UConn James

Same deal w/ my brother & s-i-l. I dropped the Season 1 discs off at their house last month with a 'You HAVE to watch this show' note. They're hooked, but haven't watched Season 2 yet. Brother is headed to Afghanistan soon for a year-year and a half tour.... By that time, I think LOST is slated to be done. And, the cast of the show was named "Entertainers of the Year" by People magazine. Well deserved, tho I think the writers had something to do with their success.... For all of you who've been down on Season 2 so far (I'm not, except for the casting of M-Rod), think about it. Think back to the start of the year, then the 3-hour finale ep. They got it on the Arzt explosion alone. I was expecting some stuff in that ep, but when that happened I damn near jumped off the couch and hit the ceiling. (Had the sound up pretty loud, too).

I was at a delayed family Christmas party and got home to see about 15 minutes in the third Q.... but, could it be possible that the injury might have required them to pull down his pants? That's a pretty common thing to do when a player has an injury "down there." Good thing the kid was there with the towel. We may have been blinded by Tedi's Allmighty pee-pee aka "Stand back! I don't know how big this thing gets!"

People who are content to have TD (and to a somewhat lesser extent, MM) back are the same people who'll sit and try for 20 minutes to get a 3/4" bolt off with a 12mm wrench.

If, by some miracle, there was a .5 percent chance that he still had a job after this season, it just went down to .000000005 percent. This guy has all the class of a pregnant nun.

Da Bears. Which, of course, means they'll lose in the first round.

So, 10:30 a.m. is early for you? College student? (Even at the U, I loved early morning classes. So much the better to sing "What Do You Do With A Drunken Sailor" to.)

The only reason I'd get up early is if my dog nudged me with a cold, wet nose that is his way of saying, "I need to go outside." But he was fat and happy from ham drippings/scraps last night. Got up at 8:30 today. Nice.

You could always do what my old man did back in the '60s. Guy across a horseshoe bar was smoking a big cigar. Guy was kindly asked not to blow smoke in his direction. Guy took a big puff and blew it right at him. Guy had his cigar ripped out of his mouth in one fell swoop, and snuffed out in his mashed potatoes. Guy spent the rest of time while my father finished eating not knowing whether to sh-- or turn purple.

Exactly. Why pay a guy $2M/year and a $25M signing bonus in the top five when you can scootch down to about 15 and get a player who has every bit as much a chance to be a quality player and pay $1M/year and a $5 signing bonus? I hate fans who want to draft a friggin' name. Reggie Bush may end up being worth it, but he's a rare player, and it's not like we have a shot at the top pick, nor do we have the luxury to be picking a RB.

Link.

Looks like Ted "The Hulk" Stevens' brute strength wasn't enough. On one hand, there won't be oil drilling in the short term, and we're going to continue to be beholden to OPEC (tho, we still would be; most of the oil drilled here isn't used here). On the other hand, necessity is the mother of all invention and it will put a fire under our butts for bringing alternative, renewable energy to market.

Unbelievable how? The rich and famous and their children are exempt from depression? A good friend's cousin in Greece killed himself a few years back. The note was very detailed as to why the decision was made; X was not greater than Y when he reflected on where he was in his life, and how, realistically, anything would change. I would argue that not all suicides are irrational. Tho at first blush, this case seems pretty tragic. It is sad that he couldn't work things out, and it's sad that it had to happen in a family that seems so nice in a world full of blowhards. One more example of how this is a pretty cruel world, and only the strong survive.

So, someone needs to work up a statistical analysis of the success of gadget/trick plays vs. traditional "Just f---ing run people over" plays? I think there's a reason other, successful coaches use those calls sparingly, whereas MM does about 6 per game, which can come to about 10-15-20 percent of a day's plays.

I'd like to think that democracy would and will work for them. Otherwise.... But these are people who've lived under rulers of one ilk or another for a few thousand years. They know better than to expect good things from the government, whatever its form --- despot, king, council, whatever. You could call this apathy, maybe, but it's simply a matter of trying to live their lives, get enough food for a day.... They'll vote if they can vote, they won't vote if they can't vote. The world doesn't end and young Sayeed still needs water. Maybe more important is how they deal with the transition from govt with its basis on the "tribal" micro to one that is more "Iraq" macro. So, yeah, the formation of one nation among three constituencies, and a government that works for all of them equally, is going to be a minor miracle.

Read the part about us not even asking for him to be extradicted. They've lost track of him. But I'm sure he's rehabilitated himself. No worry.

Link. Nice. I'm sure it's consolation to Mr. Stethem's family that, in place of justice, there's a Navy destroyer named after him.

Don't know about that. In those last two stints, the HCs who took over those teams led to a lot of playoff appearances on Parcells' work. Carroll/Belichick and Edwards. Maybe he is just that kind of coach --- one who can build the foundation, put up the walls and roof.... maybe a little white siding. Then it takes another kind of coach to come in and work the finer details. But that wholesale-change guy is exactly what we need right now.

He, of all people, knew full well what he was getting when he signed Drew. Got him to one Super Bowl. And I wouldn't be surprised, if Parcells can plug a couple more holes and get some quality backups on their OL, if it gets him to another w/in three years. Then Parcells will retire. Again. It'd be nice, and I'd be all for it. But it's a pipe dream.

Nick, I really enjoyed your blog entry on the Pats game. Sounds like it was quite an experience. Run-blocking was supposed to be one of the strengths for the OL, MW especially. I don't think it's the fault of their play, it's the lack of the OC (now the HC) calling running plays. He outsmarts himself calling pass plays b/c the Ds show 8 in the box. F--- 8 in the box; call a short pass to keep them honest, but a coach with any stones must show that he won't be dictated upon. In his two years as Pitt's OC, MM first used Bettis and his RBs in great form --- didn't matter what or how, Bettis ran over people in the same way he always ran over us; his second year, he went tricksy, effectively benched Bettis and wasn't missed when he came here. And, I'm at the point where I don't know if Willis is the right RB for such an offense, not that this is in reality a "power running team." That's not really the type of offense he made his bones with at the U.

Why would he leave when he's just about built his team to how he wants it?

From the frontpage: [Referencing the bold phrase] He does? That's certainly news to me. His excuse for not using the run is like my nephew saying he won't brush his teeth every night because he doesn't brush his teeth every night. Hard to establish something when you don't do it. And, for the record, I will take a HC who knows that the opponents know what he's going to do, and he runs all over them anyway. Better to dictate the game than be dictated upon and "take what the opponent gives you." Mularkey is a chicken, and I'll say it to his face.

Leave 'im alone. He's on a roll.

Funny how someone who railed against the eminent domain ruling is so quick to forfeit the rights to private holdings of someone else. Oh wait. This is VA-lahjik. Carry on!

'"That's been the story of our season," Bills quarterback Kelly Holcomb said. "We move the ball, then at crucial times we do something that's not smart. Those guys are division leaders over there. It's enough just to beat those guys, but when we beat ourselves, we give ourselves no chance."' I put this through the Bledsoe filter, and look what came up: "That's been the story of the games I've played in," Bills back-up quarterback Kelly Holcomb said. "We move the ball up until the red zone, then at crucial times, I do something that's not smart. Like throw a 2-yard pass on 3rd and 10 or 3rd and 25 or 3rd and 8. Those guys [the Broncos] are division leaders over there, which is something we probably won't see for a while with our combination of GM, coaching staff and players. It's enough just to beat those guys, but when I make decisions that beat ourselves, such as throwing a 2-yard pass on 3rd and 10 or 3rd and 25 or 3rd and 8, and just generally being unwilling to throw the ball down the field when we need it, I give my team no chance." "I look at my statline and see 17/20, and I'm like DoubleU-Tee-Eff? I should be a starter in this league! What does it matter that I can't lead the team to the W? This is my team when I'm in there."

And the pirates! Don't forget about the pirates.