Showing posts with label sports. Show all posts
Showing posts with label sports. Show all posts

Tuesday, March 22, 2011

Congrats to Ireland, a nod to England

In the world of sports, there's often a Dewey moment, n'est pas?

C'est la vie.

Am I a worthy investment?

How do you hold a coalition together?

Make sure seven billion are given the opportunity to get in on the deal.

Tuesday, March 1, 2011

Small World

Wow!  My first cousin once removed, Jennifer H, was on Onion Sportsdome tonight sporting a field hockey uniform (#2).  How cool is that?

Big news on the small screen.

Now, programming regular to your back.

Sunday, February 27, 2011

A Nod to Jimmy

Okay, Jimmy, I'll give you your multiple NASCAR championships in a row, with congrats to you, your crew chief and your crew.

Of course, a big YEE-HAW to the Golden One on a victory today - I wore muh Jeff Gordon jacket yesterdy and it paid off.

Time for a chug o' Pepsi and a chaw of that brownie I made fer muh wife.

Wednesday, February 23, 2011

Making Mechanical Cards Like It's The Mid-Nineteenth Century All Over Again

I was trying to remember the three-finger rule and then it hit me.  Dark matter!  Of course, that's what it is and how to explain it to our simple species.

And why Danielle explained:
"If you purchase 4 classes at once the current series going on will be the only classes that apply for it. So if you miss a class we are not going to make it up for you in another series. If you are 'owed' any classes we will honor them during this 4 weeks but after that if you miss any classes you will need to purchase a new series to come back later.

"My best suggestion for you is if you are not positive you can come all 4 weeks then purchase the classes individually.

"If you would like to register ahead of time for a full series you can do so at http://school.alabamayouthballet.org/payments/ and be sure to include in the space provided that it's for swing classes and what level that you will be taking."

As the Great Teacher says, "The easiest explanations are the hardest to formulate.  Take a deep breath and start talkin'.  If you can't get it all out at once, it ain't worth explainin'.  And if that don't work, beat 'em over the head with a rubber chicken.  It works every time."


Don't depend on the dual-brain/symmetry metaphor when it's just a consequence of local evolutionary happenchance.  It's the spin, or the lack thereof, that makes the real difference.

Meanwhile, security levels are at their highest as intelligence sources warn that roving bands of antimatter have permeated the area.  If your loved one disappears out of thin air, report to the authorities immediately!  And students, teachers have been warned - you can't use this as an excuse for not turning in your homework!

Shivers down my spine

When the phrase "my lawyer and I" meets the so-called amateur sports industry in collegiate circles, I feel a cold chill.

I don't get revenge.  I just reveal the list of chemicals and psychiatry visits of those who present to the world a perfect image.

Take pride in your imperfection.

That way, there's nothing to hide.

Otherwise, we're just holding your body over a cliff and asking you when to say "uncle," because "my lawyer and I" falls on deaf ears.

Just like, as a pet owner myself, I ask if, when the growth of the population of my species puts enough pressure on available food sources, we'll have to decide whether we get to feed our pets or starving members of our species who can't afford patented GM food under control by Megaconglomerated, LTD.

"I'm sorry, my little child, but Fluffy has reached its age of viability and we have to turn it in to the reinventers of Soylent food products to feed the hungry masses.  We'll buy you another one to raise in our minifarm of a housing unit."

Wait, do I hear a cry of "It's not fair" from the aging pet product industry?  If so, it's time to rethink your business model!

Monday, February 21, 2011

The Marriage of Union

I asked my mother, a retired teacher, what the teachers' union had done for her.

She laughed, her facial expression showing me all the years of no raises that the union was so helpful in negotiating on her behalf.

What, then, is a players' union for, if, say, a team like the Ravens lets its namesake (sort of), E. A. Poe, see his museum close due to lack of funds that the millionaire players could easily have funded if they really cared about the meaning behind their teamname's existence?

Prove to me the worth of a CEO or a union and I'll listen carefully.  Otherwise, business and labour are labels hardly worth putting on a tackling dummy for fun offseason practice.

At least Gaelic football players know the rules they live by on and off the field.

Like secret Chinese military bases disguised as entertainment centers under construction on Caribbean islands, we all gotta eat and play somewhere.

Maybe I'll buy an oud and play a sad love song, lamenting the loss of people in North Africa and the Arabian Peninsula who've given their lives in the name of [are you listening, Barack?] d-e-m-o-c-r-a-c-y.

Sunday, February 20, 2011

Sorrow is such sweet revenge

Now, tell me the final order of drivers in the Daytona 500, without cheating and referring to the NASCAR, Fox, ESPN, or Yahoo! websites.

How about you learn better memorisation techniques?

Or, for that matter, can you tell me the name of the last five leaders of the UN?

Does your gender have anything to do with the bell curve of IQ?

What about the AARP cards I got in the mail a couple of weeks ago?  How old do they think I am?

Al Jazeera.  Gesundheit.  To some, freedom is a four-letter word.  Does your religion or your daily religious practice recognise the love for all seven billion of us?

Really?

Just because I think much of Seth Meyers' humour is lame doesn't make me think he's a bad person, just that his stool, sorry, I mean his bile, is full of bad humorism.

Yeehaw, raise hell and eat cornbread!

Knoxville's got two things goin' for it in one week - the premiere of the Condredge Holloway movie and the winner of the Daytona 500!

Keep the streak goin', folks [that goes for Pat, Bruce and you ballplayers, too, if you don't mind] -  don't matter to me none if'n it's in law, business, medicine or any of them other fancy edumacashun jobs, neither.

'Bout time I find myself sumptin to do in the mountains.

My moonshine supply's run dry.

Been lookin' for a secret place to keep muh stash but them revenooers done got them rotocopter flappin' blade things with them magic eyes that keeps me from bein' able to run muh moonshine still out of the way of mischiefmaking, rabblerousin' teenagers in these here parts.

Just hafta keep lookin', is what I gotta do.

Until next time, DW (btw, my wife loves watchin' and hearin' you talk - makes her feel like she's back home, listenin' to her Pop do his ol' radio show on WRGS, back befo' the days of Charlie Chase, that is).

A nod to our Armenian friends - may you never run out of lamb meat for a meal.

Dang if I didn't find out that Trevor Bayne went to Knox Central like muh daddy and my bury-the-body friend, Elizabeth.  This ol' small world's gettin' tiny enough to fit in muh wallet on the gold chain I pulled off the dead guy who called muh dog a cur.

Is That A Pizza In Your Oven Or Are You Just Happy To Be Hungry?

First of all, thanks to Murriel, Jessica and Yolanda at Publix for the prerace food stuff - fried chicken fingers, egg salad, romaine hearts, artichoke hearts, tarragon chicken salad, Southern/red-potato salad, Publix yogurt, bananas, and Florida orange/grapefruit juice.

So, while I guzzle my leftover supply of Samuel Adams winter lager, burping up the essence of fresh fried chicken, cat on the lap, I wonder what can possibly make lefthand turn racing any less more exciting.

Nothing.

snooze.....

Wake me up when there's 10 laps to go and attrition has separated the living from the dead the contenders from the pretenders.

Maybe NASCAR ought to make a big deal about the adverts like the NFL does with the American-rules football championship.

Friday, February 18, 2011

A Little Bit Louder Now

While I was listening to a rare, unauthorised, unpublished, underground, bootleg recording of Frank Zappa's version of César Franck's Symphony in D-minor, an announcement came up via the network that you don't know about using technology that does not exist in this universe.

According to sources I don't have to reveal to you because they officially do not exist, a UN coalition force found a cave on the Pakistan border that had recently been occupied by Al Qaeda.

No news there.

The unique fascination resides in the fact that the cave is apparently a shrine Al Qaeda set up in honour of one of their great inspirations.

Namely, Tom Clancy.

According to notes buried in the ceiling, operatives use spy and adventure novels of Western countries to carry out their plans, conveniently laid out in fictional detail by bestselling and obscure authors.

With the release of new Kindle firmware by Amazon, terrorists can sync their actions via page numbers in ebooks easily read out in the open with no one suspecting they are following orders down to the paragraph, sentence and letter, period.

Analysts at DARPA are going back through novelised versions of "Murder, She Wrote," hoping to figure out which town resident is next to be played by an out-of-work and formerly controversial actor willing to be killed for the sake of weekly ratings.

Hotels, in fear of losing their valuable valets, are insisting that special guests no longer pull up under the awnings or covered entranceways, worried that WMDs will be set off by infiltrating suicidal taxi/limo drivers who will also kill the best parking attendants the hotels had ever hired.

The guests they can easily replace.

My friend, Elizabeth, familiar to most of you, assured me that her best method of dealing with such uncivilised, unruly drivers is to heavily wax the hardwood or cement floors on which taxis and limos are parked, throw an ashtray or skillet at suspected terrorists and watch them break their necks as they slip and fall.

Another test she recommends is to draw the attention of the driver, who will swerve, because he/she was focused on the ebook displayed on the mobile phone or ebook reader perched between the dashboard and the steering wheel.

Speaking of playing chicken on the road, do you think the Iranian naval vessels are hoping to pull a "Remember the Maine" event to enable Iran to launch an offensive attack on Israel?  Ahmen-a-jihad has been accused of worse.

And what of countries whose silence on such matters may point to secret funding of counterpoint-postcounter-rotisserie-revolution?

And the two young women who watched "Unknown" unknowingly?  They couldn't drink enough to be convinced to see the Justin Bobblehead teenie bopper movie.  Thank goodness, Lauren serves popcorn and Coke like a real pro - there's a future in business marketing for her, should she have the right connections through her friends in the world of sports.

And while we're on the subject of sports, fans will be standing in their seats to see if the 10-year anniversary will cause another great pileup at the end.  Thank goodness, Michael Waltrip and Sterling Marlin are nowhere to be seen.  Who will win?  As the saying goes, "they call him the streak, boogity boogity, the fastest thing on two feet."  No, DW, it's not you.

That's all, folks.  Ethel, get your clothes on!!!!

Monday, February 7, 2011

Family Lore

While watching the Super Bowl with my folks, I scanned 1284 family photos for sharing electronically with the rest of the family.

While looking through plastic tubs of photos, my mother found an undated newspaper article she had saved.

Interestingly enough, it fits into today's and other recent sports events/news involving Tennessee and Michigan players:
Fowler responds
From staff reports

ESPN's Chris Fowler made himself the focus of attention on the Peyton Manning Heisman Trophy controversy by referring to the "Tennessee Trailer Park Frenzy Talk" on a national radio talk show.  The following is a form letter he sent to Tennessee fans who wrote respectful letters.  The letter constitutes an apology to Tennessee fans and explains Fowler's use of the phrase, which he called "a stupid remark."

For the benefit of all area readers upset by the remark, Fowler's letter to fans is being printed in full.  It reads as follows [excerpts published in this blog entry]:

"Vol Fans:
"You took the time to write, so I'll take the time to respond.  Because of the volume of mail, I'll have to use this form letter.
"I know most of you are mad that Peyton Manning didn't win the Heisman and plan to stay mad about it.  You have a right to be disappointed, just as Peyton and his family were when the announcement was made at the Downtown Athletic Club.
"But the level of anger and hatred misdirected at ESPN, ABC, the media in general, and Charles Woodson himself has stunned me.  In response to some of the profane and incoherent message and physical threats I received, I made a stupid remark on the 'Fabulous Sports Babe' radio show that week.
"I prefaced the comment by saying I was NOT referring to the typical Tennessee fans, but when I used the word 'trailer park frenzy' I offended many people I didn't intend to.  The term was directed at the dozan [sic] lunatics who called or faxed with messages similar to the one I've enclosed here (unprintable).
"That type of letter was not typical of the ones I've gotten, but it represents a vocal, twisted minority.
"Nonetheless, it was very poor choice of words that made me come off like some northern snob.  My grandparents lived in a trailer park for a time and I was NEVER ashamed of it in the least.  By the way, I never used the expression 'trailer trash,' as some of you claimed.
...
"As for the Heisman decision, I can assure there was no TV 'conspiracy' to deny Peyton or crown Charles Woodson.
...
"To label me as a 'Woodson Fan Club President' is so offbase that it's ridiculous.  I never made a statement that Woodson SHOULD win the thing.  Truth be told, I voted for Manning!
...
"To assert that Woodson was 'created' by ESPN and ABC is a joke.  He's a rare and special talent, leader of the nation's best defense in the regular season.  I never want to be put in the position to attack Woodson's ability.
...
"Peyton Manning will recover from the disappointment of not winning this award.  It was never a priority in the first place.  I'm sure that standing atop a step ladder, directing the Vols' band in Rocky Top after his first SEC title was a thousand times sweeter than any award could be.
"I've known his family and Peyton himself since BEFORE he was Peyton Manning and consider his brother Cooper a friend.  I've never said a negative thing about his character or value as a leader, football player, or human being.  Peyton has a great future and his legacy at Tennessee is not diminished a bit because of votes cast by the majority of the Heisman electorate.
"So, hold onto your anger if you want to, but in the need to direct it AT someone, please don't misdirect it.
"Thanks for taking the time.
"Sincerely, Chris Fowler"

So, here's to Peyton and Charles - may you both end up in the NFL Hall of Fame one day, and may any angry fans out there rest well knowing that both young men grew up to be memorable professional football players contributing significantly to Super Bowl winning teams.

Oh, congrats to Green Bay, by the way.  My folks give a shout-out to Carroll Dale, a former neighbour of theirs, whatever he's doing these days. [Speaking of neighbours, my parents reminded me tonight that I used to be in Sunday school with Katherine Harris of hanging chad fame - many decades ago, we lived in a house her father owned in Florida - small world!]

Now, on to the lull that is the multimonth break after American rules football season.  Long live rugby!

Thanks to Jason and Shelby at Office Depot, Joshua at Chili's, Glenn's Florist and Tom's sermon about salt and light - we sometimes forget the example of ourselves we set in the moment for both ourselves and those around us.  And lastly, the choir and Maggie's oboe teacher's solo while playing Handel works.

Tuesday, January 25, 2011

Momcession

I ask myself if the future plots are doing any good.

For instance, which group made the decision to choose the person who will sing the U.S. National Anthem and stands as the image of America that we'll broadcast to the rest of the world at the beginning of the 2011 Super Bowl?

Did that group consider the full ramifications of that decision?

Although we account for those decisions in our 1000-year predictions, how can we effect change that moves the whole species in another direction, while preserving free will within individuals?

The species is just one supercomputer among many.

I need faster substitute supercomputers to plot iterations instantaneously.

What if the Mormon Tabernacle Choir sang the U.S. National Anthem?  Or the a capella group, Committed? What if the song was transposed for sitar or Irish bouzouki?

Time to run those scenarios through the supercomputer buried in the walls of my house and see what happens two years later.

I'll pass those results via the indecipherable method to colleagues who can recompute the deviations from the 10,000-year timeline to which we must adhere strictly and see if the possibility exists for one of those scenarios to occur.

How did my listening to Telemann's Oboe Concerto in e-minor, III-IV, affect my mood while writing this blog entry or SpaceX's chances for winning the ISS transport contract?

What did the movements of the swing dancers at Saturday night's Swing DJ contest do to the swing of stock prices on the Tokyo stock exchange this week?

Did the authenticity of a German pub atmosphere at Schnitzel Ranch change?

Is it time for a new brain implant?

How many law firms' efforts to sway public opinion in a positive direction for clients changed your opinions of self/society today?

Monday, January 24, 2011

Newspaper Disses Hometown, Loses Adverts, Goes Out Of Business

Under oath, representatives of the computer programmers who generated the formula for determining the BCS championship participants admitted they use the same code and the algorithms that the Academy won't admit it uses to generate the list of Oscar winners.

The spokesperson for American Idol denied rumours that the Academy got its algorithms from the code that American Idol stole from the programmers working for Eurovision.

A spokesperson for Eurovision spoke off the record and told this reporter that their computer code was pulled out of a robospam generator script that one of the producer's teenage sons was caught trying to sell on the Eastern European black market to fund his habit of snorting crushed and powdered hairs of the rare Patagonian rhino horn blue bottle fly.

Which might explain why the BCS commissioner is often heard whistling, "Shoo, fly, don't bother me..."

More as it develops!

Sunday, January 23, 2011

Halftime Interview

What can I say about a playoff game that hasn't been said?

Cheeseheads.

Da Bears.

How about my silence, instead?