Cugalabanza

Happy Birthday, bastards! I drink in honor of your rapidly declining faculties.

Cotton, my most sincere condolences. I can't imagine having to go through what your family has endured. I'm inspired by your courage. There are brighter times ahead for your family.

Thinking of and praying for your family, Cotton.

Cheers!

Thanks everybody for the support. It really helps. Yesterday I felt like I was doing ok. Today it's about all the memories washing over me.

The married? These buncha bastards? Have a great day, all!

This Saturday, my amazing dog Billie had to be put to sleep. I was there with her to the end, holding her in my arms. I’m heartbroken because I miss my beautiful old girl, but I know it was the right thing. Her health had been deteriorating for a while and it was time for her to rest. For 15 great years she was my best friend and I couldn’t have had a better one. She was the kindest sweetest dog I’ve ever known. She made me feel like Charlie Brown... I was just this shlump of a guy who happened to have the coolest dog in the world. Everybody who met her fell in love with her. She will be missed. Rest in peace, sweet Billie.

Why thank you. I've never been on this end of it before. Happy Day to all the Dads!

Went to two birthday parties for one year olds this weekend. (My girl’s daycare classmates). I think I'm gonna sleep at my desk for a while this morning.

USA 3 A&B 1. Overall grade for the US: D Only three players impressed me tonight: Hercules Gomez Clarence Goodson Carlos Bocanegra (even though he made his usual bonehead mistakes, he did get a goal and he played much better than expected after filling in at left back.) This team is in for a rude awakening in Guatemala on Tuesday if they don't improve their attitude. Hope Tores is ok.

Yup, I see that now.

What’s the acceptable waiting period before I can add this to my “Yo Mama So Fat...” repertoire?

Yup. I'm definitely gonna catch that one. There are a bunch of games I'm excited about. Gotta make sure to clear some space on the ol' dvr.

Soccer, soccer, soccer... USA starts the WC2014 qualifying tonight vs. Antigua and Barbuda. If they don’t impress tonight against this Island nation with roughly the same population as a sold out Ralph Wilson Stadium, then Jürgy gots problems.

Full schedule here (suitable for framing) Group A is kind of a dud. Poland, Greece, Russia, Czech Rep. These are the teams playing today. Russia is the favorite here. Group B is the one everybody is calling the “Group of Death.” It has Germany, Netherlands and Portugal, all capable of winning the tournament but only two teams make it out of each group to the next stage. Denmark is actually pretty good too, but they got like zero chance in this group. Group C has Spain, Italy, Ireland and Croatia. I’ll be pretty surprised if it’s not Spain and Italy advancing. Group D . I’ll be rooting for England to do well. France is supposed to be really good again after embarrassing themselves horribly in the World Cup. Ukraine and Sweden are in there too. My personal favorite: The Netherlands

Really touched by your story, Cotton, and totally rooting & praying for your little girl with a big heart.

***LAMP*** Big week for my little girl. She got surgery to put tubes in her ears so she (hopefully) won't get any more ear infections. She started taking steps on her own. She bumped up to the fancy forward-facing car seat. And I ordered her a mini Fitz jersey for her birthday coming up in three weeks.

Here's the real fraud: They call themselves the "Miss Universe Pageant" but there are exactly zero representatives allowed from other solar systems.

I guess you could look at it like a chainsaw is really just a very very coarse sander.

Lackluster performance. Boring game. Dullsville. Particularly disappointed in the play of: Castillo, Donovan, Jermaine Jones

I hereby reinstate myself as eligible to win this thread. I win.

Yup. I recently caught myself referring to a good fast-paced game as “a rather incendiary fixture.”

Really? I think she's gorgeous.

Broken heart?

At first glance, I thought Braves Sandstorm was the name of the reporter. I kind of like that. I'm gonna pretend that's what this was about.