Follow me on Twitter @mjbtompkins. Read my feelings about stuff, mostly sports, here. Comment space is available at the bottom of the page, if you disagree that much.
08.18.09
(deep breath in...and out...deep breath in...and out...repeat for two hours)Heeee's baaaaaaack! Unbelievable. Or as the subject line, initialed here, in an e-mail to friends earlier Tuesday morning stated, "J-F-C." I apologize deeply to our more religious readers for the language on our family-friendly blog.
Head Coach Brad Childress just couldn't quit Brett Farve and Brett Favre just couldn't quit the Minnesota Vikings. Or quit football. Or quit changing his mind. Or quit not knowing what his body is telling him. Favre will wear the number 4 jersey for the Purple this fall and winter after signing with the team and participating in afternoon practice. A few weeks ago, I helped myself explain Favre-gate 2009 using Pink Floyd's The Dark Side of the Moon. Both song titles and lyrics were fitting I thought.
Now I'm wondering if Guns 'n' Roses Chinese Democracy might not be more appropriate. We kept hearing over and over that the album was coming out, it never did, and we all just moved on. Then BOOM. There it is. In stores everywhere when no one thought it was possible.
The sports media was all over the Vikings home at Winter Park after WCCO broke the story. Sources were confirming a Vikings jet took off from the airport in Hattiesburg. Twitter trending topics for two hours included: Brett Favre, Vikings, Vikes, WCCO and Brett FaRVe. NFL "experts" proclaimed the Vikings NFC favorites before he had even slipped on a practice jersey.
I listened to most of the press conference, which started about 45 minutes later than the stated 5:00pm time given. Many had to be thinking, "Has he changed his mind again after only being on the field a couple hours?." This would have surprised no one given Favre's flip-flopping the last couple years.
However, he was finally introduced by Vikings' coach Brad Childress, and this is what we learned:
1. Chilly called Favre on Monday and gave him a small opening to join the team, through which he drove his lawnmower. Huh? Guess we know what the team thought of the quarterback situation after the first few weeks of training camp. Maybe there's something more to Sage's and T-Jack's injuries than we know. Sage looked pretty good in the first game. Why not wait until after game number two? They couldn't wait for some reason.
2. Favre's freaking rotator cuff has a slight tear. Huh? He may have played with it the last couple years. Great. His elbow stayed together by a thread last year, which ended badly for the Jets, and now the Vikings Super Bowl chances hinge on the severity of a tear in Favre's throwing shoulder. His doctor said it will be fine. I think it's an incredibly convenient excuse for missing training camp in Mankato and living in the dorm eating terrible food.
3. Favre, of course, says he has no hard feelings toward the Packers organization. They've gone their way and he's gone his. 16 great seasons together and he says there's no reason for revenge, because even if he beats them twice, they could still win the division and then what? I guess I believe him, but that game in Green Bay could be the most electric atmosphere in a stadium this year, including the Super Bowl in Miami.
4. Favre gets to wear number 4. Wonder what he had to give Booty for that? JDB should have asked for 1% of Favre's season salary.
Leading up to Vikings training camp, I had resigned myself to accept Brett Favre as a Minnesota Viking. When it didn't happen, I told anyone know who would listen what a conniving cheesehead Brett Favre was, and that he just had to stick it to the Purple and the fans one more time. 16 years wasn't enough. I convinced myself after the first preseason game that maybe Sage could be alright, even though I knew he was playing against the Colts 5th string defense.
And now here we are. Four weeks from the season opener. I'm talking myself into this again, without Pink Floyd's help. Four weeks. Plenty of time for a veteran like Favre to get his rhythm and timing down with the receivers. Plenty of time for the linemen to learn his cadence at the line of scrimmage. Plenty of time for Adrian Peterson to dream of the reality of rushing for 2,000 yards in a season. Plenty of time for Packer fans to work out their feelings. And finally, plenty of time for the owners to make room in the (mostly bare) trophy case for the most prized one of all, the Lombardi Trophy. How ironic would it be for the Vikings to win its first Super Bowl with the former Packer lifting the trophy named after the leagues most famed coach, famed Packers coach, Vince Lombardi?
I still don't know if I'll be able to root for Favre in a Vikings uniform, but I do know that I'll be rooting for the idea of him leading this team to championship glory. I just hope the season doesn't fade into nothing as fast as Chinese Democracy did. If nothing else, it will be one heck of a trip. Mission: Miami!
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07.24.09
There have been many newsworthy items the last few weeks. Here are my thoughts:
At this point, it seems like old news given the hoopla, but Michael Jackson died almost one month ago. His name still comes up in Twitter's trending topics, but I'm surprised it has quieted down as much as it has. Too much other stuff going on for people to continue to care with whom his kids end up living? Are people King-of-Popped out? Rolling Stone, in the past, has not put words on the cover to celebrate someone's life - they just let the picture alone tell the story of what someone in music meant. I am surprised they didn't do this with Jackson. Fewer words than usual, but still a little over the top with "Michael Jackson's Final Days" underneath his picture.
My friend, Dave, wrote a blog post a couple weeks ago about Jackson's death and the coverage that had some interesting comments. The way he allowed his life to play out is sad, and his public image probably needs to be split into chapters, if possible.
First 30 years: made great music for all-time, awesome entertainer, cared about others in the world, did great things for himself and others. A true icon.
Final 20 years: still entertained sometimes, but did all these weird things Dave mentions that really sullied his legacy. Wasted talent, money, image and good will. A true tabloid icon.
It would have been very interesting to see how his scheduled upcoming tour would have played out, whether he could bring it at age 50 for 50 shows. Regardless, fans around the world still cried in his presence and were willing, no, itching to see an aging pop star do it again.
People want to remember him only one way: either as the greatest entertainer of our lifetime or as the acquitted child molester. I'm going with the hybrid memory of Michael Jackson. Celebrate him as the greatest entertainer, who should have been loved for all-time by everyone, but decided to waste it by doing all these stupid things. What's wrong with having it both ways?
I had a feeling the Lebron James-getting-dunked-on video was more hype than hysteria. In the couple weeks between when the story leaked and when videos finally became available, I never read or heard from someone who was there who said that it was absolutely out of this world. People talked about it, but only to discuss the supposed cover-up. Until I saw the video, I didn't know that it happened in the half-court set, that Lebron was a help defender, and that Jordan Crawford didn't even jump over the King to send it home. Lebron was more to the side. If dunking on his hand is a big deal, then my-oh-my, what a dunk. The real thing, though, (from the camera angles we have) was very disappointing.
Just a few words about the peephole video of ESPN's Erin Andrews as she is getting ready in her private hotel room. The guys or gals involved in this should be put away, charged with emotional rape, criminal indecency, and pure idiocy. They have put a woman who was doing really good things in her job in a position where she might not be as good or as comfortable going out and doing it in the future.
Admittedly, she gained popularity because she is an attractive woman talking sports, but she did it without all the photo shoots some women on tv end up doing to gain publicity. She covered basketball at Duke, Indiana, UCLA, went to the College World Series, talked letters with kids at the National Spelling Bee - anything and everything to get on the air and gain experience. And she actually does a good job, from what I remember in her appearances. She seems comfortable in front of the camera, doesn't ask the usual questions, and looks interested in what the person she is interviewing has to say. Many sideline reporters will be too serious, as though what the interviewee has to say will change sports forever, but she laughs with them and gets them to answer outside the cliches.
I wonder what comments she'll hear when she goes to Cameron Indoor Stadium this winter. It seems over the top, but I wouldn't be surprised if her life as a sports reporter is soon over. Working with men all day, visiting college campuses all the time, she is going to hear stuff that she never should have to hear, all because a couple people thought it would be funny to make themselves famous by becoming criminals. Just sad, and as the internet shows, it happens all the time to people.
Finally, the Minnesota Twins. What a mess their pitching staff has become. Starting pitchers have a great outing, but can't finish strong. Batters give them a big lead, but the starters and relievers implode and can't finish strong. Relief pitchers holding everything together for a couple batters, but totally blow it at the end.
The manager, Ron Gardenhire, is really in a damned-if-you-do, damned-if-you-don't situation when he gets to the latter half of games right now. Leave the starters in, and they've shown they can't go that last inning. Bring in a reliever and they can't hold it. Gardy has been ripped for doing both in the last week, and he can't win at this point. He just has to hope that his relief guys are going to come in and pitch well to finish the game. His plan has always been to bring the relievers in for the 7th or 8th inning. He has to stick to it at this point, as nothing is reliable. As long as Joe Mauer, Justin Morneau and Jason Kubel hit as a group as well as they have been, the run support will be there. And right now, the team needs all the runs they can get.
07.06.09
I've had a week to reflect on what I think turned out to be a great parenting accomplishment - two fathers on a road trip with five kids, ages 2-6. I don't think I'm narcissistic, as those of you who know me might attest to (if you won't, then humor me for a few minutes here), but it really did turn out well.
I'm not as good at lists as Laura is, but here are 10 things I learned from our van-cation to Wiley Park in Aberdeen, South Dakota for a family reunion:
1. Kids can and will entertain themselves in close quarters for up to, but not over, 25 minutes before someone starts poking another or hitting them with an inanimate object.
2. Be prepared to stop 30 minutes after starting a road trip, so 1-2 can go to the bathroom, even though the question was asked three times before getting in the car if anyone had to go to the bathroom.
3. Juice boxes. Lots of juice boxes. And string cheese. And a few movies.
4. Be in the car within a one-hour window of their usual naptime. Awesome. (We nailed this one on the way home. 130 minutes of conversation between brothers.)
5. Putting up the tent is not the #1 priority upon arrival at the campground. Bug spray is #1. Layer it on. 10 days later and Siena has finally stopped scratching. We had no mosquitoes in Minnesota when we left. They were swarming in Aberdeen.
6. Kids can usually sleep through anything - Friday night thunderstorm from 10pm-2:30am. Not a peep from my kids until Siena woke up to scratch her dozens of bug bites. This learning is not the case if your tent leaks. Don't ask Scott about this night.
7. Throw #6 out the window, too, if you try to get five kids to try to nap in the same space that isn't a moving van.
8. High school nieces make great baby sitters, even if I didn't officially ask them to babysit. The kids just kinda gravitate toward them, and the fun lasts for at least an hour.
9. Wiley Park is a very good family destination for a weekend. Camp sites, a lake with a beach, go-karts and bumber boats, 18-hole miniature golf course, volleyball and basketball courts and the kids' favorite, Storybook Land, complete with a yellow-brick road throughout, a 100-foot tall beanstalk with Jack climbing up, little houses for many other stories kids love (3 Little Pigs, Munchkins, Goldilocks and the 3 Bears, etc). It also has a train to ride all around the park, which lets you see everything. All-in-all, a great place to keep a family busy for a weekend.
10. Laura probably hated missing the kids, but not as much as loving the peace-and-quiet 3.5 days without kids brings to the house. Laura was very happy to see them (and me, I think), but I could tell she really enjoyed the "time off," and deservedly so.
It was a successful trip, too, because of the reunion. About 65 people on my mom's side of the family came from all over the country to be together - all descended from my mom's paternal grandparents. Lots of laughs, great stories from when they were younger and some tears for those who have passed away. This is the first reunion I remember on the Baldwin side, but I'm pretty sure that plans are in motion for the next one "not too far away," in the words of my mom's +/-90 year old aunt.
06.04.09
The NBA Finals start tonight (just about to tip off, in fact) with most people picking the Los Angeles Lakers to beat the Orlando Magic in 5 or 6 games. I can't disagree. I'll take the Lakers in 6. The Black Mamba, Kobe Bryant, wants his 4th ring so bad, it appears he's actually willing to fake enjoying a talk with his teammates to make them feel good (Kobe Doin' Work) as the season went on.
My predicting mind isn't that great, as I picked Cleveland and Denver to make the Finals. For the Lakers to beat the Nuggets in 6 and destroy them on their home floor to close it out, really says something about their focus in these playoffs. The Magic shocked me with their play against the Cleveland Cavaliers. Not so impressed with their defense on Lebron James, whose play might have been in the top five playoff performances of all time (Wade, Shaq, MJ, Magic, Russell, West to name a few in the mix).
Nike Lebron needed just one more guy to play consistently, whether it was Big Z, West or Williams, and Cleveland wins in five or six. The other guys only needed to hit open shots and play some defense and they didn't. They probably should have tried to let Dwight Howard beat them and cover the other guys when they continued to hit three after three after three after three. They didn't, Mike Brown didn't call it and here we are with Orlando in the Finals - Disney World vs. Disney Land.
I don't think the Magic will continue to pull rabbits from their *sses from beyond the arc in the Finals, as I tweeted earlier today. At least not at the clip they have so far in the playoffs. The Lakers should be able to try to play Superman, Dwight Howard, one-on-one with Bynum and stay close to Orlando's shooters. The Lakers have size, they have athleticism, they have veteran wile, they have home court.
And they have Kobe Bryant. I think he is going to burst if he doesn't win the title this year, and that will drive him. He wants to leave those Shaq-led teams on the side of the road, as good as they were with him, once and for all. In 2004 and 2008, his team wasn't the best - Detroit and Boston, respectively, were better and showed it on the court by winning. Not this year. Kobe is the best player. He has the best team. He has home court. And he will win his 4th ring, cementing in the NBA a great legacy he so deeply desires as a top-12 player of all-time.
04.19.09
I'm pretty disappointed with the sound in our latest podcast, in which we discuss our recent spring road trips. You can hear it by clicking play in the player on the right. I thought we had a good plan for content, but as you will hear (or already heard), there are definitely differences in the sound at different points. We started and stopped a handful of times, mostly due to the fan on our computer coming on to cool it down, but there were a couple other distraction as well, which I won't get into here.
I think we were able to edit it together pretty well, to minimize any noise when it occurred, besides the fan, but it's not perfect. Anyway, we hope you at least enjoyed what we had to say and picked up a few tips and pointers along the way. Thanks to a heads up from my friend Dealin' Dave, we have a reasonably priced microphone on the way, which should minimize most problems in the future...your ears can thank us later.
In the podcast, we point out that we went to Marquette, MI, where we visited our friends Sean and Heather, who recently had a baby boy. They are always gracious hosts in their home, where we can sit, have a beer and play with or watch our kids terrorize the puppies. Sean had recently brewed an I.P.A., which tasted very nice and had great color. Laura appreciated it, as she has gotten into more hoppy beers in the last year.
Marquette, and the Upper Peninsula, is a great place to visit. There is so much to do outdoors: hike, bike, walk along the lake, walk around town, snow shoe, snow-machine around, golf and more. We haven't been up there much when it is spring or summer, as my vacation with the guys occurs in the dead of winter. I look forward to more visits when I can do more outdoors stuff, if I choose to take advantage of it.
Last thing, if you're ever there, make sure to visit The Vierling. It's a great little brew pub right downtown near the lake. They make many of their own beers and have passable food. But go for the beer. I again had a pint of their Blueberry Wheat (with blueberries in the bottom) and sampled (10 oz.) their Chocolate Wheat, both very nice. I think Laura had a pale ale, which tasted smooth, as well. We'll make sure to make it there on each visit.
04.09.09
This will be a first-day take on the third day (copyright: The Common Man on KFAN), but both the men's and women's NCAA basketball championship games played out as I expected. North Carolina men dominated Michigan State and the Connecticut women dominated Louisville. UConn would give the Gopher men's team a run for its money, I think. It's fine that MSU and Louisville made the championship games, but they weren't the teams that could give the eventual champions a great game in the final. They beat the teams they played to get to the final game, so I guess they deserved it, but anyone predicting they would win it was probably more hoping they would win than actually thinking they could. It would have been much more fun to watch the Paris twins for the Oklahoma women go up against the UConn women.
I didn't think Michigan State would get past USC in the 2nd round and thought Louisville would make it to the Final Four. I felt that either Pittsburgh or UConn (men) would have given UNC a better championship game, since they had strength and bulk at most positions to bang on the boards and really make UNC defend them hard. Michigan State was just too small and couldn't stay with UNC's explosiveness in both the full-court and half-court game. Which is too bad, because MSU playing in the championship game in their home state was a nice story. However, I didn't think it was as important as some national writers made it out to be.
There were writers who actually wrote that MSU playing in the Final Four in Detroit would be a savior for the city and state, if only for a week. As though they could just tuck away the unemployment and awfulness of the city into a nice little box for eight days and hide it in a storage closet at Ford Field. Sure, it made people feel good that their team, or at least a team from their state, was doing well on the national stage, but unless they were a small business owner near the hotels, stadium or airport, welcoming thousands of new customers through their doors and raking in the much-needed cash, MSU making the championship game didn't put more food on people's tables, didn't add long-term jobs, didn't prop up the auto industry and didn't keep people in their houses. And of course, now that the game is over, you have writers (maybe even the same writers discussed above) saying this, that the games were fun to watch if you live in Michigan, but life is pretty much the same - a bowl full of worries about what to expect next.
And on top of that, their team got absolutely destroyed, which I am happy about for two reasons: 1) I'm more of a front-runner, so seeing the better teams actually win brings me about as much pleasure as other people feel when an underdog wins (I am still absolutely befuddled how New England couldn't score more points on the Giants in the 2008 Super Bowl), and 2) MSU's loss made my taunts to the people in my bracket who chose them to win look a little less stupid. It was the first and only email blast I sent to the bracket group during the three weeks of the tourney, as MSU kept winning. I would have eaten some serious crow if they had won it all.
Overall, a fairly fun tournament to watch. I wasn't saddened that no real underdogs made a run - that's fun to watch every once in a while, but I really thought their were 8-10 good teams this year, and we got to see most of them in the Elite Eight and Final Four. How can anyone not like watching the best play each other when everything is on the line? Which is why I was really pulling for UNC to face both Pitt and UConn in the Final Four. Those games would have been Ali-Frazier and Ali-Foreman like (or Sugar Ray-Hagler like, if you prefer the smaller fighters). Alas, we were stuck watching UNC thoroughly destroy an overmatched MSU team in front of their home fans and state, therefore continuing the streak of bad news in Michigan for another week.
03.26.09
If you're a college basketball fan and you haven't heard of Gus Johnson, then you need to seriously rethink whether or not you are a college basketball fan. Hopefully by the end of this weekend, you will know who he is. Gus is an announcer for CBS (and others), who works the NCAA men's basketball tournament every year. He has a smooth voice that can raise from mute to fighter jet loud within seconds of a monster dunk.
But his bread and butter comes when games get down to crunchtime - the final couple minutes of a close one, made all the better when there is something on the line, like moving on in the tournament, or when great players make great plays.
Instead of trying to continue to describe it, just watch the following:
Gus's call is great, made all the better by Bill Raftery's hoarse call on the replay of, "Major! Onions!" which is his signature call. I only posted the one video here, but search YouTube for others. He has also called some UFC bouts, I think. My guess is that he gets just as excited for anything exceptional that happens. It would be the same reaction if he received an extra chicken nugget in his six piece value meal: "CAN YOU BELIEVE IT? GIVE IT UP FOR CHICKEN LIIIIIIIIITTLLLLLE!"
Here's to hoping Gus gets good games this weekend. He'll be calling the games from Indianapolis on Friday at 6 and 8:30pm CST.
03.22.09
We have been knee-deep in March Madness here, with the NCAA men's basketball tournament getting underway this past weekend. At the same time, we were preparing for Elliot's 2nd birthday, which was on Saturday, March 21st. We recorded a new Podcast Named Pig on Sunday after all the festivities were over, and we had a chance to catch our breath. We had a great time with our friends and family at two different parties, and Elliot and Siena are absolutely exhausted from all the activity and excitement.
We kept the podcast fairly short - an interview with Siena to get her thoughts about basketball and tried to get Elliot to talk about one of his favorite gifts he received. There were some other things I wanted to get into, but in order to cut down on time, we didn't discuss, so I am going to put them here, in my cozy little section of our website.
I wanted to talk about the basketball tournament but not only the games, which are great, but how I need to balance watching so many games over the course of four days with spending time with the family, especially leading up to one of my child's birthday parties, when there is so much preparation needed to be done. You would have to ask Laura and the kids if I succeeded in keeping this balance, but I know that even when I was helping with the party, my mind wasn't always fully in the moment, as I found myself wondering if I was missing anything exciting.
I was up early on both Thursday and Friday morning so I could go to work. I was out the door before anyone else in the house was stirring, which is hard to do with our old wood floors. Normally, I leave when the kids are eating breakfast or have just sat down to watch their first cartoon on PBS Kids.
I worked both days and then raced home to catch the last few games of the afternoon session and help with party stuff. I was up until about midnight both nights. Saturday is kind of a blur right now, as we had another birthday party in the morning, before putting the finishing touches on Elliot's party while the kids napped. We were both beat on Saturday night, but I kept one eye on the tv as I tried not to fall asleep and miss a great game.
The whole time on Thursday and Friday, I was totally conscious of trying to balance being a parent and meet those obligations while watching the games. I sat down for our family dinners, but I have to admit that I made it quicker than usual. I played with the kids, but mostly in the basement where the tv is. Laura was busy making cake and cupcakes, so Siena and Elliot wanted to be by her side, and I wasn't always good at keeping their attention, as my attention was intently on the games. We played basketball with our little hoop, dribbling a basketball, while watching basketball. I guess one good thing is that I was trying to teach them about something I love, but because they don't share my love (yet), it probably appeared I was doing it half-hearted. I can't disagree and neither would Laura, I bet.
Probably the worst was when I grumbled, albeit briefly, about having to go to the store at about 9:30pm for more frosting. This makes no sense, but I was more mad at having to change pants and put shoes on than actually having to go, but I'm glad I didn't fight it, because it definitely would have been unfair to Laura. I'm happy with how Elliot's parties turned out and how I helped, but Laura deserves a huge trophy. I am promising her that her March madness ended this weekend. 03.13.09
Laura and I are fully committed to this podcast stuff. It should be on iTunes soon, too, so you can download all episodes and listen in the car as you take your cross-country road trip this spring break or summer.
We enjoy doing it (right, hon?), even if we sound like a couple of college freshmen working the 2-3am shift at their college radio station playing the requisite playlist of Dylan, Zeppelin, The Cranberries and The Beastie Boys, only with worse sound equipment.
The sound quality is really bugging me, and I know that spending money on a microphone, an amp or mixer and some different software can fix it, but I want it to be easier than that. I guess this is what I need to reconcile – how much time and money are we willing to put into this endeavor. That, and practicing my Paul Harvey voice (RIP, Paul...good day!).
I know we’ll definitely put in the time: brainstorming topics, production meetings on the flow, recording, converting to correct format and uploading the finished product. But I think we’ll hold off on a big expenditure and see how it goes with the current setup, play around with recording in different areas of the house and call on our more fanatic audiophile friends in the meantime to put out a more listener-friendly podcast product.
Which is why I called my friend Dave on Thursday night to get some tips on how to make Laura and my voice the same volume, how to make the quality better with what we have and, since he’s the king of audio deals, whether he could do some research on microphones, if we decide to go down that road. I knew he had to be my first call, because he's the only person I know who's had a "Letter to the Editor" printed in a magazine.
Within minutes he had my head spinning in audio speak: You need to normalize the sound. What’s your sampling rate? You’re bit rate should be at least 8 (or is it 44.1 mhz?). Does your computer recognize your video camera as an audio source?
Ummmm....(crickets chirping)
Actually, he was quite helpful. I was able to make a couple changes to the audio input settings for our built-in iSight microphone and will definitely check to see if the video camera is recognized as an audio source. I’m also planning a trip to Orchestra Hall to steal some soundproofing panels off the walls for our basement. We’ll see how all this affects the next Podcast Named Pig. And thanks to Dave for getting us there.
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I’d be remiss if I didn’t write briefly about March Madness. Many of the smaller conferences have already wrapped up their tourneys, so they know which teams will be sacrificed in the 1st two rounds of the Big Dance. On Thursday, the bigger conferences kicked it off with many potential 1 and 2 seeds getting beat: Pittsburgh, Connecticut, Kansas, Oklahoma. Damn our decision to forgo cable and satellite (I’m actually ok with it, but that’s for another day). Those would have been fun games to watch, especially the nearly four hour epic between Connecticut and Syracuse.
As I wrote last year, it’s the most wonderful time of the year. Can’t wait to watch conference championships this weekend and see what region the Minnesota Gophers fall – my guess is they’ll be a 9-12 seed. And I hope North Dakota State ends up in the same region and they somehow meet in the Sweet 16. Sky-U-Mah!
03.07.09
You'll see a new addition to the site, just our way at catnamedpig.com of keeping things fresh during these long winter nights (actually, it's been quite nice the last few days, but we know it can't last). Podcast Named Pig is on the air!
I have been researching podcasting the last month or so and played around in GarageBand the last couple weeks to see what was needed and whether or not it would be easy. I wouldn't say that it is easy to do, but it is definitely fun. Putting the music tracks along with our voices in the right spot takes some getting used to, and I'm sure it will be more than a handful before our product is where we want it to be.
Case in point can be heard in the Podcast Named Pig premier now available on our main page. Throughout the first few minutes you can hear the constant whirring of the fan from our laptop. When it stops, there is a noticeable difference, so we'll attempt to recreate the last couple minutes for each show in the future.
For now, enjoy what you hear, and we promise to get better. Eventually, they will be more conversational between the two of us. The premier was more the two of us talking at the computer like it was an actual person. 02.10.09
I am not outraged. Read almost any sports writer on the main sites, Yahoo! Sports, ESPN, etc, and they are outraged. What a bunch of high-horse, sit-on-a-pedestal, I-need-to-write-this-because-this-is-what-the-readers-expect nimrods.
I don't like that Alex Rodriguez and many others took steroids to help stay sharp during the long season and help improve their already very skilled game (Miguel Tejada was just charged in court today for lying about his use). However, for these writers and sports talk guys to come out and say that baseball, past, present and future has forever been tarnished is absolute bologna. Unless they've had their head in the sand for the past decade, the revelations by Sports Illustrated in the last few days are not new, and how they obtained the results probably falls under the category of criminal.
Journalists, especially in these 24 hour news, gotcha journalism days, will do anything to get a scoop and get themselves noticed by the masses. Selena Roberts and David Epstein probably did do some great investigative work, but at what expense? At least four people should probably go to jail for leaking A-Rod's name from the list of 104 players who tested positive in 2003. From what I've heard/read, the tests were supposed to remain anonymous, with no names attached. If 5% of the tests from that year came back positive, mandatory testing was supposed to automatically kick in the next year - 7% were positive. The results were supposed to be destroyed, as baseball had no official penalty for a positive test then.
Where are the other 103 names? Why is A-Rod alone taking the hit for this, besides being the big name? Are there other motivations? If you were one of the players from 2003, whether you are on that list or not, aren't you upset, because now the whole season is under suspicion and therefore you are too? 104 players equals 4 full baseball teams, which means about 10% of the players that year were using steroids.
How can many of these journalists justify ripping A-Rod without roundly ripping the management of the game back then and demand that all names be released? From the clubhouse to the board room, they had their head in the sand for decades, and they're just sitting in their high-rise offices, collecting their millions, washing their hands of the whole situation. Hell, the journalists themselves, who today are on the stump saying the game will never be the same are the same ones who ignored the signs throughout the 90s.
I just don't like it. I hate that players, good players, even MVPs and Hall of Famers made the decision to juice. But, I hate it even more that there are people getting paid to write and lazily jab and wag their finger at players who were trying to get better, as they sit on their fluffy couch eating potato chips. Roberts and Epstein will make the sports radio rounds as they talk about scooping this story. In my opinion, they should stop by their lawyers' offices to begin their case to defend their sources leaking confidential information.
A-Rod doesn't owe anyone - not the Texas Rangers owner, not the Yankees, not the Commissioner - an apology, except the fans. And he did that in a pretty decent act of contrition in his interview with Peter Gammons the other night. You could tell on his face that he was upset, both for doing it and for getting caught (illegally - I just can't let the leakers go, on this), but he said he was sorry, said he'll move on, which is what we all need to do when it comes to the issue of baseball and steroid use. It's old news, the game is moving on, their stiff banned-substance policy in place. But some are stuck in the past. The players can't be suspended, they can't be fined. I will say that it would be a great gesture if A-Rod donated some of his earnings from 2001-2003 to charity (he is being honored soon for his $3.9 million gift to his school). He has the money. It would be a good gesture and maybe it would help restore his character amongst the writers.
My guess, though, is they might extend a hand of goodwill to him, but are just as likely to write that giving away the money is just a stunt to help his image. These knuckleheads want it both ways, will write the angle that they think will get them the most readers and have no regrets. It's lazy. I am not outraged at the players at this point. I'm outraged at the outrageous response. 01.20.09
It was almost exactly 11 weeks ago from right now (as I typed this sentence), when we found out that Barack Obama had officially become the 44th President of the United States, earning enough votes in the electoral college to defeat John McCain. The uncertainty then was almost unbearable for those of us who had been shocked in 2000 and 2004 when the vote did not go our way, when, inexplicably, the country voted to move in a different direction than the relative peace and prosperity of the 1990s. We got it right on November 4, 2008, as the uncertainty of what lies ahead for us as a nation cripples our financial, industrial, health care and military systems.
The United States needed an about-face, gave the directive to one man on that historic day last November and now President Obama has no choice but to deal with these challenges head on. He said he would do so in his inauguration speech, promised to do so throughout his campaign and assembled many bright and experienced people, including Vice President Joe Biden, in his inner-circle and Cabinet to help him. Anything less than vast overhauls of some of our most vulnerable systems means the President missed his chance.
However, this important work can start on Wednesday. For now, enjoy day 1 of the President Obama era knowing that we have the right man in place for this moment in history. He will lead us out of this general malaise that has been hanging over everything for the past four years (I know many would say eight years, but really, it’s been four bad ones). It might not happen tomorrow or by my birthday on February 1st, but it will happen before we have to make our next choice for President in a little less than four years. YES WE CAN!
12.02.08The guy shot himself in the leg.
Plaxico Burress, multi-millionaire wide receiver for the New York Giants, shot himself in the leg, apparently. I'm not one that is going to rail on star athletes or entertainers for wanting to go out and have some fun once in a while. Plax wasn't even going to play two days later, due to a hamstring injury. Maybe it had been a while since he had been out. I don't know.
However, instead of spending a few hundred bucks for 2-3 very large men to stand around him for a couple hours, he decides to carry a gun in his sweatpants. COME ON!
How does he not have anyone around him that knows this and talks him out of it? He's the same age as I am...how can he not know that maybe it's a bad idea for him, a well-known New York athlete, to go someplace where he thinks he needs to protect himself with a gun? My only thought is that he's gone nuts and just doesn't know any better.
In this day and age, where celebrities have to be "on" 24/7, it blows my mind whenever someone in the public eye messes up in this way. STAY HOME! No one is going to care if he didn't go out that night. And his name wouldn't be in the news for something so stupid. And he'd still be playing for the best team in the league with a chance to win a 2nd consecutive Super Bowl title. But that chance has been blown. And there's a good chance he'll spend time in jail. Remember Michael Vick?
Spend the extra dough. My guess is that there are thousands of tough guys in New York/New Jersey who would have no problem using a gun if the situation warranted it. Plax needs to hire them. At least he'd be able to move and dance without making himself look like a damn fool. He's paid to not fumble a football, and he's in the news for fumbling a handgun. I wonder if they can rename the winner of the "Turkey of the Year" award? 11.05.08
I am really proud of my vote and the millions of others cast for Barack Obama on Tuesday. The campaign he ran over the last 20 months, from the bottom up, as it should be, is something to admire. I really hope he can continue this momentum of hope and change as he steps into the White House on January 20, 2009.
As happy as I am, I cannot be all-out, jumping-up-and-down thrilled about all the votes cast on election day. Democrats won the big one and gained in the Senate and House, so it was a very good night to like the color blue. However, in Minnesota, Republicans probably held on to two of the seats that were most heavily contested and watched throughout the country.
Michelle Bachmann, in the 6th District, won re-election over El Tinklenberg, which didn't surprise me, really, but still disappoints me that so many people can't see through her facade and didn't understand that she did not do anything to warrant another term and spouts nonsense almost every time she has a microphone in her face. I'm not proud of that district today.
The other, even bigger contest, which surely won't become official until after a mandatory recount is finished (and most likely not until after some time in court), is the Norm Coleman-Al Franken dogfight for a Senate seat. I am surprised that Franken finished close enough for a recount, but it makes me a little mad to think that if the Democrats somehow could have come up with just a little bit better candidate, then no recount would need to occur. People were itching for Coleman to go, but Franken, if the recount holds true, just wasn't the man to do it. He said a lot of the right things, but people didn't like his past and didn't think he was the right person to speak for MN, since he hadn't really spent much time here before 2007. Again, if the vote holds true, I wonder if there will be a push for instant runoff voting or some other voting mechanism of ranking your preferred candidates, as Dean the Independent did no favors for either Coleman or Franken.
But, the final vote count I am most disappointed to see, if current counts hold up, is on Proposition 8 in California. Tuesday was a great, historic day for the United States of America, where people of every color, age, income, sexual orientation and geographic location came together as one to elect an African-American man as President. It was a day to help push the dark history of inequality in our country further into the past, to move us forward in working together, believing that anyone, no matter what they look like or where their family is from, can rise up, give hope and provide the leadership we need. And then, because of a vote on one proposition in California, the ugliness of inequality might rear its ugly head for another day. I have not heard one single valid reason, and I have searched on the web and in person, that makes sense in continuing to deny people the legal right to choose the partner with whom they wish to spend the rest of their life. And saying only that "Marriage is between a man and woman," "It's disgusting," or "How can they choose to live that way?" immediately disqualifies you from speaking more on the subject. Changing the Constitution of a state or country to deny people rights of equality that they deserve as humans on this planet does nothing to help move our country forward. It does no help at all.
When you are at home with your family, your married gay neighbors do not diminish the love you feel together.
When you are in your car driving to work, the married gay couple in the next lane does not make you less safe.
When you are on vacation at the beach, the married gay couple taking a relaxing walk in the sand does not make the sunset less beautiful.
And when you are playing with your kids outside, the married gay couple raking their leaves in the front yard of the house they bought, on which they pay property taxes and in which they are only hoping to live a happy and fulfilled married life together, should have no impact on the happiness you feel in your own life.
How do people, just because they are straight, more positively influence our life and the way we live than someone who is gay? And how is it, that on the same day we did so much to break barriers of inequality that sometimes seemed too high to even fathom bringing down, people voted to build those walls back up against your gay friends, your gay family members, your gay co-workers, all your gay fellow citizens?
I had tears of joy on Tuesday night, as I watched Barack Obama humbly accept the duties and responsibilities as President-elect of the U.S. We know it won't be easy, but he, and those he chooses to help him, will do great things for our country. I just hope people realize that there are still inequalities to overcome. There are still dreams and equalities for which to fight. It just doesn't seem right that we did so much good and may have done so much bad in one election day. 09.24.08
Republican Presidential hopeful John McCain said that he's going to suspend his campaign and return to Washington until a compromise is reached on the Wall Street bailout bill. He also proposed to Democrat Barack Obama that they postpone Friday night's debate to focus on the economy and find a solution to the current problems.
I don't have a problem with them making a trip to Washington to hold talks with their peers on what the best course of action is, nor do I have a problem with suspending the campaign for a couple days, if for no other reason than it will hopefully spare us seeing ads on tv every 3 minutes. The current state of the economy has many people spooked and deserves special attention.
My problem is with McCain's ridiculous proposal to postpone the debate on Friday night. The first debate is supposed to focus on national security issues, which I believe McCain would want to jump on, no matter what is going on...it's his strongest play. Couldn't a few questions be thrown in regarding the current economic bailout bill, so the American people can get a taste of what the candidates are thinking? McCain and Obama should want to get in front of a national audience as much as possible, at this time, so they can tell us what their thoughts are themselves, instead of us getting it second-hand from the usual suspects in tv, radio and newsprint.
I don't think McCain showed very good leadership and executive decision-making when he chose Sarah Palin as his VP candidate, and now this offer to postpone the debate. I think the offer is a major political gaffe and shows much less leadership ability than Obama, who proposed earlier in the day that they work together on an economic statement to be released jointly.
No good can come in this election, and folks will have a harder time making up their minds, if the Presidential candidates do not meet face-to-face, as scheduled. In May, maybe it would pass, but not with six weeks to go before a very important election for the country. 09.11.08
Some tough words from MSNBC's Keith Olbermann for a day of remembrance.
He has not been shy in his critique of the Republicans and John McCain this summer, which led to this "Special Comment" on his show last night. Not too long, but I became a little uncomfortable. I am not sure if it's because I believe he's telling the truth or if I think he might have gone overboard. Either way, it's the toughest critique I've seen during this election season. 08.15.08
I don't know if everyone at catnamedpig has been as enthralled by the Olympics as me, but we've spent a little bit of time in front of the tv for the last week. In saying "a little bit," I mean, of course, from 7pm until after midnight. Siena's usually there for the first hour, Laura gives up by 10pm, and I've been in it for the long haul.
I don't exercise really at all, except for playing basketball on about 14 Sundays each year. But I might take up swimming, which like most kids, I spent everyday doing in the summer during my youth. We've been doing it with Siena and Elliot almost every weekend this summer, and then watching the Olympics this last week has made me think, like a lot of people, that it might be fun to get into it again.
However, unlike in my youth, when I would spend three-to-four hours at the pool every afternoon, I fear that I won't be able to stick with it, as swimming laps isn't nearly as fun as diving off the diving board, playing marco polo or tag and trying to dunk my friends. In fact, my guess is that I will be out of the water within 30 minutes the first time I try to actually swim.
Four or five years ago, I agreed to swim ten laps in a swim-a-thon for the YMCA, for which I raised maybe $25. For some reason, after finishing ten laps, the lifeguards keeping track of the swimmers pushed me to go for 20. I have no idea why, but I agreed, even though I rested about 30 seconds after laps seven, eight, nine and ten. I was breathing hard and wanted to go home.
Ten minutes later I was done - that's one length per minute if you're scoring at home. I pulled myself out of the water, walked wearily to the locker room, sat on the bench and almost passed out. I distinctly remember putting my head between my legs, so I didn't fall over in front of the 3-year-old boy and his dad on the other side of the room (side story: When I was 15, I passed out in a McDonald's in Mankato, MN, while waiting in line to order breakfast. I was ok, thanks to the 7-year-old boy behind me who broke my fall. My VFW baseball teammates didn't let my ego recover for awhile, though).
So, with that in mind, I might begin to swim and get some exercise outside of lifting up two kids every day. I expect to be eating as much as Michael Phelps does within 3 months.
I've also been following the Minnesota Twins A.L. Central Division race pretty closely and wish they could somehow get in front of the White Sox by a game or two soon. Every time the Twins have pulled ahead in the standings, they lose the next game and fall behind again. I was skeptical when they called up Francisco Liriano two weeks ago, but am very happy they did. The results have been great.
And speaking of the Twins, I'm excited about their new ballpark. 07.07.08
HAPPY BIRTHDAY, SIENA! I think my next birthday will be celebrated for four days, too (although, maybe it should be 32 days for 32 years?). Note for when you're older and reading this: I hope you chose to eat at Pepito's again this year. How your mama and I love us some margaritas! Also, I'm sorry I couldn't keep Norah Jones fish alive for a full one year. 361 days isn't bad, though.
Let's just move on. Of course Brett Favre is thinking about retiring from retirement. The 2nd paragraph on the 2nd page of Peter King's article made me throw up a little bit in my mouth.
I think everyone saw this coming back in March about 3 minutes after he announced he was retiring. I don't know why he decided to retire this year anyway - team just missed the Super Bowl (thanks to Favre), he had a great year and the team is still young and would be factors in the 2008 season. It didn't make sense for him to step away now, and my guess is that he realized it too late.
If he does come back, I don't think Packer fans will be mad or sick of him. They might feel bad for Aaron Rodgers for a minute, but the team, already close to the Super Bowl, would be better. Why be angry at that? Anger should set in if he ends up playing for another team, either by trade or if the Packers decide to release him. Right now, I don't believe I could root for him as a Viking. Favre in a purple uniform? If it happens and the Vikings go to the Super Bowl with him at QB, I would cheer for Favre throwing three interceptions and fumbling twice, but hope for the Minnesota defense to score three TDs and the team win 21-17...or something like that.
I hope it's not like that. 07.01.08
HAPPY BIRTHDAY, HON! It''s not too often that I brag about things, but what we've accomplished the last few years is pretty damn cool. The rugrats at our feet are the best, and I love watching you with them, even when we have to curse under our breaths a little bit now and then.
I love you and am jealous you have another year in your 20s. Let's make it great. 06.13.08
HAPPY BIRTHDAY, SISTER! Sure, we've both lived 30 years or more (31+ for me), but there are plenty more ahead. Hope you're looking forward to all your cards from jokester friends saying how old 30 is. It's not. You'll do great.
I'm glad I'm in the mood this morning to send birthday wishes. I want the Celtics to win the NBA Finals, so the game on Thursday night was a tale of two emotions for me. It's a good thing the kids are in bed by the time the games start, because I was cursing very early on, which lasted about an hour-and-a-half. I'm pretty sure it sent Laura to bed early.
However, once again, I found myself standing up in the 4th quarter and hitting my hand on the ceiling when Posey hit that ridiculous three pointer from the corner. Unlike game 3, in which the Lakers won, the Celtics actually made shots down the stretch, matching the Lakers just enough to maintain their lead once they got it.
I think Doc Rivers finally found his offense when he really needs it - KG, Pierce, Allen, Posey and House. There are 3 sharp-shooters, along with Pierce who can shoot from mid-range or drive, and then KG, who can draw attention in the post, and if he has to, find one of the shooters on the outside. Thursday night, he did both in the 4th quarter.
I thought LA found something at the end of game 2, when they pressured the Celtics full-court in the 4th quarter and almost won the game with their own huge comeback. Once the Celtics were making their run in game 4, I don't recall the Lakers putting the pressure on to help stop the bleeding. Token pressure doesn't do it, especially if they were shocked from the shot in the mouth they were taking.
I'm still trying to understand how a Phil Jackson coached team let a lead like that slip away. I'm very surprised. Odom was the main reason the Lakers built their big lead. He was playing well for the first time in the series, with 15 points in the 1st half. However, he scored four after that, and he was on the bench for much of the 4th quarter. Some foul problems, but he needed to be on the floor.
A year ago, no one would have thought it, but the Celtics, coached by Doc Rivers, are going to be the 2008 NBA Champions. Doc and Pierce should buy KG and Allen cars. 06.06.08
Welcome back, folks. Been a long time since I rapped at ya. NBA Finals are here, with game 1 about what I thought it would be. Some rustiness from both teams, missed shots that are normally made (I'm looking at you, Kobe), refs making too many calls early on, Celtics defense stifling Kobe's game, although he did make his teammates look pretty good through three quarters, Pierce and KG showing up at big moments (I loved the two-handed follow-up dunk by KG - I'm serious, I stood up and hit my hand on the ceiling) and, finally, the Celtics pulling out the victory.
I've been having a hard time understanding why 75% of the predictions I've seen have picked the Lakers to win in 5, 6 or 7 games. This still may happen, but after Kobe, I would take KG over Gasol, Pierce over Odom, Allen over LA's Euro sharpshooters and the Celtics D over the Lakers O. In the first half, Ray Allen looked like he hadn't played in months, in that he had great hop in his step, driving to the hoop, good ball-handling and playing decent defense on the other end. This bodes well for the green.
Also, I've heard Pierce getting ripped for being carried off the court, riding in a wheelchair and then coming back as though nothing happened. I don't understand this. Trainers had to be in his ear not to get up, not to do any further damage, telling him to have it checked out in the lockerroom, etc. That he came back doesn't mean his knee is fine. I doubt he could play today, but I thought it was handled right. No reason to be a hero on this stage. Be safe and move on.
I love that the Celtics and Lakers are playing in the Finals again. I've read analysis that this is the greatest rivalry in sports, going back to the 60s (others say it wasn't a rivalry until 1985, when the Lakers finally beat the Celtics in the Finals) or that it isn't a rivalry anymore, since they haven't met in 20+ years and the Celtics have been bad for so long.
We can't deny the history between the two teams, since they won 8 of 10 titles back in the 80s when Bird and Magic played, but I'm a big believer that rivalries are more for the fans and communities these days, not the players and coaches. In the 80s, it was a great rivalry, in that most of the players from each team played against each other each year for 5+ years. They beat up on each other year after year, playoff after playoff. Now, free-agency and coaches getting fired yearly moves loyalties too soon for rivalries to really set-in for players and coaches.
The media asks the current players about it, and they respect what the two teams playing each other meant in the past, but I need to see what this series brings, what their games next year bring and then have them meet again next year in the Finals to bring this rivalry back to what it was 20 years ago.
With the great players each team has now, there is no reason to believe 2008-2010 can't be just like 1984-1987, complete with Hall of Fame players and coach, physical play, great performances, and players having their legacy defined by what happens when the Lakers and Celtics meet on the court. The NBA...where history happens. 05.12.08
I won't pretend to understand how Myanmar is governed. I haven't read enough about it. However, if nothing else, the last 8 days have showed us that their governing style does not allow them to help their citizens when they need it most, if they even care. Take this story from the New York Times. Replace the words cyclone with hurricane, Myanmar with Louisiana, Yangon with New Orleans and military/junta with Bush Administration. Imagine the outcry and protests.
It's one thing to ignore those who need help in normal times, but quite another to ignore those who need help in times of unbelievable circumstances and peril. I read an article this past weekend wondering if the U.N. or the U.S. needs to stage a humanitarian invasion of Myanmar if it isn't opened up more fully to foreign aid soon.
This is a U.S. invasion I could throw my support behind. 05.07.08
Based on Kevin Garnett's career, who would have thought that he would be the only star (out of four on the court) who would stand out in the Celtics-Cleveland game Tuesday night? He scored 28 points, including the game winning shot, whereas LeBron James, Paul Pierce and Ray Allen combined to only make four shots (Ray Allen didn't score at all - makes me feel much better about my own game last Sunday in my rec league).
I'm fine with Kobe Bryant winning the NBA MVP this year. He's had better stats, including being the scoring champion, in past years, but with all the turmoil he caused before the season, he played great, forced his teammates to be involved and the Lakers front office finally gave him some real help (Pau Gasol) for the first time since Shaq left a few years ago. Wednesday night, he'll be out to prove the award was no fluke in game 2 of their series against Utah.
A couple links I saw while surfing on Wednesday:
NASA photos of Myanmar before and after the devastating cyclone last weekend. They need tons of aid, but it sounds like it's going to be a struggle just to get food, water and other supplies to the places needing it most.
Photobombers. I love it, but never knew it had a name. 05.05.08
Laura posted a picture today showing milk in a Grolsch pitcher. We took a morning trip to Target on Saturday. I was rushing to bring groceries into the house, so I could run to work for a few minutes to pick something up and then head with the kids to my brother's house to hang with family. Key word is "rushing."
I brought two gallons of milk into the house, one in each hand. I handed them to Laura in the entryway and turned back, really not even checking that she had them. Apparently not.
I was already out the door when there was a shriek from the house. One gallon of milk burst on the hardwood floor. Milk everywhere. Shoes, rugs and kids thrown out of the way.
The beer pitcher is what was left of the carnage. Luckily, it wasn't the organic whole milk costing $6 that burst. But don't try using this fact on Laura. We lost her at "rushing."
I've been reading TrueHoop every day as the NBA regular season came to a close and the playoffs continue. Even though I don't read all the links to what they post - I don't need to know now who columnists think Miami should draft with their 1st round pick this summer - I like that they mix it up with on-the-court analysis and off-the-court team info (and other basketball stuff, such as this. Look closely at his "My Stats" page).
I'm really hoping for a NBA Finals throwback series - Celtics & Lakers. Since I believe (and try to prove on Sundays) that I can play basketball like I could when I was a kid, I want a series that can take me back to those days, too. If the Celtics don't lay the hammer down in game 1 of their current series against Cleveland, then my hope will likely fade right along with Kevin Garnett's NBA legacy - promising throughout, but without a strong finish.
Let's hope this isn't the case. I really want KG to lead them to the top. 04.25.08
I first read this story on Friday morning and thought there has to be more to it. Kids don't just get suspended for buying souvenir swords on a trip. A quick Google search Friday night after putting Elliot to bed led me to this discussion going on at www.topix.com, including comments by kids from Eagan and Apple Valley claiming to have been on the trip.
I assume that since it was a school-sponsored trip, the administration felt all rules for school grounds expanded wherever the students' traveled in Europe. They had swords in their possession, which could be weapons, therefore the administration ruled they had to be suspended.
I'm not sure I can agree with this, since I will also assume that they were allowed some free time to explore on their own. Also, the swords were apparently in taped-up boxes ready to be shipped home. Other students had to have snitched on them, but if the boxes were taped, how did officials determine what was inside? Was there also an invasion of privacy here?
The kids and parents had to sign some kind of waiver to go on the trip. I would be very interested in reading this waiver, as it did specify policy on alcohol and weapons. I think the schools are really going out of their way to enforce their zero-tolerance policy in this situation. How is it showing favoritism, as some would argue, to these students if the administration would have ruled that what they did was ok?
I just cannot wrap my head around seeing that this decision was right, and your comments to help me understand are welcome (scroll to the bottom of the page). The swords were in a frggin' box, for cryin' out loud.
My dad was a superintendent of schools for our district for about 25 years, so it will be interesting to get an insider's point of view on this. What are your thoughts? I guess the redeeming part of this story, if there is one, is that the kids get to continue their studies at home, so the senior should still be able to attend college in the fall. 04.23.08
On Tuesday, Laura posted a story about having to make a snap parenting decision regarding discipline, after Siena went all Mike Tyson on her at dance class (luckily, no biting was involved). Thanks to those of you who e-mailed or wrote comments with your thoughts of support, encouragement and/or "stick to your guns." Although we have implemented some of the Supernanny methods (I never thought we would stop seeing Siena in our bed at 1:30am), our only real reference points are our own instincts, how we were raised and what we hear from or discuss with others.
There are great parents out there, some really horrible parents out there, and then the rest of us who sorta get along day-by-day, decision-by-decision. We hope we're getting closer to being great parents than sliding the other way. Most days, I think we get by just fine with only minor struggles such as when, what and how much snack to have. Other days come with closed fists.
What the hell is that? I don't hit Laura or the wall or anything else in the house (I usually don't even fluff my pillows), so it makes you wonder why she thinks that it's ok to go around slugging us. We know she has lungs, so why can't her displeasure just come with a loud, "Noooooooooo," or something like that? Is it too soon for her to understand that Laura bruises like a peach? Imagine that conversation:
"Siena, don't hit mama, she bruises like a peach." "Mama's eating a peach? Is peach a fruit?" Yes, it's a fruit, but no, she bruises like a peach. Like, she gets an owie if you do that." "Mama has an owie?" "Ugggh."
In this instance, I would have handled it pretty much the same as Laura, which is good, as it's important to be on the same page for major parenting things such as discipline. Siena now knows that the threat of leaving somewhere fun or not going somewhere fun is there if she misbehaves. I believe that next time we'll have to follow through with our threat, so as not to set the precedent that we're not serious (as some of you suggested using good examples).
We also enforced some other consequences for how she behaved before dance class. So, she (maybe) has the memory of almost leaving dance and how that felt, plus she has other consequences to serve over the next few days as reminders of what happened.
I need her to remember this, for I can't be leaning in to give Laura a hug and have her pulling away due to bruised arms. Imagine how that would look in public. 04.20.08
Okay, I'm back at it. You can stop holding your breath in anticipation now. I hope you have noticed some additions in the sidebar of the main page - Twitter (or tweets), which we love and force ourselves not to update every hour and our Flickr pictures, which we have to do better to update more often. We can even send our tweets by text message, which we did Friday night from Chino Latino in Uptown. You've been warned. I'm working on a few other things that may or may not screw up the sight if I mess them up, but I'll try to keep that to a minimum, or at least contact my friend Dave, who's recently been experiencing some updating pains. That's the joy of the interweb.
A few thoughts on a Sunday night to catch up:
1. We could get some closure to the Democratic race on Tuesday. Most polls show Hillary with only a slight edge in Pennsylvania (down from earlier in the month), but nowhere near significant enough to make up much ground in delegates. I didn't see the most recent debate last week, but most accounts were fairly disgusted with ABC's lines of questioning. Two different recaps are here and here. I have thoughts on what Obama said at the private fundraiser in San Francisco a couple weeks ago, but he looks to have weathered the ridiculous reactions to it (hint as to how I feel about those reactions).
2. The NCAA basketball tournament was exciting as advertised. I have to admit that I fully jumped on the Davidson bandwagon after they disposed of Georgetown, who, most unfortunately, was my pick to win the whole damn thing. I had G'town in my pool with Laura's family, who mostly live on the West Coast and had a predictably strong UCLA bias. Congrats to those in Missouri who were biased to Kansas, and, therefore, came out on top in the pool.
3. The NBA playoffs have started, and they are living up to their billing, as expected. I watched about 52 of the 58 minutes in Game 1 between San Antonio and Phoenix. The Suns were ahead most of the game and should have won, but were in foul trouble when it mattered - I'm not a big fan of refs and usually tell whoever will listen that I know I could do better in stripes.
The game was almost unwatchable for two reasons: every ref call was followed by players whining about it (this grows tiresome) and THE PA ANNOUNCER AND THE MUSIC WERE SO LOUD THROUGHOUT THE GAME THAT I ALMOST TURNED DOWN THE SOUND ON THE TV (bet you want to stop reading after I just screamed at you for five seconds). They do this at MN Timberwolves games, too. Music plays while the game is going on, and the game announcer thinks it's his job to get the crowd going. The game should be exciting enough to keep the fans in it. This was evident during last year's playoff games between Golden State and Dallas. GS's crowd was so amped that they drowned out the music. I can't imagine the next time that might happen at Target Center.
4. Elliot is walking. I can't tell you the non-stop joy this is to watch him keep his balance on grass, dirt and sand. It's great comedy, and I may start taking bets with people as to whether or not he can stay on his feet for more than five seconds on different terrain. I would take the over every time.
5. I miss Johan.
6. I watched three of the six MN Wild games and listened to two others on the radio. They only led for about four minutes in the six games played (about 380 minutes total), but with my limited hockey knowledge, they controlled play for most of the series. They ran into a Colorado Avalanche team whose goalie won the series for them (you can't overlook their overall defense, though). I think the Wild were done in by a team that played their game better than they did in the series. The Wild are coached to be defensive minded first and take advantage of opportunities to score when the opponents give it to them. This series they lost, they were the aggressive team the majority of the time, and Colorado scored when they had the chance. Only one goalie was MVP in this series. 03.20.08
Siena thinks I'm crazy, but I woke up Thursday morning singing, "It's the most wonderful tiiiiiiime of the yearrrrrr..." It continued on for a few refrains of basketball related lyrics, March Madness happiness and a beer drinking chorus. I'm not sure anyone here has gotten used to me singing my own lyrics to other well-known songs. Oh well. It's my gift that keeps on giving.
Thursday also brought with it phase two of our first attempt at home brewing. I picked up my bro-in-law after work and we headed to the western suburbs to transfer our brew (after fermenting for almost two weeks) to its new home in a five-gallon glass carboy where it'll sit for another week or so (secondary fermentation). Although it was only about 10-15 minutes of total work (which I mostly spent watching my brew-master friend take care of), we turned it into about four hours of grilling, beer drinking, March Madness watching, Guitar Hero playing fun.
Use your own imagination to turn these activities into lyrics to the previously mentioned holiday classic. 03.07.08
It's appropriate that I write this as we watch the semifinals of the Minnesota State High School Hockey tournament. It has been a pretty good week. Happenings in no particular order: state hockey tournament (it's so big that it's played on the biggest sports station in the midwest, the Fan Radio Network), Brett Favre finally retired, had riveting elections in Ohio and Texas on Tuesday night and it will all culminate on Saturday morning with a first attempt to brew our own batch of beer at home (actually at a friend's house, as he has done it before, is much more responsible than me and has a turkey fryer in which to make the process go faster).
First, Favre. There was some pretty ill-intentioned ribbing of my brother-in-law, a Packer fan, this week. The ribbing from me and other Vikings fans revolved around "Favre sucks," "Go cry some more," "Now he can swallow pain-killers in peace," and "Damn, the Packers and Favre suck." That kind of stuff.
I tried making the point that it wasn't that we really hated Favre so much, but we hated the way he ended up making Vikings fans feel - he won another Super Bowl for their franchise, broke a ridiculous number of QB records as the Vikings went through an average of one QB every two years, held press conferences to tell us he would hold other press conferences to tell us whether or not he might retire, and to top it off, had every national broadcast team love him up every frickin' time he was on national television. Absolutely sickening.
Filthy Packer fans had reason to be optimistic every dang year, because they knew he was going to be under center each game (275 straight). I loved it when the Packers had a horrible year two years ago. I thought for sure he was done then (then all the non-press conferences only to announce he was coming back), and he comes back and leads them to the brink of the Super Bowl. I'm just glad he laid an egg in his final game and threw an interception on his final pass to lose the game for the Packers. That's what I'll hold on to, even though I guess I'll solute a pretty damn good career for a pretty damn good quarterback for a pretty damn insufferable fan base. Oh, and he had one of the worst acted athlete cameo roles of all time in There's Something About Mary. I'll solute Fav-ruh for that, too.
I like that there's at least one race for President still going on in one of the parties. Why not let it take a little longer to decide which Democratic candidate will have the chance to make history in November. Good for the Republicans for choosing their candidate already. From the list they had, it shouldn't have taken long to come up with the best of the worst. Anything can happen, of course, but they cannot be confident with their nominee. Experience, sure, and a great American, but not much of an independent thinker anymore. The race will do that to a candidate.
Clinton and Obama is riveting to watch. Emotional crowds and speeches (unlike the stinker McCain laid on Tuesday night), aides resigning, an ex-President getting called out for hurting the campaign and the whole woman and minority angles. Fascinating stuff, with at least another six weeks of seeing who might fall apart first (Obama needs a big boost soon).
We're brewing an amber ale for our first batch, and we're leaving the house at 7:30am on Saturday morning to do it (we being me, Siena and Elliot, so they can play with kids their own age). But blueberry pancakes await at our destination. I'll let you know how the beer turns out, as we're hoping to have it at Elliot's 1st birthday party in two weeks.
02.28.08
It's nearing one of my favorite times of the year - tourney time. March might just be my favorite sporting month of the year, which you might think isn't saying a lot. However, I usually celebrate my birthday over Super Bowl weekend in early February, making it one big party after another.
Let's just call it even.
Everyone knows about March Madness. An insane 3 weeks of basketball, office pools and upsets culminating with one team cutting down the nets in their One Shining Moment.
Minnesota has it's own version of March madness, when the Minnesota State High School League (MSHSL) holds the state championships for five sports in five weeks - girl's hockey, wrestling, boy's hockey, girl's basketball and boy's basketball. I have fond memories growing up of attending all of these events with my family, even though we lived in southern MN and had to drive two hours each way and be in a hotel for 10 nights out of 35 in those 5 weeks. We always had great tickets, since my dad was on the MSHSL, and could visit the MSHSL suite or party room to watch all the events, if we chose. We chose to...a lot.
Growing up in a small town, we didn't have hockey, and I hardly watched it, as I was engrossed in basketball, girlfriends, and shooting pool and who has time for a sport your school doesn't even play? However, the state hockey tournament was my favorite of them all, followed closely by the boy's basketball tourney.
I guarantee that my sister Sara and I can still recite the simple, but effective, Roseau Ram's crowd cheer, where they basically just spell out their name and yell it really loud. Maybe we loved it because we were sitting just outside the MSHSL suite in the old Met Center in Bloomington or in the old St. Paul Civic Center - the buffet spread really made the whole experience, as well as the elevator guy who would give us tickets to the MN North Stars about every other year.
I talk about all this, because of this emerging story out of Colorado. The high school playoffs are about the kids, their shining moment as a team and towns coming together to support their own. Sacrifices are made so all teams can travel to the game site, hotels are booked and families uprooted for days to celebrate the experience. So, for the Colorado High School Activities Association to be so inflexible that they won't reschedule a Saturday afternoon game, so a Jewish basketball team doesn't have to play on their Sabbath is ridiculous.
To be honest, I'm actually surprised this isn't already resolved. There have to be games all day in that gym, so why, if the team does make it that far (they still have one game to play), didn't the CHSAA rule that this team's game be moved to Saturday evening after sundown, if necessary? It's really a simple solution that one of those fools should have brought up.
They will crush this team's dreams and goals, not to mention all the bad publicity they will inevitably receive (read more of the Rocky Mountain News for comments and opinions on this). The league needs to reverse it's decision, too, so it can avoid a possible discrimination lawsuit based on the league's own rule that it doesn't allow games to be played on Sundays, get this, FOR RELIGIOUS REASONS. They have no leg to stand on by being so inflexible, and if the team moves on, expect the CHSAA to do the right thing, and make tourney time in Colorado a memorable experience for everyone for all the right reasons.
[UPDATE, 2.29.08:] The Jewish team in Colorado lost their basketball game Thursday night, meaning the CHSAA was let off the hook. They avoided having to reverse their decision, which they didn't want to do. This absolutely baffles me. I'm not one to believe much that off-the-court stuff affects players when it comes to playing the game, but these are high school kids, not professionals making millions for what they do, and this whole controversy (not of their making) had to weigh on them. By the way their girl's basketball team was in the same boat, but they, too, lost on Thursday night.
02.22.08
I mentioned on the main page that changing the look of catnamedpig.com actually wasn’t as bad an experience as I thought it would be, nor did it take as long. However, there was about an hour where I just stared at the screen, trying to figure out what to do. During this hour, there were 3 lines of error messages on a white screen where our website should have been. This is what prompted the swearing to Laura.
I had deleted a bunch of old files that were going to be replaced (which is what my Support Forums suggested to do, as not all files would overwrite correctly). What I didn’t realize was how much harder it would be to upload the new files to our new theme template. I thought I could just upload the files in their folders, but this was not the case.
I had to remember which folders and files I had deleted and then upload the new folders or files to their correct locations in the new theme template, which was my problem. My handwritten notes should have been sufficient for me to recall where files went, but if you’ve seen my handwriting before, you’d understand the flaw in me trying to follow what I had written. I’m a typer, not a writer.
Thanks to those of you who commented or e-mailed us with fixes that needed to be made. Upcoming additions God-willing to the site are a widget in the sidebar linking to our Flickr account (catnamedpig), an expansion in the number of categories we have, so posts can actually be sorted together (is that an oxymoron?) and, possibly, getting me my own URL on this site, instead of a Page, which is an absolute b*tch in which to write. I won’t get into that here.
Finally, sports talk - I love all the activity in the NBA before the trade deadline. The West is now even more loaded, and I’m not so sure the Celtics will be the team to come from the East. My prediction now would be Lakers-Cavs. More to come on this.
02.07.08
I was moaning and groaning a month ago about election season and how I really didn’t want it to be here, how I couldn’t believe we had been hearing from candidates for over a year now and how the primaries and caucuses shouldn’t happen until closer to spring. I don’t think I’ve changed my mind much on this; however, I am very, very excited about the Democratic candidates and am having a hard time deciding who I whole-heartedly support (maybe I need Bush to come be my “decider”).
Sure, I placed a vote at the MN caucus on Tuesday night, but was it for who I really believe in? Should I support the candidate who has pretty much started a movement across the country and has songs inspired by his speeches? Or do I support the candidate who knows exactly what she’ll do from day one and won’t waste any time if she steps into the White House on January 20, 2009?
According to the Presidential-match survey I took later on caucus night, I probably wrote down the wrong name. But I don’t feel bad at this point, because I know I will be supporting either the first female or first African-American President of the United States come election time in November.
Damn, that feels good to write.
Other thoughts…
It’s a good thing Laura planned an awesome 31st birthday for me last week. I had been bummed leading up to it, because the Johan Santana trade finally went through. You know how I feel about this. I could not feel more terrible about the Twins upcoming season. The only 2 things I’m seriously looking forward to are seeing if Liriano will be the same as he was before and knowing that I’ll ride the light rail to the Metrodome to watch a game, which will make Siena and Elliot very happy (and me).
Next, the Super Bowl…that freaking Super Bowl. Eli Manning – Super Bowl MVP, Super Bowl-winning quarterback. Patriots not coming up with one stop in the 4th quarter when they needed it. 3rd and 11 – 1st down. And most unbelievable of all…The Great Escape, as I call it. 3rd and 5, 2 defensive hands on his jersey, he spins away, heaves it just to get rid of it and a guy with 7 catches all year (7, right?) pins the freaking ball to his helmet as he’s falling to the ground AND HANGS ON while a guy is punching at the ball, his helmet and him. No way the Giants should have won that game. No way they should have even had a chance to win that game. No way the Patriots should have come out as conservative as they did to begin the game and NO WAY SHOULD ELI MANNING EVER BE SUPER BOWL MVP OVER TOM BRADY, RANDY MOSS, BILL BELICHECK AND THE PATRIOTS DYNASTY.
If I was a betting man, I would have been taken to the cleaners. I chastised everyone who picked the Giants leading up to the game. I still think it was a bad bet to make, but you can’t argue with the results. If you took the Giants, you shouldn’t have, but enjoy your filet mignon, nice bottle of wine and bippity-boppity-bacon wrapped shrimp you can buy with your winnings.
Finally, KG (may) come to town on Friday. Doesn’t look like he’ll play, but I hope the Timberwolves still do some sort of video tribute to him before the game or halftime.
He put this franchise on his shoulders for 11 years and despite managements’ mis-management of the team, took them to the playoffs more times than they should have gone and played with anybody they asked him to play with. He put up hall-of-fame numbers while making hall-of-fame money.
He was worth every penny.
01.29.08
Well, it may have finally happened. Reports are out that the Minnesota Twins have screwed over the fans and traded Johan Santana. If it goes through, time, of course, will tell whether or not the Twins got enough in return, but I am beside myself right now.
We don’t know if any of the players coming in return will definitely be on the field opening day, and this was the one thing they needed to get – at least one proven player that could help out right away. I don’t care that he went to another league. If this is saving grace for fans to make it ok to them that Johan was traded, so be it, but it’s a smoke screen.
Maybe the Twins were in an impossible situation with Johan. Break the bank and sign him or trade him and get raked over the coals for not getting enough back. I guess Terry Ryan got out at the right time. Maybe he knew the direction the team was going in the off-season and didn’t want that to be his legacy. The Twins needed to open the new stadium in 2010 with Joe Mauer, Torii Hunter and Johan Santana. Now, 2 of those 3 are gone.
Out of everyone who was on the roster on Tuesday morning, Johan was the only one that casual fans would make a point to go to the ballpark to see. We’d look at the pitching match-ups to see when it was his turn to take the mound, and we’d make our way to the park. Only Santana could get 30,000 people into the Metrodome for a Wednesday or Thursday afternoon game.
For other reactions, read La Velle E. Neal III’s blog over on StarTribune.com or Rube Chat at KFAN’s website.
01.26.08
Thanks to ticket-hookups from friends, I was able to check out the Minnesota Wild and the Minnesota Timberwolves in person over the last week. We had really good seats for the Wild (club level), even though there isn’t a bad seat in the place, and decent seats for the Wolves (center court, 1st row of upper level). As much as I love basketball, catching a hockey game at the X is a great sporting experience.
Growing up in small-town southern Minnesota, I followed in my dad’s and brothers’ footsteps and loved basketball – played it in our driveway, even in the snow, played it by myself in the high school gym at 10pm and played it in Ween’s hayloft when it was snowing at 10pm. I prefer to watch college and pro b-ball, rather than hockey, on TV, but it’s the exact opposite in person, and really, it’s not even close.
The Wild had a rematch from their playoff loss in 2007 against Anaheim, so I knew it would be a good game. I don’t follow hockey closely, but I hate Anaheim after the playoff series last year (yes, I think it’s ok to hate sports teams, players and their fans, but it’s not personal, just fun). The playoffs were physical, borderline dirty, throughout, but Anaheim crossed the line for many fans in game 4, when a third guy entered a 2-man fight and helped take the Wild player down to the ice face-first and by throwing knockout punches to a Wild player who avoids fights, for the most part, due to his size.
Sadly, in the game I saw this week, the Wild only mustered about 14 seconds worth of offense and lost 2-4. There was still bad-blood, as Boogie-man had more than his share of stare downs and shoving matches.
Watching from the Club level was great. Easy to follow the puck, see who is who and possibly the best part, only had a very short distance to walk for more beer, nachos, brats and bathrooms. And, the Wild still have an actual organ player for much of the background music. I loved the experience, even if it was a loss.
The Wolves, on the other hand, played the Suns, which I was really excited about, because I’m a big Steve Nash fan. I’ll admit that I was more into it than I thought I would be – the Wolves are horrible, Target Center is ok as an arena, but not great, and it was the Suns, who should have ran up and down the court against the young Wolves.
However, as it was earlier in the season, the Wolves pulled out a win by feeding the ball to “Big Al” Jefferson all game, and he couldn’t be stopped. Amazingly, too, is that the Wolves actually made some outside shots, which has been a huge plague this year for the whole team. As I said, I was excited about our seats, because usually we’re in the rafters (why pay a lot of money to see half-*ss basketball?). I believe the closer you are to the court for a pro-game, the better the experience and more into it you can get. Pro players just don’t bring out that much excitement in the game, unless your team has a superstar (we miss you KG!) or they go on a huge run to take a big lead or they win a game they really have no business winning.
Maybe the Wolves have made a turn for the better in the last week – wins at Golden State and against the Suns and a narrow loss in Boston to KG’s Celtics Friday night, in a game they should have won. We could not have said this about the Wolves at the turn of the New Year. The young guys appear to be mixing together well, finally, and even though they’ll still end up with a top-5 pick in the 2008 NBA draft, maybe they’ll give us something fun to watch the last couple months of the year, even if we have to watch from the nosebleed seats.
01.16.08
Just when you think Green Bay Packer fans or anything related to the Green Bay Packers could not get more annoying, comes this story from the guys over at profootballtalk.com. I love calling things ridiculous, but this takes the cake so far for the New Year.
Quick thoughts on the NFL conference championship games. Looks like we’re heading toward a Packers-Patriots Super Bowl, which would have some great storylines to it. Everyone outside of New England, Minnesota and Chicago will be pulling for Green Bay, with John Madden leading the Brett Favre last-hurrah parade.
In the week before the Super Bowl, we’ll read articles and hear blowhards experts on sports talk radio and ESPN discussing good vs. evil (Pack vs. Pats), the best QB match-up in Super Bowl history (Montana/Marino and Kelly/Aikman were good, too) and whether or not the Patriots can finish the best season in team sports history (I’ll hear arguments for the 1996 Bulls, 1986 Celtics, 1985 Bears, 1997 Yankees and any others you’d care to throw out there, but they’d be undefeated, so it better be a hell of an argument).
It’ll be cold. I don’t care how much of a “man’s man” people think Favre is or how great the Patriots are. The thermometer is expected to be below 10 degrees for at least one of these games, so I think all bets are off. A Giants or Chargers win would be a great upset, but the cold gives them a chance to pull it off. The ball will be slick, which means a better chance for it to end up on the ground (see the Packers in the 1st quarter against the Seahawks).
Enjoy the games, but seriously, does a TV station really think they need to do anything to throw Eli Manning off his game?
01.06.08
How are we supposed to view all the bowl games played every year to end the college football season? I know many people would say, and do it quite loudly, that they are meaningless and not even the “national championship” game is worth the 30-40 day wait after conference play has ended. Others would argue that the bowls are an annual tradition and that they all need to be played to give college kids one last game to play as seniors and go out as winners. I completely fall into the former category, with much added venom towards those who say a playoff in Division-1 cannot happen.
The only traditional bowl anyone really cares about, as far as I can tell, is the Rose Bowl played on New Year’s Day in Pasadena, CA. There is a parade in the morning, and it has long been called the “Granddaddy of Them All.” Even when it isn’t a great match-up, the Rose Bowl prefers to have a Big Ten team face a Pac-10 team (this year’s game featured Illinois versus USC, which everyone correctly predicted would be a blowout), and it still is the most talked about bowl game there is, besides the “national championship” game.
Now, people have thrown out their versions of what the college football playoff would look like, the most recent of which I read in the Star Tribune on Sunday. In it, the columnist, Jim Souhan, argues that the big four bowl games all take place on New Year’s Day. These games would be the playoff quarterfinals, with the semifinals and National Championship to follow in the weeks after that. Not a bad option, but I don’t like it, because it would put the college playoff games up against the NFL playoffs in January, and as much as we like football, we don’t need the whole sports page covering football.
I would rather see the playoffs take place in December after the regular college season has ended. I am not sure exactly the best way to choose the teams, yet, but this is what I have come up with for a playoff, using this past 2007 season as an example, and it still allows for bowl games, as we know them, to continue.
There were 14 weeks between Saturday, September 1, 2007, and Saturday, December 1, 2007. This would have allowed teams to play 12 games, have one bye week during the season, and then have conference championship games on December 1st, if the conference chooses to do so.
The playoffs would be 16 teams – I see three ways the teams could be chosen. First, use the computer system currently in place for the BCS rankings and take the top 16 teams. Second, form a committee to choose the top 16 teams, such as they do in college basketball for March Madness. Third, and my least favorite option, include the conference champions and then somehow fill the rest of the spots with other teams (based on the computer ranking system or by a committee?).
I guess I prefer they use the computer ranking system to determine the top 16 teams and let the fun begin. Who could argue that the final BCS poll showing the top 16 teams to end the 2007 season do not deserve to be in the playoff? Going back to the dates on which the 2007 college football season fell, the 1st round (16 teams) would have taken place on Saturday, December 8th, the quarterfinal round (8 teams) on Saturday, December 15th, the semifinals (4 teams) on Saturday, December 22nd, and then to top it all off, you would have the National Championship played on New Year’s Day between the top 2 teams in one of the 5 major bowls (Rose, Sugar, Cotton, Orange or Fiesta). The championship game would rotate year-to-year from each site and would take place in the evening on January 1st.
The other 4 bowls, played during the day on New Year’s Day, would then choose their teams from those who lost in the previous rounds of the playoffs. The semifinal losers would play in one bowl, the four quarterfinal losers would take two other bowls, which leaves only one major bowl to choose it’s teams, which could be from the losers of the 1st round. The other 6 losing teams form the 1st round would then be chosen for the lesser bowl games that take place from December 20th-31st.
This seems confusing in writing, but put it down in brackets on paper what I have proposed here, and you’ll see that it can work. There would be great match-ups, there could not be any debate about who deserves to be where, because it’s all determined on the field, and those greedy fools who are blocking this playoff from happening would still get paid, because all the bowls, as we know them, would take place (I would even allow the championship game to be played the day after New Year’s for maximum exposure). But the best part? You would have a true National Champion in college football.
12.28.07
Random thoughts on the sporting world heading into the last weekend of 2007:
- Has anyone cared about the bowl games, yet? You know a playoff is needed when the biggest story, so far, is whether or not a guy on the sidelines (not even a coach, player or trainer) touched a bouncing ball before his team recovered. Even if he didn’t touch it, shouldn’t they have been penalized for all those guys being on the field, which would give the other team the ball back anyway? Apparently, Chris Jessie is the head coach’s stepson and in charge of coordinating the team’s travel and hotel reservations. And he’s on the sideline of a bowl game. Oh well. There is a BS in BCS (one of my favorite sayings, by the way).
- KG won’t let the Celtics slow down all year. I doubt they’ll match the Bulls’ 72 victories from ’95-’96, but damn, he has lit something under Paul Pierce that will carry them to a #1 seed in the East and well into June 2008. However, is it possible that KG’s current team sets the all-time win record, while his former team sets the all-time loss record? Can’t wait to see the outcome of their Feb. 8th game at Target Center (note to Laura: that’s close to my birthday).
- NBA season has 6 months to go? Maybe thoughts on that another time, although it is now more intriguing than it has been in years. I miss “NBA on NBC” – one of my favorite lead-in tv musical anthems of all-time. I know some of you are humming it right now.
- I believe the Vikings blew their season last Sunday night at home against Washington. Win and they were in the playoffs, which no one could have foreseen after 34-0 in Lambeau. I heard the guys on KFAN’s morning show (AM-1130 in the Twin Cities) talking after the Washington game that if it had been outdoors, instead of in the ‘dome, the outcome would have been different. Really? What part of this Vikings team is so tough that playing in 18 degree, snowy weather gives us more faith in them to produce in such a huge game?
- I think the Giants will beat the Patriots, leaving the Pats 15-1 on the year. I want them to go 16-0 and win the Super Bowl (since the Vikings will be out of it, of course), but the Giants seem to do something every year to save Tom Coughlin’s job. They’ll win this game, giving them 11 wins, then won’t do much in the playoffs, but he’ll still have his job and that constipation-type pained look on his face.
- Johan’s still here, so I have hope the Twins will re-sign him. By the way, less than 2 months until pitchers and catchers report.
Happy New Year to all and to all a big drink!
12.20.07
‘Tis the season of hiding Christmas presents. Laura went shopping Wednesday night. I’m pretty sure it was for me, as earlier she had told me she was going shopping with her friend, and I could not go. She didn’t really have to tell me I couldn’t go shopping, because usually she mentions shopping, and I say, “See you later!” hoping that it’s a trip that can go on without me – I buy, I don’t shop.
I get a call later in the night saying that I need to let her in the front door, but I have to race right back upstairs and I can’t look at her. No complaints from me, as this means her trip is only good news for me. She needs to hide my present(s?).
Both kids have been asleep for 2 hours, so their closets cannot be hiding spots. The basement is still 2-3 days from being done…she’ll barely go down there as it is right now. So where to hide the present(s?).
Siena found the bag about 2 minutes after we had been awake on Thursday morning, and I have to admit, I probably would not have seen them without her. You see, Siena has this obsession with turning the small corner area between our big puffy chair and the low puffy couch in our living room into her own personal storage space.At any time, this area could be where she stages her zoo shows, therefore has about 17 stuffed animals getting ready for their performance. Other times, it is turned into a fort. Siena’s forts don’t just have 2 objects as walls with a blanket over the top. One time, she had the chair and couch, of course, and then to make it secure, for a roof, she had 2 bigger blankets, 1 smaller blanket, a burp cloth covering her Cranium Hullabaloo game, a long line of wooden elephants, her kitty grooming kit, a little pink bug of some kind, another bigger box of toys and 2 gates, which are a whicker top to one of her toy baskets and a dining room chair.
So, I don’t pay too much attention when this area has stuff. Siena, however, had radar, knew something was wrong in her corner and went right for it. I heard a bag crinkle, looked, and there in the corner were the results of the previous night’s shopping trip.
Siena had pulled the tray for Elliot’s highchair off the top of the bag in the corner. Laura’s fort for my present had a pillow on one side, the highchair tray on top and the cover for Elliot’s car seat on top of that as extra security and camouflage. I swear I didn’t look at what was inside, but I did have to control Siena from opening it up.
Makes my keeping Laura’s present in the trunk of her car for 2 days seem genius. I didn’t have to worry about anyone finding it. Siena told her about it as soon as they were alone.
How can I even compete with the content on the main page? My guess is that I won’t, so therefore shouldn’t even try. I think I’ll leave the family storytelling up to Laura, for I had typed only 4 words in my 1st post attempt, and I hear over my shoulder, “That should be on Siena’s page…plus, I was going to write about that.” So be it.
Since I’m into sports, I’m sure I’ll comment (hopefully) briefly on different topics regarding the Minnesota and national sports scenes. Here goes: I really can’t believe the Twins are reportedly close to shipping Johan Santana to one of our coasts to play for a team in their own league - could be New York, Boston or Anaheim (to join the already departed Torii Hunter and I refuse to call them the Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim, California in the country of the United States, or whatever it is now).
I was for upping the tax $.03 for every $20 I spend on certain things, so the Twins could build a stadium, but if they don’t offer Santana 5-7 years at $20-$25 million per year, I’ll wonder what is going on over there at Kirby Puckett Place and why they didn’t bother to open the new stadium with the best pitcher and/or the best center fielder in baseball when their fans paid almost $400 million for them to have a place to play.
They’ll sell tickets, because of the newness of it all, and who wouldn’t want to watch a game outdoors rather than in the dome, but this is not looking good, and I am quite upset.
I’d rather not read or see on tv reports of any more deals for Santana that may or may not be happening this week. And I won’t even get started on how I feel about Hank Steinbrenner trying through the media to make the trade happen over the weekend. I have a feeling this isn’t going to end well, and we won’t even have a roof.
16 Responses to “Matt Weighs In”
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December 20th, 2007 at 10:28 pm
We now have comments on Matt’s page!
December 21st, 2007 at 9:41 am
Sweet! I cracked up at the picture. That is a serious fort.
December 24th, 2007 at 9:07 am
We love “Matt Weighs In”….we are serious fans at the Ellwein house!
December 26th, 2007 at 12:40 pm
Matt, what’d you get, what’d you get?????
December 26th, 2007 at 6:28 pm
Love your commentary, Matt!
December 27th, 2007 at 11:00 am
Where’d all the tech-saavy come from? Shoot, I need to catch up.
December 28th, 2007 at 11:35 am
Nice! Love the commentary Matt…keep it coming
January 22nd, 2008 at 9:08 am
Very nice psuedo prediction on the weather for the Giants-Packers game…personally, I’m glad that we don’t have to hear two weeks of hype surrounding the Favre/Brady “QB matchup of the century”. On the subject of predictions, I don’t know if you’ve seen this or not, but You-Tube the prediction that Hakeem from “Coming to America” had about the NFC Championship game 18 years or so in advance…uncanny
January 30th, 2008 at 8:22 am
Re: Johan Santana
Dude, that blows. I’d like to console you, but you’ve hit some excellent points. The Twins are going to need all the big draws they can get to convince people to come to an outdoor stadium in Minnesota.
April 22nd, 2008 at 4:45 am
Hey T- I like the changes to the site. Once I upgraded to Wordpress 2.5 (from 2.0.4!) the whole “widget” concept came into light…no need to learn code. Things are looking up, for both of us.
May 6th, 2008 at 7:13 pm
Holy christ – $6 a gallon for organic milk? I guess that’s one liquid that’s cheaper in NY (forget about gas, which is over $4 a gallon, thanks)…we can get organic leche (spelling wrong, who knows, I took German) for under $3 here. It’ll cost $5 to drive and get it, but sometimes the fossil fuel burning is worth it to find the eco-cows.
PS – the ()s are for Laura!
May 6th, 2010 at 1:22 am
If the Los Suns were wearing their uniforms to celebrate Cinco De Mayo, I would be all for it. .
May 20th, 2010 at 3:41 pm
I entirely delight in brewing beer at home! It has been such a great hobby. My family has been supportive, but most especially when its time to try my latest brew. I was startled to learn that it is actually the stout brews that I prefer. Just wanted to say thanks for the tips you’ve provided along the way, its been helpful.