Football, no, the other one

I just searched my old posts for “soccer” and there are a bunch, but none about the Premier League and proper football.

I’ve been going through the 2,500+ posts on my blog, fixing things broken by moving platforms, and there are so many posts about American football. Jen and I used to Tivo all the games, watch for hours on Sundays and then the recordings throughout the week. We had Sunday Ticket and everything… for probably the first 15 years of our marriage.

And then we just stopped. We realized we were spending way too much time and money following a sport where we couldn’t balance out the long term health effects for players with watching it. So, we just stopped cold turkey. That was probably 10 years ago. And then we just kind of stopped paying attention to sports at all.

Until COVID. The Premier League was the first major league to come back, and Peacock not only streamed the games, but all the replays were there. So, I started watching and the spectacle of football played in completely empty stadiums where it was so quiet you could hear the players talking to each other. And I fell in love. The action is nonstop, no five minute commercial breaks every five minutes and the anticipation of misses and build ups – it’s just great.

Now I’m back into sports and back into football, it’s just the other football. I love that the games are on in the morning on the weekends. I love that I can pick up a replay whenever. I’ve been trying not to be so attached to it that I have to watch the matches live, but… I did get up and turn on Man City vs. Liverpool at 7 this morning.

It’s fun. I even love the video game version. And, I’ve gotten into the women’s game and the WSL thanks to the World Cup and Big Kick Energy (the best sports podcast in the world).

I think I can keep it under control this time. I probably only really watch 2-3 matches a week.

Cheater, cheater, pumpkin eater

About a month ago, I gushed about how awesome Big Brother was this season. Murphy’s Law dictates that when a show starts out so freakingly good that it must crash and burn before the end, (Lost anyone?), so of course Big Brother had to totally blow chunks as this season came to a close. I’m not going to go over the specifics except to say: Dick cheated!! On camera! There is proof. I saw it with my own little eyes!! Booo to CBS and the suits behind the show for not ejecting Dick immediately. BOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO.\
Aww, MSNBC agrees with me.\
And an even bigger BOO to Kraft and the NFL for not firing or, dammit, at least suspending, New England Patriot’s head coach Brian Belichick. His assistant got caught cheating, Belichick admitted to it, and he barely got a slap on the wrist? Are you FRAKIN kidding me?

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It’s my favorite time of the year.

Kevin twittered that the world was upside down because he wasn’t playing fantasy football this year but I am. Ha. Today is my first game. (We’re being fashionably late.) Here are my starters, for now:\
Marc Bulger, QB, St Louis\
Torry Holt, WR, St Louis\
Santana Moss, WR, Washington\
Joseph Addai, RB, Indianapolis\
Laurence Maroney, RB, New England\
Clinton Portis, RB, Washington\
Tony Gonzalez, TE, Kansas City\
Shayne Graham, K, Cincinnati\
and the Baltimore defense.\
I am not sure how I feel about having both Marc Bulger and Torry Holt. If Bulger has a bad day, that could mean two of my players having low numbers. Hmmm. (Peter King from SI.com suggests I get ride of Bulger. Should I listen?)\
I am sticking with the Ravens even though Ray Lewis is injured. I just need to give the guys a pep talk and they’ll come through for me.\
I had Josh Scobee as my starting kicker until I noticed a blurb about him being hurt. Phew, saw that in time to make a change. When did this injury happen and how come I just learned about it today? Is this a sign of me being a bad manager already?\
ETA- I just saw the coolest commercial. It was for a toy car running around on a track, like the Hot Wheels stuff that has been around for ages, but this was for girls. It was pink and had kickass chicks driving. Girls rule!!

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My boys

Kevin and Max spent Saturday at a computer conference-thingie. Max loved it. Much more than I was expecting. He did utilize the markers and paper I sent along though. He wants to present sometime on animation and scratch. I am not sure what computer professional would want to listen, but hey- go for it, kid. He came home all psyched to hop on the computer and get started with some new project but Kevin was too tired. This morning he woke up at 5:30 (maybe because Brian and I were already awake and making noise) and immediately went to the computer.\
Brian and I spent all day Saturday gorging on preseason football games! Wheee. Brian wasn’t so happy with this, actually. Too bad, kid, you’ve got another six months of football to endure! I tried to teach him how to catch a football, but my boobs kept getting in the way of the appropriate position. Booo.\
The other day I went clothes shopping for the boys and put the bags on the couch. Brian saw them and asked, “What’s this?” I told him it was some shirts for Max. Brian wanted a shirt too. Being awesome, I said, “I got you some too. Here they are,” and pulled out his totally cute new shirts. Brian flipped out! He started screaming and crying, “Too big, too big,” (which is what he says when he doesn’t like something). Jeeze, what a drama queen. He could give the people on Project Runway a lesson or two.\
Last week Max asked for his first pair of name-brand shoes. Sniff. They grow up so fast. Since the shoes, Skecher Airators, were on super sale and available during the tax-free weekend, I decided to get them. He was interested in them because the supposedly keep your feet color by letting air in, or air goes out. Something. After wearing them for a few minutes, he was disappointed by the lack of air wooshing. I was thinking about taking the shoes back, since he wasn’t so keen on them. “They don’t do a thing,” he said, but I decided that it would be a good lesson that commercials aren’t so accurate. Ten minutes later Max said he wants Skech-Airs. Headdesk.\
Brian’s started saying, “Yank you,” instead of “Go” for thank you. He also says, “Peek-a-you,” instead of peek-a-boo. Totally cute.\
Last week the boys came home from Babba’s with a toy pet. It was an egg that when put in water, a little rubber lizard hatches. Since then, it has more than doubled in size. I am not sure if it is still growing or not. It’s kind of awesome. Max named it Buddy 2, after my dad’s dog. I want another one of these things so Buddy can have a friend. Currently Buddy is living in my large glass mixing bowl. I am not sure we have room for two. Hmm. Max really wants a fish tank, so Kevin and I are going to get one for him for his birthday (no one steal our idea!). I need to make sure the tank is big enough to house Buddy too.\
Speaking of birthdays, Brian got screwed out of his big birthday gift. Kevin and I had decided to get him a little kitchen, but the store didn’t have the one I wanted. We then spent a few days checking out online stores and shipping rates. By this time, Brian’s birthday party was over and we just sort of forgot about it. Oops. The kids have way too many toys though. So many in fact that it is hard for me to go present shopping for them because they pretty much have everything- blocks, trucks, little people, etc. How many trucks do they really need? Plus, Brian only really plays with two marbles, two cars, and a handful of blocks all day long. This makes me feel not so bad about planning to box up half of their toys for storage and/or Goodwill.\
Let’s end on a random note. I rarely agree with Heather Havrilesky’s Salon column, but this week she pimps the season premiere of Weeds (I stopped watching) with my all-time favorite quote:

My all-time favorite is when Doug and Andy are getting high in the living room and Andy asks the housekeeper, “Lupita, settle an argument for us. What do you call the thing between the dick and the asshole?” She answers, “The coffee table.”

Man, look at all of the tags on this post!

I’m meh for football

The Redskins won, which YAY! But they won in overtime, which practically negates the win in my mind. The NFL keeps making minor changes to rules (to get higher scoring games, imo) but they need to focus on the OT rules. Football is about offense and defense, with one half working to get the other half back on the field. Flipping a coin and then having the first team to score getting the win just isn’t staying true to the spirit of the game. OT needs to be more balanced: set the clock for five minutes and let the teams go at it. How hard is that?

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BOOOOOOOO!

The end of the Arizona/St. Louis game had me booing the officials. BOOOOO! The ref asked St. Louis wether they wanted to accept the a penalty. They declined, which set up a free kick for Arizona. Realizing this, St Louis changed their mind and the officials let them. Hello? St. Louis was asked, and already gave an answer. THE FRAKKIN’ COACH SHOULD ALREADY KNOW THE RULES and should not be allowed to ‘change his mind.’ BOOOOOOOOO! That call totally sucked.

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Random thoughts

I still hate school. And of course Brian woke up very early all weekend, making me wake up early too. But today, when I had to get up to take care of Max, Brian slept in. Grrr. And I think I sent Max to school in the rain, without a coat. I am a bad, bad mom.\
ABC is full of asshats, who won’t even comment on their program. What kind of leadership is that?\
I still love Supernatural! And Veronica Mars. And am looking forward to Battlestar Gallatica. What do these three shows have in common? Amazing use of music. Listen up! You will feel the love too!\
I am staying away from all of the 9/11 programs this weekend and today. Too much politicizing going on for me to stomach them.\
The Skins play tonight and Clinton Portis might play too!\
Kevin is still really sick. He can’t breathe that well or speak that well. I feel badly for him. And me. It is annoying trying to keep him stocked with juice and soup. And he keeps giving his juice away! How can I make sure there is enough for him, when he does that?\
Someone left us cookies at our doorstep last night. Whee! Brian turned down half of a chocolate chip cookie in favor of crackers. WTH?

TNT + NBA = Whore!

Is anyone else annoyed at the combo movie/basketball ads showing on TNT during playoff games? Not only are they lame tie-ins for the movies, they’re super lame promos for playoff basketball, which really doesn’t need a whole lot of help.\
And as an added bonus, they’re some of the most forced, weak and painful stretched metaphors for the playoffs I’ve ever seen. They’re so bad they make Bill Walton’s frequent hyperbole and crap pontificating seem almost palatable.\
TNT, come on. Charles Barkley + Jeremy Irons + Crusades + Detroit != Compelling Advertising. Get a clue.

Fantasy Football 2004 – Draft Night Redux!

It’s Fantasy Football time!! We had our draft last night, and for having the last pick, I think I did OK. It’s a fairly risky team, but I think I’ll do well. Here are my guys:

Starters:

  • Matt Hasselbeck

  • Jamal Lewis

  • Duce Staley

  • Chad Johnson

  • Amani Toomer

  • Freddie Jones (TE)

  • Jeff Wilkins

  • Patriots

Reserves:

  • Joey Harrington

  • Kyle Boller

  • T.J. Duckett

  • Peter Warrick

  • Marty Booker

  • Mikhael Ricks

  • Packers

I had to pick up Boller because Harrington and Hasselbeck have the same bye week (stupid, should have looked at that when I drafted them). Duckett and Booker may move up to the starting lineup, but we’ll have to see. I think I’ll be in the hunt again… Yay, Fantasy Football!

And being the commissioner of a league where the commissioner sets the time limit on draft picks, and the draft is really “live” is a pain in the butt.

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What Blowout?

I sure am glad I stayed up… that was one amazing game. The Colts came back from 21 points down with 4 minutes left in the fourth quarter and won! That was some insane football. Better yet, I’ve got Marvin Harrison in my fantasy league.

I was none too happy with my fantasy league. I missed the draft, and the software didn’t save my rankings, so I didn’t get any of “my” players. But, through picking up some well-time free agents, my team’s doin’ OK. I’ve got David Boston and Marvin Harrison, who both scored 29 points this weekend, and Michael Pittman who I picked up as a free agent two weeks ago. I’m three and one now (we missed the first week with a late start) and am pretty happy with the team I’ve got.

Off to make phone calls, and maybe to the movies this afternoon.

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