2009? Already?

Well, this was going to be a screed on how sports can be better than the best reality TV or soap opera. This past football weekend saw jaw-dropping surprise, heartbreak, amazing accidents, collapse, triumph and revenge in staggering amounts. This past weekend is why I watch sports. That old cliche is annoying but true: that's why they play the game.

Instead, I want to wish everyone a wonderful 2009! I am leaving for Phoenix in a while and am looking forward to a week with my sweetie in "neutral territory". I tend to take New Years somewhat seriously. I usually go out of town by myself, have a good meal and contemplate the past 365 days. I also like to "clean up my side of the street" in my relationships during Fall/Winter. (I think I was Jewish in my last life.) Looking back on 2008, it has been a huge learning and growing experience for me. There were points that seemed endlessly painful and some that were unexpectedly joyous. I was often surprised at myself. I was definitely pleasantly surprised with the United States! I thought I had seen or heard it all, but I continue to be shown new things/ideas/horizons. It has been a good year for me. I hope it was for you.

May 2009 be beautiful, amazing, loving and expanding for all!

The Groundhog Day of Football Teams

I just stole that phrase from someone on an Eagles board. Good lord is he/she right. My custom message on GoogleChat is "thank goodness for hockey season". Since basketball holds less and less allure for me, all that is left during this time of year is the Sharks. This post by aphillyphan sums up how I feel almost perfectly:

"...Then (Bob) Costas asked (Charles) Barkley who was in the audience and he put it perfectly; "Philly is a great place to play... when you're winning." That's what I see everytime I read the comments of bloggers. Our bigtime players aren't allowed to make ANY mistakes. It's easy to look at the final score and say D-Mac's fumble cost us the game, but I look at the larger picture: This organization has won with mediocre talent at the skill positions for 8 years (average WR's, one great TE in Chad Lewis, One great RB in West and a seldom used good one in Buck,) because of their defense and the lack of talent in the divison. Well now the division has wised up to Andy's game plan. You wanna know why Jeff Fisher is the longest tenured coach in the Not For Long right now? It ain't cause he's a genius (or maybe in his simplicity he is) it's cause he understands you need to punish the opposing offense with pressure and physical play and you need to punish the opposing defense with a running game and physical play. Andy has not gotten this, and will never get this because he thinks a short pass play is the equivalent of a run. NO andy it is not! A running play means your offensive line gets to play downhill, and push the D-line around. Which tires out their pass rush and makes pass blocking easier. All I want next year is a coach who understands that and a GM who will bring in the people to execute. Which means Andy HAS TO GO!!!"

All I would add to that is the Eagles' ongoing problem(s) with clock management is unfathomable (which is tied to a lack of consistent running game), don't shoot the rookie WR who had a bad day, and whoever is up in the booth and responsible for monitoring replays for challenge should be taken out back and shot. A telling stat: Eagles are 7-0 when they run the ball more often than they pass. Not more yards. More often. They are 1-6-1 when they don't.

One of the best things I heard yesterday in the sports bar was "I'm a drunk Mexican standing in a sports bar and I can tell you what the next 2 plays are going to be! If a drunk Mexican can tell you the next 2 plays, don't you think the other team's defense can?!?" Amen, O-Dizzle. Amen.

It's Not Easy Being Green

As many of you know, I am a big fan of the site Fark.com. My former roommate and drummer turned me on to it - thank you Shea! The content is always interesting and sometimes hilarious. They have photoshop contests for the hardcore farkers with skills. The above is from one such photoshop contest and it made me laugh out loud. If you'd like to see other entries for this contest, go here. Take care that you don't need to be quiet...

Scattershot

"I can see Russia from my house!" - Tina Fey, impersonating Alaska Governor Sarah Palin on SNL Sept. 13, 2008.

This is the #1 quote of the year according to the Yale Book of Quotations. I don't believe I've said much about Gov. Palin. That is more due to confusion than anything else. I do know that she bears a resemblance to Peggy Hill on "King of the Hill". I'm not sure I have reached a conclusion on Gov. Palin. There's a lot to riff on there. Mostly I wonder how and why her VP candidacy came to pass. The best thing I can come up with is what I usually say about a minority in an unusual position: when they can attempt something and fark it up, and it doesn't become the last chance a black, woman, etc. gets for a long time (and it doesn't become an indictment of the entire race, gender or sexual orientation), then we've made progress toward equality.

There is a nifty quote on that list about the Treasury Department kinda randomly coming up with the $700 billion dollar figure they've been throwing around. They just wanted a really big number for the initial bailout figure and $700 billion seemed big enough. I'm impressed with its bigness. Are you? The 15 year old anarchist in me says fuck all those CEO's and other greedy asses who ran their companies into the ground. Let em die. Better yet, make them give their bonuses, expenses, and expensive toys back to the company if they want it to stay open. No mercy. The adult in me sees all the people whose lives are dependent on jobs with these companies and how they weren't responsible for the mess. They can't be thrown out in the cold just like that. The "take the money and run" attitudes that have ruled the last 2 decades are meeting their inevitable ends. Every fat cat who knowingly fleeced the rest of us should be pilloried. Everyone should know who they are and what they've done. Makes me sick.

And now for something completely different - this year's "Scared of Santa" photo entries! A whole new level of child humiliation! Numbers 8, 17 & 22 confirm that anyone can be Santa if they apply for the job. Numbers 16, 29, 30 & 32 are the faces of abject terror. One of the children in #28 will be exacting a vicious revenge on their parents later in life. Just you wait...

Failure

The 5 Ages of the American Failure
5: Astronaut
11: Paleontoligist
18: Astronomer
30: Luthier
43: Happy would be enough
(borrowed with slight alterations from theamericanfailure.wordpress.com)

"Winning is a habit. Unfortunately, so is losing."
Vince Lombardi

"Ah, "All things come to those who wait," (I say these words to make me glad), But something answers, soft and sad, "They come, but often come too late"
Anonymous


A bit of a downer today, ladies and gents. As some of you know, I have been struggling with money for a few years now. Part of it is my attitude toward it, which I have been working on, part is living in Northern California, (high cost of living, difficult job market post dotcom bust), and part is the bad decisions of my past haunting me. This year has been a rollercoaster both emotionally and monetarily. I spent over $2000 keeping my aging car together, moved back in with my parents (again) to save some money, and fell in love with a guy 2000 miles away. And just as I was starting to feel some sense of accomplishment and something resembling peace with the situation, my car demands $1600 to run right and not antagonize me with the check engine light. That was my savings for moving plus some. Gone. That's over $3000 on a car that I thought was doing pretty well. Maybe that IS doing pretty well when you have over 140,000 miles on you. (What is that in people miles? It could very well translate to my age...) I guess I'm stupid about cars.

Needless to say I'm not feeling very smart, capable or adult right now. This kind of stuff brings out the "you are a miserable failure at everything involving money" self-talk and it is hard to get free. That self image has been with me a long time and is in no hurry to leave. Why leave when you've got roots down? I'm sure it's very cozy in my head.

I'm a loser baby, so why don't you kill me...? (go crazy with the cheese whiz...)