Are You Ready For Some Football?

One of the greatest days of the year is quickly approaching...the start of a new NFL season. Next week most all NFL teams will open their training camps and begin preparing for the 2009-10 NFL season.

The Chargers are no exception... their camp opens for rookies on the 27th with the vets reporting on the 31st.

The Chargers announced that they will wear their '63 powder-blue throwbacks in the opening game against the Raiders and on week 6 vs Denver. They will wear their '63 road whites in week 7 against the Chiefs. Also the Chargers announced:

In addition to their three games in Throwback uniforms, the Chargers will wear their alternate powder blue jerseys twice, the ones introduced in 2007. They’ll be in the new-look powder blues when the Raiders visit San Diego in Week 8, and they’ll celebrate the team’s 50th Anniversary in the current powder blue jerseys when the Chiefs come to town in Week 12.

Early in the season, the team often chooses to wear white at home to force the opponent to sweat it out in a dark color in the early fall heat. The Chargers did just that in their last two home openers against Chicago and Carolina respectively, and they’ll do so twice this season. San Diego will wear their white jerseys for their first two home games while Baltimore (Week 2) will be in black uniforms and Miami (Week 3) aqua tops.

The Chargers will be in their current navy jerseys for both of their home preseason games, and they’ll wear their current dark look against the Eagles, Bengals and Redskins. Dallas has a longstanding tradition of wearing white at home, so the Chargers will be in their navy jerseys when they visit the new Cowboys Stadium in December.

The NFL season is a long one... and for those Charger fans that want to recall last season the beginning was anything but enjoyable but ended much better... I'm hoping the Bolts can come out and fire on all cylinders.

It will certainly be interesting to see how much of an impact Merriman makes in his return. If LT can return to form and be the dominating presence on the field he once was. Rivers has often been overlooked by the major media but was amongst the best passers in the league last year...hopefully he can continue to quietly be successful. I am also very interested in watching both the offensive and defensive lines...at one time both lines were the driving force of this team and the last couple of seasons I think they have been a glaring weakness on this team.

As usual, I put little stock in scrimmages and preseason football, but noting that they have begun just ramps up the anticipation for the season to begin...

Let's go Chargers!

Watson Gives Cink Open Win

I have always been a Tom Watson fan... he and Jack Nicklaus were the two golfers my father and I would follow each week on the PGA in the 80's. So everyone was surprised and enjoying the magnificent week Tom Watson had this year at the British Open... but it was almost too painful to watch at the end...

Watson had such a great opportunity to seal the deal... a 1 shot lead and 1 hole to play... but when he hit his second shot over the green and then missed a makeable par putt - that wasn't even close and if his second shot didn't reveal that Watson was beginning to crumble from the pressure that putt certainly did - I think almost everyone knew that Watson's window of opportunity to win the Open was now completely closed. The entire playoff Watson couldn't find the fairway or the greens and was scrambling the entire time... a double-bogey on on the easiest hole on the course, a par 5 none-the-less, a person could see the pain on Watson's face ... you could tell that he was trying with all his might to keep his composure as he struggled with each poor shot. What was really hard was the fact that the playoff was a four hole playoff and so Watson's agony of losing the Open wouldn't be a quick and painless 1 hole ordeal...no, he had to continue on and get soundly beaten by Stewart Cink ... almost erasing Watson's entire week of magic ...

He had been putting unbeliavable and was playing the course as perfect as a player could had hoped too... even on Sunday, when he began play and started to struggle, I thought that he might not have enough "magic" to come back and challenge for the lead, but he did...making some great shots and there he was... with the lead and 1 hole to play...

This was the 2nd time in recent years that Watson has been a 'threat' at the Open in his latter years, so anything is possible, but it sure would have been awesome to see him finish the deal this year...

Better luck next year Tom!

Green Day - 7-10-09

Green Day played the Fargodome this past Friday and they did not disappoint. Playing for well over 2 hours and a fairly affordable ticket it was surprising to me to see that the crowd was far less than capacity like other stops on the Green Day tour which are all sold out.

But the band came out and rocked the place...playing all their hits from the past 15 years...they had a ton of pyro, lights, video and more that all added to the show and overall was a really good time.

If I was going to complain about anything, it is the same complaint I have for many of the shows I go too... I go to the show to see the band perform and sing their songs... I do not enjoy it when the band insists the crowd sings the song or, in the case of Green Day for their song Longview (one of my favs), if they grab people from the crowd to sing with the band... so instead of hearing a version of the song I want to hear perform by the band I get to hear a bunch of off-key, 1/2 drunk fans go up and hack their way through the song...not really what I want to see...but it was only one song in this instance, unfortunately one of my favorite songs.

A couple of final thoughts about this show... I thought it was kind of funny that Billy Joe, at one point, commented on how he was sick and tired of cell phones, cameras and technology...that this is our show, our memory and to put that shit away... by the way, Green Day's tour is sponsored by Verizon and person could barely walk 10 feet without seeing that was so...so kind of a mixed message from Green Day...

I am/was a Green Day fan from the album Dookie and do enjoy some of their newer music ... but I have never liked their 'ballads', which Green Day has plenty of and they are all huge. Again, Billy Joe at the beginning of the show demanded everyone get off their asses and get up because "This is a punk rock show" ... oh really? Then why is Good Riddance, Boulevard of Broken Dreams and Time of My Life being played? They certainly aren't punk rock songs by any means...

Regradless, Green Day was a good show. I was also surprised to read the Forum newspaper the day after, their critics routinely rip any and all concerts that come to Fargo...and oftentimes after reading their review, I question as to whether or not they even attended the show they are reviewing, but for Green Day, got an overall positive review... so it must have been a good show! Here's some pics I took...enjoy..

Stars Dropping

Not sure what's in the water but stars have been dying off lately...

Ed McMahon kicked off things by passing away a bit ago but set things into high gear... I can totally recall watching Carson and McMahon on the Tonight Show and in fact, was likely the last time I watched the Tonight Show with any regularity. Carson and McMahon were a great team and what was great was they were during a time when they could joke about drinking, failed marriages and sexism and everyone thought it was funny...now-a-days that humor wouldn't be tolerated...

Farrah Fawcett passed away, which any man that lived during the 70's and 80's should recall....she was smoking hot back then. I really don't have much more to comment about Farrah other than to reiterate that she was really smoking hot.

Fawcett's death, as well as the others that recently passed away, is eclipsed by Micheal Jackson. Micheal Jackson was the 'Elvis' of my generation and likely the last true "King" of rock, pop, music or whatever you want to call it. With the music industry so segmented and "niche oriented" I don't think there will be an artist or an act that will dominate the music scene like Jackson did. I was around 11, 12 when "Thriller" came out... I wasn't an immediate fan but living in the barren wasteland that I do, I was pummelled with his music until I submitted and listened to the album endlessly for many months. Of course, I think a great part to Jackson's success was that it was fueled by MTV. MTV, especially in the early '80's, was a key component to any act/band being successful because MTV played music videos (weird concept, huh?). MTV and Jackson almost mirrored each others in terms of popularity as each soared into the stratosphere... then later, Jackson became really weird and musically uninteresting as MTV stopped playing music videos and is no longer even watchable. I kind of wish I was with the Enquirer right now because if it hasn't been thought of yet, I got the greatest headline: "Jackson fakes his own death, living with Elvis on remote island."

After Jackson came the current infomercial king, Billy Mays. He got hit on the head with some luggage during a hard landing aboard and airplane and then dies in his sleep the next morning. I think early reports said the events are connected and that Mays did have a heart condition...did seem a little too coincidental for me, so I wouldn't be surprised if some sort of legal action is taken at some point. I had seen and heard Billy Mays on a variety of shows (radio and t.v.) and he always seemed like a 'good sport' and a good humored guy. Some of his videos on YouTube have him doing a variety of humorous things, often using his infomercial background as the launching point for the fun. Sorry to see him pass on as well.

And then the sports world was not spared from the carnage... Steve McNair, former QB for the Titans (Oilers) and the Ravens was shot and killed. The early reports and speculation all are pointing that his girlfriend bought a gun, shot McNair four times and then killed herself. Wow... hopefully something is found to find out why this 20 year-old girl decided to do that. McNair was seen in the Nashville community as a very charitable and giving guy...not a blemish to his name... now he is found with a mistress shot to death...tragic end. I always thought McNair was a 'blue-collar' type quarterback...he led his team to the Super Bowl and was oh-so-close to potentially winning it. Sad to seem him go so soon...

I think it's been a good 2 days since McNair's death...so we'll have to stay tuned to see if the death-bug has passed yet or if there are more victims for its appetite.

Les Claypool - 7-1-09 - Fargo, ND

Kicking off my 4th of July holiday was the Les Claypool show at the Venue in Fargo, ND. I have seen and did enjoy Primus, but to say that I was a Les Claypool 'fan' going into this show wouldn't be accurate. I had a friend from out of town that was coming to the show and me and another buddy decided to join him for no other reason than to have a good time...and it was.

We got there in time to see the last few songs of O'Death... a very entertaining opener... heavy hillybilly music would almost be the accurate description of these guys... a bango (sometime ukulele) player, acoustic guitar, fiddle, bass and drums made up O'Death and they really tore it up.

Les's supporting band was no less odd... a cello player, a drummer and a 2nd percussionists...but it all sounded really good. Les and the band came out where Clockwork Orange thug-like masks...and rocked the place. He played a couple of Primus tunes and Les kept the place a rockin' all night long. The ticket was fairly affordable ($25) and that made the show all the better. My friends and I had a great time and I wouldn't hesitate to see Les again...

AFK For The Holiday

Sure, I haven't been really posting a ton over the past couple of months and not that it would really surprise anyone...but I am going to be taking some extended r and r over the Fourth of July holiday.

I do believe I will be going to a show that I will post about sometimes afterwords...and who knows, maybe I'll be able to get on and get a entry in here or there while I'm 'relaxing' ... but if not...

Hopefully everyone has a safe and enjoyable Fourth of July holiday!

My plans so far, other than going to a show, which is tonight, is doing a whole lot of nothing. I was so excited about these plans I took a couple extra days off to make sure I could get all that activity packed into a nice long weekend... Hopefully lots of suds, sun and food!

Happy Fourth everyone!

Modern Day Door-To-Door Selling

The door-to-door salesman...something that was portrayed as a viable and legit occupation in the 50's and prior ... at least on the tv shows of past that I watched...whether or not it ever was a legit or viable occupation is probably debatable...but now-a-days the door-to-door salesman, to me, seems like a tough way to make a living, but a person can easily put together the formula for most door-to-door sales techniques used today...

I first want to start out with a story of a guy I knew when I was in my late-teens. He dropped out of high school when he was 16 and became a vacuum cleaner salesman...yes, a door-to-door vacuum cleaner salesman. I had known him prior to this decision and then reacquainted with him a year or two after this decision and he was loving every minute of it and making decent money. I then began to drill him with questions because I could not believe a person could sell vacuum cleaners and not only love doing it, but make decent money. Then he unveiled the process in how he can sell vacuum cleaners... He has a friend that he pays a certain amount of money per 'successful booking', which means he tries to find a person they can easily persuade into buying a vacuum cleaner with nothing more than a phone book - this is in the 1980's, no internet at this time. So how do you even start there? Simple he says, you first go to small towns...living in the barren wasteland that we do finding a small town is like shooting fish in a barrel. Then you offer a cheap free gift to be delivered to them at a scheduled time, in exchange for the gift they would like to give a simple presentation - not telling them specifically what that presentation is if possible. You know what the free gift was that they were offering? Steak knives...when I heard that, I said who in their right mind would sit through a sales presentation for some free steak knives and he replied...lots! Their next step was to 'rig' their demonstration...no matter what kind of vacuum cleaner you had, the one they were selling could outperform it in every test...because the tests were rigged...they, the salesperson, was always sure to work the equipment, both your vacuum cleaner and theirs...and although by overall appearance it looked as if their actions were similar but they would have subtleties that would insure their vacuum cleaner would easily outperform anything you had to offer. To close the deal, they would sit down with the potential customer with a pencil and a piece of paper to illustrate how much money they would save by purchasing their $850 vacuum cleaner...in fact, they could work the numbers in such a manner that in 1 year that $850 investment in a vacuum cleaner had already paid for itself...it is all common sense and right there on paper, I recall him telling me...as he laughed hysterically! All-in-all it amounted to a fairly good job for him...for being a high school dropout...

Of course the above technique is focused and works the best on the elderly...most younger people today, I do believe, don't give a shit how good or bad their $150 vacuum cleaner works but I am certainly not going to pay $500 for a vacuum cleaner regardless of how good it sucks (I just had to say that...). Just last week, twice in one day, I had 2 door-to-door encounters and with my other more recent encounters with their ilk, I have begun to put together many of their newer, more modern 'techniques' now... I have never gotten close to purchasing anything from these guys lately, but I imagine the pencil and paper to 'calculate' your savings would still be a part of the formula for some of these guys out hawking their crap today...

A door-to-door salesperson that hits our house at least once every 18 months is the magazine seller that needs your 'vote' to win some contest. I had my first encounter with their type when I lived in Phoenix. Their approach is fairly sly... they first 'become your friend' and then move in for the sell. They will start talking with you about anything and everything and really want you to open up to them...start a friendly dialogue. Then after a sufficient amount of time, they reveal that they are in college and in some contest collecting votes and really would love it if you would help them by voting for them. Why sure you say (they hope) because we are now 'friendly' with each other, how can I vote for you...here's how, by buying a magazine or 5. Magazines? You've just bs'd with me for 15 minutes and want me to buy magazines? You knew something wasn't right and now you know exactly why. I've always been a 'tough sell' mainly because it seems that I am always low on funds and to spend money on magazines...no thanks. The last 2 or 3 times these guys have approached the conversation has been quick... they will begin their 'friendly talk' and I will let them get maybe 2 comments to me before I tell them that if they are selling anything that I am not interested. The last guy, just a month ago, actually replied "Oh, no I'm not selling anything." then hesitated a second or two and then said "Yeah, I am." Just leave now.

There is the variation of the vacuum cleaner give-away scheme that I detailed above that is in full swing today that I recently encountered...that is the totally free giveaway... BUT (fine print) to get the free stuff it will need installation or onsite service. This deal may seem irresistable to some but to the savvy, it is fairly transparent. The encounter I had was for a home security system in which the salesman was going to GIVE me $2,000 worth of home security equipment free for merely putting a sign on my lawn. They of course have the 'Don't you want to keep your family safe?' line locked and loaded when needed...but I didn't give them a chance to pull it out on me. You see this scheme is just a ploy to get whatever company they represent a way into your house and to continually hound you into buying something. You see, before they can come in and professionally install the free $2,000 home security system they will need to come in and do a house survey to make sure everything is properly installed. After the survey is complete it is unfortunate to reveal that the free $2,000 home security package isn't going to be enough to properly insure your security and to really be secure it would be best if another $3,000 of equipment is installed...but I know, your thinking $3,000, that's a lot of money...but I'll tell you what we can do for you...since you've agreed to post our sign in your front lawn, we've already done the site survey and we have all the equipment on hand and we are ready to go...how about if we still give you the $2,000 free home security system and we throw in the needed $3,000 additional equipment for the total $5,000 package and let you have it (let you have it...key phrases...you won't be buying it, they will LET YOU HAVE IT...that alone sounds irresistible to some!) for the low price of $1,500 ... all to keep your family safe... if you continue to whimper they will not take no for an answer will lower it to $1,000, then to $500 ... it is unbelievable how the prices fall when you continue to say no until they leave ... but that is the sale.

The final salesperson I've encountered really isn't a door-to-door salesperson per se, but could just as well be. These folks are the 'unbeliavable deal' guys. They typically prey on younger folks selling stereo equipment - and speakers seem to be top choice. Their approach can be talking to you as your driving or coming out of the mall, but their 'style' is somewhat similar. They are ecstatic and excited but they need to get going...for you see they are suppose to be delivering this high-end, top dollar speakers somewhere but the place that they picked them up from gave them 2 extra ones...so now he has 2 extra, high end, top dollar speakers that he needs to get rid of before he takes his van back to work. He would just stash them at his place but doesn't have enough time...he tells you already. He may even have an "invoice" for the speakers that claim they are worth like $500 a piece...but he needs to get these other 2 speakers delivered and get back to work or else he will get fired...so I'll tell you what he'll do for you... if you give him $400 right now, you can have both of them...no questions asked, just don't tell anyone where you got them from... you need to get some cash? Sure, no problem, I'll wait for you...that's how big of a rush they are in.

So there you go... maybe this blog entry will help someone avoid getting stung by one of these guys, but I also think that I may have just given out some great notes to the "up and coming" door-to-door salesperson because being accountable and reputable are two traits these people will certainly not possess.

US Open Post-View, Wimbledon In Progress

I've been meaning to get a post on here for some time and just have been away from a computer to do so or just not sufficient time to get a complete post up but here's a couple of sports related items I've been meaning to comment on...

The US Open: first, let me again state and praise how awesome having DirecTV is... for most of the open I just had the tv tuned into Tiger's group exclusively, which is really cool... there is very few commercials, usually only when they are waiting to tee-off an extraordinary long time...which was a couple of times...and a person watching gets to see so much of the 'entire' experience the pro golfer gets...as he walks through the crowds and around the course. But aside from that, Tiger did play fairly well except he putted like crap. He had several chances for easy or makable birdie putts and failed to convert. He was driving the ball good and his approach shots were on target as well... his short game, though, totally sucked...chipping, pitching and putting were his downfall this Open. He's playing this weekend and I have ZERO plans...it is a sad state of affairs, more on that later...so I will likely be able to catch much of his play and see how Tigers doing...

Wimbledon fired up last week as well and I've watched quite a bit of it so far...I've mainly been watching Federer, Roddick and Hewitt... Federer because he is awesome, Roddick because I like him and he is probably the best American and Hewitt because he has been playing really well and his matches seem fairly entertaining. I've watched a few of the women's matches ... Sharapova, losing and the Williams girls. I'm kind of surprised at the resurgance of the anti-grunting faction...well, I shouldn't say resurgance, but finally a real vocal outcry by many former women greats (Everett, Martina, etc.) about how they think it is uncalled for and unsportsmanlike. When Seles started grunting when she began playing I didn't like it then, she was the only one doing it so many really didn't make a big deal of it...but now, the grunting and shrieking from these women players is to the point of absurdity. I do think something should be done because it is ridiculious.

Favre: Signed With Vikes

Well, well, well ... reports are out that the Vikes and Favre have a signed contract ... this of course contradicts all the 'posturing' that Favre and the Vikes have done to keep things on the 'down-low'...

Really no surprise other than the attempt to do this contract so covertly ... Favre usually likes lots of fanfare and attention at anything he does...

I can hardly wait to watch Favre lead the Vikes to an impressive 5-11 record next season...

Watch The 2009 US Open Live Online

Sosa: Tested Positive For Steroids

It is all but official now, every 'power' hitter of the 90's through 2003 was on steroids. Sammy Sosa was finally outed and did indeed test positive for steroids in 2003.

So for those that need to review...

The "greatest" pitcher of this era, Roger Clemens, on steroids.
The "greatest" hitter of All-Time, Barry Bonds, on steroids.
Mark McGwire, Sammy Sosa and Bonds all hit for more than 61 homeruns in a season...all on steroids.

Is MLB going to do anything to try and rectify the unbelievable skewed stats during the roid era? Probably not. The sad part is that I continue to hear all of these hall of fame voters that said they are going to vote all these roid-boys into the hall of fame because they are just 'comparing' them with others during their era...which is total bullshit because there may have been several players that didn't use steroids and what do they get for playing honostly during a dishonost time? Absolutely nothing.

I know I am going to make sure that my son knows that all these guys are cheaters and equal to piles-of-shit even though the media tries to 'soften' the crime and justify their actions. I am hoping that a commissioner down the road has the balls to banish all these cheaters from the game forever...it's the least they deserve.

ADDED:

As this story continues to hit the airwaves, sports pages, etc... I was quickly alerted to this fact:

5 out of the 6 greatest power hitters of the past decade or so have all tested positive steroids, Bonds, McGwire, Sosa, Manny Ramirez and Palmerio. The only player so far that hasn't had a hint of steroids attached to his name: Jim Thome ... All I could say is wow... I mean I have been one to quickly judge everyone in baseball during the roid era as guilty but I had no idea it really is that close to reality. MLB was and is a joke until it can do something to rectify all the cheating, lying and cover-ups and the best and only way that can be done, in my eyes, is to still banish all these cheaters from the game forever...no ifs ands or buts. Anything less than that is just accepting their lying, cheating and cover-up attempts as acceptable behavior.

ESPN Gave Up Live Mornings?

I recalled, it was last year prior to the Olympics that ESPN, with much fanfare, announced that their morning Sportscenter shows would now be 'live'. Now I don't usually watch ESPN at all unless they are airing live sports for the obvious reason, I have grown tired of hearing about the Yankees, Red Sox and the rest of the east coast teams...not to mention they barely acknowledge hockey and place the NBA as the premiere sport...because of course they are covering the NBA for their parent company, ABC. But I digress...

This morning I had a fair amount of 'slow work' (as I call it) where I am essentially sitting around waiting 2-5 minutes before I need to hit a button and/or change some media or whatever... so I turn on the ole' ESPN just to kill some time and, besides, there is literally nothing worth watching on television in the morning. It wasn't even 1 hour and I begin to notice that ESPN is just re-airing the same Sportscenter over and over and over again...just like before. You know, I thought at the time of the announcement that ESPN would not be able to fill an entire morning with enough fresh material to justify going live...but I also thought that since ESPN is more about fabricating stories and sensationalizing most anything I thought they would be able to put enough garbage together to fill 3 hours with little problems... well it looks like that experiment is all but over.

The live ESPN Sportscenter obviously left quietly and with little opposition and I don't know if anyone knows exactly when because no one was watching in the first place. The facts remain the same...there are very few times that would justify a live morning sports show.

As a sidenote...many people in this region have had their eyes opened as to how shoddy and inaccurate ESPN's reporting actually is during the entire Favre saga this summer. I haven't trusted ESPN for any sports news in quite some time and there are so many other reliable sources a person could go to get the right information. If you want some speculation and opinion, tune into ESPN ... if you want the correct story and the facts, you will need to get your sports news from some other source.

Money Talks And You Walk

I'm not really going to be detailing anything that everyone with a clue already knew, but it is just another example of what fame and fortune is worth in American society...

Donte Stallworth just pleaded guilty to DUI vehicular homicide, accepting a 30 day jail term and settled out of court with the victim's family. Donte Stallworth is, of course, an NFL football player... he got bombed and killed a guy in Florida early one morning and now will have to serve a short sentence and pay a large sum, but in the end, will walk away pretty much free and clear...

Let's compare that to the fate of the guy who killed Anaheim Angels pitcher Nick Ardenhardt. First, the suspect in the Ardenhardt has not seen daylight since his accident, while Stallworth had been free and will remain free until his sentence begins. And some might be quick to point out that the Ardenhardt suspect has a past of DUI convictions and was driving under suspension at the time...but those are just minor obstacles for a skilled lawyer.

In the end, I am willing to bet that the Ardenhardt suspect has a sentence that will put Stallworth's to shame...and why? Of course it is because he isn't rich and famous...once again proving that you can kill someone and get away with it as long as you have money...

Big Surprise: Favre Wants To Play Again

Brett Favre stunned the sports world in an interview last night by saying he was considering playing again next season.

Brett Favre's "official" status as to whether or not he will play next season has been upgraded from retired to "maybe".

Umm... why still the charade Brett?

Anyone notice the 'big lie' in the article that Brett said? Brett said he didn't attend the Viking's OTA's because he didn't want to have a media circus ... HA HA HA... quit lying Brett, you are the ringmaster of the media circus and you will take any opportunity to create a media circus. The real reason you weren't at the Viking OTA's is because you are lazy and selfish. If you can possibly skip the entire preseason and just show up week 1 is your dream gig.

I wonder if Brett is going to demand his own suite in the Metrodome where he will prepare for the games and go to during halftime and afterwords...

Vikes Impose 'Deadline' To Favre

If it wasn't real when I mentioned it earlier, it is now public... the Vikes imposed some artificial deadline to Brett Favre stating that they want to know this week if he is going to play for them or not... How silly the Vikes are... Brett Favre will grace the Metrodome with his presence when he is ready to and you will welcome him with open arms and great fanfare.

UPDATED 6/9/09:

Reports are that Favre's family and 'entourage' has booked a block of hotel rooms in Green Bay the weekend the Vikes play the Packers (Nov. 1). That should all but squash any doubts about Favre's intentions about 'retiring'.

Sunday O' Sports

Yesterday I was feeling ill and pretty much just laid in bed all day to rest up...and while I lied around all day I was able to monitor/watch a full days worth of sports and it was pretty entertaining...

First was the French Open...although I was not up early enough to watch the beginning, I did wake up in time to see Roger dominate the 3rd set and win his 14th major title and his career Grand Slam, making him probably the greatest tennis player ever... As I have stated earlier, I do like Federer and I was happy to see him finally win the French...I was kind of hoping he would beat Nadal to really validate his win, but maybe next year!

Then I dozed off until the afternoon and watched Tiger Woods light up the back 9 at the Nicklaus hosted Memorial PGA event to win it. It looks like Tiger is getting his stroke back...there are 3 majors left to be claimed this year and I think Tiger could...should...be able to win 2 of them if he continues to play like he is right now.

The evening session had me watching the Lakers-Magic game...you know what the lamest rule in professional sports is? It's the NBA rule where a team calls a timeout under the opponents basket and then is allowed to inbounds the ball on their end of the court. That is exactly what happened last night and if the Magic would have won the game because of that rule it would just further illuminate at how lame that rule is. In what other sport does a team get rewarded 3 quarters of the playing field for simply calling a timeout? The Magic got a loose ball with .7 seconds left in the game (a tie game), call a timeout...because they then get to inbounds the ball on their side of the floor, they almost convert a buzzer-beater play. This rule has been an NBA rule for quite some time and no one must see any problem with it because it is just the NBA's attempt to make every game 'close' and if it means they have to sacrifice fairness to achieve that, then they will do that... the NBA is lame...

And the nightcap was the Faber-Brown MMA fight... now I am not a big MMA guy, but for some reason I have followed "The Califonia Kid" Uriah Faber. He got beat by Mike Brown, a guy who I thought caught Faber with a lucky shot to win the lightweight belt, but there was little doubt who won the fight last night...it was Brown, who had threatened multiple times to secure a submission hold on Faber. Faber, for the most part, tried to keep the fight on their feet and any time they went to the mat it was Brown who was the aggressor. Faber landed a few decent shots, but nothing that slowed Brown down. Overall, not a bad MMA fight.

There was my day in bed in front of a t.v.

Merriman Vid

Shawne Merriman posted a video showing him warming up for a basketball game on 6/6/09 ... I hope that's a good sign that he will be good to go for the 2009-10 NFL campaign...


VID 00037.3GP on 12seconds.tv

Some Quick Bits...

I will be fairly busy with work the next 2 weeks and then like usual, I plan to take an extended break from work...only seems proper, not? Since my blogging has tapered off I figured I better get something 'fresh' up there now or else it will look even more desolate than normal. Anyways, here's some quick notes, thoughts, what-have you...

I normally don't tune into late night television anymore. When I was younger I did watch Carson and Letterman on NBC but once Leno started, it seemed as if I grew tired of the late night talk shows and barely would watch any of them. For some reason...probably because there was no sports on...I tuned in the premiere of Conan O'Brian on the Tonight Show. I've seen Conan a few times and think his schtick is o.k. but after after the first 30-40 minutes of the show last night, I know that I will be making no extra effort to watch his show with any regularity.

I have been able to watch a fair amount of the French Open...I'm not a Nadal fan, I am a Federer fan... I didn't have to work yesterday, yet woke up at my regular time of 7 AM. I couldn't immediately fall back asleep so I turned on the Tennis Channel and there was the Federer-Haas match underway...at this point, Federer was down 2 sets...I thought to myself I'll unfortunately watch Rog lose and then go back to sleep...but of course Rog didn't lose, he rallied back and won the match and I didn't even bother trying to go back to sleep then because I had became so involved in watching the match. Although I don't think Roddick has enough of 'it' anymore to win a major, but for some reason I feel sad when he loses. To me, I think Roddick is a guy that you can tell just has a good work ethic and every major he comes out and tells how he is ready...but then you watch him play... He has the huge serve, but so does everyone and now they can return his serve and he seems to struggle to break players. But I also cheer for American players and he is probably our best American player right now... I have zero faith or confidence in James Blake, I am hoping a younger American player can quickly ascend the ranks and take over the world #1 rating.

I better not forget to include a Favre mention...I can't find the speculative link, but I do believe 2 weeks ago there was a story that said the Vikes were giving Favre an ultimatum, that they needed to know by Friday if he would be having the surgery or not on his arm or else they weren't going to offer him a contract...of course Favre hasn't said jack-squat because he will come and play for the Vikes on his schedule... I mean, don't they know who he is? I just kind of chuckle at reading the article because it had that language of the Vikes trying to leverage Favre...haven't they seen the bullshit this guy does every offseason? You will not push him around and if you try he will instantly contact the media and make sure you are set up as the bad guys ala Green Bay Packers.

Some quick Charger notes:
- A developer's plan to build a new stadium for the Chargers in Mission Valley was rejected by the Chargers. They say it is too unrealistic.

- The Chargers announce their plans to commemorate their 50th anniversary. Lots of special activities going on...fans will get to select the 50 greatest Chargers, 20 greatest Charger moments and much, much more....should make the season a fun one at the very least with all the 50th Anniversary stuff surrounding the team.

Well, that's about all I have for now... I hope to get on when I can....

I also hope everyone has a safe and pleasant summer!

Memorial Day Weekend 2009

So I hope everyone has a safe and enjoyable Memorial Day weekend.

This is an odd Memorial Day weekend for me because I have worked every Memorial Day weekend for...hmmm.... probably, at least, 13 years...but because the school system has altered it's schedule I no longer should be working Memorial Day weekend...

So what do I have planned for this, the first Memorial Day weekend I have had off in over 10 years? Absolutely nothing and I am looking forward to every moment of it! The weather is suppose to be nice so I'll likely fire up the grill a few times, maybe go for a bike ride or three, make sure to have a good supply of suds and just (hopefully) have a nice quiet and relaxing weekend....I am almost salivating in anticipation for it to begin...

21st Century Children

I have 2 children, a soon to be 12 year-old daughter and a soon to be 7 year-old son. Since their birth I have tried to 'compare' their childhood experience to mine...not to evaluate or rate which experience is better or worse, but just in a general sense. Comparing my children's childhood experiences in today's society with what I experienced when I was younger.

Let me preface everything with this, I love my children unconditionally...and the following will likely appear as more of a negative dissertation towards them and the children of today, but it is not. It is just my observations and opinions. Yes, my children have angered me but they also have brought joy to my life...and those with kids probably can relate. I have never hurt my kids, not even a spanking - which might be a factor in development of respect and attitude, but I'm no expert.

What has spurred this blog entry is my daughter. My daughter is of the age where she now essentially hates me...which I think everyone as a child goes through...the dislike of their parents. Of course we all know that this is in words only but it still hurts everytime she says it to me and I also know that she is saying it in an attempt to anger me...but here is the differences between her childhood and mine...

First, my daughter is a slob and lazy. Yes, kids are oftentimes not the tidiest and with little to no responsibilities it is easy for them to adopt a routine that allows them to essentially do nothing. My daughter not only does not do anything around the house to assist the family, if left alone for any amount of time, she will have the house completely trashed with shit strewn from top to bottom. If you are able to get her to clean up, rest assured that a mess of almost equal size will be left behind and anything that was 'cleaned up' is likely lost or broken but, most certainly, not put away properly. I was always under the impression that girls were neat and clean, but I am clearly incorrect. My daughter's bedroom is testament to that. Not only is her room littered with trash and clothes at almost all times, she is so lazy that instead of simply putting her dirty clothes into a hamper, she oftentimes chooses to 'hide' her dirty clothes in her closet or in shelves...or where ever...why? No one, including her, I think knows for sure. Comparing her current 'lifestyle' with my childhood, I don't recall ever getting punished for having a unclean room or trashing the house...why? It never was even a consideration. Oh sure, I know there were probably times when I made a mess around the house but the magnitude that my daughter mess makes greatly outweighs anything I ever did. But again, it was never even a consideration when I was young to leave a mess after doing any activity...it was a simple rule, you take something out you put it away, you make a mess you clean it up. My daughter not only laughs at such foolish notions, I think purposely makes even a bigger mess knowing it bothers her parents. The floor around my computer desk is littered with snack wrappers, chip crumbs, popsicle sticks, ponytail holders, jewelry and more and there is literally a garbage can right next to the desk ... so instead of reaching over and dropping her trash into the garbage can, she elects to throw it on the ground...that's how considerate she is.

Excuses and lies: Nothing is my daughter's fault. My daughter has an excuse for everything. You could catch her lighting the house on fire and it wouldn't be her fault. If she gets a poor grade in school, it is my fault because I didn't help her enough. The excuses that come out of her mouth every single day is astounding. If she doesn't have an excuse handy then she just reverts to lying and a lot of the times it is both... she has an excuse for something that is usually a lie. More than once I have flat out told her that I don't trust her and I think she is lying and she will storm off saying how she hates me and that no one ever believes her...but to date, she has yet to do anything that has proven her to be even remotely trustworthy.

Cares about nothing, respects nothing: My daughter does not have one thing that she cares about or that she cherishes. Nor does she respect anything that you may have cherished or cared about. Her mother and I had a fair amount of games that we had when we were children. These games were (obviously) about 20 years old, but could still be played and in as good as shape as you could ask for a game that would be that old...all the pieces still present and boxes in good shape. None of those games are even playable today. My daughter has wrecked, lost and ruined every single board game I and my wife had as child. These games, that we took care of starting at her age and held onto for 20+ years was all for naught. You can walk through my house and find a piece from my Risk game here, a Monopoly piece there and so on. The sad part is that any game that is given to my daughter can be played one time and just one time only because after that first time the game can not be played properly because pieces will be lost or broken. My daughter got Attack Uno for a present a year ago and I remember our entire family unpacking it and playing it...having a good time. A week later I found Attack Uno cards throughout the entire house and she came up to ask if I would play it with her and I simply said that we can not play a game that is incomplete and that game has never been played again. To me that is just sad... I had multiple games that I literally played hundreds, if not thousands of times and here my daughter can't take care of one game long enough to play it more than once. But it isnt' just games, it is essentially everything...my daughter cherishes nothing. There is nothing that is 'special' to her or at least enough to have her care about it. She has been given 'special' jewelry, books and items ... all are often shoved into drawers, lost or broken, but in any effect, if asked to produce any of these special items, my daughter would be hard-pressed to do so.

Social life: my daughter almost races home after school and when gets home will close the doors and stay inside waiting for her mom or me to return home from work. She does not want nor does she even consider doing anything with anyone else outside of school. Once and a while she has gone to a movie or to a friend's house, but for the most part, she is content to stay home and inside the house. For the past couple of summers she has stayed home during the summer break from school and what did she do? Nothing. She NEVER left the house and stayed hunkered in everyday. Again, comparing it to my childhood (once again, not right or wrong, just a comparison), when it was summer time and I was her age and it was a nice day, it would be extremely odd if we stayed in the house for the entire day. Usually, I would get up and be outside for the entire day and return home when I was literally totally tired. I recall biking across town to watch a movie, play with a friend, go to the park, go on a bike ride, go to the Dairy Queen...just go anywhere! To stay home on a beautiful summer day seemed totally wrong when you have your own 'wheels' and the entire summer to explore the world. My son is adopting the same attitude towards summer time ... On a beautiful summer day it is easy to find my children...they will be inside the house. There have been times during the summer, on a beautiful day, that my children will literally be driving me nuts and I begin to get upset with them. I then will say "You guys have an entire garage full of bikes, skateboards, scooters, water guns, balls, bats, gloves, frisbees, chalk, an endless amount of toys to play with outside, parks and playgrounds and instead of doing ANYTHING else, you two kids are going to choose to stay inside this house and drive me insane?" And that is what they will choose. Yes, to me I find it extremely odd that as a child they would rather stay inside the house and get screamed and yelled at by their parents when, what would clearly be a more entertaining and enjoyable time for them is a viable option, they would rather stay inside the house and make my day even more miserable. You say then, they just want to be with you, to do things with you...yes, I know this and don't get me wrong, I do enjoy spending time and doing things with my kids. Here is the difference though; you see, if I was to go outside on a beautiful summer day to just stand in the front yard and not do anything...that's right, just go outside and stand in the front yard and nothing else, my children will almost run me over to get outside. While I stand in the front yard, doing nothing, the kids will get out the bikes, balls, skateboards, whatever and begin to play and have a grand old time. But the second, and I literally mean the SECOND, I set foot inside the house again they almost trample me over to beat me inside the house. When I was a child, especially during the summer, I never expected my parents to be outside or do anything with me outside...and why should they? As a result, I have already come to the conclusion that I will NEVER go outside during the summer until my children have enough sense to do so on their own.

Which leads me to my final observation...my children have little or no respect towards their parents and especially not me. I am only their cook, butler, chauffeur and provider of funds for them, but that is it...nothing that would deserve even common courtesy. The way my daughter talks to me on a daily basis would have had her beaten to a pulp if she was raised my parents when I was a child. Very little is 'talking' from her. It is demanding and when demanding it is RIGHT NOW! Not tomorrow and not in 5 minutes, I mean right now and even if her demand is spoken in a civil tone, if your reply to her is anything less than what she wants to hear she will instantly erupt into a screaming tantrum. An example will be as follows:

Her: "Dad can I get on the computer?"
Me: "Can you wait 5 minutes so I can finish what I am doing?"
Her: "NO! And thanks Dad, now I am going to fail my science class because of you. Now you see why I hate you!"

My daughter on more than one occassion has 'needed' some things from school...not just one thing, but a plethoria of things. On one particular occassion she needed an entire list of items for some school project...and not for next week or tomorrow...RIGHT NOW! This list was like going on a scavenger hunt...there was not one store that could possibly have all the items and after all was said and done the bill was $30. But because of her screaming tantrum, I got her items for school but am hard pressed to believe that a teacher would require their students to get this entire laundry list of stuff for tomorrow...but of course my daughter just follows up with and excuse/lie ...and why not? She has her own personal chauffer, cook, butler and provider of funds to cater to her every whim....

To conclude, I just am perplexed... I know it will likely get worse before it gets better... but I just don't know why my children (especially my daughter) will make the decisions that she does. My daughter has done very few of the things that I considered normal for when I was a kid. Instead she has chosen the exact opposite. If I knew her when I was 11/12 it would have been almost laughable to have a conversation with her...

Me: "I'm going to the baseball diamond to play ball, what you going to do today.?"
Her: "I'm going to stay inside all day long, leave garbage and my personal items all over the house along with any of my parents things that I want to get into and then when my parents get home I am going to DEMAND that they take me to a store and buy new shoes because I don't like these ones."
Me: "Well, have fun with that...I'm going to go play."

Just makes me sad that this is a child and that is the decision she chooses to make rather than do ANYTHING else....what makes it even more sad for me, it is my child. I would feel sad for any child that's life is such as hers....but at least she has her personal butler, cook, chauffeur and free money....

Media Whore, Favre, Loving It!

The 2009 edition of the annual Brett Favre retirement/unretirement tour has got to be one of Brett's favorite of all time...and a person can clearly see he has honed his retirement/unretirement tour to be the biggest, best ever.

Yesterday the St. Paul Pionner Press reports that Favre is going to meet with a surgeon and have a minor surgery on his torn bicep.  Then this morning, ESPN reports that Favre is not going to have surgery at all and instead is going to rehab it.  Both media outlets use unamed sources for their information...which leads me to believe that the source for both articles is Brett Favre himself.  

This is totally his m.o. ... as with the leaked cell phone text messages from a year (or so) ago, anyone with a brain knows that Brett Favre was the source behind that.  So why wouldn't Brett Favre have two different "sources" saying two totally different things?  Favre is getting his ultimate wet dream... every single day his name is being mentioned and each report seems to contradict the previous.  Favre probably thinks he has successfully put up a big enough smoke screen where some people actually think he will remain retired... don't be fooled.  Favre will be with the Vikings when Favre wants to be with the Vikings and not a day sooner.  Anything he can do to keep his name in the media until then is all that Favre wants now because he is a self-centered media whore...as he continues to blatantly display.

Clutch - Sioux Falls, SD - 5/12/09

It was a windy day but the rain held off. Clutch was the 3rd of a 6 band lineup that was headlined by Slipknot, Korn and The Used.  

I don't recall all the songs or the exact order but they played, but the ones I do remember being played were: Burning Beard, Child Of The City, Elephant Riders, Marcus, Mob Goes Wild, Profits of Doom (w/Wino(?)), Red Horse Rainbow and ended with Electric Worry/Dollar. In all had about a 50 minute set. A friend and I drove 3 hours to see Clutch.  

Got there just as the band in front of them was wrapping up, got some beers and enjoyed the show. They had, who I think they called Wino, as a guest guitarist that played during the Profits of Doom and actually was hanging out in the crowd after Clutch was done. So we got some pics with him and talked about the show/Clutch a bit. He said he could have hooked us up with tickets for the Des Moines show that was the next day (yesterday) but unfortunately we couldn't discard our other obligations to take him up on the offer.  

IMO, Clutch was the best band on the card and we even left during Korn's unenergetic, uninspired set...cheaper beers were far more important than watching mainstream noise. If there was any downside to the show was that we didn't get to see more of Clutch... but I still had a good time...

Not Minding The Twitter

So it's been a couple of weeks for me on Twitter and I'm not minding it at all.  I was apprenhensive when trying it out because of all the things I have heard and the whole "What are you doing?" tagline ... in which I thought those that would be associated with Twitter are seen as people that are obsessed with posting everything that they are doing and, at the same time, obsessed with what everyone else is doing all the time ... well, if that is what really is going on, everyone would have "On Twitter" as they're posts... 

What I like about Twitter is that it does add a more timely, abbreviate blog to my blog...and I like that part the most.  When I started my blog in 2004, blogs were just hitting the scene and I, at first, was collecting and posting news articles, primary about the Chargers which was something unique at the time.  Well, it wasn't a year and then RSS feeds started in full swing and 1 million and 17 sports/news/blog sites now take care of that so there was no really purpose for my blog to continue to do so...especially when I now just automate the process like all those other sites as well.

So then I began to add more commentary about whatever...but also remain focused on the Chargers...and this is what I plan to continue to do for the foreseeable future.  But what Twitter does is allow me to quickly post an article, web site, whatever with a quick comment ... which is oftentimes all any of them deserve, yet I think it is 'blog worthy'.  I have always felt that I wanted to have 'quality content' on my blog ... I did not want to merely have 1,000 links I think are cool and have someone sort through them.  Here, anytime I see anything worthy of my attention, I can have it posted on Twitter in seconds...which is probably one of Twitter's most redeeming qualitys ... it is quick and simple.

I just wanted to post a follow-up to let everyone know, that it looks like I'll be using Twitter with some regularity...

NFL Announces AFL Legacy Schedule

The NFL announced a "Legacy Schedule" that will celebrate the AFL's 50th anniversary, of which, the San Diego Chargers were an original team of the AFL.

Original AFL teams will don uniforms from their AFL era.  The Chargers have selected to wear their 1963 uniforms, the year the Chargers won the AFL championship.  The Chargers are in 3 AFL Legacy games (8/14 at Oakland, 10/19 vs Denver & 10/26 at Kansas City) and will still 'get' to wear their powder blue throwbacks for an additional 2 home games.  So we will get to see the Chargers in their light blue uniforms almost as often as their newer uniforms

There are 16 Legacy games in all featuring all the old AFL teams...Miami, NY Titans (Jets), Boston Patriots, Cleveland, etc... I think it will be great to see the Tennessee Titans wearing the Houston Oilers colors....just because it was a team I remember as a kid that I no longer get to see today...

 

Lots Of Good News From Charger Camp

Charger mini-camp wrapped up this past weekend and seems like there was lots of good news coming from the team...

- Cromartie appears to have fully recovered from a hip injury that slowed him all of last year.

- Norv Turner says that LT "Looks great."

- Merriman says he will be ready for opening day... won't speculate on the future.

- Darren Sproles did sign the Chargers contract tender last week as well.

Tradition Of Losing Continues

This past weekend's Kentucky Derby was a thrilling one with a long shot, "Mine That Bird", thrilling the crowd coming from the back of the pack and blasting to the front on the final turn and beating the field impressively... and, which has been a 5, 6 year tradition for me... no money for me.  Sure, I don't bet a lot and I most certainly rarely pick longshots...but I have usually made some money on a triple crown event at least once every other year...but now, I am easily on a 15, 16 race drought ... well, maybe the Preakness will treat me better...

But in case you missed it, here is the video from the 2009 Kentucky Derby and just watch how Mine That Bird just launches itself into the lead...almsot like a switch was turned on...

Favre To Unretire Soon

The draft is over and NFL teams will be starting up their mini-camps soon... so that means only one thing... Brett Favre is about to unretire...AGAIN.  His first move to unretire was accomplished, get released from the Jets ... and now he will be able to sign with any team that he wants too.  Wild speculation his struck this region that Favre will be able to now sign with the Minnesota Vikings...the Packers were able to block that move last year, but now nothing can prevent Favre from signing with any team that he wants too...

I am keeping my fingers crossed that he does indeed sign with the Vikings ... because he sucks and there is nothing more funny then listening to the rabid Viking fans... right now the Vikes (as picked by said rabid fans) will go 13-3 and win the NFC Championship... with Favre (or any "decent" qb) the Vikes will be penciled in as the next undefeated Super Bowl champs ... so I enjoy watching that all come crashing down every season... and adding Favre into the mix would just make it even that much more entertaining...

I hope the Lions have a decent secondary that can play outfield and pick Favre off 6 times each game they play...

Draft ... Rehashed

Because the draft is this weekend and is rage on the sports talk...I figured I should at least acknowledge the draft's existence on my blog to have some credibility...so I will simply cut and paste my thoughts on the draft that I posted some time ago... 

I'm not a big 'draft watcher' and don't get into the draft hype that every sports program on the planet has been hyping for the past 2 weeks. All the hype surrounding new players and every fan thinks their team will hopefully make the right moves that will improve the team. Don't get me wrong, when I was younger, I use to watch and follow the draft as much as anyone, but after doing so for a few years a person begins to realize that after the draft day itself the draft holds little to no luster afterwards. Now begins the contract negotiations, hold-outs and injuries...all the feel good stories of the draft are instantly erased and it all turns to money now. 

Sioux Support UND's Use Of Name

I did a quick search through my blog and was surprised to see that I haven't commented on the University of North Dakota nickname battle.  UND's athletic programs are named the Fighting Sioux and because the NCAA is a hypocritical organization that puts money in front of any decision they make...will ban UND from any athletic post-season tournaments unless UND change's it's nickname or get the support of the two Sioux tribes in North Dakota, the Standing Rock and Spirit Lake tribes.

I have never thought the nickname is that offensive and, in fact, I thought that having a school use your name as a moniker would be kind of cool...even a memorial.  Also, the local protestors...at least the most vocal...always were non-Native Americans ... mainly white teachers and students.  It seemed to me that this group of people was more offended then the Native Americans themselves.

To prove that sometimes the vocal minority and the political correctness can oftentimes be just noise and not be true representatives of the truth...the Spirit Lake tribe voted in favor of having UND keep it's Fighting Sioux nickname by 67%...that's 2 out of 3 tribe members supporting the name.

The Standing Rock tribe has yet to hold a referendum, but the nickname supporters obviously focused on one tribe and will now set their sites on the Standing Rock tribe.  UND has until the fall of 2010 to get the support of the Standing Rock tribe and I wouldn't be surprised if a vote is taken there around this time next year.

Playoffs: NBA vs NHL

Playoff time is here the NBA and the NHL which means for the rest of April sport junkies, like myself, will be able to watch 'meaningful' games in both sports on a nightly basis until the later rounds deplete the schedule...

I have always contended that the NHL playoffs are second to none.  The NFL, sure, is my favorite sport and their playoffs is as good as any, but because the NFL plays so much fewer games and their playoff system is a single game elimination method, they don't have means to ratchet up the intensity of each game a team plays.  There is absolutely nothing wrong with the NFL playoffs nor am I advocating change, I would just like to preface my remarks to assure everyone that I think the NFL is, right now, the best sport for a fan top-to-bottom.

The NHL and NBA playoffs essentially start at the same time and if you listen/watch the sports talking heads they will preview and 'break down' each sports playoffs and speculate who should, could or will win it all.  To illustrate one very prominent reason as to why the NHL playoffs are better than the NBA playoffs is the fact that there is true parity in the NHL.  The sports talkers, when talking about the NHL, a person could have read/listened to 10 different media talkers and likely gotten 5-6 different picks as to who they think could win the Stanley Cup.  You then also factor in that it is not uncommon for a #8 seed to upset a #1 seed or, at the very least, make a very interesting series out of the opening round of the playoffs.  With the NHL too, if a team has a 'hot' goalie right now, that alone could mean a deep push into the playoffs.  With the NBA you could have read/listened to 10 different talkers there and gotten the same result... this years NBA finals is (allegedly predestined to be) the Lakers vs the Cavaliers with the Lakers winning it all.  I do believe that is what most will agree will still the scenario after the opening weekend of the NBA playoffs but with the NHL playoffs, people begin to question and reevaluate their initial playoff assement.  

The intensity level in the NHL is also very evident, even in the opening games and series...whereas with the NBA, more than one team will easily dominate the inferior one and most everyone watching is seeing an uneventful, blasiase game ... even if an NHL game turns into a blowout, the action is still present during the game and you can still see an effort being put forth by both teams...with the NBA it doesn't seem as noticeable...

Sure, I'll watch the NBA playoffs but right now, I am watching as much NHL as I can and filling whatever 'down time' I have with the NBA...

The Rush For Glory And Profit

Anyone that has seen the national news the past few weeks know that this region has been fighting the high waters from several rivers from historical flooding.  The high water marks are the highest ever recorded for several of the rivers around here.  But the people of the communities in this region banded together to battle the water and for the most part, damage hasn't been as cataclismic as original forecasters feared... the effort was immense... schools closed for almost 2 weeks, the city of Fargo essentially shut down for 5 days with 1 day under near martial law...where travel within city limits was banned with the exception of emergency vehicles...so it was a pretty extraordinary event...

Things have begun to return to normal as the rivers began to return to their normal levels, so what does that mean?  It's time for one thousand and six 'Flood Volunteer Celebration' parties.  Just his week there are 2 "celebrations" honoring the community and flood fighters ... I'm not sure when I am going to host mine, I'm still lining up entertainment, sponsorship and getting the t-shirts printed, but hopefully I can make some sweet money off of an event that was essentially the adverting of a catastrophe...it seems like the fad.

2009 Charger Schedule Set

The 2009 NFL schedule came out yesterday so everyone can finally make their plans for the fall to insure they don't miss a game... at least that's what I do with the Chargers...

The Chargers' schedule doesn't look all that easy, playing the NFC East and the AFC North teams...

Here's the low-down:

Week 1 - at Oakland - The final game of the opening weekend, on Monday Night...NFL's kickoff to celebrate the AFL's 50th Anniversary

Week 2 - vs Baltimore - A team that went toe-to-toe with the Steelers in the AFC Championship last year

Week 3 - vs Miami - The cinderella story of last season

Week 4 - at Pittsburgh - The Steelers are the defending Super Bowl Champs - Sunday Night game

Week 5 - bye - The Chargers are again screwed with an early bye week.  Any bye week before November is useless

Week 6 - vs Denver - Chargers make their second Monday Night Football appearance against the most hated team in the NFL...the Denver Broncos

Week 7 - at Kansas City 

Week 8 - vs Oakland - All done with regular season games agasint Oakland before Thanksgiving...wow!

Week 9 - at NY Giants - Time to crush Eli one more time.

Week 10 - vs Philadelphia - I can't even remember the last game the Chargers played against the Eagles.

Week 11 - at Denver

Week 12 - vs Kansas City - No AFC West oppenents for the remainder of the season and it's not even December!?!?! 

Week 13 - at Cleveland 

Week 14 - at Dallas - Chargers get to visit the new Cowboys stadium

Week 15 - vs Cincinnati 

Week 16 - at Tennessee - On Christmas day...prime time

Week 17 - vs Washington

Seems like an odd schedule to me... the Chargers are essentially done with their divisional games by the end of November.  I was listening to John Clayton on Mike and Mike (ESPN Radio) this morning and he made it sound as if the Chargers first 1/2 of the schedule looked easy...but there are 3 tough games and thinking you are going to run the division isn't likely either...

I had high hopes for the Chargers last season and they barely scraped by at 8-8.  I think the AFC West remains weak, the Chargers slide by again and go 10-6...maybe 9-7, probably win the division...

On Twitter

Because I love to jump on the bandwagon (usually not) and I have a fair amount of free time that I wish to use on yet another internet item I decided to check out the 'Twitter'.

Twitter is just like most every other 'social' internet entity...the more populer the entity gets, the better it is and the more the communtiy participates, the better it is. Of course that is until it is eventually compromised and raided by spammers, bots and all the 'junk' that usually force there way into any popular internet activity.

Regardless...it is actually a pretty quick way to post up a quick thought, reaction or whatever... so anyways, if you can view my 'tweets' in the sidebar to the left...

Jay Culter Is A Whiny Cry-Baby

I was wondering the other day, when I would see another self-absorbed, whiny, cry-baby NFL player that could fill the void that, with the temporary retirement of Brett Favre, currently exists in the NFL.  And then the Jay Cutler drama was delivered.  

So let's review what has happened so far...

It all started out when the new Bronco head coach apparently tried to work Cutler into a trade that would get Matt Cassels to Denver.  Cutler puts his house up for sale in Denver, refuses to go to offseason team meetings and cries like a baby that how could the Broncos dare do this.

Next, the Broncos with new head coach Josh McDaniels, personally meet with Cutler, McDaniels even comes out and publicly states that Cutler is the Bronco's starting quarterback.  Cry-baby Cutler's next move was to demand to be traded from Denver and the Bronco's, I'm sure getting sick of his bullshit, are more than happy to oblige and begin to 'shop' Cutler around ... but now, today, Cutler says he didn't ask for a trade and wants(?) to stay in Denver?

So this situation couldn't have worked out better for the Bronco's... now they are willing to trade Cutler, but Cutler continues to flip-flop and basically display at what an immature, whiny person he is...so regardless of whether the Bronco's give a shit about Cutler's feelings - which at this point they shouldn't - do they want to continue to have this guy on their roster?  If you keep him, you obviously know what you got... a whiny cry-baby quarterback who led a team that had a 4 game lead in their division with 4 games to play and lost the division (only time in NFL history that has happened).  Is he really worth the hassle?  But now, he is essentially 'damaged goods'.  Every NFL team on the planet knows the situation in Denver has reached critical mass...the Broncos, again, I would have to think are sick of his bullshit and are going to trade him away.  So my secret wish is for Cutler to get traded to some shitty team...like Detroit or the 49'ers and for him to continue to suck and get the shit beat out of him via being sacked and knocked down 100 times a game.  But, and more importantly for my own personal delight, the Broncos need to get worse ... they need to draft a quarterback that sucks even worse than Cutler and become an even worse team then they were last year. 

A final interesting fact about this whole 'drama' is that Cutler's agent is the same agent as Brett Favre, Bus Cook.  And anyone that has done some quick reading on Cook can see a pattern of ineptness on the part of Cook in many of the clients he handles...with two primary exhibits, Favre and Culter, being prominently displayed the past 2 offseasons.  So, if I was to give any credit to Cutler during this whole saga, it may have a lot to do with the dolt he hired as an agent...but then who is dumber?  Cutler for hiring a moron or Cutler for listening to a moron...guess it all still is Cutler's fault and he is a whiny, cry-baby moron.

Let me conclude by saying I know of no finer organization for this whole episode to happen at than the Denver Broncos.  Regardless of how this whole thing ends, it is likely that the Bronco's team will have some aftermath that will hopefully effect their performance on the field and the end result would be that the Bronco's suck even more.  As I have publicly declared many times, my two favorite teams are the San Diego Chargers and whoever is playing Denver.  So this entire drama has been nothing but good news to me and I hope it only drags out longer and becomes more bizarre and complicated....just keep my Charger team away from it at all costs!

Countdown Is On!

The San Diego Chargers preseason is set... yippee... 4 meaningless games that a fan can take nothing from.  But the NFL did also announce that the Chargers will play the final game of the opening weekend as part of a Monday Night Football double-header against the Oakland Raiders.  So without further ado... the countdown to the kickoff for the San Diego Chargers 2009 NFL season has begun...

The Great Flood Of '09

As most anyone that has been paying attention to the national scene is aware, the Red River of the north has been flooding for the past week hitting a record crest of almost 41 feet in Fargo.  As a result, many of the communities along the river have been at high alert with emergency and first responders at maximum preparedness.  Schools have been closed since last week Wednesday and remain closed through this week.  Hospitals, senior citizen homes and special needs people have all been evacuated.

The river has crested in Fargo, so as long as the dikes and levees hold, most citizens should make it through with little or no problems...which will be good...

So, sorry for infrequent attention here but hopefully things will return to normal some time this time...

In the mean time, here is a live 'Flood Cam' that is on the Moorhead, MN side of the Red River pointing towards Fargo ... you can see how high the water really is...

Once Busy, Now A Break

Sorry for being absent recently... but I have been extremely busy at work.  Things are settling down but that just means I want a break!  So I'll try and get back to my blogging duties shortly, but it may remain sporadic for a short time here...

Chargers-Tomlinson Agree To Terms

It is over...finally.  The San Diego Chargers and LaDainian Tomlinson have agreed to a new restructured contract yesterday.  The article states that the team's president, Dean Spanos, was a key figure in keeping Tomlinson and had every intention of doing so.  Reports are that Tomlinson will not take a reduction in pay this season but the $17+ million he was to get for the next 2 years has likely been "restructured".  

In the end, it is great news for us Charger fans that couldn't bare to see LT don a different team's uniform.  Tomlinson is probably the greatest San Diego Charger player in the franchise's history and to not make every effort to keep him in San Diego just seems so wrong.

I'm hoping next season he returns to his past form and regains his status as the NFL's premeire runningback.

Ending Cro Speculation

As quickly as the rumor of Antonio Cromartie potentially be traded was started it is quickly dismissed.  Just proving that no one really knows for sure what the Chargers have in store for any of their players and that the media continues to speculate only the worst for many of the big-name Charger players.

Chargers: Still Have LT, Cromartie To Go?

Free agency in the NFL is underway and the San Diego Chargers still have LaDainian Tomlinson on their roster.

Of course that is little guarantee that Tomlinson will be with the Chargers.  Very few think that the Chargers will keep Tomlinson on the roster with his current contract ... but who knows, that might be just what the Chargers intend to do.  A report came out last week stating that the New Orleans Saints have an interest in Tomlinson, so of course the Chargers could be trying to get Tomlinson to renegotiate his contract and then just simply trade him, to try and get some value for him because of course the alternative is to just simply cut him and get nothing in return.  These are all 'doom and gloom' for Tomlinson and the Chargers, which is all I see the hear or read these days.

And to further the 'doom and gloom' theme... a story out yesterday hints that Drayton Florence, recently cut by the Jacksonville Jaguars, is looking to come back to San Diego and, apparently, Antonio Cromartie played so crappy last year the Chargers may be considering trading him.  Are you kidding me?  Cromartie had a team record 10 interceptions 2 years ago ... the entire defense, as a whole, sucked last season and a (seemingly) realistic plan is to trade Cromartie and re-sign the guy that Cromartie beat out for the job 2 years ago?  Color me crazy but I hope that isn't what the thought process is for the Chargers.  Getting D-Flo back would probably not be a bad thing, in my opinion, but trading Cromartie, I think, is a bad thing ... Now if some team is going to over-value Cromartie and make an offer the Chargers can't refuse, then I could see the viability of doing that.  I know Cromartie's year last year was a total contradiction to the 2007 season.  I was hoping it was a year to 'grow' for him and that he comes back this season with the mindset to redeem himself.  Of course that could all be wishful thinking but so far this offseason there has been a shortage of anything resembling 'optimism' in the press in regards to the Chargers.