Monthly 'Dump' - February, sort of since it's March already

Man could I play on that word, but I won't! It seems like I am going through stretches of wanting to write but not being able to formulate full posts and other times where random thoughts strike me that don't require a full post but I want to express them. I thought I would add in a monthly 'dump' here as to what has crossed my mind. Hopefully I'll remember most of them, or at least recall where I jotted them down...

* I don't think I have ever been more excited for baseball! Maybe it is living in New York but I can't wait to go to Yankee Stadium, take the train 'home' to Philly and the 'Bank' with long lost friends and even the thought of taking in a Mets game is somewhat appealing (at least I own plenty of Orange and Blue in case I chicken out of Phillies gear).

* I am beginning to get sad about the end of LOST. The show has certainly run its course and this season started off rocky but I am back and fully engaged. It took me 4 years to catch on and while I spent 6 months getting caught up I stayed away from all the internet stuff...now, alone at night, I pour through content. I have even gone back and started all over and the context and complexity that is layered in is really fascinating me. My favorite subject in school became English thanks to one of my High School English Teachers. She taught me to read behind the words; to understand subtext, symbolism and foreshadowing. In those teenage days I thought she was a whack job...today it is the biggest blessing I have been given. It helps keep my observational skills sharp and in terms of LOST has opened up a whole new world of debate and conversation.

* I really need to rant on a sports topic. I also caveat this with the fact that my opinion here is currently skewed because of my love for all things Florida Gator related. As most of you know, I love the Gators and I love the NFL. So it would make sense that in a year where 10 former Gators will most likely be drafted, I am paying attention to the NFL Combines and things draft related. What I am now disliking is the complete dissection of every little nuance and facet into these micro numbers that seem to take the person out of the equation. From a Fantasy Football guy I know that sounds a little off since according to many all I care about is statistics but at least those stats are related to actual game play. At the NFL combines they have kids running the 40 yard dash and doing a standing jump. Very rarely will an NFL player need to run a straight flat out 40 yards as fast as they can and unless you are playing Special Teams trying to block a kick when the fuck are you jumping straight in the air trying to 'touch something'. Look, I get the need to break all this down but up until a few years ago it was done with and for the people who needed to see it, the teams and their scouts. You know who doesn't need to see it? A back up college QB on a D2 team that never got to play a down 'because of an injury' and is now clearly bitter about it and uses his platform at ESPN to rip whomever he wants --- yes I am talking to YOU Todd McShay ---leave my Gators alone or I am coming to Bristol --- now that's a thought :-)

* I am ready for SPRING!!! Holy crap have we gotten a ton of snow in New York and even when I spent a week in Atlanta we got 4 inches. I want to explore the greatest city in the world! I want to walk and run in the Park, I want to see people in less clothes (please take that in whatever you deem as the proper spirit), I want the cold to end!!

* February was a month of many high notes but it also saw my daughter in the hospital for 6 days (yes she has gotten better) and it also marked the loss of a dear family member. Life is a cycle and it must come all the way around but sometimes it seems like the end should never come for some people and that is how I felt about Grandma Ruth. She will always be in our hearts and as I heard her eulogized so eloquently, her legacy will live on in our children.

Memories of a Legend - RIP Harry Kalas

I was greeted early yesterday afternoon by a text from my oldest childhood friend in Philadelphia - "Harry Kalas has colapsed and been rushed to the Hospital". Immediately I felt like I had taken a blow to the stomach. It is amazing to me how the death of someone you never met could be so impactful, but growing up listening and watching Harry I think all of Philadelphia feels like we knew him.

As a kid growing up my first love was baseball. We played it non stop, whether it was for the Huntingdon Valley All-Star travel team, wiffle ball in Rubin's back yard or in the winter down in the basement it is all we did. We did Strat-O-matic before Fantasy Sports even existed. We had Cub Scout trips to the Vet to see the Phils' and I don't think we missed many games on TV. Along with all of my great memories of the Phils' is not just the visuals, like the '80 World Series or Michael Jack Schmidt's (even as I type it I hear Kalas' slow dlrawl) 500th home run in April of 1987, there is the soundtrack of Kalas' voice that still plays in my head. For us, he had two signature 'catch phrases': "It's outta here" on home runs and "He struck him out" for strike outs. As an 11 year old that last phrase still brings tears to my eyes as I watched Tug McGraw strike out Willie Wilson to give the Phillies their first World Title since 1950. I sat that night at the foot of my parents bed and cried with joy. Seven years later I felt the same way as Schmidtty launched #500, back when hitting 500 home runs meant something.

I think there is something poetic in the way Harry left us yesterday. First, he did it where I can only imagine him forever, in the broadcast booth before a Phils' game. I know he will also be associated with NFL Films and some commercial work but for those of us from the Greater Delaware Valley he will always be the Voice of Philadelphia. It was the same way with Dave Zincoff, who is far less famous nationally but not if you were a Philly Sports fan in the 70's & 80's. All you need to do is pull up an introduction of "The Dr. Juuuuuulius Erving" to get those goose bumps.

There other piece of poetic justice is that Harry got to see the Phils' do it again by winning the World Series last year. Harry was always 'one of the guys', just listen to interviews with John Kruk or Mike Schmidt. He was the consumate throw back to sports journalists of the past right here today. The players loved him and he was always welcome around. I can only imagine the stories Harry has taken to his grave that today's journalists would have plastered on the Front Page just to see their own BYLINE!

When I got home from work yesterday I found the broadcast of the Phils' game on cable. I sat and watched with the volume on MUTE, the entire broadcast. I am sure there were amazing tributes to Harry by our hometown broadcasters as well as call ins from so many others. For me though, I embraced the silence that will now always be there when the Phils' play.

Your voice, talent and love for our team and city will be missed Harry!

Can this really be happening...

I wanted to blog yesterday about the cool stuff that happened over the weekend but I was tied up all day in meetings and then my attention last night turned to the World Series where my beloved Fightin' Phils had a chance to end 25 years of 'civic pain'. As is typical for us Philadelphians we are left 'on the hook', in suspense having to wait another day but this time not because of a loss but because the game last night was SUSPENDED, which is a FIRST for the World Series. I can't even begin to explain how exasperated I feel. It started of great, 2 runs in the bottom of the first and Cole Hamels pitching masterfully. Then, the real rain begins and it's 39 degrees...do they stop the game? NO. The umpires continues realizing that the game gets scrapped and started over if it doesn't go 4 and 1/2 innings with the home team leading. We trudge on and get through the 5th and I am thinking, would they really end a World Series game early...NO! Will they keep playing? What other option do they have? In the 6th inning I got my answer and the realization that Major League Baseball Commissioner Bud Selig must have made a deal with Al Pacino's devil character in 'The Devil's Advocate' because the Rays plated a run to tie it a 2 and all of a sudden the game goes into rain delay and quickly into suspension mode...

I am happy Hamels got to pitch 6 strong innings. I think we come out in the bottom of the 6th and put up some runs and end the series. If not we still lead 3-2 going back to Tampa, but this has now become a very strange World Series with HORRIBLE umpiring!

As for the weekend:

1. I saw my favorite live band, Cowboy Mouth (www.cowboymouth.com). They put on a great live show and for me it was 2 hours of singing, screaming and even a little toe tapping which left me soaked with sweat, exhausted but GLAD TO BE ALIVE! I also caught one of Fred LeBlanc's (lead singer and drummers) drumsticks in the pit which Cydney equated to catching a foul ball.

2. The girls soccer seasons ended on Sunday. Cyd had a very pretty goal in their 6-3 win so their season ended on an up note and Rachel scored the only goal in her teams loss. Both girls enjoyed their seasons and their teams improved greatly. I am proud to coach to great kids on two teams filled with great kids.

3. Saturday afternoon I watched the Gators take Kentucky to the woodshed as they get ready for this weekend's World's Largest Outdoor Cocktail Party with the University of Georgia. Saturday night I was out so I missed the first few innings of the baseball game but got to catch the last few innings and the Phils great win.

4. Sunday was an historic day in Philly, I wish I was there. The day started with the Phillies beating the Atlanta Falcons and then carried over to the ballpark where the Phils whipped the Rays 10-2.


I am looking forward to the World Series ending and being able to focus on the Gators the back half of this week.

Oh yeah, tomorrow I want to write about politics...there still is an election going on...right?

Phils in FIVE

I can't believe I said/typed that but it is truly what I feel in my heart. I am always one to be superstitious, see post below, but I can't help it here. A few weeks ago I was at the Florida-Tennessee game and I received a text from a good friend and he asked my prediction. I replied that I won't type it in because of my superstition. We went on to win the game and then I told him my prediction. Pretty anticlimactic since I knew the final score...

So why am I doing this now? I'm a risk taker, a guy who lives life right on the edge...not! Who knows, I can't help myself I guess, I am just giddy with the anticipation of the Series starting tonight and my hometown getting the HUGE monkey off our backs! I hate when we, as Philadelphians, get mocked for our behavior..granted booing Santa Claus is not politically correct but we came back and booed the crap out of Sarah Palin on the Flyers opening night - so we do know a few things :). But really, this is a town full of some of the most knowledgeable and passionate fans, we just expect our heroes to be like us. We want them to work hard, do their job and hustle every time out. In my 39 years I can only think of ONE player we never booed and that was Julius Erving. I love all of our sports stars, none more than Michael Jack Schmidt but even I can admit to booing him at times.

Anyway, back to the prediction - I like Hamels tonight in the opener in Tampa. The place will be rocking but Cole has been steady and I think we get just enough offense and maybe blow it open a little bit late, I'll say 6-2 Phils tonight. Tomorrow we have Brett Myers on the mound and that is a bit of a toss up, I think it is possible the Rays win Game 2, but if they don't win Game 2 they will win Game 3 in Philly. The Phils Manager Charlie Manuel is a loyal guy (we like that in Philly) and he is sticking with Jamie Moyer to pitch Game 3. Moyer has been great all year but he is 46 years old and that is showing. He had a poor outing against the Dogdgers and this might be a tough game for the Phils. Personally, I would have like to see Manuel move Joe Blanton up to Game 3 and potentially put a stranglehold on the Series but who am I to complain? The aforementioned Joe Blanton goes in game 4 and I think he is becoming a big time pitcher in this spot and then we get to game 5 where Cole Hamels retakes the hill and the Phillies win their SECOND World Series ever and doing at HOME in the BANK would be sweet!

I am holding out hopes that a ticket to Game 4 and/or 5 drops in my lap and I can get there from Atlanta. The Eagles play the Falcons Sunday afternoon across the street as well...can you see Gilly from Philly watching the Eagles at 1:00 and then walking across the complex to Game 4 of the World Series? I can!!!!!!!!!!

Go Phils!!!!

Next week it is back to College Football as I prepare for the annual trek to Jacksonville, FL or the FLORIDA-GEORGIA game and this year I am traveling with and sitting with DAWGS...

Sports Superstitions - Do you have them?

I know that I do! Let me run through my list to get you 'comfortable'.

I'll start with the Florida Gators. Number One rule is on 'gameday' I am in Gator clothing. Usually this will consist of a t-shirt/golf shirt and a ballcap. Since April of 2007 that cap has been the FINAL FOUR one I picked up at the NCAA Basketball Tourney. This is my standard routine for games that I am NOT attending. For games that I attend it stays basically the same, HOWEVER, there are certain items that have been 'banished for life' since we lost while I was wearing those items AND I was at the game. Then there are the 'BIG GAMES' that I travel to with the SAME people! My 'people' in this case are Gregg and Denise. It is not that others are not invited but we three do not miss these events, and I have to say we have an impressive track record dating back to the 1996 Football National Championship. It was in that game that Denise broke out our now famous sweatshirt. Denise will bring that sweatshirt along to any of the BIG GAMES! It was in the desert in 2006, it was in Indianapolis in 2006 and back here in Atlanta in 2007. We are UNDEFEATED with that sweatshirt.





On to the pros. I really don't have any personal superstitions when it comes to my favorite pro teams (Phillies, Eagles, Sixers and Flyers...yes all from Philadelphia). However, I do subscribe to the Curse of William Penn. It is not as famous as the Curse of the Bambino in Boston (now destroyed) or the Curse of the Goat in Chicago (sorry Cubs fans, there is ALWAYS next year), but it is just as colorful. See, up until 1983 Philly was a pretty successful sports town; the Sixers had just won the NBA Title, the Phils had won the World Series in 1980, the Flyers were always in and around the Stanley Cup despite going nearly 10 years without one and there was promise with the Eagles as they had made the Super Bowl in 1980. In fact, look at that year of 1980 and you will see EVERY major sports team in Philly in the ULTIMATE game for their respective sport. All this glory changed drastically in 1983 when the laws on the books about the Philadelphia Skyline were changed. If you are not familiar with Philly, up until this time, the tallest structure in Philadelphia could NOT rise HIGHER than the statue of William Penn on Independence Hall. Well, in an effort ot build skyscrapers this law was scrapped and as a result, it has now been 25 years without a Championship. We Philadelphians have had hope. All four teams have been back to the Finals but to no avail. This year we hold out hope again as the Phillies have moved onto the NLCS to face the Los Angeles Dodgers. For me it brings me back to the days as a very young kid in the 70's when these two teams met three times to go to the World Series. Starting Thursday night I will don a Phillies cap and root passionately for change. I long for the feeling of jubilation. I remember like it was yesterday, my Stepfather letting me sneak into my parents room late that night in the Fall of 1980 and sit at the foot of the bed and watch Tug McGraw bring US our FIRST World Title. It was something neither of us had seen and it was great to share together. I hope in 30 or so days to relive it, maybe with even one of my girls.

So, do you have any superstitions when it comes to your favorite teams?

The Weekend that was (mostly sports related...spoiler alert)

I left Friday evening for Knoxville and the University of Florida - University of Tennessee football game (Jonathan, I did that correctly by spelling it out for those not in the know right? ;-))? It is a very quick and easy drive from my house to my friend Marc's in the western burbs of Knoxville. The night was beautiful and I had the roof open, windows down and iPod blasting my FAVORITE mix and it just let my mind wander and prepare for what I knew would be a great couple of days. I rolled in around 10:00 and got caught up with the my friends and then went to sleep. Up early on Saturday we were out the door for a tailgate party at 10:30. Kick-off was not until 3:30 so it was going to be a long day. Marc had a buddy that hooked us up with an awesome party right outside the stadium. The Tennessee folks at the tailgate could NOT have been friendlier and really, besides a few obnoxious students the fans were hospitable all day and night. While I ABSOLUTELY love home games in THE SWAMP I really enjoy going on the road where there are 100,000+ people rooting for the other team. The atmosphere in the SEC is second to none and Knoxville is probably my favorite away game to go to for the atmosphere. Our seats were in the Florida section right under the 'jumbotron' so that would be the last row. However, it was only row 33 so it was really not bad as the pictures will attest. We had the added benefit of a great breeze all day and the Tennessee River behind us. Oh yeah -Gators romped 30-6 - "IT'S GREAT TO BE A FLORIDA GATOR".









Besides college football there was so much else going on sports wise. We are in the middle of the pennant chase in Major League Baseball, the NFL is in fool swing and the Ryder Cup was going on. Being an avid golfer and homer, I was pulling for the U.S. and enjoyed watching periodically throughout the weekend. What I did see showed great shot making from both sides and I was pleased to see the emotion and spirit the Americans played with. I give a ton of credit to their Captain, Paul Azinger, who has survived cancer and truly is inspirational.


On Sunday morning I hustled out of the door in Knoxville to make it home in time to take the family to the final home game of the year for the Braves. The girls looked ADORABLE in the pink Braves hats and their Tomahawks. I, of course, was in a PHILLIES cap but for the first time I can remember actively remember rooting for the Braves because they were playing the New York Mets. The mets and Phillies are in a battle for the division and every Met loss is a good one. The Braves battled back and won and I am almost beginning to feel comfortable that the Phillies will be in the playoffs. I forgot to download those pics but I'll add them at some point.

The only disappointing part of my Sunday sports day was hustling home to catch the Eagles-Steelers game only to find out it was not on in Atlanta.

Besides the big boys playing sports I did miss the girls' soccer games on Saturday though I am happy to report about them. Cydney's team WON their first game of the year in the 8/9 year old division. They won 4-2 and Cydney scored the game winner when it was knotted at 2. I can't tell you how proud I am of these girls as their coach. I only have 3 girls who are even 'of age' and they are new to the team. The rest of the girls will be turning 8 throughout this year. We lost our first 2 games soundly but they are playing with heart and determination and really having fun and enjoying each other. On a side note, from an embarrassment standpoint I am glad to have missed the game as Ilene apparently did a cartwheel ON THE FIELD after Cyd's goal. G-d forbid there is video of that I would love to put it on YouTube! Rachel's team also won and she scored 3 goals. They too have moved up divisions and are playing great soccer and are now 2-1. Coaching both teams is challenging yet very rewarding and as I told one of my coaches, maybe I should stay away from games more often.

Lastly, I watched some of the New York Yankee game last night as they closed down Yankee Stadium. Fortunately I got to see several games there. It is by no means a 'beautiful park' from a cleanliness standpoint but I was always truly in awe knowing the history that had preceded me being there.

I think that covers the weekend

What's with these bike riders (it's not all about bikes and sports dear)

As my friends will tell you, if it's a sport, Gil will watch and somehow Gil even knows something about it. "What does Gil do all day" might even run through their minds...

Well, one of my favorite yearly traditions is keeping up with the Tour de France and this year was going to be pretty easy as I spent the last week in bed and I had it on TV in front of me.

On a side note, my 7 year old watched a bit with me on Saturday and she had a 'unit' of French in FIRST GRADE this year and she pronounced 'Tour de France' in perfect French diction and corrected me when I said France like an "American". She also asked me if they were in "Paris (pronounce PA - REE) yet"? Note to self - too smart, need to re-think this Private School thing :)

Back to the Tour and these idiot riders. A couple of days ago I watch this AWESOME ride by some Italian guy named Ricco. He is young, dynamic and according to the announce team, at 22, he can one day look to winning the Tour and live up to his idol Marco Pantani. Well, yesterday he reached his idol MUCH SOONER than he thought because he got kicked off the Tour for DOPING. Yes, despite the fact that these guys know that EVERY DAY they will be tested they still do it!

To us as Americans, who are watching the steroid battle in baseball and all the other crazy things people do to get ahead it's not shocking it's just DISAPPOINTING. My girls, Cydney in particular, have become fascinated with sports like I have. She might not be the world's best female athlete but she will love sports for the reasons I do, I can see that already. The other night we watched the beginning of the All Star Game together and they were announcing the 3rd basemen. Out comes Chipper Jones, who plays for the Braves (Cydney's favorite team) and they had all the Hall of Famers out at their positions so there next to Chipper was my childhood idol, Mike Schmidt (3rd baseman for the Phillies). I looked at Cyd and saw her at 7 and a 1/2 and I looked back in my mind to see me at the same age in 1977 and sitting at the Vet watching "Schmidty" and the Phils start to turn things around that would lead to a World Championship in 1980. It was a very cool and humbling experience. I also realized I did not get enough of those experiences as a kid so I have vowed to change that for the girls. I HATE the Braves but I will 'suck it up' and take them to more games. In fact, I am starting tonight and taking Rachel out to see the Nationals and next Tuesday I will take Cyd to see the Cardinals (I think I'll even teach her how to keep a score book). I even promised the girls that as long as the Braves are NOT playing the Phils I will root for the Braves, BUT I WILL NOT DO THAT DAMN CHOP - EVER!!!!!!!!!

Rest assured I'll have one eye on the out of town scoreboard seeing how my boys are doing but I'll be with one of my girls!

Phil's Win, Phil's Win!

All I can say is wow!

It's too bad that this will mostly be looked at as a NY Met collapse but give the Fightin' Phils' there due. They won 13 of 17 and SWEPT the Mets TWICE in the last 3 weeks. Unlike the Mets, they also took care of business beating the teams they should have beat. Why do the Phils' deserve credit? Take away the Mets collapse and the Phillies are still playing today, tied with San Diego and Colorado for the Wild Card. It was 27 years ago when I truly understood the power of sports as I watched the Phillies beat the Royals for the World Series with my stepfather, I hope we can do it again here in 2008!

All that excitement was certainly tempered by the first Gator loss in over a year and whatever you want to call the Eagle game last night but at the end of the day the Gators will be fine and the Phillies are going to the Postseason!

Fantasy team moves to 4-0 beating our biggest rival, I should hold on to the overall lead as well, but not by much, not a good week for scoring!

Should be a great weekend in sports

1. The Fightin' Phils tied it up in the NL East last night. It's the first time I got chills watching a baseball game on TV since the 1993 NL Championship. Say what you want about us Philly Fans but you don't understand how much we love our teams! Do we boo too quicky sometimes? Maybe but we also get behind our boys like no others. Hearing the chants for J-Roll in the first was amazing and the support was there throughout the night. This weekend they welcome the Nats to town and hopefully Cole gets us off to a good start with a big W tonight! Wish I could be in Philly!

2. Night game at the SWAMP! They really didn't happen when I was in school, the first big one was 1991 against the Noles and it was awesome. The atmosphere should be electric. Auburn is a bit down this year but they will fight and it will hopefully be a bit of revenge for the Gators as they were our only blemish on last year's schedule. All goes well and you are looking at a TON of hype about Florida-LSU next weekend which I am sure will also be a night game in Death Valley.

3. On the home front BOTH girls have 8:00 AM soccer games tomorrow morning. I love coaching soccer but these 8:00 AM games are killer, especially when you have girls (the hair takes 20 minutes). Tomorrow will be especially tough to get out of the house as Ilene will be off at 6:00 AM to the Atlanta 2-Day Breast Cancer Walk. I can't tell you how proud I am of Ilene for dedicating the last few months to preparing for this. My lovely wife really loves her sleep, and to see her get up early on the weekends to train has been inspirational. She is walking for a great cause and she has worked very hard to be able to walk 30 miles in 2 days!

4. Don't sleep on the NFL either. Eagles have a huge game against the Giants and on the Fantasy front I take my 3-0 record up against my arch rival the BucXpress. I am looking for my 5th straight win against Rob dating back to the 2005 Championship!

Weight Watchers Update

So there was no weigh in last week because of Labor Day. I set a goal for myself to lose 2.4 lbs I think...

Did I? No. I only lost .2 lbs but hey, at least I didn't gain. Let's dissect the 2 weeks and see where I failed:

1. Spent 4 days in Florida with the boys - playing golf, fantasy football draft, drank a few beers and I probably ate too much bad food and didn't think 'portion control'.

2. Labor Day - flew home and took the girls too the Braves-Phillies game. I did well here; no beer, not hot dogs, etc...just a grilled chicken sandwich and peanuts.

3. Took the company to the Braves - Phils on Wednesday for a day game AND we sat in the 'All you can eat seats'. Again, I did relatively well compared to Old Gil. I had ONE LIGHT BEER and 2 hot dogs. Old Gil would have been 2-3 beers, 4 hot dogs, fries and nachos.

4. This past weekend we drive down to Gainesville and took the girls to their first HOME Gator game. On the road I had a Chick-Fil-A sandwich on the way down and nothing on the way back. Before the game I had a Subway Turkey sub and NO chips. At the game I had a little of Rachel's pizza and Diet Coke's (actually Diet Pepsi's but that's a horse of a different color).

5. I only ran 4 days of the 2 weeks as well.


All in all I'll take the fact that I maintained and try to get back on the horse this week. I would like to hit the 10 pound loss this week.

Monday's Random Thoughts

I guess Monday's will be a good place to dump these thoughts, especially since they build up over the weekend.

1. Chaos in the house! I am NEVER moving again if I can help it. The last time we moved I got a 'hall pass' as I was already in Atlanta so the task of packing up was left to Ilene (who was 7 months pregnant, I know...nice husband!). Anyway, this weekend we did a 'mini-pack' as we have to move for a week or two as they are installing new hardwoods in the house. Man does this SUCK, and we are staying! On the positive side, once this is done not only will the house look great but we can sort of start over fresh and get rid of the junk that has been collecting, sort of a forced 'Spring Cleaning'.

2. Boy does the Phillies Bullpen BLOW! Yesterday while I was schlepping stuff from our house to my parents I was listening to the Phils' game on XM (I love the XM). They are up 4-0 going into the 7th and as a Phils' fan I just know the wheels will come off. One, I think Charlie Manuel must think he is managing a different team. I have never seen (or more often heard) a Manager so quickly yank a Starting Pitcher than Manuel. I mean if we had a the Boston bullpen I'd yank these guys in the 6th too but we're talking Alfonseca, Romero, Geary and Flash Gordon here...I'll roll the dice with the kid who has only given up 4 hits in 6 1/3...

3. I hate to go back to the Vick thing but two things are REALLY irking me:
a. The 'DUE PROCESS' thing - let's get this straight, Mike Vick is getting due process. Let's see, he is facing multiple felony charges, has 3 co-defendants lined up against him and his team is working on a plea deal. Where is Mike right now? He is sitting at home free to do almost anything he likes. He's NOT locked up, he's NOT on house arrest. No, he can't play football but that is not the Court's decision it is his employer's. And by the way, I don't see his Union fighting that decision. I could be wrong here but I also think he might be getting paid during this suspension. Regardless he has NOT been fired! So that's 3 big NOT's. Put me, you or Uncle Al in Mike's place and I bet you we are sitting in jail waiting for trial, have been fired from our jobs and our entire world would already been ruined. Start using the correct terms people - and by people I mean the media as well as the unabashed Vick supporters. Mike is getting due process from the only place where due process means anything - the courts.

b. Could there be more...yes there is. I keep hearing, specifically on Atlanta radio that we care more about dogs than we do people apparently. Really? I have now heard that Mike is being treated worse than murderers are treated. Again, really? We now know that his co-defendants have plead guilty to KILLING 8 dogs in a really disgusting manner. I also think they will do less than 5 years. In fact, each killing is worth 5 years on a sentence so they would do 40 if they went to trial, were convicted and sentenced. So, let's see how does that compare to killing people? If I go on a murderous rampage where I kill 8 people by electrocution and drowning will I get 5 years per murder? Will I get to plea this down? Ummm, I think not. In States where the Death Penalty is available I am frying, where it is not I am ROTTING in prison wasting taxpayer money where I am serving 8 consecutive life sentences without parole (that's 25 years x 8 folks). This argument is stupid!

4. Now that I got that off my chest, this weekend did have a football related bright spot. On Saturday night we had the annual picking of the cards for my Fantasy Football Draft. Unlike many leagues this one is unique. First it has been around since 1989 and I have been in since 1992. We also have stuck to only 8 teams and we have our own unique scoring system, which we still do on our OWN, no website. We also do a complete random order throughout the draft - no snake, no traditional, completely random! So I get the #7 pick in round 1 and the #1 in Round 2. Not horrible but my picks stay pretty bad. Last year I won the whole thing with the #8 pick so there is hope. The other great thing about this league, like all leagues is the draft. For this one I go to South Florida every year for the draft (or almost every year, I've done a couple via conference call). It's a great weekend with great friends, I'm sure you'll hear plenty this year :)

5. I am admitting it here to the 'unwashed masses' - I like soccer and not just coaching Cydney and Rachel's teams. I like soccer on TV. I have the Fox Sports Soccer channel and I like watching English Premier League, the Bundeslega, Argenitinian Soccer and even MLS (gasp). I watched the LA - NY match and Beckham is just amazing! On top of that Landon Donovan is a true superstar in the making, he needs to go to Europe and let the world see it!

OK, that's a REALLY long post. I have more but my fingers are hurting!



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