Do you know why Seinfeld is the greatest TV show of all time?

Just click the title and find out.

Yeah, that's right, it may have actually started a holiday. December 23rd. To many of us, that's Christmas Eve eve, but to Seinfeld fans it's Festivus.

The link in the title is where you can actually purchase a Festivus Pole for just under 40 bucks, but at the bottom of the page there is a blog.

The most recent post talks about a high number of aluminum light poles being stolen from Baltimore road ways. Apparently they do get stolen from time to time, but not like they are now.

There is also a book on Festivus available at Amazon.com.

WKU Whups Up On UAB

How do you get over a four point loss to Georgia? You go to UAB and hit 15 threes beating the Blazers by 16 points. It's going to be a crazy season to be a WKU fan, but that was a definite highlight. Today I'm officially starting my campaign to get Anthony Winchester noticed nationally.

Winchester has been an impact player since being named Freshman of the Year in 02-03 in the Sun Belt. This year he's playing his best. In four games he's shooting 51.6% from the floor, 48.1% from three point range, 72% from free throws (he's typically above 80% but was just 5/9 against UGA, take that game away and he's at 89%) he averages 23 points, 5.8 rebounds, 3.5 assists.

Winchester is a quintessential college basketball player. He's being viewed regularly by NBA scouts. I don't know if he'll make it to the NBA, but he should. The NBA would benefit from having players like Anthony.

I'm writing this because I'll bet you as a reader and college basketball fan have never heard of Anthony Winchester. Let me fill you in:
As a sophomore he scored 26 against Mississippi State (when State was VERY good)
He also scored 40 against La-Lafayette that year.
As a junior he played PF at only 6'4" because the team needed him to. He responded by averaging 18 points and 7 rebounds shot 45.3% from 3 and over 50% overall.

Whether or not you ever root for the Hilltoppers, get on the Winchester bandwagon. This guy is what college basketball is all about.

O Christmas Tree

So Christmas is here and it seems like only yesterday it was the 4th of July. How do I know, well french_toast went to Target and bought our first christmas tree. It's a good place to start and at the amazing price on this one it is money well spent. Some of you will remember that we had a December wedding a little less than three years ago. What this translates into is lots of Christmas decor as wedding gifts. When we jammed the uhaul full of stuff back in June, we didn't have room for the decorations. So, we decided to wait and bring them back on Thanksgiving. Guess what. We forgot that we didn't have them stored in the attic. So it will be next year that we break out the full enchilata. For this year we'll have to make due with the few we did bring down.

Christmas time is here at least according to TV.

Here’s your holiday TV show lineup including TV shows, movies, and other crap. Well, most of it is crap, the only things you really want to watch are the old animated or claymated shows from your childhood. Beginning (and ending with some) with A Charlie Brown Christmas on Dec. 6. When that comes on you know it is time to get into the Christmas spirit. The music is so great, especially the kids singing Christmas Time is Here.

My favorite part of the show is when Snoopy acts out all of the animals he is supposed to play and he perches on top of Lucy’s (?) head and portrays a vulture. Snoopy is and will always be a comic genius. A Charlie Brown Christmas will probably be the only one I DVR, but I will watch it about a thousand times along with Christmas Vacation and Friday After Next. That is the perfect holiday entertainment pack.

Other shows that are sure to bring the Christmases of your childhood flooding back include: Rudolph the Red Nosed Reindeer Nov 30, Santa Claus is Coming to Town Dec 2, Frosty the Snowman Dec 17, and others that are not as old or I haven’t seen. You can click the link and see what else our old friend the TV has to offer. Check your local listings. Enjoy!!!!

Rock n Roll Hall of Fame inductees for 2006 and it's about time for one.

All I can say is it’s about time. Black Sabbath is finally being inducted into the Rock n Roll Hall of Fame. Why this took so long I do not know. This band has influenced as many bands as The Beatles. You cannot listen to heavy rock today and not hear Sabbath in every song. Sabbath began the scary heavy rock movement. Just get Black Sabbath’s first cd entitled Black Sabbath and put it in the cd player, turn out the lights and crank up track one, also titled Black Sabbath and get ready to crap your pants.

I wonder if the band will be at the induction, for years Ozzy has been asking for Sabbath’s name to be taken off the nominee list. He doesn’t believe the Rock n Roll Hall of Fame means anything; it’s the fans that tell you if you mean something. I tend to agree because Kiss has not been elected to the Hall of Fame when one hit wonders can get in, but I will save that rant for another time.

Lynyrd Skynyrd are going in. They are so good that I can’t listen to them anymore. I used to listen to some Skynyrd everyday for about 6 months and I can’t do it anymore, total burnout. Blondie is also going in. Blondie is a great band (although some may disagree with that, Bratch) that really brought New Wave music to the forefront of 80’s rock. Blondie started out as a punk band and then transformed into a New Wave band and speaking of punk, the Sex Pistols will be inducted this year also. Now I am not a huge Sex Pistols fan, I am more of a Ramones man, but I realize that they are a huge band when it came to the punk movement. The Sex Pistols are Nirvana for the punk movement so I am fine with this induction. Miles Davis is going in as well and I know nothing about Davis. I am not a Jazz fan, more of a Blues guy. I do know that Miles Davis is the man when it comes to Jazz. I have no problem with this induction.

Overall not a bad class, all deserving as far as I can see. The only problem I had is the time it took Black Sabbath to get in. It makes me wonder what you have to do to get in because a great catalog of work and being the major influence of a whole music scene obviously isn’t enough. I’m gonna go dig up my Sabbath and Blondie cds and rock out.

Nick and Jessica, who saw this coming?

If Sivart didn’t have some important things going in his life right now, I’m sure this would have shown up on his radar. Nick and Jessica have called it quits. I am shocked, SHOCKED, I say. Who saw this coming? These two crazy kids looked like they were going to make it. She was a brainless, big breasted, no talent and he was a kind of mean to his big breasted wife, no talent. If there were a better match I don’t know what it would be.

The couple released a statement on the day before Thanksgiving and asked all of us to respect their privacy. Um, what was that? Respect your privacy? Didn’t these two nimrods pretty much have their lives as a couple broadcast on TV? From wedding to right before divorce, most of the time we saw Nick he seemed jealous of her success and neither seemed to respect each other. But isn’t that how it goes in a marriage?

I wonder if MTV will be airing another show starring Nick and Jessica called, Nick and Jessica: Newly Divorced. We could follow Jessica as she makes out with scummy skate punks and watch Nick seduce coeds on a tour of America’s colleges. Now that sounds like a show.

I hope that the new baby can take away the pain Sivart must be feeling over the breakup. I know we all will need something to help us get by. Next thing you know Brtiney and Kevin will be splitting up. No no no, I don’t think the country could handle that.

Is it time to think about letting Tubby go?

Basketball season is here and I’m sure some University of Kentucky fans are already upset. Why is that? Well I’ll tell you. UK has already blown a chance at an undefeated season. Of course it’s all Tubby Smith’s fault. I know that sounds idiotic, but I am sure there is someone out there that feels this way. The UK Wildcats head coaching job is the most pressure packed job in college basketball without a doubt.

Where else would a coach who over the last three years has won more games than any other coach in college basketball still be questioned about his coaching skills? Where else would a coach who wins just about 80% of his games get second guessed for even the most minute decisions? I’ll tell you where, right here in the Bluegrass State.

The man has won an NCAA title for Rupp’s sake. Not many coaches even get a sniff at one of those. Now here come the detractors, “Yeah, but he won with Pitino’s players.” He did, but some of you act like that was the 1996 UK team and the players were so good they needed no coach. If you reflect back, that was not the case, far from it. So the whole “Tubby was carried by Pitino’s players” complaint doesn’t hold water, unless you just happen to know nothing about the game of basketball.

I have always maintained that if Pitino knew he could get another NCAA title, he would have never left UK. The man has an ego, the Celtics job or any other bad NBA job would have been open to Pitino after the 1998 season. In fact, another NCAA title would have more than likely increased his asking price and we all know that the only reason Ricky left in the first place was for the cash.

I have never realized why UK fans can’t be happy that they are always in the hunt to win an NCAA title. I guess they are just spoiled more than other teams. Nothing short of a championship will be accepted. I don’t see UCLA fans putting this much pressure on their team. You don’t think that WKU or Murray State fans would strangle their dogs to have a serious chance at a national championship every year? I bet 80% of them would punt their dog like a football for a Sweet 16 finish every season.

Kentucky is a hotbed for hoops and has been for many years. We seem to have more unemployed basketball coaches here than any state in the world. I get caught up in the wave of second guessing too. Luckily for bleacher seat coaches, we live in a country where you can voice your opinion freely. In the former Soviet Union when a fan questioned the moves of the coach of the Russian National basketball team, they were shot at sunrise.

In my life as a Kentucky fan, I have never seen a UK coach more hated than Tubby. I hope I am not being too naïve to believe that it is only because he happened to follow Rick Pitino and not for other ignorant reasons that shouldn’t be serious reasons to hate anyone in this day and age. If you look back over the last eight years, we can see that Tubby has had a better run than Ricky P. Can anyone say Celtics?

So another season begins and another year of, “What the heck is Tubby doing out there?!?!?” and “Let’s get rid of that guy.” As far as I am concerned UK needs to stand pat and UK fans need to appreciate the fact that UK is a contender every year and a majority of schools in Division 1 basketball cannot say that

Whew, thank you for letting me get that rant out of the way because with that being said, it may be time for UK to find a new coach. I know, I know, I was a Tubby defender and I still am. I still believe that he is one of the five or ten best coaches in the game right now as you can read in the opening paragraphs and I think UK is lucky to have him, you can feel a but coming up, can’t you. BUT, he has not appeared in a Final Four since the 1998 season and we are coming up on 8 years since UK’s last Final Four appearance. If I am indeed correct with my facts, and there is a good chance I am not, the Wildcats have never gone longer than eight seasons without appearing in a Final Four. As you can see, I am a little touched with fair weather Wildcat fever and the only cure is not more cowbell, but a Final Four appearance.

While I am not so delusional that I expect UK to win the NCAA title every year, (because frankly no team can win every year in this day and age) but I do expect to make it to the Final Four every three or four years. I would also like to beat Michigan State in an Elite Eight game. I am not in favor of dumping Tubby if he doesn’t make the Final Four this year or even the next year, in fact I am very excited to see what Tubby will make out of this current team that has no post presence whatsoever. BUT if or when he approaches that tenth year without a Final Four appearance, I believe that the university should at least look at the option of perhaps going in a different direction.

I have been satisfied with the job Tubby Smith has done and I am not sure who UK could get if they let him go. At one time many were hoping Billy Donovan would be the coach, but that would be a nightmare. For one thing his Florida teams have never been known for their toughness and one thing you can say about Tubby’s teams, they play defense and they are tough. Not too mention the fact that you would obviously want someone who was a better coach than Tubby to take his place and Billy Donovan is not.

If Tubby were let go I don’t see the coaches from Duke, North Carolina, UConn, or any other so called “big” program coming to UK. I especially do not see Rick Pitino coming back so don’t think that as soon as Tubby leaves that Rick is going to swoop in and take over. Pitino is gone, move on. So besides about 5 coaches in the game right now, UK could not bring anyone in as good as or better than Tubby. Thankfully it wouldn’t be my responsibility to find a replacement.

As I am writing this I am beginning to hate myself, I am turning into the one thing I thought I would never turn into, a spoiled, rabid, irrational, arrogant, delusional UK basketball fan. I guess we all have it in us; it just takes something to trigger it. For me it is an eight year Final Four drought, for others it is losing one game in the season. At least I’m not that guy.

I love it when you call me big papa

This is what all the fuss is about. Zil and I are proud to announce the birth of our son Nedia. Ok, this backwards stuff is getting silly.

Liz and I are proud to announce the birth of Aiden Christopher on 11/14/2005 at 7:43PM. He weighed in at 7lbs 9.5 ozs and he was 19 inches long. Both baby and mother are healthy and happy, praise God.

I don't typically get too preachy, especially on here, but the birth of a child is proof of God in my eyes. I pity those who see it as anything less.

New blood...

Over the past few weeks Piccu and I have noticed a decline in readership as well as a decline in posting from our contributors.

So last night Piccu and I made an executive decision and decided to acquire a highly touted rookie that we found on the free agent wire.

I have extended the invitation and I'm expecting their arrival any day now.

Piccu and I have high expectations for this rookie and we expect them to become impact players very quickly.

That being said, with a solid rookie coming in that Piccu and I know can write, some of you veterans who aren't posting quite as much as you used to had better be looking over your shoulder.

On a side note, Piccu and I should have went straight to Wal-Mart last night before we went home. They had 8 Xbox 360's and didn't sell all of them until 5 a.m. That's $2,500 down the drain.

ABC is cancelling Alias. Happy Thanksgiving? Not bloody likely.

I hope all have been having a happy Thanksgiving and I was until I saw the news that I had been expecting for a while. I was rolling along enjoying my long weekend, eating a piece of sweet potato pie the size of a car battery for lunch and I saw it. Alias is coming to an end this March. What have we done to deserve this and on Thanksgiving as well. ABC sucks and I hope they drop in ratings and fall to last place again like they were all those years ago. Without Alias I do not even have a reason to watch ABC so I hope that they are happy. We should all boycott ABC and Disney (except ESPN they haven't done anything to anybody).

Luckily, it sounds like Alias is going to go out with a bang. I believe the ax fell early enough for them to write some great episodes to give the die hard fans some closure when the series ends in May. The creators said they would not be winding down, but revving up as they reach the end. Perhaps this will draw more viewers. It's obvious that the creators have nothing to lose and should just go for it. They should use any story they were perhaps scared to use before. I want them to just totally go off the deep end and send the show out with a bang.

Well, now that I have regurgitated my sweet sweet potato pie and vented my hate against ABC I feel a little better. I am excited about what is going to come next. Well, I know the end is next, but the time between now and then should be very interesting.

David Banner is all p@%*ed off. David who?

David Banner is angry, and you wouldn’t like him when he’s angry. Or something like that. The rapper has been raising money for the victims of hurricane Katrina, in fact raising over $500,000 already. He organized a benefit concert in Atlanta in September in which many stars in hip-hop donated their time. Now Banner is angry that all the efforts that are being done to help people seem to be getting little press. Banner complains that he would have gotten more press if he and another rapper were feuding or if he had shot someone.

He is true. In today’s music world the old saying “there is no such thing as bad publicity” is antiquated. The new saying is now, “Bad publicity is good publicity.” In fact, on an episode of Bones on Fox, a rapper who was called in for questioning in a murder negotiated with the lead detective into arresting him and charging him with the murder in exchange for some information that would lead them to the real killer even though he was innocent. I would be willing to bet that many publicists in hip hop have thought about the dream crime their client could commit. You know, a crime that has street cred but wouldn’t involve any real consequences.

I think that if Banner had worked something out with another rapper and started a feud, he could have gotten all the press he wanted. He could have started a feud with Nelly (who wouldn’t feel comfortable feuding with Nelly) and then could have arranged to “squash” it at the benefit concert. That would have given his cause some pub and would have helped himself to some pub. Let's face it, the world already knows Nelly, what we need now is more David Banner. Every reporter would have been there to document this joyous coming together of the Hulk’s alter ego and the guy with the band-aid under his eye.

What would have gotten more publicity would have been for him to kneecap Nelly on live TV, I would tune in for that. I would provide the bullets. Let’s face it, maybe all David Banner’s problems are because his name is David Banner. Have all the crazy rap names been taken? Perhaps if he were MC Davy B he would have had his concert on MTV. Maybe he should think about a name change before lashing out at the always fair and unbiased media.

Ah, Thanksgiving the day of pranks.

I have investigated this somewhat and I thought I would open this up to the board. Target is apparently having a big sale event on Friday and Saturday and to make sure you do not miss this Target is offering to give you a wake up call on those mornings. All you have to do is get on their website, enter a phone number, a name, and an email address and that's it. Then you have to wait one hour and call an 800 number to confirm the call.

The trick to this is that you have to call the 800 number from the number you want to confirm. You will need to register the wake up call one hour or so before you go to the victim’s house and then after a nonsuspicious amount of time, ask to use the phone and make the confirmation call. Then your unsuspecting friend or enemy will get a nice wake up call at 4 AM or a time of your choosing. You can also leave a tuck in call for 12 AM. I recommend that you do this to as many people as you can for a Happy Thanksgiving. Click the title for the link. Enjoy!!

He's a she? No, She's a he. ABC's Wife Swap has pulled the old switcheroo.

We should have seen this coming. Apparently the wonderful hit show Wife Swap on ABC (read that line as if it were coated and deep-fried in sarcasm) has switched a wife for a gay man. The husband who got stuck with the dude is from Oklahoma (red state alert, red state alert) and is surprisingly upset about this whole deal. I can understand why. If I were to swap my wife, I expect to be able to sleep with a new female wife. This whole thing boils down to you get what you asked for. This idiot wanted to be on TV so he could be the most popular guy at the barber shop and he got got. Surely this crossed his mind. Why wouldn’t ABC take a gay couple and send one to Oklahoma, the heart of W.’s America?

ABC is just trying to capitalize on a (apparently true) stereotype and do not let them tell you different. I imagine they will play this up as a grand sociological experiment trying to bring two different lifestyles together in perfect harmony. ABC is now being sued by the dupe and he claims that if getting the old switcheroo wasn’t bad enough the producers kept telling the man his wife was leaving him. I assume that if this happens during the filming of Wife Swap you have to keep your new wife, so this had to be very frightening for the Oklahoma man.

The producers also would not let the man know his wife’s location unless he participated in the show. I guess this was in the contract too, if you do not participate in the show you will never see your significant other again. The Oklahoma man also claims that his new gay wife invited a gay group to his church’s bible study. I am surprised this happened. Who knew Haileyville, Oklahoma had such a big gay Christian community and how did the new gay wife find them? Want ad? Internet? (Not in Oklahoma.) Gun range?

ABC has no plans to air the episode, but I’ll tell you this, when they do I’m there. I have never watched a Wife Swap show or a Trading Spouses show because, well, they seem like total crap. This is the kind of sweeps stunt that could hook me for a week or two. In the end I hope we all get what we want. Cletus will get some money, ABC will get to show this episode on TV, and we will get to see the most uncomfortable hour of television history.

It has returned...

After several weeks without our precious widescreen HDTV, we finally had it return from the repair shop. Personally, I was hoping to have wasted that $250 on the warranty, but I guess it was money well spent since the delivery mileage alone was $200.

We also got our HD satellite receiver from Dish Network. It's pretty solid, but I'm hoping they up the HD channels. Right now there are only about five or so, but what they have are pretty good. Unfortunately, ESPNHD, the reason we wanted the HD receiver in the first place, is a joke. The games themselves aren't in HD. The dudes in the studio and the graphics are in HD, but the cameras at the games that are broadcasting the game apparently are not HD. The games are broadcast on the HD channel with these cool "HD" bars on the side to take up the space that the 4:3 picture ratio leaves from the broadcast cameras at the games.

There are a few games broadcast in HD, but "few" is the key word. Most days the actual HD broadcasting is done in 20 minute spurts according to the ESPNHD schedule. Kind of crappy, but I'm assuming that the good folks at ESPN are going to upgrade their hardware.

What is cool is Discovery HD Theater. It's unbelievable. It's like you are looking out of a window into the Guiana Highlands of Venezuela. At least that's what it was tonight. It's unbelievable. Some researchers were in these giant sink holes in table mountains in South America and they were finding new species of animals everywhere. Giant waterfalls and lush green landscapes were too cool in HD.

Combine the Discovery HD Theater with Monday Night Football and that will keep us satisfied and give us our HD fix.

A Thanksgiving cornucopia of sports.

I have a few things I would like to talk about this week, so I think we will get into a grab bag situation and I will randomly hop, skip, and jump around the sports map. Let’s hunt.

Not more steroids news

Yes, more steroids news. Major League Baseball has agreed to strengthen their drug testing policy. This means that if you test positive for steroids one time you will get a 50 game suspension. If you test positive a second time you get 100 games and if you test positive for steroids a third time you will be banned from baseball. This was a shock, not because of the new penalties, but because the owners have finally strong armed the players for once.

As long as I can remember the MLB players union never bent unless they thought it would help them. The owners could never come in and demand anything, they had no power. That all changed with the threat of Congress. I guess the MLB players union decided they would rather come up with their own penalties than to be forced by Congress to accept government testing most likely in the form of the testing used by the IOC for the Olympics. The IOC testing penalties are very stringent; they call for a two year ban for a first positive and a lifetime ban for a second positive. I guess the players union thought that 50 games were better than two years.

I think the owners were glad that Congress stuck its nose in their business. This was the only way they could get the union to bow to their needs and not the other way around as has been the case since the beginning of time. MLB also got amphetamines thrown into the testing as well, which we may find out is much worse than steroids. The penalties are not quite as stringent for amphetamines, but it’s a start.

What are my feelings on this? Mr. I Don’t Care if Baseball Players Want to Use Steroids to Entertain Me, well, I’ll tell you. As long as there are real penalties for using and MLB is making an effort than I am pleased. The reason I did not care that much whether players used or not was the fact that not even MLB cared and the fans sure didn’t care. Steroid use had been going on for more than a decade and baseball knew this and chose to ride the home run to record breaking attendance. Now it shows they are making an effort. The only problem is that there are certain substances that will not show up in a urine test and baseball is only using a urine test. HGH will not be detected and we all know there are some weasaly little chemical geeks in a lab somewhere working on a formula for undetectable steroids. The crooks are always one step ahead of the law when it comes to things like this. It’s just good to see that MLB is now taking things seriously and I applaud them for that.

I thought defense wins.

I admittedly am not a huge football fan, but I do enjoy sports so I can enjoy a good game and this weekend I enjoyed two great games. I happened to get in a little early on Saturday night and I tuned my satellite into the USC-Fresno St game. At the moment I first saw the score, Fresno State was up on the defending champs and I became giddy with joy. Why? Well, there are only two undefeated teams left and because of the stupid, idiotic, moronic, numbskullian, dipweed, BCS nonsense; it appears everything will work out for them. With two undefeated teams left, there is no question which two teams should play for the national championship. I want one or no undefeated teams left and about 14 one loss teams fighting for the title. And any chance to make the BCS committee look like a round table of imbeciles is a good thing for the universe.

That being said, I was rooting for Fresno state, hard. I knew that they had about a 30% chance of winning but I thought I would watch the game nonetheless. I’m glad I did because I witnessed one of the best single game performances ever. Reggie Bush for USC sealed the Heisman trophy up on Saturday night. He was amazing in running up over 500 all purpose yards. Every time a ball was kicked he was there. Every time a pass was thrown he was there. Every time the ball was handed off, he was there. He was like Santa Claus. He was everywhere.

Even though Bush was basically the total offense for USC, he was not playing defense and neither was anyone else. This game was a barn burner in every sense of the word. Fresno State had the lead going into the third quarter 21-13, and then the USC Trojans decided to play and ran off 28 points in the third to Fresno’s 7. The fourth quarter while not as explosive as the third was just as exciting. It all came down to the familiar two minute drill. Fresno State had just under two minutes to drive 80 yards and score a TD and get the two point conversion to force overtime. They were driving and the Fresno quarterback, Paul Pinegar, threw a strike for the end zone. It was intercepted and USC held on for the win 50-42. Fresno State came as close as anyone this year to beating a team that hasn’t lost in like 10 years. If not for the five, yes five, turnovers in the second half alone, perhaps they would have. I was devastated but glad I got to see the unbelievable game by Bush. Tell all your friends he is your Heisman Trophy winner, book it.

Speaking of no defense, I checked out the Indianapolis Colts-Cincinnati Bengals game on Sunday and enjoyed another great game, well, great for those of you who don’t like defense to make an appearance in a football game. My Bengals are finally trying to become a respectable team and the Colts are perhaps the best team to have played in the NFL in the last five years. Another offensive explosion, much like that of the USC-Fresno State game, was expected in this game and these two teams did not disappoint. One team would drive and score and then the other team would drive and score, unfortunately for Cincinnati, they had too many field goals and not enough touchdowns at the end of the game, losing 45-37.

The game featured a great performance by Bengals receiver Chad Johnson. I am not talking about catches or touchdowns scored; I am talking about his celebration after scoring a touchdown. Chad Johnson caught a touchdown pass from Carson Palmer, ran off to the side line, ran up to a cheerleader, got down on one knee and took her hand as if he were proposing to her. Apparently she said yes because he got up and hugged her. The NFL will probably suspend him for the rest of the season because they can’t handle a little fun. I look forward to seeing the touchdown celebrations more than anything else it seems. That is why I miss Terrell Owens, well that and the fact I have picked him up on waivers in my fantasy football league. Hopefully TO will get back on the field and start entertaining us again and scoring me some fantasy points, but I digress.

As you can see I had a rather boring, but eventful weekend and hope to parlay that into a long four day weekend full of sports and giblet gravy this Thanksgiving. I hope all five of my regular readers have a Happy Thanksgiving (even though the idiot of a sports editor at the Times News did not feel the need for a sports column this week) and in the words of the great philosopher Chick McGhee, “Wherever you go, whatever you do, always be a good sport.”

UCW invades the OC and my heart.

This weekend, Bratch and I attended an event, an event we have not attended in close to 20 years. We attended some real live professional wrestling. A few weeks back, we went to SC to visit Merlin and French Toast and the Little Rascals and I found out that there was going to be professional wrestling at the local high school that same weekend. I joked about how we should have postpone the trip so we could attend the event, but I was only really half joking. This event was going to have former WWE stars Test and Billy Gunn and current TNA stars on the card and it has been many years since “real” wrestlers have been in the county. To top everything off, the legendary “Superstar” Bill Dundee was going to be there.

As a child living in BD we were exposed the WWF wrestling and wrestling out of the Memphis area that we called “Channel 7 Wrestling” because of the channel it came on. This wrestling was much better than WWF and actually in later years supplied the WWF with its major stars. We are talking Randy Savage, Ric Rude, The Undertaker, anyone who was anyone wrestled in Memphis. My personal top 5 wrestlers in Memphis all time are:
1. Jerry Lawler
2. Bill Dundee
3. Randy Savage
4. The Fabulous Ones
5. P Y Chu Hi (not really, I just liked the name)

As you can see by my ranking I loves me some Bill Dundee. I thought that weekend would be the last to see the “Superstar” someone I would much rather see than Merlin, let’s be honest. Thank the stars I got a second chance this past Saturday. The UCW group was having another show at the OC fair grounds and Dundee was scheduled to appear. Also scheduled were a couple of brothers with the last name of Maddox, Merlin I am sure knows the brothers I am referring to. Apparently they have become real deal professional wrestlers, at least as real deal as you can be wrestling in the OC.

At first I wondered if I really did want to go, but Bratch would not be denied. He was going come hell or high water, so I decided to take him. We arrive about 30 minutes before the first match. We get out of the truck and begin the journey to Building #2 in which the matches will take place. I noticed a car had just pulled in and parked and the trunk opened up. I saw one of those metal suitcases and surmised this to be a wrestler’s car and I was right. Out of the car stepped the “Superstar” himself. I froze and just kept walking. I couldn’t believe that I couldn’t say anything to a 55 year old wrestler whose best days are well behind him, I am a geek.

We made it to the front door and as soon as I opened the door I realized this might not be great idea. There were about 20 people in there, most belonging to the White Trash classification of the species. Bratch’s and my IQ dropped 70 points; I guess that is why I paid for our admission. We see our friend, Roach, ringside and we go and sit down. The whole time I was there waiting for the show to start I couldn’t believe I had not gotten up and ran from the building. Finally around 50 to 60 people arrive and half appear to not realize that pro wrestling is scripted and the other half are drunk and/or high on crank.

The show began and wrestlers I had never heard of kept coming out and after a bit, I realized that this wasn’t so bad. Even Bratch was having a good time. I must explain that when I watch wrestling, I do not necessarily cheer and yell, at least not for the “good guys.” I always enjoy it when the “bad guys” win and I am just looking for some entertainment. I like to sit back and watch the fans that seem to suspend too much belief get into the matches by cussing the wrestlers and threatening to beat them up after the show.

I got my first good dose of entertainment in the second match. The entertainment was Ryan Dookie who did not have the look but had the charisma of a wrestler. Another named Eric Young was so good I actually went home that night to see him on Spike TV because he is a part of TNA wrestling. Young did a running commentary throughout his match, and because there were only 50 or 60 people in attendance you could hear him the whole time. He made the whole night worthwhile.

There was an intermission and Bratch and I went outside to debate as to whether or not to return and we met some drunken dude who inquired if he could relieve himself behind Bratch’s truck. Bratch told him to go for it and the whole time this jackass was taking a leak he was talking about how he was going to jump the “bad guy” wrestlers after the show. He would make sure they would never come back to the OC again. He was probably right because they would have murdered this a-hole and would be imprisoned. We decide to go back in and we find out our judge executive is taking part in the show. It turns out he is the wrestling fan’s candidate.

The intermission ends and the main event begins. The “Superstar” came out with the younger Maddox brother to wrestle against Mike Samples (the Maddox’s trainer) and a masked wrestler taking the place of a wrestler who no showed. We all began trying to guess the masked wrestler's name, we thought about the Invader, Mr. Wrestling, Bratch even came up with a member of the great Memphis tag team, Rough and Ready. We were all wrong the man in the mask was…The Phantom, dun, dun, duuuuuun. The match was pretty good, the Maddox boy got beat pillar to post and Bill Dundee got the crowd into the match, but he probably had some help from Budweiser and crank, nevertheless. The match ended with Dundee rolling up Samples for the pin and the show ended.

As I look back on this night I guess we had a pretty good time but I am left with a few questions. Who did I feel the most embarrassment for? The wrestlers who appear on Spike TV every week because they had to come to the OC to wrestle in front of 50 rednecks? The judge executive for appearing at the show? For us being seen by the judge executive at the show? Whatever the case, I feel like I will be going back to embarrass myself again and I know Bratch will drag me there no matter what.

Instant news...

This story will be all over the newspapers tomorrow, but talk about instant news.

The story linked in the title is about a Nike jet that has had a landing gear malfunction. Now I'm sure you are wondering, did it get down safely without anyone getting seriously hurt?

Well, that's the thing. As of right now, 2 p.m. Central time, it's still in the air. That's how instantaneous news is now. They are reporting the disaster before the disaster has even happened. Personally, I don't know that it will be a disaster. I think the jet will be ruined, but I don't see anyone getting hurt.

They are going to burn off all of the fuel they can and probably divert to a remote airport and belly land it. If that plane in L.A. can land with its front landing gear turned completely sideways, I think this plane can make it.

Tomorrow this will be all over the newspapers and no one will care. They will have watched the video on TV and read the articles just as I have on the Net and bypass the story on A-1.

Of course this is assuming that many newspapers will be stupid enough to run it as a big A-1 story after everyone has already heard everything about it.

A new arrival and Death Matching....

For those who haven't heard the news, Sivart and his wife had a bouncing baby boy last week. His name is Aiden (or Nedia, I guess) and following a short phone call after the birth and a phone call from Sivart's mother, Sivart has fallen off the face of the Earth.

It may be years before Sivart resurfaces. So if anyone wants Sivart's address to send over some cute University of Kentucky Wildcats baby clothes and toys, just email me and I'll get you the info.

Tee Hee!

I haven't blogged in a while since I've been working on a great little project for work that I now don't even wish to speak about at this point, but I should get back into the flow off things now. I believe that Merlin and French Toast are making their way back up here to the OC for Thanksgiving and hopefully we'll check out a movie or two. At least one UK basketball game.

I spoke with Merlin last night as he was unable to get Quake 4 to run on his computer. Apparently, Merlin went from not having gamed in 5 or 6 years to purchasing games that are on the bleeding edge of technology without upgrading his computer system first.

That being said, I did a little research on a new web site that I saw advertised on TV. It is linked in the title and it's called gametap.com. This website has thousands of games available to play via the internet as long as you have a broadband connection.

Merlin and I talked about the good old days when we had a small 4-5 PC network to deathmatch with and how it would be great to be able to do that every now and again. Well, this new website will make that somewhat possible. I did see some PC games that were big back in the day so we'll be able to do this someday. Of course, they'll have to figure out how to support Mac's first, but they know they need to get on that.

Talking about the network gaming reminds me of one of our funniest stories involving Merlin and a little game called Counter-Strike. Piccu and Merlin were the evil terrorists and myself and Sleeping Boy were the anti-terror authorities sent to destroy them.

Sleeping Boy and I had come around to the front of the house where Merlin and Piccu were holding the hostages. While Piccu was hiding with the hostages, Merlin thought he would get on the roof and get the drop on us as we worked our way around.

Merlin was roughly 3 stories high on top of this house and as soon as he saw us he opened fire. I was the closest to him with Sleeping Boy behind some rocks to my left. I was armed with only a shotgun and a pistol which didn't help me much since I was out of range with the shotgun.

So Merlin was at the edge of the roof when he opened up and Sleeping Boy and I let the bullets fly. I don't know what Sleeping Boy had, but it was an automatic sub-machine gun of some sort and I emptied my shotgun peppering Merlin before switching to my pistol.

The great thing about Counter-Strike and most first person shooter games is that if you get hit, it will move you around. So if you get hit in the left shoulder, you will spin in that direction.

Merlin was spinning wildly in all different directions since we were shredding him with lead. But we were so far away from him being so high up that we couldn't kill him. I guess he had body armor on. Anyway, while he was spinning around trying to reorient himself to shoot at us, he got a little too close to the edge and Sleeping Boy shot him off of the roof where he fell to his death.

I had emptied my pistol and got to witness the carnage after I reloaded and stepped out to open fire again. What made his great was hearing Merlin scream and yelp like a like a little girl in the other room as we unloaded on him.

Deathmatching is a nice stress reliever. You get to run around and release your frustrations with large caliber assault weapons and explosives killing your friends.

What's not to like?

I'm hoping that I'll be able to get into gaming a little more through GameTap.com as soon as they come up with some stinkin' Mac support. That is ultimately the only problem with Macs is that gaming is way behind despite the fact that Mac a 100 times more stable than Windows-based PCs. That and you have to spend a couple of grand for one capable of playing games like Quake 4. Even though Quake 5 will be out about the same time that Quake 4 is made available for the Mac.

Clemency for Tookie.

Has this man truly turned his life around? Does the fact he is trying to help stop gang violence really mean that much when it was in fact he who founded the Crips? Snoop Dog thinks so. Stanley “Tookie” Williams is on death row for any number of criminal charges, but apparently he has seen the light and has tried to be a model prisoner. I guess fans are rallying around him and trying to get clemency granted and have Tookie saved from the electric chair. Others are not sure about his redemption. I have no idea myself, but click the link and look at this cute little guy; doesn’t he deserve a second chance?

The Jacket: w/ Keira Knightley how can you really go wrong.

We just watched (actually I watched and french_toast assumed her post 9 'oclock sleeping postion) The Jacket. In brief, it's a movie about Adriene Brody who plays a post Desert Storm Vet who sustained serious brain damage. Through a series of events he ends up in a mental hospital under the misguided experimentation of psychiatrist played by Kris Kristopherson. During the course of the experimentation, he is placed intermittently in a straight jacket. It rapidly becomes difficult for both Brody and the audience what is real and what isn't.

I really enjoyed it. It is amazing what happens when you take any script and put some actors in who can actually act. Keira is one of my personal favorites and she did this unbelievable job of getting rid of her British accent. You need to check out this movie sometime. While I am on the subject, I also reccomend The Hole with Keira. It is pretty good too.

The Final Step

Well, it has been official since yesterday afternoon about four 'oclock eastern time: I passed Step 3 of the boards. For those of you who don't know what this exactly means let me give you the two sentence explanation. Physicians have to take three medical licensure exams over the course of your last two years of medical school and the first few of reidency. Once you pass the last one, the only thing you have left to study is your own subject area.

It is awesome for me to not have the headaches of having to study subjects will have no bearing on the remainder of my professional career. Also, the pressure is off for a while from a test standpoint.

Removing 'In God We Trust' from money? That's rich... Or not.

I briefly mentioned something like this in a post a while back, but I don't really see why this particular Athiest insists on removing God from every public thing.

First, he sued to have "under God" removed from the pledge, or at least have schools not recite it in the mornings and now he wants to 'In God We Trust" removed from money because it links the gov't with religion.

I think I've mentioned this before, but the separation of church and state was set up so that the government wouldn't pass a law saying we had to belong to a certain religion or else.

Like the church of George W. Bush.

Instead, the founding fathers wanted to ensure that they would have the freedom to worship how they wanted to so that they didn't risk sailing off of a flat Earth for nothing. I guarantee that several prayers were uttered on that trip.

I'm kind of wondering how this little trial will go down. He basically was asked to go away over a mild technicality last time. He was told that he couldn't proceed with the case against the Pledge because he didn't have custody of the daughter for which he was filing the case about to begin with. His argument was that his daughter was being force fed religion in the half second it took to say "under God".

I would think that he should see the big picture after that. They blew him off big time. They basically challenged him to get custody of his daughter and then go through the process all over again as if being a much publicized God-less heathen was going to score points toward getting custody.

However, lacking custody of his daughter doesn't change anything. Everything he was against is still going on. He has pointed out something that despite having gone on for over 50 years, it still is most likely wrong if the 229 year-old law is followed to the letter. But the courts didn't care.

So I'm wondering if the courts are going to find a loop-hole and toss him out on his ear like last time or if they are going to just have a judge say, "What if we don't want to remove 'In God We Trust,' what are you going to do about it? Boycott using money?"

Apparently, this moron has too much money if he can take the time to fight these frivolous cases.

Personally, I believe that if he really wants to get those words removed from money, he'll need the Christians backing him. After all, money is the root of all evil.

If he really wants to get it done, he'll need to mobilize a Christian movement to remove God's name from the evil dollar. That could get it done, but then he would have to associate himself with a religion.

That's heckuva catch-22 for an Athiest.

But then again, some Christians would say that at least there is a little good on money with God's name there.

However, there is nothing I hate worse then when a twenty dollar bill starts pushing that religion on you. They just on and on endlessly like you don't have anything else better to do.

In fact, just the other day I cashed a paycheck and a hundred dollar bill held a two day revival.

My driver's license and a stack of business cards got saved.

A case of mistaken identity leads to a very cool story from some loser.

I came upon this in my daily news roundup. It is credited to the Gawker, a kind of celeb gossip blog. They like to rip celebs to shreds so it is a good read sometimes. I saw this particular piece on Yahoo, actually. I do not know if it is real or just some guy’s imagination, but it certainly is interesting. It’s a story about a regular dude’s flirtatious brush with fame. Who did he almost brush up against? A one Miss Lindsay Lohan. Woof! Sivart probably won’t enjoy this but some of the rest of you might.

Jones Soda takes care of all your cooking worries on Thansgiving.

I have a confession to make. I purchased a Jones Soda Holiday pack last weekend. Maybe you have not heard of this, let me explain. Jones Soda is kind of a small soda company that makes all kinds of different flavors. They are different in the respect that they don’t have just orange or grape like the big soda companies. They have other flavors like watermelon, tangerine, black cherry, green apple, berry lemonade, strawberry lime and others. A year or so ago, I heard about their limited edition Holiday Pack. I looked for this special five pack but it seemed it was always sold out. Well, I tracked some down this time.

The Holiday Pack consists of many different flavors in soda form that have to do with the Holidays. Flavors such a turkey and gravy, country herb dressing, Brussels sprouts, cranberry, and pumpkin pie. Sounds delicious, right? Well, it isn’t. How do I know this? Well, here comes the confession. I bought one and tricked Bratch into buying one and we decided we would taste test some of the soda at Big Kev’s during the UK game this past Sunday night.

We arrive at Big Kev’s and needless to say Big Kev and Suze didn’t seem to be too enthused. At half time I broke into the turkey and gravy. It smelled weird but not horrible. I poured a little shot into a plastic cup and steeled my nerve and took a little taste. I have to say, it did taste a little turkey-y, which is not good. Turkey in soda form is not that great as you may have suspected. Bratch then took a shot and agreed with my take on it.

Bratch opened up the country herb dressing and poured a little into the cup. I by this time was feeling a little ill. I began to wonder if these were not for drinking and if I had ingested liquid botulism. Bratch took his swig of dressing and it didn’t go so well. He ran to the sink and spit it out. By this time we were both done with the taste test.

We decided to open the rest and at least smell them. The cranberry smelled pretty good and, according to Suze and Bratch, tasted pretty good. The pumpkin pie smelled pumpkiny but no one had the onions to taste it. The Brussels sprout soda was then cracked open. The smell that emanated from this bottle is almost indescribable. Suze and Big Kev almost vomited just smelling it. It was like room temp Brussels sprouts with a ton of butter poured on them. Not a great smell. So ended the night of Holiday tastes. I felt queasy all night long and worried that I would die a horrible death from liquid turkey during the night.

I have seen that Jones Soda is actually putting out several different flavors in their Holiday Packs according to regional tastes. They have added a salmon flavor in one region’s area; in fact it is a smoked salmon pate. Also in that region’s Holiday Packs, pecan pie, corn on the cob, and broccoli casserole. To top all things off, all these drinks are low carb, no calorie. So if you want all the flavors of a big Thanksgiving dinner without all the guilty feelings of ingesting 10,000 calories, then click the link and order a Jones Soda Holiday Pack. Enjoy!!!

Your favorite, Lost clues and a note about Ghost Hunters.

For those of you who haven’t completely given up on Lost (like Bratch and Big Kev) and those of you who don’t watch the episodes over and over and over again looking for clues as to what the f is really going on, here’s some help. I found this on Yahoo today as I was making my daily news rounds. At first I thought is was going to be about tonight’s show which will focus mainly on the “tailies” as they are being called on line, the people in the tail of the plane who crashed on another part on the island. Instead I found some interesting clues, some of which I will share with you, the others you can click the link and see for yourself.

Last week, if you haven’t seen the episode stop reading now……………………………………..Shannon was killed, at least that is what we are led to believe. She once again sees a water covered Walt saying something that no one seems to be able to make out. Well, apparently someone with too much time on his or her hands recorded what Walt said and then played it backwards. It sounds as though Walt is saying, “They’re coming, and they’re close.” Did he mean Ana Lucia and the tailies? Or does he mean the others? Is Walt dead or alive? I am afraid we won’t find out for years.

Another thing that really interested me was that in last week’s episode you can see Jack’s dad hurrying into his scrubs. Shannon’s dad died in a car accident. Jack met his future wife after a car accident in which the driver of the other vehicle was killed. Could that driver have been Shannon’s dad?

If that isn't interesting enough, apparently Hurley’s boss at the fast food restaurant, Randy, was also Locke’s boss at the box factory. What this all means, I do not know. Also pointed out in the article is the fact that many of the survivors have daddy problems. Jack, Locke, Sun, Jin, Shannon all have some kind of shame or sadness or tragic memories associated with their fathers.

Here are some clues about Hurley’s numbers. Take the numbers, 4,8,15,16, 23, and 42 and add them together and you get the number 108. That is the number of minutes that you have to enter the seperate numbers into the computer or...something happens, we think. More crazy numbers stuff that only real geeks have time to find out. The most interesting, uh, coincident I guess you would say is that the numbers 4,8,15,16,23, and 42 all have been retired by the New York Yankees, though the article makes sure to point out that there are also other numbers that have been retired by the Yankees.. Also, there are 108 stitches on a Major League baseball, 108 is the amount of time in minutes it takes for some satellites to orbit the earth, 108 is the number of beads on a Buddhist prayer strand.

What does all this mean? I have no frickin’ idea. I just thought it was really interesting to see some of the stuff people are looking for when it comes to this show. If you would like to see a few more, click the title for a link to the complete story. I wonder how many of these things have anything to do at all with the real answers or if these are things that overworked imaginations are picking out of the air. I also wonder if the creators of the show are keeping up with these and are going to incorporate these things into the show when they had no prior intention. I wonder if they even knew about some of these things.

I believe we will find that all of these people are connected in some way. Whether they are connected by the experiences that they have gone through separately but seem to share or because they have all had a quick instance in which they were in the same room. Whatever is going on, I hope tonight’s episode will give us more answers. It is a special extended episode, that’s a lot of time to fill and not give us something. Also for those of you with DVRs or even prehistoric DVRs called VCRs, on the SciFi channel tonight starting at 6 PM Central and running until 10PM Central there is a Ghost Hunters marathon. I have already seen the episodes that are on tonight and I recommend you check that out if you are interested in ghosts and the supernatural. Enjoy!!!!

Death From Above 2006

Well, it’s here, DEATH FROM ABOVE 2006!!! People are freaking out here. Schools were let out in the OC at 10:20 AM, businesses are closing down. It’s pandelirium!! The local channels are full of radars. We’ve got Doppler, Viper, Nexrad, and whatever other radars they can come up with. People are flying around trying to catch some TV coverage. Every place that you go is full of kids who had to be brought to work because no one was home when they were let out from school. Word on the street is, “watch the skies!!”

I am not sure what is going down, but I wonder if things would be this crazy if we had not just had some deadly tornados touch down a week or so ago. It probably helps to get people riled up a bit more. I firmly believe that there will be no major damage or loss of life in the OC because there never is. People always worry about tornados here but we never really have any reason to worry. We just don't have tornados, at least not to the extreme as Oklahoma or Kansas. Of course I will look like a real idiot when something happens later on toady or tonight, but that is the chance I am willing to take.

I do not know what will happen. I do not know when it will happen. There is one thing I do know. I am sure this is somehow George Bush’s fault. In fact, I find it awful convenient that he just happens to be out of the country when we are being faced with the Cyclones of Terror Tour 2006.

If you have a weak stomach, do not click this link!!!

I think I kind of threw up in my mouth a little after reading this. A few questions. How does this happen? Is all the healthcare in India this bad? Why would I even put this up here for you to read and then be disgusted? Enjoy!!!

Aquaman the TV show is now casting.

Has it really come to this? Have we basically run out of every super hero available to exploit? It appears that casting has begun for an Aquaman TV show. It is going to be on the WB, of course. The WB has already kind of given Aquaman a trial run on Smallville, the Superman the early years show, but they will be looking for a new actor to play this wonderful super hero…who controls fish.

Can the producers really be interested in making a show about a superhero that has been a running joke of the HBO show Entourage this past season? I guess the old saying is true; there is no such thing as bad publicity. I can’t imagine this show lasting too long. How many dastardly crimes occur in the water? I can see this turning into an environmental show. Aquaman stops companies from dumping waste into the ocean. He controls fish. That is not a super power. It’s not even something that 90% of the world’s population would find helpful. I guess if the bad guy was allergic to shellfish that would be to Aquaman’s advantage.

The WB has sent out a casting notice and here is what they are looking for in an Aquaman. A person that is 18-24 years of age, with blonde or light brown hair, and someone who is “drop dead handsome.” Why don’t they just use a drawing of Aquaman form the old Justice League of America cartoon? They could put it in the USA Today with the question, “Have you seen this man?” They then could have a phone number for friends or relatives to call and tell the casting agents about how much their cousin Pete looks like Aquaman. The callers could fax or email a photo with contact information and then the show’s producers could go from there.

I believe Merlin ought to try out for the part, although I believe he is too old for the part and I wouldn’t describe him as drop dead handsome (though French Toast might), but he can swim like a sea otter. His acting is not that great. I can remember a heated game of Mafia in which he was lying like a dog. He even went so far as to throw things and scare some other players so bad they feared for their safety. Unfortunately for him all the shenanigans did not work. He could luck out; maybe try some psychological mind tricks on the casting directors. Maybe we should start a petition or something. Maybe we could march on it. Merlin for Aquaman in 2006.

Fiddy Cent would be proud.

“This movie is so good I gotta bust a cap off in here.” I always thought that was one of the funniest stand up routines Chris Rock had. In Pittsburgh, it’s not just part of a stand up routine. Someone capped a Pittsburgh area man right in front of the concession stand on opening night of Fiddy Cent’s new movie, Get rich or Die Tryin’.

Reports from the scene said the victim got into an argument with some men in a men’s room and later shots were fired in the theater with two hitting the victim and killing him. Many witnesses were overheard to say that there was more drama to be found at the concession stand than on the screen during Fiddy’s movie.

Best. Christmas Tree. Ever.

For those of you who do not have your tree picked out for Christmas and are a fan of a certain holiday special, then I have a tree for you. Click on the title for the link and enjoy your Holidays.

A picture is worth 1,047 words when it comes to the UK Wildcats.

I have a University of Kentucky basketball calendar on the wall in my office, well it is not exactly a calendar, at least not in the sense you would think it. It is a poster board size sheet sponsored by a local bank and it has the 30 years of Rupp Arena stamp, the upcoming schedule and a calendar for next year. It also has pictures of the Kentucky Wildcats.

It is made up to be a team picture, but you can tell that it looks kind of like a photo shop job. As I looked at and studied this year’s Wildcat team, I began to realize that this picture is worth a thousand words or more likely 1,047 words and gives us an insight into what this season may hold for the team and its fans.

The calendar has some interesting photos. As I said, it is made up to look as though all the players are together for the photo, but it is apparent that these are separate photos pieced together for the bigger picture, if you will. Having said this, it is also apparent that there are some members of the team that did have their pictures taken together.

For example, the picture has the three seven footers all standing together looking gangsta. Lukasz Orbzut, Shagari Alleyne, and Jared Carter are all standing shoulder to shoulder. It is really amazing to have three seven footers on one team, the only problem is that none of them really do too many things well. It is unfortunate that Tubby Smith cannot take the best parts from each and make a Tubbystein’s monster out of these three. One really good seven footer will beat three average seven footers every time.

Then there is Joe Crawford sitting and smiling a big "I'm glad I didn't ruin my college career by leaving UK" smile. Adam Williams is standing there with arms crossed looking all Ian Tomblinson, wondering whether or not he should have gone to a school where there weren’t 12 guards ahead of him in the rotation. In front of Adam, Ravi Moss and Ramal Bradley seem to be together in the picture looking as though they are from the mean streets of Hopkinsville and Brooklyn, respectively. They also appear to not be too worried about Adam Williams looking over their shoulder.

Then we come to Tubby who has a smile on his face, something you do not see during a game or in a year that the Cats lose more than 2 games, thanks to the hard core UK fans’ unrealistic expectations. He also has Brandon Stockton leaning on his shoulder. Brandon Stockton appears to realize he needs to lean on Tubby to get himself some playing time during his final season.

Rajon Rondo is breaking down an old school Run-DMC arms crossed pose and beside him is Bobby Perry appearing as though he is about to blow. He looks like super-fly TNT, he looks to be the guns of Navarone. He and Rondo are ready to get this season under way.

Sheray Thomas and Rekalin Sims are seen together with Sheray pointing to Rekalin as if to say, "Yep, this is the man who is going to take my job." Rekalin Sims is smiling real big as if to say, “Yep, that’s right, I am going to take your job.”

Now we get to the most interesting pictures on the calendar. We have Randolph Morris standing with arms crossed and a tiny smirk on his face. He appears to be very proud of the mischief he has been up to, lo, these many months. His smile seems to be saying, "I made it onto the calendar and I don’t even know if I will be on the team."

Who knows what will happen with Morris, perhaps UK will get lucky and be in a Charlie Villanueva situation like Uconn had to go through and he will only miss 5 or 6 games. Or UK may get even luckier and he will not be allowed to come back at all. In the long run will Morris really be worth all this trouble? Whatever the case may be, with the way the NCAA moves I predict we will know sometime before 2012.

Now, we get to everyone’s favorite Cat, especially in this area. We call him Pat-Pat, Patrick Sparks. His picture is very interesting. He has his arms to his side and a cold, dead stare that makes me think he wants to do me bodily harm. In this photo he is in full fledged executioner mode.

I feel as though we should be using his middle name when referring to him, as in Patrick Leroy Sparks was captured today after a 3 day manhunt (I know, I know, his middle name is really Grant, but it makes for a better column if I use Leroy). His eyes seem to be saying, “I am going to straight cut you when you get on the court.” He appears to be all business this season.

I just hope that Mr. Sparks doesn’t try to do too much and become careless with his play. As the old clichés go, he needs to let the game come to him and play the game within himself.

I also hope he performed in a million conditioning drills this summer so he won’t appear to be out of gas on the defensive end at the end of the season. I have to tell you, I am becoming a little unsettled by his picture and I may have to remove this calendar from my office.

That is a look at the team photo in my office. I think it gives us a unique insight into the future performance of this team or perhaps I had nothing better to write about this week. In any case, I see an SEC title and a strong showing in the NCAAs; unfortunately I believe it will end with a Sweet 16 finish. Then at the end of the season, we will most likely lose Rondo and Morris, more definitely Patrick Leroy Sparks, Ravi Moss and most decimatingly…Brandon “The Brandon” Stockton. Next year’s photo should be radically different, but hopefully it will prove to be just as interesting.

UK football fans have more than doubled in number this week

I was greeted by several people this morning at church telling me that they were newly found football fans in the Kentucky program. Why you may ask? Well, if UK were to stop the earth from moving, reverse its rotation, and finally beat Georgia next week, then SC would be up for SEC title.

All of this essentially translates into the entire no Clemsen supporting, state of South Carolina pulling for the Cats. For those fans not familar with UK's football program, there is a lot of banter about how stranger things have happened. Well, not much stranger. It is amazing to see such a football backing down here in this state. They pull for the Gamecocks during the good and the bad. I am not going to say that KY basketball isn't like that, but I have yet to see the basketball program really have a truly bad season. At least in the past ten to fifteen years.

At any rate, I am a realist, yet I can't help looking toward next week and saying go cats!

Spurrier for president!

I think it is official, the church of Steve Spurrier will be open for business soon. He is a great coach and I think it is hard to deny that at this point. I'm not sure whether he'll take SC to the top of the SEC or to a national title in the next several years, but he has already and will continue to improve the team. He airs out the ball, he moves players around until he finds the best combination, and he motivates both team and fans. You have to respect him even if you don't like him.

With my somewhat limited experience, I have to give SC's fans credit on being hugely supportive. THey have consistently shown up, provided cash, and traveled well over the past years despite not always having a winning team. Today and this season, they have something to cheer about.

Video Games and PTSD

For those who are not in the psycho-babble know, PTSD or post traumatic stress disorder is a common psychiatric disorder most associated with war veterans. Essentially, the show description includes flashbacks, nightmares, hyperarousal (edginess), "numbed" feeling, and avoidance of situations which provoke the other symptoms. This is a very debilitating disorder and has been documented at least since the US civil war.

Recently there have been some studies involving video games and PTSD. Not what you may think though: the video games are treatment. According to a large study out of The New England Journal of Medicine July 2004, treating these vets with video games or virtual reality has been proven to be highly effective in reducing symptoms. The scenario involves going through these simulations in uniform with goggles. Those running the program add in the sound of explosions, tanks, and screams in varying levels as the patient tolerates. The scenario is complete with "smells of war" to include smoke and even body odor.

It is easy for me to understand that these guys are made numb to all of the surrounding war background. But, it really is fixing the problem of the symptoms, not the underlying problem. Mixed emotions arise from the scenario, when it's not undoing the problem, but allowing these men and women to get back to a more normal life is a huge gain.

Are the ratings for The Apprenctice dropping?

You have to realize generally I don't watch a regular schedule of TV. Right now I'm watching ER for the second week in a row which is a personal record for the year.

Anyway, I caught the end of this week's Apprentice and I have to say that it's getting old. I've probably only seen maybe a dozen of them in the 3 or seasons that it's been on, but after a while seeing the contestants talk about how great they are and then crumble at the sight of "The Donald" gets old.

The only reason why I liked the show to begin with was that they had cool tasks to do. However, that got old because it seems like they have these monumental tasks like creating an advertising brochure for Pontiac with a turn around of about 48 hours. That included a photo shoot, design, printing and any over the top creative super high dollar junk.

And then the team that won that particular challenge put together a decent brochure, but it only had about 5 words in it creatively placed with some nice photos lacking any info on the car. And the car is a performance 2-seat convertible. Actually only a single person of the 3 person team did any work, but the brochure design made you want to know more about the car without actually telling you a stinkin' thing.

It was all one big tease. Which worked for the nitwits at Pontiac, but then again they only had 2 designs to choose from. My guess is that they found a decent starting spot and then scavenged the good ideas for themselves.

Either way, the tasks are the fun part and all they do is concentrate on the bickering and not the details of the task which is the interesting part.

Really the worst part about the whole thing is Donald Trump. He waltzes into the board room as if he's been watching their every move like a hawk. When he probably just gets there 5 minutes before filming starts and asks his henchmen who sucks. And half of the time he lets the contestants hang themselves in the board room by constantly talking and then makes a snap judgment.

It would have been better if they let the henchmen decide who gets fired in every show but the final 2 when Trump would be there in all his Donald-ness raking in the ratings. One of the draws of the show was Trump to begin with so instead of just teasing the viewers with the big payoff at the end, they show him every week with his barely there hair and the "Blue Steel" look on his face.

Now NBC is pulling a Millionaire and showing the Apprentice whenever they can and is killing the show.

The good news is that they'll have to replace it with something and it might be interesting. But I wouldn't hold my breath.

ER is almost as frustrating as a soap opera. If it wasn't for their previews, it would have been cancelled before Eric LaSalle left and we were all spared the torture of watching him weekly.

Paris Hilton's version of Derek Zoolander's Blue Steel

As I read the latest piece from IA's resident celeb gossip columnist, Sivart Worfner, I was reminded of something I saw a few days ago about Paris. It was a comment about how she always seems to have the same lobotimized look in every picture you see of her while she is on the red carpet. I thought I would just share this little animation with the readers. Click the title for the link and see Paris "The Lights are on, but Nobody's Home" Hilton's version of Blue Steel.

Celebrity News!!!

According to Kidd Kraddock morning radio show, Jessica Simpson was in Kenya doing some charity work for Operation Smile. OpSmile is a charity that helps children with disfigured smiles. Simpson was to visit a hospital there but called in "too sick to get out of bed." Then she went on Safari. You stay classy Mrs. Lachey!

Paris Hilton and her latest boytoy were apparently in an accident after a night of drinking. Her new beau was behind the wheel of her Bentley (why would you let ANYONE else drive your Bentley?!?) while apparently intoxicated and fleeing paparazi. He crashed the car into a parked truck and this is where it gets interesting.

Police arrived on the scene (your favorites and mine, the LAPD) and issued NO tickets. They checked NO ONE for intoxication even after another passenger said he was the only one sober enough to drive home. All this is being filmed and photographed by paparzi mind you. So if you're the officers, you're not getting away with it. I don't even blame Hilton (who was allegedly flirting with the officers) I blame the police for not doing their job.

We all know celebs get special treatment. No surprises there, but the LAPD is lacking enough credibility without incidents like this.

And as an aside, why do I know Paris Hilton? I don't want to know her. She's a rail thin skank with way more money and privilege than sense and all without a lick of talent or any discernable education. Unless I hang with a "socialite" I don't want to know he/she exists. I don't want to hear about her sex tapes (A Night In Olive Oyl's Blonde Cousin) and I don't want to see her in horror films. I want good looking girls, preferably with curves, that I've never heard of.

This is one of my few posts about celebrities. I can't stand celeb news, but I just wanted something to rant about this AM. I apologize for making us all dumber.

People Piss Me Off

I was reading USA Today a couple of days ago, and as I usually do, read the small state blurb for Ky. It was out of Louisville and may or may not be big state wide news there. But, the story was about a 14mo old who had died because the family pit bull turned on the infant while it was eating.

Ok, there are a lot of things about this that piss me off, but I'll focus on the fact that people own these horrible animals. If I hear another version of the same old bull s**** of how they have these type monsters and "they wouldn't hurt a fly" crap. Repeatedly, dogs of all breeds turn on children. There was a stretch where labs were going crazy (or the news inflated the few incidents up, I admit).

These are not labs, these are certainly not your non-ferocious breed either. These are monsters that were trained to kill other animals traditionally, just like several other breeds. What is the point of owning them, ESPECIALLY if you have children of virtually any age. There is no purpose. People may argue they need a guard dog. That's crap if you need a dog that does more than just bark to let you know there is an intruder, then chances are you are either guarding your meth lab/mj patch or you can actually afford to pay for an expensive security system that will not potentially kill other people.

A defenseless, harmless baby who could walk for less than a couple of months, wanders by this animal chewing on food in it's bowl. It's life is over. They are destroying the dog. The parent's probably should be too.

Is a Major League Baseball player dealing out Venezuelan justice?

Good Lord, what is going on in the sports world? I was saddened and shocked to hear that one of my all time favorite baseball players has been arrested for attempted murder. Ugueth Urbina and some “friends,” “rellegedly,” attacked some workers on Urbina’s mother’s farm with machetes. Well, if that isn’t bad enough, Urbina and the other attackers “stupposedly” doused them with gas and set them on fire. Such is life in Venezuela. The victims did not die, but many had cuts and one had burns on his back and arms.

Urbina says that this is a case of someone trying to take advantage of him, something he is used to. A year or so ago, Urbina’s mother was kidnapped and held for ransom. Urbina left his team to go home and try to get her back. Finally the police found where she was being held and rescued her, but a few of the kidnappers escaped. Urbina knows how some people in Venezuela work. Perhaps he will have to pay someone to get the charges dropped.

I have now heard on a sports talk radio show that the men that were attacked because they had something to do with Urbina’s mother’s kidnapping. If this is true, and this source is not exactly the most reliable, according to Venezuelan justice he is probably justified. Urbina claims he was asleep and this is all a scam. Machete hackings and burning men, it kind of makes you appreciate the U. S. sporting world scandals.

Terrell Owens and Drew Rosenhaus, not sorry yet.

Did anyone check out the press conference at Terrell Owens’ house yesterday? I saw some images and heard it live on ESPN Radio. I have to say that I believe that TO is actually sorry for the way things turned out. Whether he is sorry for what he did, that is debatable, but I think he realizes now that things got out of hand and went too far. I believe he is mostly sorry because he is going to lose money this year and he won’t be able to strut his stuff on the field.

As I was driving back to the office yesterday afternoon, I realized who Terrell Owens is. He is a guy who just likes to show off. He has no real skill. Running and catching is not something that is learned or something others can’t do well. He is just a big show off, he is the Bandit. I guess that makes Drew Rosenhaus Frog.

As sincere as I thought TO appeared yesterday, Drew Rosenhaus ruined any warm feelings some might have had for TO and his apology. Rosenhaus took control of the press conference and basically shouted and yelled and made everything before that look like a sham. Rosenhaus is one of those guys that just make you want to puke and I would be willing to bet that if TO sits down and thinks about this whole fiasco, he will realize that Rosenhaus is much to blame for this.

As far as I know, Rosenhaus hasn’t made too much money since becoming TO’s agent. He wasn’t the one who got TO his original deal with the Eagles. He was the one, however, to convince TO that his current deal was not enough and that he could get him a new one. That is what Rosenhaus is famous for, getting old deals thrown out and new ones signed.

How can Rosenhaus make some money? Well, he will need to get TO a new contract. I am not saying Owens himself did not want a new contract, but I would be willing to bet that Rosenhaus stayed in his ear and made sure TO did all he could to disrupt the Eagles. Owens, and I’m sure Rosenhaus, never thought the Eagles would actually deactivate him, but they miscalculated.

The big question in all of this is, how much money has Rosenhaus cost TO after this whole thing blew up in their faces? I heard a sports talk guy say that he thought TO has lost $30 million over this. I am not sure that much has been lost, but we are talking tens of millions. TO will not receive a huge signing bonus with his next contract. He will probably only get a one year deal so that he can prove he has “changed.” After this year and next year, he will have to try to get a huge deal at the age of 33. That is not the age you want to be when looking for a huge deal.

I can’t say that I am not a little happy to see this happen to TO, especially since I traded him straight up for Carson Palmer in my fantasy league a few weeks ago. I like to see him play and I like to hear him talk, however, he is a me first player and a team killer. I do believe TO was sincere in some ways with his apology and he should have been. I believe he brought all on himself. I also believe this guy has got some problems and should probably spend this time off in therapy. That being said, I believe Owens had some help from his new agent Drew Rosenhaus. Rosenhaus and Owens did not realize until it was too late that they should stop all the stupid games and finish out the year quietly. Unfortunately for TO his tactics and this tactical error has cost him the thing he was after in the first place. Next year, when looking for a new deal, Owens and Rosenhaus will indeed be sorry.

UK AD says that football coach Brooks will hang around?!?!?

All I gotta say is that if University of Kentucky Athletic Director Mitch Barnhardt won't fire head football coach Rich Brooks, then Barnhardt's boss should fire him and hire someone who'll fire Brooks.

Barnhardt cited strong "in-state" recruiting classes and emphasizing the right things on and off the field. Those are two things I have a problem with. First of all in-state recruiting doesn't exactly give me the warm and fuzzies. Kentucky is a basketball state not a football state. Therefore in-state recruiting should be kept to a minimum. I've covered a couple of UK football recruits and at least one of them was a non factor in the 3 football games I covered and was a better basketball player than football player anyway. And on top of that he was playing against 1-A class football teams.

And I'm sorry, but emphasizing the right things on and off the field is just a cop out statement. No program is telling their kids to go out and get in trouble. And frankly, when you get into college, you shouldn't have to have adults constantly telling you that you should act like you've got some sense in your head.

Also, I don't see UK continuing to get strong recruiting classes when they get humiliated every time they take the field.

"Hello son, would you like to come play football for UK and get annihilated every time you walk out of that lockerroom? At UK we can give you that dream."

About the only recruiting strategy they can throw on a kid is that they can almost guarantee that he can be the star player if he's very good.

The bottom line is that Rich Brooks came completely out of nowhere. If not for Jerry Jones UK was looking at Bill Parcells. After that big juicy steak was dangled in front of us, we got Brooks who virtually no one had ever heard of.

I know that he can really be held responsible for the fact that UK has had so many injuries that soon players will be playing both sides of the ball, but I witnessed the 'Cats take a knee on the 12 yard line to run out the first half clock instead of kicking a measly 35 yard field goal. A field goal distance that surely you have to be able to kick blindfolded before you can make the team as a kicker. They instead chose to cut their losses and leave the points out on the field so they could go talk things over at half time.

Honestly, if I was a player I would have considered quitting at that point. If not for the fact that I would be giving up a free education, I know I would have quit. They left 3 points out on the field literally for no reason at all.

If Brooks was the head coach at Nebraska, he would have been fired after a poor performance in a Blue/White scrimmage.

LAST YEAR!

Merlin, you and French Toast need to pull some strings and get them both fired. Or are you going to leave things alone and show us your back-stabbing allegiance to those winged birds of Game.

It Would Be Easy to Laugh at France, but...

France is in an uproar. Two young people were shot and suddenly it's a borderline rebellion. There were over 2,500 cars set on fire in two days. Over 630 arrests, buildings burned, people killed, police attacked.

All this and the president Jacques Chirac won't authorize the military to even show up. This is the same guy who wouldn't force Saddam Hussein to let UN weapons inspectors do their thing because he was taking cash from Hussein in the Oil for Food catastrophe the UN engineered and oversaw. But that's neither here nor there.

Here's a quick point before the main one. Many Americans were siding with the French when the French and others were against the Iraq War. Namely Johnny Depp who lives in France. Oh the French are so peaceloving and forgiving, why can't we be that way. I suppose it's because we're not wimps, we have principals, and we believe SOME things are worth fighting for. The French won't even authorize their military to come in and save their OWN people. No wonder they wouldn't help free the Iraqi people.

Now, a big key to the problems in France is their influx of Muslim settlers. France is socialistic and basically will care for anyone who can't/won't care for themselves. That is what many of these (certainly not all) Muslims have done. They don't work, they are carried along by the government. Thus there's a lot of civil disdain for the non-natives. It has boiled over into what they have now.

Point is that could easily happen in the US. Right now illegal immigrants flow over our borders daily at an alarming rate. It's not as big of a problem for us because we have jobs for them to do and because we aren't socialistic and giving free rides to those who won't work. So the disdain is mild in comparison. But many, MANY politicians and activists would like to see us become a more socialist society. May it never be.

We must avoid such a problem here and we do that by regulating immigration, controlling the amount of people entering the country and by making sure we don't give free rides. For a guy like me, there's a tiny part of me that says France is reaping what it has sown for years. Part of me wants to laugh and point at France saying, "THIS is what socialism gets you!" But there's a much bigger part that feels very sorry for these people and is scared of something like that happening here someday.

Greenhouse gases doubling by 2030

I linked the article from Yahoo! in the title, but the main reason this caught my eye is because I had the opportunity to discuss global warming with a geologist last week.

Don't ask me how we got on any of the subjects that we discussed, but this guy seemed to be an expert in everything. Especially if it had to do with energy because we were drilling for natural gas at the time. I say we because I just happened to be in the proximity of the drill at the time. I was actually taking photos and they were drilling.

We went to check out the operation because it was an interesting story and these Texas natural gas drillers were pretty nice fellows. They were drilling down 2,995 feet through the New Albany shale so they could see if it yield some decent natural gas. After we walked around and talked with the money man, the geologist that was on the scene struck up a conversation with us and soon it turned to the weather and oil and all of that good stuff. They were in the energy business so it made sense.

Anyway, the geologist brought a good point about global warming. He said that global warming isn't the worst thing that could be happening to the world. Global cooling is much worse. He mentioned that the Earth has gone through several ice ages and of course those ice ages warmed up into the types of climates we have now in the world. He also stated that he didn't believe that the people and governments who were concerned about global warming were taking into account the earth's natural cycles of warming and cooling. Which makes total sense.

And when it comes down to it, we don't have any record or any way of telling how warm or cool it got when the ice ages were present or when the warming trends prevailed. Our weather records only go back maybe 125 years or so and honestly I'm not sure if I believe that we can rationally prove that the current weather patterns we are seeing now are in fact due to "global warming." We don't have nearly enough data to support the theories. And who knows how reliable weather records from 1890 are.

I'm not saying that air pollution and CO2 gases aren't hurting the environment, but all of the information we are going on most likely isn't based on rock solid facts so much as it's based on the scientists' best educated theory. Because honestly you can't just pick out a few spots in the world and say, "Yep, it's a lot warmer here today than it was this day 10 years ago." Maybe it was just hot today and there was a cold front that day 10 years ago. Maybe there was a bit of a cooling trend on those days for a couple of years in a row. Anything can happen.

I can remember when here in Western Kentucky we used to get decent snows every year. I remember being able to be swallowed up in snow drifts. Now it's hit and miss. That doesn't mean that global warming has caused this, it just means that the weather patterns didn't line up to give us any good snows for a while. I also remember when we used to have some good flooding about every year during the summer. Now we are in 4 or 5 year drought and if not for the hurricanes that brought some rain up here, we would have lost nearly half of the rain we had this summer and would have cost me some cash.

I did see a documentary on China a few months ago about how terrible the air is over there. Especially in Hong Kong. Their air is so bad that it crosses the Pacific Ocean and makes our air bad on the west coast of the United States. They even followed around a young family who had to weigh the pros and cons of moving to Hong Kong.

On the one hand, if they moved there they could make enough money in about 7 years that they could move to the country and have a nice life. But on the other hand, they had to consider how much damage 7 years in Hong Kong would do to them with the terrible air pollution. That's rough.

But that's what happens when you burn coal for 70 percent of your energy and have zero air pollution laws.

Terrell Owens suspended and possibly cut by the Eagles, are his problems just beginning?

Have you ever seen a more insane situation play out in the sporting world than the Terrell Owens and Philadelphia Eagles situation? It is beyond me how out of hand things have gotten.

In case you have been living under a rock, Owens has been trying to get a new contract during the off season and this season as well. He hired a new agent, Drew Rosenhaus, an agent that causes most owners and general managers to cringe when they hear his name. Owens is unhappy with his salary and has been grumbling about it all season.

On top of all this, Owens has been taking pot shots at his quarterback, Donovan McNabb, all season long. This is not something that is new for Owens. Owens slammed his former quarterback Jeff Garcia when he was with the San Francisco 49ers, even going so far as to question Garcia’s sexuality.

The latest Owens attack on McNabb has Owens claiming in an interview that if the Eagles had Brett Favre as their quarterback, the Eagles would be undefeated. Huh? I love Brett Favre, he is a great quarterback, but he is not that great this year. In fact, McNabb has better stats than Favre. McNabb has Favre in yards per attempt, touchdowns, and Favre has 6 more interceptions than McNabb.

Owens was also mad that the Eagles didn’t celebrate his 100th catch of his career. What Owens didn’t know was that the Eagles never celebrate individual accomplishments. He apologized for the 100th TD celebration remark, but would not apologize publicly or privately to McNabb. After a called team meeting and apparently a scuffle with former Eagle Hugh Douglas, Owens was suspended from the team for four games and then he will not be coming back to play on the Eagles.

Now that we have the back story out of the way, I really think Owens needs some professional help. The things he does do not make any sense. He has a pattern of being a horrible teammate and being a selfish person. He is only about himself and doesn’t care what he says or who he hurts as long as he gets what he wants. I guess he is thinking what better way to get a new deal than to slam the team leader and make him look like a fool.

Owens signed his deal with the Eagles because he had no leverage to get a better contract. He blames his current deal on his former agent, when it was possible that he being a selfish child could have been the real problem. After the Eagles got to the Super Bowl and Owens pulled out a great performance in a losing effort, he saw his chance to get a new contract. Or so he thought.

He hired an agent who is famous for getting things done, but he forgot that the Eagles are like the government. They do not negotiate with terrorists. Owens was trying to hold his talents hostage. As I said before, in this world of outrageous salaries, I believe that he is underpaid. Whatever is wrong with him mentally does not take away from the fact he is an unbelievable player on the field, but he is obviously an unstable person.

Before Owens started attacking the leader of the team, McNabb, the players were all in his corner, but when he tried to “punk” McNabb in public, he lost any support he once had on that team. I believe that Owens may not only have jeopardized his career this season, but with his actions he has probably killed his chance to get that big money deal he was looking for all season.

When you are on a Super Bowl caliber team and you cause this much trouble and have to be jettisoned even though you are one of the best receivers in the game, then other teams have to be worried about the effect you will have on their team. Other teams may ask themselves, “If he can have this kind of effect on a Super Bowl team, a team that is winning games, what kind of effect will he have on ours?” That is a very valid question in my mind.

I do believe Owens will find a new home, but he is in the same position he was in when he signed his deal with the Eagles. He has no leverage. Instead of just playing out his contract, being the best receiver in football and signing a big deal after his Eagles deal was up, he has to negotiate a deal coming off a stint as the original team cancer. He destroyed a Super Bowl team with his antics and that will cost him millions of dollars.

What can Owens do to repair his reputation? Well, not much considering he has had a bad reputation since he came in the league and has had plenty of opportunities to make amends for his actions. He must come out and apologize publicly to McNabb and try his best to make himself look contrite. Then he has to do the hardest thing, at least to my thinking, he will be able to do. Keep his mouth shut. If he can do that then that would be a bigger accomplishment than winning the Super Bowl. He will not be with the Eagles next year no matter what, but if he suddenly turns into a Boy Scout, perhaps his act can fool a team into giving him a big deal.

As I said Terrell Owens is a great player on the field, he is probably a great teammate on the field, but in the locker room he kills teams. Philadelphia should have put more stock into his actions in San Francisco as that team was circling the drain in his last few years there. Will some team be willing to take a chance on him? I would think so, but Owens may realize very quickly that he was in a great position to win championship and Donovan McNabb may not have been as bad as he thought when he is on a team with a David Carr or Joey Harrington or Anthony Wright as his quarterback.

Britney's boy is all grown up

It appears that everyone's favorite celebrity,Britney's Husband, has gone from dancing to rapping. It seems that a track from his soon-to-be-in-a-bargain-basket-near-you rap album was posted on the website of one of the producers.

Apparently he has created some new-fangled rap style from the future that supposedly sounds a lot like Kelis' "Milkshake" which was a terrible song from the past. If anyone saw her performance on SNL you probably saw that even though she only sings in about 40 percent of the song, she was noticably winded about 30 seconds in and that seemed to end her career.

So K-Fed is his rap name even though "Brit's Hub" seems more appropriate. He's only famous because Britney Spears thought that procreating with him would be a wonderful idea since she wasn't doing anything productive at the time.

I know that I don't have to tell you that this album is going to suck so bad it'll blow, but I would like to at least tell you why it's going to blow. And it has nothing to do with the fact that he probably can't rap. It might sound like the second coming of Jay-Z, but it'll never make it because he doesn't have any street cred.

It you have street cred you can put out rap songs where it sounds like there are a couple of guys moaning in the background like they've been shot and left for dead and they'll be hits. Master P did it. If you've done time for dealin' crack or better yet, have been shot several times, you can release a full blown platinum hit where most people can't understand a word you are saying. 50 Cent did it and now he's makin' a movie about it.

The only way Britney's husband is going to have a successful album is if the cover is a mugshot from Folsom Prison and the liner notes include a long and successful rap sheet of the crimes he's committed and served time over.

Or better yet, if he could finish the album and get sent prison for 3-6 months and then cordinate the album release with his prison release... Triple platinum.

That's a winner right there, I should be his agent.

The trouble with Puggles...

I was talking with my dad this morning and he said that Good Morning America or the Today Show did a story on the newest craze.

Apparently someone got the bright idea to breed Beagle hounds with Pugs to create this super species of sinfully cute dogs known as Puggles.

So what is the trouble with Puggles? The price tag.

The website that I've linked in the title sells Puggles for around $750. This particular website is a regular Island of Dr. Moreau for crossing small dogs and creating some very cute mutants.

I saw on another website that black ones are rare and sometimes command more cash. Regardless, that's crazy to pay $750 for a dog that you and your neighbors could come up.

The Pug would be a little more difficult to find, but they are a dog that I've heard of people looking for because they look like someone smashed their snout with a sledge hammer. Apparently that equals cute. I've never thought much of them because 1) they are house dogs and 2) I've heard that the smashed face causes breathing issues and snoring. It's all fun and games until you have to purchase a C-PAP machine for your dog.

Beagles, on the other hand are quite easy to come by around here. I have a buddy that actually breeds and sells them for rabbit hunting. That being said, if you told me I had to get a Beagle I could have one in a couple of hours and there's a good chance it would be a stray or runaway on the side of the road with means "free."

I suppose the good thing about Puggles is that their noses aren't as smashed so that might aleviate some of the breathing issues and most of them seem to get to the 15-20 pound size of a Beagle. Some call them miniature Mastiffs because of how they look despite weighing 150 pounds less than a Mastiff.

The only thing I've seen on the internet about them is that they aren't hyper lap dogs like Yorkies, which is good, but they can eat you out of house and home if you let them.