Rapids and Iowa City. Gore and Kerry both carried this district, but he kept getting elected.
He is widely regarded as an honorable man who ofter touts his integrity (and it is genuine).
Two positions made him stick out this year:
1) He was one of 5-10 Republicans against the Iraq War.
2) He was the co-sponsor of the Internet Gambling Bill. I read somewhere that most gambling interests fear Leach (he is chairman or vice-chair of the Banking Committee) more than any other Rep.
He lost last night by about 500-1000 votes to a college professor who ran in 04 (Leach won, 52-48, in 04).
It is very easy to believe that the votes he lost by were U of Iowa Students that voted against Leach due to the Internet Poker ban.
Jim Leach, R-IA, was my congressman when I was in Iowa. He started serving in 1976 and is widely known as one of the top 10-20 liberal Republicans in the house. The district was redrawn in 00, causing him to be placed in the more Democratic areas of Cedar Rapids and Iowa City. Gore and Kerry both carried this district, but he kept getting elected.
He is widely regarded as an honorable man who ofter touts his integrity (and it is genuine).
Two positions made him stick out this year:
1) He was one of 5-10 Republicans against the Iraq War.
2) He was the co-sponsor of the Internet Gambling Bill. I read somewhere that most gambling interests fear Leach (he is chairman or vice-chair of the Banking Committee) more than any other Rep.
He lost last night by about 500-1000 votes to a college professor who ran in 04 (Leach won, 52-48, in 04).
It is very easy to believe that the votes he lost by were U of Iowa Students that voted against Leach due to the Internet Poker ban.
Nov 7, 2006
Election Day Live Blog
We're live from the basement in front of the big screen TV as we await the results from the 2006 Elections. We are also having our traditional, all-American meal of hot dogs, french fries and apple pie.
We'll try to live blog this as we keep up with the results as they come in.
6:52: First exit poll results coming in - and they are not good for Bush and the Rep's. 60% in exit polls are making their vote based on national issues; corruption is showing up as one of the top issues on voter's minds. Late deciders are breaking 3-2 (60-40) for the D candidate.
Take this with a grain of salt, based on my last post on exit polls. We'll see.... first significant polls close at 7.
7:02. Oooh! Virginia is in........ and it's too close to call. Really? What a shock.
Brit Hume is explaining the Fox graphics. They have a "balance of power" bar - "Don't eat it!" says Brit, trying to inject some humor. OK, there, Brit.
7:17. Diet Squirt...... yummmmmm
7:21: First real results...our friend Anne Northup - KY Dist 3 - (Louisville) - 53% in - tied 50-50. Hoo boy.
7:35: Is this the night we are going to have? In IN-9, with 17% of the vote in, over 29,000 votes, the Rep leads the Dem by SEVEN votes. (14,761 to 14, 754).
7:49: Allen up 55-45 in VA with 11% in. I have no idea where these votes are coming from. One republican advisor said turnout in SW Virginia was huge and should carry Allen over by 30,000 votes. Who knows.
8:03. 25% in in VA; Webb now leads Allen by 1,500 out of 550,000 votes so far...
8:25. The smartest person in America just got done talking. One big issue that Michael Barone brought up - in IN 9, suburb of Cincinnati, there is a suburb county called Dearborn County.
Turnout is up 27% from 2002. In 02, 57% of the votes went to the Rep - but now, it looks like 53% is going to the Republican.
So the Republicans are turning out the vote -but it may not be voters that will vote for the Reps!
Also - wow, this is amazing - the marriage proposal will PASS in Virginia. Gay marriage will fail in VA by about 58-42.
And if this holds up, traditional marriage winning 58-42 - and Allen loses, well, that will be a blunder by Allen of the BIGGEST proportions.
8:40. Well, both Santorum (in PA) and DeWine (OH) has been called as Democrats wins (Casey and Brown). Ohio will miss DeWine.
8:58: Mort Kondracke and Fred Barnes almost came to blows -Mort pretty much called Fred a liar - "Fred, that's just not so" - about people talking about the Dems taking over the Seante as of 2 weeks ago. The sexual tension there was palpable.
9:15: More polls close, including MD; VA is showing a 7,000 Allen lead with about 66% in. The big question there is wherther the No Va votes have been counted already; according to our guests, Chuck Schumer and Ken Melhman, the answer is " very little" or "a substantial majority"...... Why do we have partisan guests on again?
9:29: OK, first signs of bad news for Republicans.. they say Steele will lose in MD; in fact, they have called it. In the big six house races in IN and KY, already 3 races have been called for the Dems. Not good.
And now RI has been called for the Democrats - Lincoln Chafee loses.
9:44. Fox News has called the MD Governorship for OMalley. Well, good luck there, Maryland. Don't expect to shop at a Wal Mart anytime soon.
9:49: I think everyone is coming to the foregone conculsion that the House will go democratic. The Senate looks like a 3-out-of-5 battle between MO, TN, AZ, VA, and MT.
10:10: All three IN House races that were close - districts 2, 8, and 9 - have gone D. A Connecticut seat has lost as well. However, it looks like a couple of southern seats - FL seats, GA - seems to be in the R column.
Is this is wave, or is this the Northeast/Midwest independents rebelling, but the rest of the R's staying with the party? We will see.
10:20: The northeast massacre of Republicans continue; Jay, you are happy to know that Charlie Bass- NH-2 - has lost. This race wasn't even on the map 3 months ago.
Good news - the Northern Ky Rep - Geoff Davis - has held on. Another piece of evidence that the Rep get out the vote effort works - but works regionally, and certainly not in the NE and Mid-Atlantic.
10:30: Everyone is fascinated by the Va race. Where the hell are the non-reporting precincts? 94% in, Allen by 30,000. I'm sure there will be lawsuits here, no matter what.
Haven't seen any numbers from MO or TN yet - that's just as big.
10:45: Apparently, one of the 16 precincts in Ohio with problems is in Cincinnati, so we won't have results from OH-1 (W. Cincinnati) for a while now. However, OH-2 (Jean Schmidt's and Don Hershey's district) is starting to come in, and Schmidt leads by 4% with about half of the vote reamining. If this changes, then it is free wine for everyone.
10"50: 95% in in VA; still Allen by 28,000 or so. Michael Barone says the outstadning precincts are in both urban (Norfolk) and rural/beach/suburbs. Barone said it is a mix. In the DC Metro area, ALL ARE COUNTED, according to Barone.
36 precincts from Loudon county, 33 precinct from Prince William are still out. Barone says these couties are pretty much 50/50.
Barone is saying this may be headed for a recount. 36 days, plus or minus a week. You heard it here first.
10:51: Now, more news from VA: State Law says that if the result is within 1% (which it looks like it most certainly will), the losing candidate can call for a recount - and there it goes! It's automatic. Hoo boy.
10:57: Two quick notes:
1) Steele HAS NOT conceded yet, according to instapundit and NRO's The Corner. He does not believe the Exit Polls.
2) THERE HAVE BEEN NO VOTES counted in St Louis and Kansas City yet for the MO Senate race. Is this fishy, or what?
More House races fall - Heath Shuler is coming to Washington. Good luck. He beat a R incumbent in NC.
11:10: NEWS FLASH
THE WASHINGTON POST HAS WITHDRAWN THEIR PROJECTION OF CARDIN WINNING THE MARYLAND SENATE RACE
Fox has not, yet.
11:21: Fox has declared the Democrats will take over the House - ironically, by carrying Tom Delay's seat. Welcome Nancy Pelosi, House Speaker.
Still no word on VA - now within 11,000 votes, TN (Corker (r) by 4%) or fraud-laden MO.
11:28: And now the other NH house district - NH 1 - has fallen to the democrats. This is a seat that was not on a radar screen - and is clearly a sign of the regional sweep of this election.
11:35: Barone was on talking about Maryland - and frankly, he can't understand the withdraw. Steele is running well behind Ehrlich's numbers in 02 - he talked about Calvert county (Ehrlich 63%, Steele 52% this year) and PG county. The one wildcard is the black vote - will Steele get substantially more black vote than Ehrlich? WE will see.
11:59: Wow. Brit Hume signs off with the latest VA totals -Webb is now up 2500 out of 2.4 million cast, 99% in. Recount is definite.
12:40: Corker (R) wins in TN. The inner city MO votes are now coming in for McCaskill (D) in MO; she now leads by 1100 with about 70% of the vote in. No one is sure what the hell is going on in Montana right now.
It looks like control of the Senate may - MAY - be held up in the Virginia recounts over the next few weeks.
We'll try to live blog this as we keep up with the results as they come in.
6:52: First exit poll results coming in - and they are not good for Bush and the Rep's. 60% in exit polls are making their vote based on national issues; corruption is showing up as one of the top issues on voter's minds. Late deciders are breaking 3-2 (60-40) for the D candidate.
Take this with a grain of salt, based on my last post on exit polls. We'll see.... first significant polls close at 7.
7:02. Oooh! Virginia is in........ and it's too close to call. Really? What a shock.
Brit Hume is explaining the Fox graphics. They have a "balance of power" bar - "Don't eat it!" says Brit, trying to inject some humor. OK, there, Brit.
7:17. Diet Squirt...... yummmmmm
7:21: First real results...our friend Anne Northup - KY Dist 3 - (Louisville) - 53% in - tied 50-50. Hoo boy.
7:35: Is this the night we are going to have? In IN-9, with 17% of the vote in, over 29,000 votes, the Rep leads the Dem by SEVEN votes. (14,761 to 14, 754).
7:49: Allen up 55-45 in VA with 11% in. I have no idea where these votes are coming from. One republican advisor said turnout in SW Virginia was huge and should carry Allen over by 30,000 votes. Who knows.
8:03. 25% in in VA; Webb now leads Allen by 1,500 out of 550,000 votes so far...
8:25. The smartest person in America just got done talking. One big issue that Michael Barone brought up - in IN 9, suburb of Cincinnati, there is a suburb county called Dearborn County.
Turnout is up 27% from 2002. In 02, 57% of the votes went to the Rep - but now, it looks like 53% is going to the Republican.
So the Republicans are turning out the vote -but it may not be voters that will vote for the Reps!
Also - wow, this is amazing - the marriage proposal will PASS in Virginia. Gay marriage will fail in VA by about 58-42.
And if this holds up, traditional marriage winning 58-42 - and Allen loses, well, that will be a blunder by Allen of the BIGGEST proportions.
8:40. Well, both Santorum (in PA) and DeWine (OH) has been called as Democrats wins (Casey and Brown). Ohio will miss DeWine.
8:58: Mort Kondracke and Fred Barnes almost came to blows -Mort pretty much called Fred a liar - "Fred, that's just not so" - about people talking about the Dems taking over the Seante as of 2 weeks ago. The sexual tension there was palpable.
9:15: More polls close, including MD; VA is showing a 7,000 Allen lead with about 66% in. The big question there is wherther the No Va votes have been counted already; according to our guests, Chuck Schumer and Ken Melhman, the answer is " very little" or "a substantial majority"...... Why do we have partisan guests on again?
9:29: OK, first signs of bad news for Republicans.. they say Steele will lose in MD; in fact, they have called it. In the big six house races in IN and KY, already 3 races have been called for the Dems. Not good.
And now RI has been called for the Democrats - Lincoln Chafee loses.
9:44. Fox News has called the MD Governorship for OMalley. Well, good luck there, Maryland. Don't expect to shop at a Wal Mart anytime soon.
9:49: I think everyone is coming to the foregone conculsion that the House will go democratic. The Senate looks like a 3-out-of-5 battle between MO, TN, AZ, VA, and MT.
10:10: All three IN House races that were close - districts 2, 8, and 9 - have gone D. A Connecticut seat has lost as well. However, it looks like a couple of southern seats - FL seats, GA - seems to be in the R column.
Is this is wave, or is this the Northeast/Midwest independents rebelling, but the rest of the R's staying with the party? We will see.
10:20: The northeast massacre of Republicans continue; Jay, you are happy to know that Charlie Bass- NH-2 - has lost. This race wasn't even on the map 3 months ago.
Good news - the Northern Ky Rep - Geoff Davis - has held on. Another piece of evidence that the Rep get out the vote effort works - but works regionally, and certainly not in the NE and Mid-Atlantic.
10:30: Everyone is fascinated by the Va race. Where the hell are the non-reporting precincts? 94% in, Allen by 30,000. I'm sure there will be lawsuits here, no matter what.
Haven't seen any numbers from MO or TN yet - that's just as big.
10:45: Apparently, one of the 16 precincts in Ohio with problems is in Cincinnati, so we won't have results from OH-1 (W. Cincinnati) for a while now. However, OH-2 (Jean Schmidt's and Don Hershey's district) is starting to come in, and Schmidt leads by 4% with about half of the vote reamining. If this changes, then it is free wine for everyone.
10"50: 95% in in VA; still Allen by 28,000 or so. Michael Barone says the outstadning precincts are in both urban (Norfolk) and rural/beach/suburbs. Barone said it is a mix. In the DC Metro area, ALL ARE COUNTED, according to Barone.
36 precincts from Loudon county, 33 precinct from Prince William are still out. Barone says these couties are pretty much 50/50.
Barone is saying this may be headed for a recount. 36 days, plus or minus a week. You heard it here first.
10:51: Now, more news from VA: State Law says that if the result is within 1% (which it looks like it most certainly will), the losing candidate can call for a recount - and there it goes! It's automatic. Hoo boy.
10:57: Two quick notes:
1) Steele HAS NOT conceded yet, according to instapundit and NRO's The Corner. He does not believe the Exit Polls.
2) THERE HAVE BEEN NO VOTES counted in St Louis and Kansas City yet for the MO Senate race. Is this fishy, or what?
More House races fall - Heath Shuler is coming to Washington. Good luck. He beat a R incumbent in NC.
11:10: NEWS FLASH
THE WASHINGTON POST HAS WITHDRAWN THEIR PROJECTION OF CARDIN WINNING THE MARYLAND SENATE RACE
Fox has not, yet.
11:21: Fox has declared the Democrats will take over the House - ironically, by carrying Tom Delay's seat. Welcome Nancy Pelosi, House Speaker.
Still no word on VA - now within 11,000 votes, TN (Corker (r) by 4%) or fraud-laden MO.
11:28: And now the other NH house district - NH 1 - has fallen to the democrats. This is a seat that was not on a radar screen - and is clearly a sign of the regional sweep of this election.
11:35: Barone was on talking about Maryland - and frankly, he can't understand the withdraw. Steele is running well behind Ehrlich's numbers in 02 - he talked about Calvert county (Ehrlich 63%, Steele 52% this year) and PG county. The one wildcard is the black vote - will Steele get substantially more black vote than Ehrlich? WE will see.
11:59: Wow. Brit Hume signs off with the latest VA totals -Webb is now up 2500 out of 2.4 million cast, 99% in. Recount is definite.
12:40: Corker (R) wins in TN. The inner city MO votes are now coming in for McCaskill (D) in MO; she now leads by 1100 with about 70% of the vote in. No one is sure what the hell is going on in Montana right now.
It looks like control of the Senate may - MAY - be held up in the Virginia recounts over the next few weeks.
Election Day
Well, the big day is finally here. We will try to do a live blog tonight with live commentary as things unfold.
I want to take this time to urge all of you to put no stock in exit polls. I think they were proven to be a fraud in 2004, but nonetheless, some network(s) will use data from them at 5:30 to make broad inferences about the electorate.
Here's why they are flawed, based on some real stories from 2004.
First, the idea is fine, in theory. Go to some critical polling places, set up shop, and grab every fifth voter and ask them to fill out a survey, right?
Here are the problems:
1) Most of the exit pollers were graduate students, mainly women. I'm going to generalize here , but everyone remembers when they were in college, right? If someone said you had to be at a place at 6 am, but there was no one expecting you (or watching you) at that time....
you got in around 8, right? Right. No one's looking....
So a group of voters from 6 am to 8 am were missed. And the demographic of that group who votes at that time? Mainly working men. Who lean mostly Republican. So no exit voting was done of those voters.
2) So you are supposed to pull out every fifth voter. Fine. Remember, you are 21-23 years old working in the suburbs in an area you don't know.
You count people since your last survey...1...2...3..4..and then two people exit:
- a 27 year old stay at home mom, or
- a 55 year old man who is in a suit.
What do you have the most in common with? Who would you pick to interview? In most cases documented in 04, the 27 year old mom was picked if given a choice.
Most of the interviewers were democrats, it was found, and the natural human tendecny is to seek out people that "look" to be similar to you and have comparable life experiences/age/beliefs. We can't fault the interviewer for being reluctant to interview Republicans - but it was not taken into account.
3) The early results had to be reported to the network by 4 pm. So you've interviewed from 8 -4. Who are you missing from 4 pm - on? See the answer to #1 above.
4) The exit polls were set up in the traditional swing neighborhoods - not, of course, in all precincts - and the exit pools completely missed the GOTV operation in the ex-urbs that the Republicans set up, most notably in OH, FL, and other states.
This is how the exit polls showed that:
- Kerry would win PA by TWENTY POINTS (remember that?)
- The D's would be extremely close in VA, NC (they lost both by 10+)
This affects how the networks call races... I distinctly remember the networks not calling VA or NC when they closed ( Bush won both over 10 pts, as I said) but called MI and NJ 10 minutes after the polls closed (Kerry won MI by 3, NJ by 7).
The networks aren't biased - the polling procedure was.
I don't know what fixes were put in place for this year... but keep this in mind when reading any early tea leaves today.
(unless, of course, the news is good for the Republicans...then it's 100% accurate!)
I want to take this time to urge all of you to put no stock in exit polls. I think they were proven to be a fraud in 2004, but nonetheless, some network(s) will use data from them at 5:30 to make broad inferences about the electorate.
Here's why they are flawed, based on some real stories from 2004.
First, the idea is fine, in theory. Go to some critical polling places, set up shop, and grab every fifth voter and ask them to fill out a survey, right?
Here are the problems:
1) Most of the exit pollers were graduate students, mainly women. I'm going to generalize here , but everyone remembers when they were in college, right? If someone said you had to be at a place at 6 am, but there was no one expecting you (or watching you) at that time....
you got in around 8, right? Right. No one's looking....
So a group of voters from 6 am to 8 am were missed. And the demographic of that group who votes at that time? Mainly working men. Who lean mostly Republican. So no exit voting was done of those voters.
2) So you are supposed to pull out every fifth voter. Fine. Remember, you are 21-23 years old working in the suburbs in an area you don't know.
You count people since your last survey...1...2...3..4..and then two people exit:
- a 27 year old stay at home mom, or
- a 55 year old man who is in a suit.
What do you have the most in common with? Who would you pick to interview? In most cases documented in 04, the 27 year old mom was picked if given a choice.
Most of the interviewers were democrats, it was found, and the natural human tendecny is to seek out people that "look" to be similar to you and have comparable life experiences/age/beliefs. We can't fault the interviewer for being reluctant to interview Republicans - but it was not taken into account.
3) The early results had to be reported to the network by 4 pm. So you've interviewed from 8 -4. Who are you missing from 4 pm - on? See the answer to #1 above.
4) The exit polls were set up in the traditional swing neighborhoods - not, of course, in all precincts - and the exit pools completely missed the GOTV operation in the ex-urbs that the Republicans set up, most notably in OH, FL, and other states.
This is how the exit polls showed that:
- Kerry would win PA by TWENTY POINTS (remember that?)
- The D's would be extremely close in VA, NC (they lost both by 10+)
This affects how the networks call races... I distinctly remember the networks not calling VA or NC when they closed ( Bush won both over 10 pts, as I said) but called MI and NJ 10 minutes after the polls closed (Kerry won MI by 3, NJ by 7).
The networks aren't biased - the polling procedure was.
I don't know what fixes were put in place for this year... but keep this in mind when reading any early tea leaves today.
(unless, of course, the news is good for the Republicans...then it's 100% accurate!)
Nov 4, 2006
Odds and Ends
A few random thoughts while stuck in a hotel in Scranton PA (home of The Office!).
- I have been battling a brutal head cold for the past two weeks. This has been awful. Yesterday, my cold turned into an ear infection. Seriously, when is the last time anyone on this space had an ear infection?!? I feel like I am 7 years old. Next up, Flinstone Vitamins!
- How bout them Terps beating Clemson? Pretty nice turnaround by Fridge's boys. Can you believe I still can't sell my Miami tickets at face value on stubhub. WTF??
- I am with the Sports Guy in thinking the C's will be better than people think (maybe the 7 or 8 spot in the East), but then they go out and stink the joint out in their two openers, choking away leads in both games. Yuck.
- Zahn should enjoy this... nice
- Republicans are officially grasping when they are trotting out criticism about FICTIONAL novels. Scrape, scrape, scrape... yup I think we are at the bottom of the barrel.
- Pats 24 Cols 18. Manning will get 260+ yards passing, but will be settling for FGs instead of TDs. If the Pats could shut down the 49TD, 4500+ yard record setting Colts offense a few years ago with the 5th string DBs, then they can slow down the current Offense with a D that is playing much better. The D is back to doing Belicheckian things like stuffing the run, being very stingy in the red zone, and creating TOs. Meanwhile the Pats O is starting to get in gear, and the Colts and the 29th rank run D comes to Foxboro with them. We'll see a lot of 2 TE and a lot of Dillon and Maroney. This is like the Cinci matchup earlier, a hyped offensive team with a fatal flaw of soft run D. The Pats manhandled them by running right up the gut. Can't wait for tomorrow nights game.
That is all for now.
- I have been battling a brutal head cold for the past two weeks. This has been awful. Yesterday, my cold turned into an ear infection. Seriously, when is the last time anyone on this space had an ear infection?!? I feel like I am 7 years old. Next up, Flinstone Vitamins!
- How bout them Terps beating Clemson? Pretty nice turnaround by Fridge's boys. Can you believe I still can't sell my Miami tickets at face value on stubhub. WTF??
- I am with the Sports Guy in thinking the C's will be better than people think (maybe the 7 or 8 spot in the East), but then they go out and stink the joint out in their two openers, choking away leads in both games. Yuck.
- Zahn should enjoy this... nice
- Republicans are officially grasping when they are trotting out criticism about FICTIONAL novels. Scrape, scrape, scrape... yup I think we are at the bottom of the barrel.
- Pats 24 Cols 18. Manning will get 260+ yards passing, but will be settling for FGs instead of TDs. If the Pats could shut down the 49TD, 4500+ yard record setting Colts offense a few years ago with the 5th string DBs, then they can slow down the current Offense with a D that is playing much better. The D is back to doing Belicheckian things like stuffing the run, being very stingy in the red zone, and creating TOs. Meanwhile the Pats O is starting to get in gear, and the Colts and the 29th rank run D comes to Foxboro with them. We'll see a lot of 2 TE and a lot of Dillon and Maroney. This is like the Cinci matchup earlier, a hyped offensive team with a fatal flaw of soft run D. The Pats manhandled them by running right up the gut. Can't wait for tomorrow nights game.
That is all for now.
Nov 2, 2006
Week 9 NFL Picks - "The Clock Game"
We're coming live tonight from gate F7 in the always-efficient Chicago OHare airport. The weather is fine, but the f&&#^$#n FAA put a "hold" on flights for whatever reason. I now expect to land in Cincinnati at 1:25 am and will get to bed just after 2. Nice.Anyway, I feel like these picks are my version of the clock game. I have about 10-15 minutes to post these picks.... so, first, with the game itself -
Who doesn't love this game?
The clock will start with your first bid...
$400? "Lower"
$300? "Lower"
$200? "Higher"
$250? "Higher"
$225? "HIGHER", says Bob, while muttering "dumbass" under his breath.
Ah yes. Not saying that this particular contestant did that - I have no idea. But you have to love this guy's smile and hair.
Anyway, the picks for week 9:
St Louis 27, KC 10. St Louis will crush them. San Diego is that good (referring tothe Rams loss last week).
Bal 24, Cinci 13. If Palmer is under a rush, that's big problems for him.
NYG 23, Hou 14. Houston can move the ball - they just have to avoid the turnover.
Jax 20, Ten 10. Just enough defense for the Jags.
Was 23, Dal 13. I think this is Derek's rule of NFL betting - Dal and Washington ALWAYS split.
Buf 27, GB 20. I had to drop Lee Evans this week to make room for a trade - I have a feeling this will be his breakout week.
TB 20, NO 17. Is this the end for the Saints?
Atl 31, Det 28. I started Kitna over Eli in one of my leagues this week. Indoors? Should be a track meet.
Chi 30, Mia 14. Does Joey Harrington = Alex Smith? >? Min 24, SF 23. The Vikes can't look this bad two weeks in a row, right?
Cle 20, SD 19. YEAH BABY! THE UPSET! (ok, maybe that is the caffeine talking)
Pit 20, Den 13. Pit isbacked into a corner, and Denver is overrated.
NE 28, Ind 27. How can you NOT take Belichick in this one?
Sea 23, Oak 12. Lost in the game last week was that Oak had <100 yards of offense. How will they score if not for turnovers?
No time for the recap of the records. Derek, can you do this?
Best bets:
StL -3
Stl/KC Under 46
Bal +3.5
Hou +14
Jax/Ten under 37
Was +3
Dal/Was Under 42
Buf/GB Over 40
TB +1.5
Atl/Det over 43
Chi -14
Chi/Mia Over 37 1/2
SF +5
Pit -3
NE/Ind Over 48
Sea -8
Nov 1, 2006
A couple of belated items.
Been so busy I forgot some things:1. Happy belated B-Day to Jay and his son Luke. My mom still has Luke's present at the house and is hounding me on when I'm going to get it out of there. By the time I eventually get it to Luke, he will be old enough to use the poker chips I got him.
2. How did we all let this slip through? I'm ashamed. With Eric, Lee, Jay, Jon, and I, none of us mentioned that Bob Barker is retiring? Shame on all of us.
3. Had a request to route some traffic over to our old blog site by Jorge Blogsada:
Hey, can i get some credit for posting on everyone's 2nd favorite blog? There's a little surprise waiting for everyone brave enough to travel down the internet's darkest alley.
I can't wait to start blogging over there when I have to complain about my soon to be wife. Only me, Ben, and Jorge will read it.
Good Day
Let's lighten the mood up...
Random thoughts about non-serious topics:
1) Lot of news about ESPN: first, Harold Reynolds is now suing ESPN for his firing (details at Smoking Gun). Also, on ESPNU during the N Ill - Iowa game, Brian Kinchen (the color guy) talked about how:
"the quarterback needs to caress the ball - cradle it...... I guess that sounds kind of gay".
Needless to say, he is now on double secret probation.
2) Has anyone seen the new Citicards commercials? The ones with the Russian old guy amassing points? I think he says it is very "rewarding", but it comes out "bevording". I find them amazingly compelling. I think I may be the only one who enjoys these.
Is that Judd Hirsch doing the ad?
3) At the end of the Steelers-Raiders game, they showed a picture of Al Davis. Janice almost threw up her dinner. "Who IS that?" she asked. It's the owner. "Wow - he looks dead". That may be a compliment.
4) Is there any doubt that if it was a Browns player making that non-catch in the end zone at the end of the Browns-Jets game , there would be ZERO national outrage about the push-out rule? And people wonder why there is such hatred toward east-coast teams...
5) More bathroom blogging: Look, if you are in a stall, especially the first stall that is adjacent to the urinals and the rest of the bathroom, do NOT drop your pants so much that you expose skin to the rest of the people underneath the stall wall. Why do you feel the need to throw your pants and underwear on the floor (with your two legs still loosely inside them) so that we can see:
- what socks you are wearing
- what kind of underwear you are wearing
- your badge lying on the floor
Ugh! When taking a crap, the pants don't go lower than your kneecap. Man Law?
6) Derek and I had a vocal argument about College Football vs College Basketball - which sport most embodies American Ideals?
And Derek - what about Rutgers? If they are the only undefeated team left besides Ohio St, do they play in the Fiesta Bowl against the Buckeyes?
1) Lot of news about ESPN: first, Harold Reynolds is now suing ESPN for his firing (details at Smoking Gun). Also, on ESPNU during the N Ill - Iowa game, Brian Kinchen (the color guy) talked about how:
"the quarterback needs to caress the ball - cradle it...... I guess that sounds kind of gay".
Needless to say, he is now on double secret probation.
2) Has anyone seen the new Citicards commercials? The ones with the Russian old guy amassing points? I think he says it is very "rewarding", but it comes out "bevording". I find them amazingly compelling. I think I may be the only one who enjoys these.
Is that Judd Hirsch doing the ad?
3) At the end of the Steelers-Raiders game, they showed a picture of Al Davis. Janice almost threw up her dinner. "Who IS that?" she asked. It's the owner. "Wow - he looks dead". That may be a compliment.
4) Is there any doubt that if it was a Browns player making that non-catch in the end zone at the end of the Browns-Jets game , there would be ZERO national outrage about the push-out rule? And people wonder why there is such hatred toward east-coast teams...
5) More bathroom blogging: Look, if you are in a stall, especially the first stall that is adjacent to the urinals and the rest of the bathroom, do NOT drop your pants so much that you expose skin to the rest of the people underneath the stall wall. Why do you feel the need to throw your pants and underwear on the floor (with your two legs still loosely inside them) so that we can see:
- what socks you are wearing
- what kind of underwear you are wearing
- your badge lying on the floor
Ugh! When taking a crap, the pants don't go lower than your kneecap. Man Law?
6) Derek and I had a vocal argument about College Football vs College Basketball - which sport most embodies American Ideals?
And Derek - what about Rutgers? If they are the only undefeated team left besides Ohio St, do they play in the Fiesta Bowl against the Buckeyes?
Oct 31, 2006
IDIOT!!!!
This is why Bush and Rove aren't worried. Its because idiots like this that come out for now reason and light the fire under the Republican base. Why would he say this and then not apologize? Blows my mind. Below is an excerpt from Instapundit."What struck me about this comment beyond the obvious fact that it is insulting to our troops, is just how politically incompetent John Kerry is. Here we are, a week before Election Day, Democrats are favored to win back control of the House and possibly the Senate, so you'd think it would make sense for the party's leaders to play it safe. Republicans have tried very hard to convince voters that Democrats don't support our troops, a charge that Democrats have been countering by saying that they do support the troops, only that they oppose the war and want to bring the troops home. But in this video Kerry, the party's most recent candidate for President and one of it's most recognizable figures, is out there calling troops fighting in Iraq a bunch of morons. The RNC should run an ad featuring this video in every competitive race in the country. Just like his "I actually did vote for the $87 billion before I voted against it" helped Republicans portray him as a flip-flopper, Kerry's recent remark succinctly captures what Republicans have been trying to say about Democrats all along--that they are anti-military and can't be trusted on national security."
And then he comes out with a half ass response. Another clip from Instapundit that wraps all of this up nicely:
I’ll bet Senator Clinton absolutely loves watching her potential ’08 rival shoot himself in the foot. BTW, I’m another National Merit Scholar serving in the active duty military. I missed 4 questions on the SATs. But the real insult to my intelligence came when Senator Kerry tried to pretend he was talking about Bush.
Laura? Let's make a deal
The latest CNN polls are out for the Senate. It's just one poll, but it shows that:
- Allen is now losing in VA
- Corker is now up 5-7 in TN
- The MO race is a toss up.
It did not poll the MD race, where all polls show that Steele is closing. (and if you believe that Washington post poll with those internals, then you probably listen to Stuart Scott for your sports info, too...)
Laura - tell you what. I'll be OK with Allen going down in VA if Corker beats the vastly overrated Ford in TN and Steele beats the "Weekend at Bernie's" candidate, Ben Cardin. Deal?
- Allen is now losing in VA
- Corker is now up 5-7 in TN
- The MO race is a toss up.
It did not poll the MD race, where all polls show that Steele is closing. (and if you believe that Washington post poll with those internals, then you probably listen to Stuart Scott for your sports info, too...)
Laura - tell you what. I'll be OK with Allen going down in VA if Corker beats the vastly overrated Ford in TN and Steele beats the "Weekend at Bernie's" candidate, Ben Cardin. Deal?
Oct 30, 2006
2006 Election Preview: The House
This is the last post in the 2006 Election Preview series. I won't be around the computer much up until Election day - going to San Diego to see Derek and the Browns this weekend! - so here is a quick preview of the House and the key races.
By the way, we hope to be liveblogging from the basement on Election Night. Stay tuned for that.
The math seems simple - the Democrats need to pick up 15 seats to win control of the House. By most counts, there are about 8-10 seats that are Rep now that look like they will go Democratic; there are about 20-30 Republican tossup seats that could go either way; and an additional 20-40 Republican seats that is leaning Republican now, but could change if a huge wave is coming.
Conversely, the Democrats have very little to worry about in terms of defending their seats. At worst, they have 10 seats that could be seen as in play, and it wouldn't shock me if they kept all 10.
So - the toss-up seats will determine control of the house, and if they broke 50/50, the Democrats would take control by about 5-10 seats. However, history shows that in exceptional years (think 1992, 1994, and 2002) most of the toss ups go one way. So - with that in mind - will the anti-Bush wave sweep those Republican tossups out? Or will the fear of Pelosi coupled with the superior Get-Out-The-Vote ground effort that the Republicans have fool the pollsters once again?
Here are the key states that need to be watched:
1) Connecticut (Districts 2,4,5). There are 3 vulnerable R reps here - all are veteran reps (Chris Shays, Nancy Johnson are two) who are relatively liberal and have withstood challenges before in this state. It is thought that the Lieberman independent candidacy will bring out more R-leaning independents to vote for Lieberman and, in turn, vote for the moderate R congresspeople.
Best case for the Democrats: they could win all 3; if they get 2, that is a huge step forward for 15.
For the Republicans: They could win all 3. If they lose more than 1, it's not good.
2) Florida. (Dist. 13, 16,22). District 13 is Foley's seat; the Rep's won a court battle that allowed signs to be put up at polling places stating that a vote for Foley (who is still on the ballot) is a vote for his replacement. Two more districts (both R) are at risk, one is Katherine Harris' old seat (16).
Best case for D: Win 2 - Foley's and one more.
Best case for R: Most have written off Foley's seat, and it is possible that they can come back and win it; but no one is couting on it. Win 2 here and the R's are OK.
3) Georgia: (Dist 8, 12). This is a big one for the Democrats; these seats are held by 2 Democratic freshman congressmen facing R challengers who once held the seat.
Best case for D: Win both.
Best case for R: If they can pick off 1 here, that's a victory.
4) Indiana (Dist 2, 8, 9). This is one of the ground zeroes right now for the house. (This, OH and PA). Dist 8 is Western IN (Terre Haute, Evansville) in which the incumbent has consistently run campaigns with no money (he refuses to take political committee money) but somehow wins every year since 94. His death has been predicted more than once. In dist 2 (South Bend), we have a 2 term R congressman fighting for his life against a tough challenger. Dist 9 (Bloomington, SE Indiana - think Argosy and Grand Victoria, Derek) has a freshman who beat an incumbent in 04; the D incumbent is back for a rematch.
Best case for D: They could take all three, but 2 is fine with them.
Best case for R: They've already written dist 8 off. If they win 2 and 9, it's a victory.
5) Kentucky(Dist 2, 3,4). Two R-leaning districts (#2, and #3) and a tossup. District 3 is Carol's parents' district in Louisville; Anne Northrup is the R incumbent who was elected in 1998. Every single year, the D's target this district and every year the national media picks her seat to say "watch this...if she loses, the D's are in for a big night". She hasn't lost yet. She may this year. District 4 is the south side of Cincinnati; there are commercials for these two non-stop on my TV. The Republican is a freshman who won an open seat in 04; the Democrat was the rep who served here from 98-04, but resigned keeping his term limit promise. One can debate whether that was noble or gullible. So he's back.
Best case for D: They're hoping for one.
Best case for R: If they don't win all 3, I think this is a sure sign that the house will go D.
6) New York: (Dist. 20, 24, 25, 26,29) - all upstate R districts. I know nothing about any of these except for #24- Tom Reynolds is the R rep who is part of the leadership team and he is getting major heat for the Foley scandal.
Best case for D: If they get 3 out of these 5, we're looking at a 30-40 seat wave.
Best case for R: I think they've written off #24. If they get the other 4, they can still keep the house.
7) Ohio: (Dist 1, 2, 15, 18). Boy, I have a lot of connections to eachof these districts.
Dist 18 - home of the Apple Valley golf tournament in Mt Vernon... this was Bob Ney's old seat; Ney was in the R leadership but was indicted for his dealings in the Abramoff scandal and resigned. Two lackluster candidates here.
Dist 15 - (Columbus, Marysville, home of my in-laws); solid R district but the rep, Deb Price, is on the leadership and she is getting hounded at home for Iraq. I haven't seen much polling here, but many say it is a tossup.
Dist 1 - West Cincinnati, Jeff W (brother-in-law)'s home - This is a typical 50/50 R/D district with an R rep since 94; the rep's connections to Bush are hurting him. The D candidate has shown nothing but negative ads against the incumbent. Ads are flying for this on Cinci TV.
and finally
Dist 2 - East Cincinnati - Don's home. A 65-70% R district with possibly the dumbest congressperson out there, Jean Schmidt. Elected last year in a special election, she's the one who called Jack Murtha a coward on the floor. Don hates her, with good reason. The D challenger is a complete unknown and I haven't seen any commercials for her. I did see a couple of ads against her, though. Leaning Republican - however, if Schmidt loses, I think Don will ship a bottle of wine from his collection to every reader of this blog in celebration.
Best case for D: They'd drink Don's win for a week if they can get 3.
Best case for R: Losing 1 (the Ney seat) is expected, although it's possible they can win it. They have to win at least 3, though, to have a shot at the house.
8) PA (Dist 6, 7, 8,10): These are all Philly suburbs. Apparently, one of the R incumbents cheated on his wife (Dist 10); another had FBI agents raid his daughter's house for tax evasion (Dist 8). The other 2 are suburbian districts with concerns about the war.
Best case for D: 2 are expected; 3 would be cherries on the sundae.
Best case for R: If the losses are limited to one of these four, they would be ecstatic.
Now, if things are still close, two more districts will decide the house:
9) New Mexico #1 (Alburquerque) - Heather Wilson (R) is the twin of Anne Northrup (from KY #3, above); every year she is in a tight race and the media calls it a "bellweather" race; she has won every year since 98. Again, if she survives this time, it would be a good sign for the R's.
10) Finally, we have North Carolina #11 (Asheville, W Carolina). The Republican incumbent is a rugged guy but has been dogged by some corruption allegations; the Democrats have recruited an alledgedly seriosu candidate....
Heath Shuler.
The fate of the House of Representatives of the world's superpower could fall on the shoulders of Heath Shuler.
Oct 28, 2006
Week 8 Picks: Danger Price
Danger Price is most likely one of them ore cheesier pricing games on TPiR, and that's saying something. Basically, the contestant is shown four prizes and one price. The goal is to pick the three prizes that don't cost the "Danger Price" - if you avoid the Danger Price, you win!
There are a lot of Danger Price games on the board this week - they are traps! Games that are just too tempting to take....avoid them! Don't pick the $950 Washer & Dryer!
With that, here are the predictions for week 8:
Phi 23, Jax 20. Don't do it! Jacksonville is much better than what they showed last week.
GB 27, Az 24. I'm not sure who is going to win, but this should be a fun game to watch.
KC 17, Sea 13. I am less and less impressed with Seattle each week. Us owner of Shaun Alexander in fantasy are getting mighty nervous.
Chi 31, SF 10. Yes, I may be falling into the trap here, but Chicago will be anxious to get the taste of the Az game out of their mouth.
NO 17, Bal 13. We'll see about McNair here. I'd love to see the Ravens lose here, but I'm not convinced it will happen.
Hou 20, Ten 17. Kicking the habit for good! A surprisingly good game.
NYG 21, TB 10. There will be a slight Giants hangover from Monday night, but they should pull this out.
Atl 24, Cin 20. Lot of wind tomorrow down here in Cinci. Atlanta impressed me a lot last week - and this is a worse defense.
SD 16, Stl 13. A field goal frenzy. Don't do it! The Rams D is pretty good and should shut down the Chargers somewhat.
Den 20, Ind 17. I thought Indy was a lock, but reconsidered since the game is in Denver - and Peyton does not play well against good D's outside.
Pit 27, Oak 10. Back to the cellar you go, Oakland.
Cle 24, NYJ 20. The weight of Carthon is lifted. This will tell a lot about the Browns- is the 1-5 start mainly due to the excruciatingly hard schedule, or are they truly a 1-5 team? Don't answer that.
Car 23, Dal 13. Carolina at home vs. Tony Romo? Uh oh, this may be a trap.....
Min 27, NE 24. What's the rule, class? Always take the Monday Night Home Underdog.
Best bets:
Last week: ugh. Not a good week for either one of us.
Eric: 5-11-1; overall: 58-48-6
Derek: 5-11; overall: 50-61-1
16 best bets:
Jax +7
Az/GB Over 44 1/2
Sea/KC Under 36 1/2
Chi -16
Bal/NO Under 37
Hou +3
TB/NYG under 40 1/2
Atl +3.5
Stl +9.5
SD/Stl Under 45
Pit -9
Cle/NYJ Over 37
Car -5
Dal/Car Under 41
Min +2
NE/Min Over 39
And if I have a good week, here is my Halloween costume (from the old set of Danger Price in the early 80s:)
College Football Ramblings
Wow. Its amazing how gun shy one gets after getting raped the weekend before in sports betting. I've lost all confidence. Crazy. And its a shaky morning. Onto the picks:
Cincy -6.5
Vandy -9
Purdue +3
GA Tech -5
Kansas -2
And that's it. I took a tease last night with Tulsa and ND and Tulsa had an amazing comeback, but ND is currently struggling with Navy. Ugh. I might add some more on tonight depending how things go. And Eric I know that I'm posting this late, but you can check with Jeremy and these got in on Friday, but I just haven't had the time to post.
Onto to the ramblings:
1. As I posted last weekend, I had to go to a filipino wedding. Started at 2:00pm and I left early at 10:00pm right as they cut the cake. There were at least 6 speeches that lasted a total of 40 minutes at the reception and they were all terrible. It seemed as if everyone in the wedding party got up and said some things. The food was good and they had a keg of Hef, so it wasn't too bad. I ended up sitting at one of the head tables with the mother of the bride and all of her relatives. Very strange. A supervisor of mine ended up showing up so after 6 hours I wasn't alone, which was a good thing. In the end, it wasn't that bad.
2. Had a slew of interviews this week, with the best one being a gay guy that work for Disneyland and had one of the biggest knots in his tie. This thing went from his neck down to the middle of the first and second button on his shirt. I couldn't stop staring at it and thinking why did his boyfriend let him out of the house looking like that. And then I ended up hiring a guy named Peter Schwartz, mainly because I love calling him "The Schwartz" to everyone. Its the small things that keep me going right now at work.
3. Wedding Plans are slowly coming together. Hey High School group (including Ariel and Ben), make sure you reply to the evite on reserving the house. You will be staying at the place were the reception is located.
4. I have to tell this story about Austin, eventhough he probably doesn't want me to. He already has dated a girl whose ex boyfriend was Justin Fargas (my Madden MVP two years ago) and now he went out on a date last week with someone who dated Shug Knight for three years. I know this girl and I'm shocked. And that's not the good part. When he asked her how they met, she said at MC Hammers house. I could write all day about this, but I think this speaks for itself.
Cincy -6.5
Vandy -9
Purdue +3
GA Tech -5
Kansas -2
And that's it. I took a tease last night with Tulsa and ND and Tulsa had an amazing comeback, but ND is currently struggling with Navy. Ugh. I might add some more on tonight depending how things go. And Eric I know that I'm posting this late, but you can check with Jeremy and these got in on Friday, but I just haven't had the time to post.
Onto to the ramblings:
1. As I posted last weekend, I had to go to a filipino wedding. Started at 2:00pm and I left early at 10:00pm right as they cut the cake. There were at least 6 speeches that lasted a total of 40 minutes at the reception and they were all terrible. It seemed as if everyone in the wedding party got up and said some things. The food was good and they had a keg of Hef, so it wasn't too bad. I ended up sitting at one of the head tables with the mother of the bride and all of her relatives. Very strange. A supervisor of mine ended up showing up so after 6 hours I wasn't alone, which was a good thing. In the end, it wasn't that bad.
2. Had a slew of interviews this week, with the best one being a gay guy that work for Disneyland and had one of the biggest knots in his tie. This thing went from his neck down to the middle of the first and second button on his shirt. I couldn't stop staring at it and thinking why did his boyfriend let him out of the house looking like that. And then I ended up hiring a guy named Peter Schwartz, mainly because I love calling him "The Schwartz" to everyone. Its the small things that keep me going right now at work.
3. Wedding Plans are slowly coming together. Hey High School group (including Ariel and Ben), make sure you reply to the evite on reserving the house. You will be staying at the place were the reception is located.
4. I have to tell this story about Austin, eventhough he probably doesn't want me to. He already has dated a girl whose ex boyfriend was Justin Fargas (my Madden MVP two years ago) and now he went out on a date last week with someone who dated Shug Knight for three years. I know this girl and I'm shocked. And that's not the good part. When he asked her how they met, she said at MC Hammers house. I could write all day about this, but I think this speaks for itself.
Oct 27, 2006
Jeff Weaver, WS MVP vs. the ending to the Prestige
Who can explain either of these events? Derek? Rumsfeld, Cami? I need answers.
Oct 26, 2006
2006 Governor's Races Preview
Before we go onto the least interesting section of the 2006 election, we have a news flash from Maryland.
The NAACP held a debate tonight for the Senate candidates. There was a no-show.
It was Ben Cardin. Rep. Cardin did not show up for the event.
I am starting to have a feeling that Steele may win in MD after all.
Anyway, onto the Governor's races. Currently, Rep's hold 28 offices, Dem's hold 22. 36 state offices are up this year; of the 14 that are not, 6 are held by R's and 8 by D's.
It is certain that the Dem's will pick up a few, but there are a lot of toss-up races out there.
In order for the R's to retain the majority of the governorships (25 or 26), they've got to win a lot of the tossups. Here is the rundown of the Governor's races and how they could get to 26:
Solid Republican:
7. CT: Jodi Rell (R) vs John DeStefano - Rell a solid 20+ lead and very popular.
8. HI: Linda Lingle (R) vs Randy Iwase
9. NE: David Heineman (R) vs David Hahn
10. SD: Mike Rounds (R) vs. Jack Billion. Nice name.
Likely Republican:
11. TX: Rick Perry (R) is an incumbent that is garnering 35% of the vote, and is likely to win in a landslide. How? A wild 4 way race in Texas. Perry is facing off against:
- the Democratic nominee, Chris Bell
- a singer named Kinky, Kinky Friedman
- and a self-proclaimed "Grandma" candidate, Carole Strayhorn
Unbelievably, the last two candidates are independents and getting 10-20% of the vote each! It is conceivable that the Democratic nominee can finish 4th in this race.
12. SC: Mark Sanford (R) vs Tommy Moore
13. AL: Bob Riley (R) vs Lucy Baxley
14. VT: Jim Douglas (R) vs Scudder Parker. Amazing that this state - home of Ben N Jerry's - has a REpublican governor who is popular.
Leaning Republican:
15. ID: Butch Otter (R) vs Jerry Brady. Watch this race - this is an open seat and Brady is closing fast. Another Western Democrat that could win and make headlines.
16. CA: Arnold Schwartzenegger (R) vs Phil Angelides. Amazing that the Democrats in CA can't run a better campaign or put up a better candidate. Arnold is cruising to victory.
17. GA: Sonny Perdue (R) vs Mark Taylor
18. AK: Sarah Palin (R) vs Tony Knowles. Knowles is a old two-time Governor trying to win his job back against newcomer Palin.
19. FL: Charlie Crist (R) vs Jim Davis. Open seat here, as Jeb Bush is not running. Polls show this race tightening; another to watch.
Toss-ups - 8 of them!
20. RI: Donald Carcieri (R) vs Charles Fogarty. Carcieri is the incumbent; will he drag Chafee with him over the finish line or will the anti-Bush vote drown out both Chafee and Carcieri?
21. MN: Tim Pawlenty (R) vs. Mike Hatch. Eerily similar to the MD Governor's race; a somewhat popular incumbent running against the tide in the worst possible year for republicans.
22. NV: Jim Gibbons (R) vs Dina Titus. Not sure why this is a tossup by some; Gibbons is up 5-8 in most polls.
23. MD: Bob Ehrlich (R) vs Martin O'Malley. I still believe that a governor with an approval rating of 48% (in the last poll I saw) will win. For perspective, Arnold has a approval rating of 43% - and he is cruising.
24. WI: Mark Green(R) vs Jim Doyle. The first of a few Democratic incumbents in trouble. This will go downto the wire.
25. IA: Jim Nussle (R) vs Chet Culver. Two strong candidates running for an open seat in a state that is dead purple. Just what you'd expect.
26. MI: Dick DeVos (R) vs Jennifer Granholm. Another Democratic incumbent in some trouble, given the depression that Michigan is in.
27. OR: Ron Saxton (R) vs. Ted Kulogonski. The Democratic incumbent seemed to be in a battle, but looks like he may hang on by 3-5 points.
That's about it. I can't see the Republicans getting any more than 27 governorships. Most experts are putting them at 22-24. That seems about right.
For the Democrats:
Leaning Democrat:
28. AR: Mike Beebe (D) vs Asa Hutchison. Beebe is up in all polls by about 8-10.
29. CO: Bill Ritter (D) vs Bob Beauprez. Not much here.
30. IL: Rod Blagojevich (D) vs Judy Barr Topinka. Blagojevich is VERY unpopular and has some hint of corruption swirling around him (see, he is from Chicago), but the Illinois R party is so weak....
(how weak is it?)
It is so weak that Alan Keyes was their Senate candidate 2 years ago - and got 22 %.
Any other year, Rod would be vulnerable - it's not going to happen here.
31. ME: John Baldacci (D) vs Chandler Woodcock. I'm a good Republican and all, but even I would have a hard time pulling a lever and voting for a person named Chandler Woodcock.
Likely Dem:
32. MA: Deval Patrick (D) vs Kerry Healey
33. PA: Ed Rendell (D) vs Lynn Swann. In the annals of Politics, they may write a chapter on the worst run campaigns. Number 1 would be George Allen's campaign in Virginia this year; Swann's would be #2. He made misstep after mistake in the summer and early fall and fell behind big time early on. He has not made it up.
34. OH: Ted Strickland (D) vs Ken Blackwell.
Let me tell you about Ohio. The current Governor (Bob Taft) was indicted for ethics violations in 2004 or so. Instead of resigning, he fought (and lost) but is still in office. His approval rating is 15%. Taft personally has overseen the demise of the Republican party in Ohio. Because of him, they will lose the governorship (duh), a good senator in Dewine, and possible 2-4 House seats.
Strickland is a great candidate - he is from rural Southeastern Ohio, not a liberal union Northeast Ohio stalwart - and comes off as having conservative values. Blackwell, down 20 in the polls now, has thrown the gay card out by pretty much insinuating that Strickland is gay - even though Strickland is married with 2 kids. Just terrible.
By the way, yours truly never voted for Bob Taft. In 1998, I voted for the Democrat, Tim Hagan, who led the sin tax effort up in Cleveland to get Jacobs Field built. In 2002, I voted for the Libertarian candidate (and even had a sign in my yard for him).
See- I can spot a rat.
Safe Democrat:
35. NY: Eliot Spitzer (D) vs John Faso. It's hard to believe that it has been 12 years since Mario Cuomo was the last D to be governor of NY.
36. AZ: Janet Napolitano (D) vs Len Munsil
37. KS: Kathleen Sebelius (D) vs Jim Barnett
38. NH: John Lynch (D) vs Jim Coburn
39. NM: Bill Richardson (D) vs John Dendahl
40. OK: Brad Henry (D) vs Ernest Istook
41. TN: Phil Bredesen (D) vs Jim Bryson
42: WY: Dave Freudenthal (D) vs Ray Hunkins
It is amazing to see how many D's are governors of Red states (KS, WY, TN, OK), and in turn, how many Republicans are governors of Blue states (VT, RI, MD, CT, CA).
The NAACP held a debate tonight for the Senate candidates. There was a no-show.
It was Ben Cardin. Rep. Cardin did not show up for the event.
I am starting to have a feeling that Steele may win in MD after all.
Anyway, onto the Governor's races. Currently, Rep's hold 28 offices, Dem's hold 22. 36 state offices are up this year; of the 14 that are not, 6 are held by R's and 8 by D's.
It is certain that the Dem's will pick up a few, but there are a lot of toss-up races out there.
In order for the R's to retain the majority of the governorships (25 or 26), they've got to win a lot of the tossups. Here is the rundown of the Governor's races and how they could get to 26:
Solid Republican:
7. CT: Jodi Rell (R) vs John DeStefano - Rell a solid 20+ lead and very popular.
8. HI: Linda Lingle (R) vs Randy Iwase
9. NE: David Heineman (R) vs David Hahn
10. SD: Mike Rounds (R) vs. Jack Billion. Nice name.
Likely Republican:
11. TX: Rick Perry (R) is an incumbent that is garnering 35% of the vote, and is likely to win in a landslide. How? A wild 4 way race in Texas. Perry is facing off against:
- the Democratic nominee, Chris Bell
- a singer named Kinky, Kinky Friedman
- and a self-proclaimed "Grandma" candidate, Carole Strayhorn
Unbelievably, the last two candidates are independents and getting 10-20% of the vote each! It is conceivable that the Democratic nominee can finish 4th in this race.
12. SC: Mark Sanford (R) vs Tommy Moore
13. AL: Bob Riley (R) vs Lucy Baxley
14. VT: Jim Douglas (R) vs Scudder Parker. Amazing that this state - home of Ben N Jerry's - has a REpublican governor who is popular.
Leaning Republican:
15. ID: Butch Otter (R) vs Jerry Brady. Watch this race - this is an open seat and Brady is closing fast. Another Western Democrat that could win and make headlines.
16. CA: Arnold Schwartzenegger (R) vs Phil Angelides. Amazing that the Democrats in CA can't run a better campaign or put up a better candidate. Arnold is cruising to victory.
17. GA: Sonny Perdue (R) vs Mark Taylor
18. AK: Sarah Palin (R) vs Tony Knowles. Knowles is a old two-time Governor trying to win his job back against newcomer Palin.
19. FL: Charlie Crist (R) vs Jim Davis. Open seat here, as Jeb Bush is not running. Polls show this race tightening; another to watch.
Toss-ups - 8 of them!
20. RI: Donald Carcieri (R) vs Charles Fogarty. Carcieri is the incumbent; will he drag Chafee with him over the finish line or will the anti-Bush vote drown out both Chafee and Carcieri?
21. MN: Tim Pawlenty (R) vs. Mike Hatch. Eerily similar to the MD Governor's race; a somewhat popular incumbent running against the tide in the worst possible year for republicans.
22. NV: Jim Gibbons (R) vs Dina Titus. Not sure why this is a tossup by some; Gibbons is up 5-8 in most polls.
23. MD: Bob Ehrlich (R) vs Martin O'Malley. I still believe that a governor with an approval rating of 48% (in the last poll I saw) will win. For perspective, Arnold has a approval rating of 43% - and he is cruising.
24. WI: Mark Green(R) vs Jim Doyle. The first of a few Democratic incumbents in trouble. This will go downto the wire.
25. IA: Jim Nussle (R) vs Chet Culver. Two strong candidates running for an open seat in a state that is dead purple. Just what you'd expect.
26. MI: Dick DeVos (R) vs Jennifer Granholm. Another Democratic incumbent in some trouble, given the depression that Michigan is in.
27. OR: Ron Saxton (R) vs. Ted Kulogonski. The Democratic incumbent seemed to be in a battle, but looks like he may hang on by 3-5 points.
That's about it. I can't see the Republicans getting any more than 27 governorships. Most experts are putting them at 22-24. That seems about right.
For the Democrats:
Leaning Democrat:
28. AR: Mike Beebe (D) vs Asa Hutchison. Beebe is up in all polls by about 8-10.
29. CO: Bill Ritter (D) vs Bob Beauprez. Not much here.
30. IL: Rod Blagojevich (D) vs Judy Barr Topinka. Blagojevich is VERY unpopular and has some hint of corruption swirling around him (see, he is from Chicago), but the Illinois R party is so weak....
(how weak is it?)
It is so weak that Alan Keyes was their Senate candidate 2 years ago - and got 22 %.
Any other year, Rod would be vulnerable - it's not going to happen here.
31. ME: John Baldacci (D) vs Chandler Woodcock. I'm a good Republican and all, but even I would have a hard time pulling a lever and voting for a person named Chandler Woodcock.
Likely Dem:
32. MA: Deval Patrick (D) vs Kerry Healey
33. PA: Ed Rendell (D) vs Lynn Swann. In the annals of Politics, they may write a chapter on the worst run campaigns. Number 1 would be George Allen's campaign in Virginia this year; Swann's would be #2. He made misstep after mistake in the summer and early fall and fell behind big time early on. He has not made it up.
34. OH: Ted Strickland (D) vs Ken Blackwell.
Let me tell you about Ohio. The current Governor (Bob Taft) was indicted for ethics violations in 2004 or so. Instead of resigning, he fought (and lost) but is still in office. His approval rating is 15%. Taft personally has overseen the demise of the Republican party in Ohio. Because of him, they will lose the governorship (duh), a good senator in Dewine, and possible 2-4 House seats.
Strickland is a great candidate - he is from rural Southeastern Ohio, not a liberal union Northeast Ohio stalwart - and comes off as having conservative values. Blackwell, down 20 in the polls now, has thrown the gay card out by pretty much insinuating that Strickland is gay - even though Strickland is married with 2 kids. Just terrible.
By the way, yours truly never voted for Bob Taft. In 1998, I voted for the Democrat, Tim Hagan, who led the sin tax effort up in Cleveland to get Jacobs Field built. In 2002, I voted for the Libertarian candidate (and even had a sign in my yard for him).
See- I can spot a rat.
Safe Democrat:
35. NY: Eliot Spitzer (D) vs John Faso. It's hard to believe that it has been 12 years since Mario Cuomo was the last D to be governor of NY.
36. AZ: Janet Napolitano (D) vs Len Munsil
37. KS: Kathleen Sebelius (D) vs Jim Barnett
38. NH: John Lynch (D) vs Jim Coburn
39. NM: Bill Richardson (D) vs John Dendahl
40. OK: Brad Henry (D) vs Ernest Istook
41. TN: Phil Bredesen (D) vs Jim Bryson
42: WY: Dave Freudenthal (D) vs Ray Hunkins
It is amazing to see how many D's are governors of Red states (KS, WY, TN, OK), and in turn, how many Republicans are governors of Blue states (VT, RI, MD, CT, CA).
One of my BIG pet peeves
I got a kick out of this story. This is one of my pet peeves in life - if you can't use decimal points, you deserve what's coming to you, and it's not the reader's fault that you are dumb at math.
Tiny Typo, big effect on ballot
I've always wanted to go into stores that has an ad outside for ".99c cheeseburgers", flip them a penny, and then say "keep the change!"
(by the way, where the hell is the cent symbol on the keyboard?)
Tiny Typo, big effect on ballot
I've always wanted to go into stores that has an ad outside for ".99c cheeseburgers", flip them a penny, and then say "keep the change!"
(by the way, where the hell is the cent symbol on the keyboard?)
Oct 25, 2006
Two Obituaries
Anyone who watched the Cowboys game on Monday realized that two people effectively passed away. Bill Parcells and Drew Bledsoe. It looks pretty clear with the mess in Dallas that neither will be back next season. As a NE fan both have a place in my heart (even though Parcells sold out in SB 26 and defected to the Jets).
Bledsoe, Parcells and Kraft formed the trilogy that is the reason why we still have the New England Patriots, and not the Saint Louis Patriots. Watching Bledsoe stumble around and make horrible decisions, it is easy to forget how much hype this guy had when he entered the league. Lets take a quick stroll down memory lane, when times were simpler, and everyone was much better off....
As a 22 year old in 1994 he threw for over 4500 yards (including the record setting 45 of 70 day). He must have had great receivers right? He had one, Ben Coates. His other starting wideouts were households names Vincent Brisby and Michael Timpson. Surely there was a great running back that opened things up right? Nope - the team averaged 3.0 yards per carry rushing and was lead by a VERY washed up Marion Butts. Butts (and his 2.9 ypc average) was so bad that in the playoff game (I'm sure Eric remembers this well) Parcells started a guy who had ZERO carries in the NFL (Corey Croom). This from a coach who loves veterans, and detests rookie mistakes, so think about that for a second.
That season NE won 7 in a row to end the season basically passing every single down. I think they averaged over 40 attempts a game that year. You felt like you were watching something special. The feeling was that if Bledsoe could cut back on some of the negative plays (common for a young QB), and with more experience he could be great. Well, it never really happened. He was solid, posting very good seasons in 96 and 97, but he never could escape the jaw-dropping WTF-was-that mistake. What is amazing is the lack of feel, the lack of football instincts he displays. This is from the son of a football coach. Strange.
Towards the end in Foxboro, it was reported that he became the true "9 to 5" guy. Doing exactly the minimum required, but not putting in extra time. Its hard to figure out if that is just NE media negativity or truth. He doesn't get nearly enough credit for what he did accomplish, even if it fell short of what people were hoping. Case in point, without him in 2001 the Pats never win the SB. After Brady got hurt in that AFC Championship game (at Pitt), Bledsoe delivered the only offensive touchdown of the game for the Pats.
Here is to Bledsoe and Parcells seemingly riding of into the sunset together. Yet another reminder of how we are all getting old!
Bledsoe, Parcells and Kraft formed the trilogy that is the reason why we still have the New England Patriots, and not the Saint Louis Patriots. Watching Bledsoe stumble around and make horrible decisions, it is easy to forget how much hype this guy had when he entered the league. Lets take a quick stroll down memory lane, when times were simpler, and everyone was much better off....
As a 22 year old in 1994 he threw for over 4500 yards (including the record setting 45 of 70 day). He must have had great receivers right? He had one, Ben Coates. His other starting wideouts were households names Vincent Brisby and Michael Timpson. Surely there was a great running back that opened things up right? Nope - the team averaged 3.0 yards per carry rushing and was lead by a VERY washed up Marion Butts. Butts (and his 2.9 ypc average) was so bad that in the playoff game (I'm sure Eric remembers this well) Parcells started a guy who had ZERO carries in the NFL (Corey Croom). This from a coach who loves veterans, and detests rookie mistakes, so think about that for a second.
That season NE won 7 in a row to end the season basically passing every single down. I think they averaged over 40 attempts a game that year. You felt like you were watching something special. The feeling was that if Bledsoe could cut back on some of the negative plays (common for a young QB), and with more experience he could be great. Well, it never really happened. He was solid, posting very good seasons in 96 and 97, but he never could escape the jaw-dropping WTF-was-that mistake. What is amazing is the lack of feel, the lack of football instincts he displays. This is from the son of a football coach. Strange.
Towards the end in Foxboro, it was reported that he became the true "9 to 5" guy. Doing exactly the minimum required, but not putting in extra time. Its hard to figure out if that is just NE media negativity or truth. He doesn't get nearly enough credit for what he did accomplish, even if it fell short of what people were hoping. Case in point, without him in 2001 the Pats never win the SB. After Brady got hurt in that AFC Championship game (at Pitt), Bledsoe delivered the only offensive touchdown of the game for the Pats.
Here is to Bledsoe and Parcells seemingly riding of into the sunset together. Yet another reminder of how we are all getting old!
Oct 24, 2006
Oh Shit
Oh Crap!!! I mean holy shit!!!! People that received my invitation, please do not send back yet. Apparently the return cards has the new address on them and Carol doesn't move in until November 11th. So please don't send them back until then.
O HAPPY DAY
Yes, this is me in my office today upon learning the good news that Maurice Carthon, the Browns' offensive co-ordinator, has been fired.
This firing has been called for on this site for some time now. Thank GOD we did it now, instead of at the end of the year, where we would spend the first half of 2007 adjusting to the new co-ordinator.
Maurice's playbook has been found in the streets of Cleveland; below is a picture of some of the plays that have been used this year. Sadly, the fullback option pass on 3rd and 1 is not included.
Oct 22, 2006
NFL Picks Week 7: The Money Game
The theme for this week's picks is the old standby game on The Price Is Right, "The Money Game".
It's a game for a car or truck - what the contestant has to do is to pick the first 2 and the last 2 numbers of the price of the car out of a pool of 9 two-digit numbers.
If he/she picks incorrectly four times, the game ends, but they win money in the amount of the total of the numbers of the wrong picks. (In the picture above, she already has $31 in the bank with the incorrect 16 and 15 picks.
The fun about this game is seeing if the producers play their tricks on Bob and the contestants when placing the correct numbers on the game board. Two common tricks:
"The Old Front-and-Back Trick" - this is when the last two digits are right next to the first two. In the case above, the last two digits turned out to be 30 - right next to the first two (as seen by the drawing of the front end of the truck where the 13 used to be). Pretty sneaky, sis!
"The Old El Cheapo" - the producers have a low number for the last two digits as well - because they are cheap and the contestants (after getting the first two numbers) wouldn't think about going after another low two-digit number, would they? Ah, those tricky producers! But Bob knows their evil plan!
How does this relate to week 7? Well, at this point, teams better have found the first two digits in the car's price by now. This means they know their strengths and weaknesses and and fine-tuning their team to get ready for the stretch run of finding the last two digits. They should only have 1 (or less) missed attempt. Others - well - are in trouble if they can't get the first two digits of the 2005 Ford Taurus. Some teams may still be wondering if they have a QB issue, or whether their offensive coordinator has an IQ above that of Quaker Apple Cinnamon Instant Oatmeal (see Carthon, Maurice). Look Mo, the Camry does not cost $45,000, so don't pick the 45 from the game board!
The games this week:
SD 24, KC 10. I don't see how KC is going to score many points against a defense very much like Pittsburgh's.
Phi 23, TB 13. Those who think TB will win this game are smoking something. Philly needs this - a classic bounceback game where Phi will be focused and come out strong.
Jax 20, Hou 10. Again, like last week, how does Houston score over 13 points here?
Mia 27, GB 20. Has shootout written all over it. Even Joey should be able to pass vs. the GB defense.
Buf 19, NE 16. Don't ask me why. The last stand for the Bills. Just a gut feeling here.
Cin 27, Car 17. The BRowns-Panthers game has left a sour taste in my mouth about the Panthers. They just aren't that good, I believe. Cinci is pissed, and has had a week to read all the stories about the so-called Super Bwol favorites finally coming together and how they will demolish Cinci. As always, go against the media.
Pit 20, Atl 13. Another team (the Falcons) that doesn't scare me too much. Of course, in 3 weeks, Vick and Dunn will run for a combined 439 yards....
NYJ 31, Det 20. Can't Ken O'Brien and Eric Hipple come out of retirement and QB this game?
Cle 20, Den 18. Two outcomes here: 1) Carthon finally comes to his senses and calls some goo dplays witht he talent he has and the BRowns score 2 TD's, or 2) Carthon out-thinks himself again and calls risky plays to "open" up the offnse that leads to turnovers. Either way, points will be scored here.
Az 24, Oak 17. I will be fascinated at watching this game unfold.
Ind 20, Was 17. Washington can run, and that is Indy' s weakness. This game will be close.
Sea 27, Min 13. The Vikings are a terrible road team.
NYG 23, Dal 20. I hate the Cowboys. There, I said it.
What, no Tennessee this week? I have to get off the bandwagon for a bit?
17 best bets. Standings:
Eric: 11-4-1 last week; overall 53-37-5
Derek: 10-6 last week: overall 45-50-1.
SD -5.5
SD/KC Under 41
Phi -5.5
Phi/TB Under 43
Jax/Hou Under 40
GB/Mia over 40.5
Buf +5.5
Cin -3
Pit -2.5
NYJ -3.5
NYJ/Det over 42
Den/Cle over 31.5
Az -3
Was +8
Ind/Was under 48.5
Sea -7
NYG +3
Oct 21, 2006
California is screwed up!!!!!
I know that you guys don't care about this shit, but this is getting outrageous. Two Border Patrol agents were sentenced to 11 and12 years in prison for an incident that happened down at the Texas Border. Quick recap- Two agents capture a drug smuggler who was caught with 700 pounds of weed. The smuggler runs and then gets in a scuffle with one of the agents and the other agent shoots him in the ass. The smuggler gets immunity to testify against the two agents and they are convicted and sentenced for shooting the smuggler in the ass. Now I'm still confident that they will get pardoned since Arnold, Pelosi, and Feinstein have all come out in support of the agents along with many other senators in the country. I don't know what the process to get a pardon, but hopefully these two agents will get off. If you haven't been to a Border town to see how crazy it is with the limited number of Agents compared to the number illegals and smugglers wanting to do harm to these guys, it will be shocking. Driving through Yuma, AZ on the way to Carol's place is like going through the wild west. You can see these agents chase illegals in the desert!!! Absolutely amazing.Here are some other amazing props that are coming out in CA in November. Some are very interesting:
Prop 86- New $2.60 tax on cigarettes. Opposing view is that this will crush the smokers and then they will quit which will drive down tax revenue on cigarettes which will hamper Health Care and Schools. I tend to agree since if this does happen and tax revenue will decrease and they will find another way to pick up the gap in another type of tax.
Prop 87- Gas Tax- This is a big one. Gore, Clinton, and company are coming out strong for this measure. They state that the heavy tax on oil companies profits won't be passed down to the consumer and it will drive the search for alternative energy. This is one of those props that have great intentions but when put to use all we will see is the gas companies pass this onto the consumer and nothing will be done on alternative energy sources. I don't know.
4 hour wedding
Bad morning so far. Terrible hangover despite only having a couple of beers, Ben stopped recording Laguna Beach for some fucking reason, and someone stole my WSJ again. Fuck these white color crimes. Then I'm sitting here thinking that I got nothing to do today except for some small errands, play Madden, and watch college football and then it hits me that I have a wedding to go to today. One of the ladies in my clerical staff's daughters is getting married today. And to top it off she never told anyone who she was inviting so everyone else in the office declined the invite because they didn't know who else was going, so now I'm stuck going to this thing by myself. Then I look at the invitation and see that the wedding starts at 2:00pm but then the reception doesn't start until 6:00pm. What the fuck is that????? She is Filipino and apparently they have 4 hour weddings? Is it rude to show up two hours late to the wedding? Or show up at the beginning to make sure she sees you and then leave to go watch the games and come back for the reception?
This is going to suck. I don't know anyone at the wedding, it will be an 8 hour ordeal, and Oh I forgot to tell you, I have to lay this person off by the end of the year. Right around the holidays!!!!! Thanks executive team for making a cut in my clerical staff right around the holidays!!!! Assholes.
Now onto the picks.
Louisville -17.5
NC State +1.5
ND Over 49.5
ND -13
ASU -23.5
K State Under 44.5
Oklahoma -14
Pitt -6- I was suckered into this pick by ESPN. I hate that. Note to everyone out there, never watch ESPN before you wager. They tout games that they are going to show and try to talk up the bad teams. Why am I taking Pitt? Because they showed a 10 minute clip of their defense. I should know better.
PSU -18.5- This is another stupid pick. I just wanted something to wager on during this morning's games. PSU offense is like the Denver Broncos. I know...I have a problem.
Pro games: Oh boy, just looked and the only home team I'm taking is the Jets. Not good at all.
Chargers -5.5
Jets -3.5
Jax -9.5
Skins +9
AZ -3
GB +5
Browns under 31.5
Oct 20, 2006
Random thoughts from the Piedmont
Good conversation going on down below in the comments of the political post.
1) What is up with Ms. Pac-Man? Why do all the current Ms Pac Man video game (the actual arcade games) have Ms Pac Man at super speed starting from level 1? Is it because they think the current youth can't handle or won't be interested in the slow speed of level 1 from our days?
1a) I think I have a blister from playing 3 straight games at the airport here. I'm sure some mothers standing outside thought I was a child molester or something - a single male in his 30s in a video arcade.
2) So -which video games would you like to see make a comeback and be installed in various airport arcades? My list:
a) Donkey Kong
b) Tapper - I LOVED this game, and couldn't wait for our trips to Dewey Beach in the summer to play this game at one of the arcades for hours.
c) Cyclone - "You there- Ride The FERRIS WHEEL!"
d) Frogger - I realize I am comparing myself to George Costanze
e) Q*Bert. I never was interested much in this growing up, but now miss it a lot.
3) Why does the NFL cede this weekend to the MLB? They don't play a Sunday Night game this week out of politeness to MLB and the World Series , but c'mon - who would you watch? Game 2 between the Tigers and Cardinals, or The Giants/Cowboys? I thought so.
NFL should just give MLB the old middle finger and say "I DARE you to get better ratings this weekend."
4) Taught a training course down here in Greensboro. I am amazed at how the young "kids" (God, I sound like Henny Youngman) are adddicted to the internet. During our class, where computers were needed, the internal network went out Monday afternoon.
For Tuesday morning, a student went out and bought a router for the students to use. OUr class did not require internet access.
Amazing what you would do with an addiction like that. She also planned to take the router back to Best Buy for a refund once the network came up.
5) Saw a presidential motorcade for teh 2nd time in my life down here. I was heading the opposite way on I-40 at 5:30 when I noticed there was NO traffic coming in the other direction. Two minutes later,I saw several all-black SUVs followed by a limo. Traffic did nor resume again for another 10 minutes.
Is that the best way to campaign? By shutting down an interstate in a semi-major city during rush hour?
1) What is up with Ms. Pac-Man? Why do all the current Ms Pac Man video game (the actual arcade games) have Ms Pac Man at super speed starting from level 1? Is it because they think the current youth can't handle or won't be interested in the slow speed of level 1 from our days?
1a) I think I have a blister from playing 3 straight games at the airport here. I'm sure some mothers standing outside thought I was a child molester or something - a single male in his 30s in a video arcade.
2) So -which video games would you like to see make a comeback and be installed in various airport arcades? My list:
a) Donkey Kong
b) Tapper - I LOVED this game, and couldn't wait for our trips to Dewey Beach in the summer to play this game at one of the arcades for hours.
c) Cyclone - "You there- Ride The FERRIS WHEEL!"
d) Frogger - I realize I am comparing myself to George Costanze
e) Q*Bert. I never was interested much in this growing up, but now miss it a lot.
3) Why does the NFL cede this weekend to the MLB? They don't play a Sunday Night game this week out of politeness to MLB and the World Series , but c'mon - who would you watch? Game 2 between the Tigers and Cardinals, or The Giants/Cowboys? I thought so.
NFL should just give MLB the old middle finger and say "I DARE you to get better ratings this weekend."
4) Taught a training course down here in Greensboro. I am amazed at how the young "kids" (God, I sound like Henny Youngman) are adddicted to the internet. During our class, where computers were needed, the internal network went out Monday afternoon.
For Tuesday morning, a student went out and bought a router for the students to use. OUr class did not require internet access.
Amazing what you would do with an addiction like that. She also planned to take the router back to Best Buy for a refund once the network came up.
5) Saw a presidential motorcade for teh 2nd time in my life down here. I was heading the opposite way on I-40 at 5:30 when I noticed there was NO traffic coming in the other direction. Two minutes later,I saw several all-black SUVs followed by a limo. Traffic did nor resume again for another 10 minutes.
Is that the best way to campaign? By shutting down an interstate in a semi-major city during rush hour?
Oct 19, 2006
Rodney King part 2
Well its all over the news now. Ben is in on the right. There was a crazy lady taping the entire thing while Ben and his partner were apprehending the illegal. Pretty slanted story. Actually that is an understatement. They make it sound like the grand jury is investigating them, when actually it is the other way around. The lady makes no sense whatsoever. She thought it was a gang fight? What? Ben doesn't look anything like a gang member. And you wonder why everyone makes so much fun of the local news.
http://www.nbc4.tv/news/10116274/detail.html
Random Notes
I don't mean to post over the great debate between Eric and Laura on VA politics, but just wanted to get a couple of things down as I sit here proctoring another exam for my employees.
1. Decided to let my XM Radio lapse since the baseball season was over. I was thinking that I could handle going back to regular FM/AM radio. Boy what a fucking mistake. Say what you want about XM, it is still 100 times better than the crap they put out there on the free airwaves. For example I listened to Ryan Seacrest talk to Fergie on her new album. You would of thought that he was talking to Bob Dylan on how creative and meaningful her lyrics were. London Bridge??? She pulled from her childhood of being on Crystal Meth to write that song. No joke. Never again.
2. Hired a guy from South Africa this week. Don't know why, since the other South African that I know is a prick. Yes Neil, I'm looking in your direction. The crazy thing is, he took the same path to the states as Neil did. Lived in Capetown, moved to Atlanta to become a lawyer, shacked up with some smart chick and moved out here while she is getting her PHD. I'll see if he wants to play Madden this year with us.
3. Found another caterer, thank god. Despite both parents being really excited about cooking everything on their own, with my mom promising three turkeys, two pork loins, a ham, and her famous cherry cupcakes, I feel like this was going to be a disaster. Not because the food would be bad, but that the families would be more concerned about preparing the food than the wedding. The new caterer is about half the price as the other one who was supposed to be a good friend of Carol's mom. I hope everyone likes BBQ!!!!!! Its all filler food anyway, right? Hmmm. Lets see if I can name all the food from every wedding I've been to.
1. Eric- No clue. Just remember that there was only beer and wine at the reception. And it was in this cool log cabin.
2. Jay- All I remember was that there was a flower on the dinner plate. And that we sang Patience as a group. And Joe and Blondie took very disturbing pictures up in their room.
3. Lee- No idea. Only remember Wiz doing his thing and Stiffy and his wife taking pictures of their ass and putting it in the guest book. Many other bad things happened here like getting stuck with a tab, taking Lee's keys by accident, and Lee losing his marriage license.
4. Lav/Derr- Nope. Can't remember. Remember more about going out afterwards than during.
5. Ty- see above. But I do remember having crabs later that night.
6. Currier- see number 4. That was a great location.
7. Stiffy- No idea except that he had cupcakes as his wedding cake
8. Lance- No idea about anything on this wedding.
9. Cox- Haven't a clue. I don't even remember going out afterwards.
10. Bruce- The only thing I remember about this one is that Keith and I ate with Mrs. Monkton and her gay son.
11. Gene- Italian buffet. Great filler food for drinking. And this is also when my muscle made out with Amy. Ohhhh that still pisses me off.
12. Larsen- I just remember a lot of drugs afterwards and I didn't eat.
13. Banz- Great cookout during the afternoon. This is what I'm striving for. Easy, simple, and it was all about hanging out and drinking.
14. Amanda- don't remember the food, but they had a keg in each corner of the room. Self service. Excellent idea.
15. Amanda 2- the worst steak I have ever had. Live band sucked.
16. Jon- Great food. But the only reason why I remember this is that it was just a month ago. Ask me again in 5 years. But still I might remember since the food was sooooo good. Scallops and meat. Hmmmm.
17. Kerry- Great location, but I can't remember what we had for dinner. This is where I found out I was alergic to lime.
18- Others- been to a couple of work weddings and I nothing really stands out.
So maybe its just me, but really nobody remembers the food. They do on the other hand remember the alcohol, location, and the after party, which is where Carol and I are spending most of the money.
1. Decided to let my XM Radio lapse since the baseball season was over. I was thinking that I could handle going back to regular FM/AM radio. Boy what a fucking mistake. Say what you want about XM, it is still 100 times better than the crap they put out there on the free airwaves. For example I listened to Ryan Seacrest talk to Fergie on her new album. You would of thought that he was talking to Bob Dylan on how creative and meaningful her lyrics were. London Bridge??? She pulled from her childhood of being on Crystal Meth to write that song. No joke. Never again.
2. Hired a guy from South Africa this week. Don't know why, since the other South African that I know is a prick. Yes Neil, I'm looking in your direction. The crazy thing is, he took the same path to the states as Neil did. Lived in Capetown, moved to Atlanta to become a lawyer, shacked up with some smart chick and moved out here while she is getting her PHD. I'll see if he wants to play Madden this year with us.
3. Found another caterer, thank god. Despite both parents being really excited about cooking everything on their own, with my mom promising three turkeys, two pork loins, a ham, and her famous cherry cupcakes, I feel like this was going to be a disaster. Not because the food would be bad, but that the families would be more concerned about preparing the food than the wedding. The new caterer is about half the price as the other one who was supposed to be a good friend of Carol's mom. I hope everyone likes BBQ!!!!!! Its all filler food anyway, right? Hmmm. Lets see if I can name all the food from every wedding I've been to.
1. Eric- No clue. Just remember that there was only beer and wine at the reception. And it was in this cool log cabin.
2. Jay- All I remember was that there was a flower on the dinner plate. And that we sang Patience as a group. And Joe and Blondie took very disturbing pictures up in their room.
3. Lee- No idea. Only remember Wiz doing his thing and Stiffy and his wife taking pictures of their ass and putting it in the guest book. Many other bad things happened here like getting stuck with a tab, taking Lee's keys by accident, and Lee losing his marriage license.
4. Lav/Derr- Nope. Can't remember. Remember more about going out afterwards than during.
5. Ty- see above. But I do remember having crabs later that night.
6. Currier- see number 4. That was a great location.
7. Stiffy- No idea except that he had cupcakes as his wedding cake
8. Lance- No idea about anything on this wedding.
9. Cox- Haven't a clue. I don't even remember going out afterwards.
10. Bruce- The only thing I remember about this one is that Keith and I ate with Mrs. Monkton and her gay son.
11. Gene- Italian buffet. Great filler food for drinking. And this is also when my muscle made out with Amy. Ohhhh that still pisses me off.
12. Larsen- I just remember a lot of drugs afterwards and I didn't eat.
13. Banz- Great cookout during the afternoon. This is what I'm striving for. Easy, simple, and it was all about hanging out and drinking.
14. Amanda- don't remember the food, but they had a keg in each corner of the room. Self service. Excellent idea.
15. Amanda 2- the worst steak I have ever had. Live band sucked.
16. Jon- Great food. But the only reason why I remember this is that it was just a month ago. Ask me again in 5 years. But still I might remember since the food was sooooo good. Scallops and meat. Hmmmm.
17. Kerry- Great location, but I can't remember what we had for dinner. This is where I found out I was alergic to lime.
18- Others- been to a couple of work weddings and I nothing really stands out.
So maybe its just me, but really nobody remembers the food. They do on the other hand remember the alcohol, location, and the after party, which is where Carol and I are spending most of the money.
Oct 18, 2006
Question of the Day
Don't want to post over Eric's amazing Senate post, but would any of you do this, if your team had a shot to win?
A new service called TicketReserve.com allows fans the opportunity to buy and sell rights to championship college and pro football games, in the hopes that their favorite teams actually make it to the Super Bowl or Fiesta Bowl or what have you. For example, upper deck tickets to the NFC championship game at Giants Stadium can be had for as little as $47, but that's contingent on the G-Men actually hosting the game, instead of the favored Bears. If that scenario works out, you stand to hold tickets worth hundreds of dollars more apiece than you paid. If not, the seller keeps your cash without having to deliver anything. Not unlike what Kansas City Royals ownership does to its fan base every year.
A new service called TicketReserve.com allows fans the opportunity to buy and sell rights to championship college and pro football games, in the hopes that their favorite teams actually make it to the Super Bowl or Fiesta Bowl or what have you. For example, upper deck tickets to the NFC championship game at Giants Stadium can be had for as little as $47, but that's contingent on the G-Men actually hosting the game, instead of the favored Bears. If that scenario works out, you stand to hold tickets worth hundreds of dollars more apiece than you paid. If not, the seller keeps your cash without having to deliver anything. Not unlike what Kansas City Royals ownership does to its fan base every year.
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