R. Rich

There's lots of federal employees in this area, so I wouldn't be surprised. They do ask that we get permission ahead of time for taking leave immediately before or after holidays though (not that it stops people from calling out anyway, though).

We don't have Monday off (we have tomorrow off), so I took Monday off. I only wish I had taken Friday as well, then I'd be off for 5 straight days

Yeah todd, I agree: Empire is clearly the best of the 5 movies to date. Peter Jackson is awesome! I am SO looking forward to his remake of the 1933 King Kong, a project that has been in the works for many years (he got involved in that BEFORE the LOTR trilogy). It should be great.

Happy 229th Marines, from a former Airman (USAF's birthday is the same day as my wedding anniversary...go figure!).

Week 9: 8-5 Overall: 64-49-4

Yeah, given those choices, I'd go with Barlow. Make sure you've checked to see if there are any other options available to you, as neither are a great choice.

I sure hope Ralph does get into the Hall, where he truly belongs. More than that, though, I really want to see Kent Hull get into the Hall. I've been touting him as a deserving HOF candidate for the past few years and I'll defend my stance on Hull's worthiness to anyone.

Ginn has looked very good so far. When they started calling him Cleveland's best athlete since Jesse Owens, I was skeptical. But, this guy is showing on the field just how dangerous he can be. He kinda reminds me of a guy I ran track against a few times in high school: Raghib Ismail. He and his brother, Qadry, were awesome athletes in high school (Qadry was the FB on the football team while Raghib was the RB; Qadry was a state champion in the high hurdles while Raghib won state titles in the sprints) and did very well in both college and the pros.

I think Mark summed it up pretty well. In terms of which QBs should do well in the NFL, I do think Matt Leinart is among the best, but I think Aaron Rodgers of Cal looks like the best prospect so far. Kyle Orton of Purdue looks good too, but I still don't know about how good of an NFL player he'll be.

Yeah, I know.

3-5, plus the results of the last half of the season

I'm not on the home computer, stuck. I'm still @ the office. I was trying to avoid going through a long, frustrating battle with the Dell tech support people. I've gotten a lot of good advice. Thanks to those who offered help.

That sounds risky. What's all involved?

That sucks if that is what the problem is. Am I responsible for that, or will Dell either reimburse me for getting one or send a replacement card? More than likely, I'm on my own, huh?

I figured I'd get more of a response here and since I'll be off work soon, I was hoping to get some feedback before I left. It's probably the same reason a lot of fantasy football questions get asked here instead of the fantasy football forum. It's no big deal.

Actually, it did beep around 4 times when I tried to turn it on this morning, then the monitor went to that amber color.

I'll look into it, Jack.

Hahaha!!! Maybe I should try that one. I checked into this one for someone before, but I don't think it helped them any.

I don't know if this is a problem that tech support can fix or one that I'll have to contact maintenance for. Anyway, this morning, I noticed that the monitor on our home computer won't come on for some reason. The light stays that amber color, as if it is still in 'sleep mode'. Both the monitor and the CPU work; when I disconnect the CPU from the monitor, the light then goes to green and I get a test pattern. But, when I try to hook it back up to the CPU, the light stays that amber color. I've tried shutting it down, disconnecting all wires and cables then reconnecting them, and I still get the same result. Does anyone here know if it's something serious, or am I just missing a step somewhere that will get it working again? I'm asking here because I dread making another long, annoying call to Dell's tech support staff. If I have to go that route, of course I will, but if I can fix it without resorting to contacting them, that would be so much better.

Penn State can play in the Program Is In Big Trouble And No Relief Is In Sight Any Time Soon Bowl. They'll win that one, as they'd be the only team playing. There's always next year, I guess. [sigh]

The Bowl Championship Series, or BCS (or BS, according to many) determines the participants in the national championship game each year, which rotates between a handful of bowls, the Rose Bowl being among them. This year, the Orange Bowl will host the national title.

I'll do it.

Alberts comes off bitter and abrasive because it's the image he's molded for himself on TV. He feels he has to be "the jerk" when he's on camera, much like Sean Salisbury has become for ESPN. That's a shame, because they both know the game quite well, but they're too busy being WWF-like characters instead of just being broadcasters.

I've watched their games a lot this season, as I only saw about 2, maybe 3 Utes games all of last year and I wanted to get a closer look at RG Chris Kemoeatu, who I still hope the Bills can draft this year. This year, they have been awesome. Not only in scoring points in bunches, but in the way they just dismantle their opponents on a weekly basis. This team has the killer instinct that teams like Oklahoma, Miami, West Virginia, Va Tech, and Texas simply don't have. Not saying those other teams aren't good, but they have had the tendency this season to let teams they should beat easily play with them and, in some instances, actually beat them. Not Utah. They are taking care of business with a ruthless presicion I only wish Penn State had.

Pittsburgh's OL is HEALTHY this year, and that's the difference. Just think, they don't even have Kendall Simmons, their standout RG who is out. Keydrick Vincent is playing quite well in his place. Big Ben is playing well because he is good. Let's not take that away from him. He's playing with the same components that Maddox played with and he's doing better than Maddox. Roethlisberger is the real deal, folks. He's not some fluke. Losman? Well, he IS the savior of the Bills, Darin. He and Willis are the two big reasons we will be in the Super Bowl this year. Oh yeah, those two and McNally.