Mikey D

Mike Martz is set to be fired after today's game against Green Bay. Personally I'm wondering what the hold up is. Why let him finish? I never understood lame duck coaches. You're getting fired for a reason, and that reason is you suck. Don't let him suck another game.

I was really excited for Martz when he got hired, but his offense has grown old. In St. Louis his offense was unique, fresh, new, and exciting. Now the league has adjusted, and Martz hasn't. In today's NFL, even though QBs are dominating the stat lines, you still have to run the football. Less than 10 carries a game for Kevin Jones and TJ Duckett? Ridiculous. And have you noticed the games that we won? Yup, it's when we actually gave our backs the ball. Hmmm, interesting...

Well the rumor now is that Martz will be recruited by the 49ers because of his west coast ties. Good luck, Niners. All I know is that if he gets hired to be the O-coordinator in San Fran, Frank Gore officially drops off my fantasy board next year.

Good move Lions; I'm proud of you.

~Mikey D

First off, I hadn't even heard of this movie until Grace told me about it on our ride home to Maryland. It's called "Grandma's Boy" and it came out in January of 06', and it's produced by Happy Madison Productions. How did I not know about this movie??? I'm still wondering...

Anyway, the movie has a shitload of people in it. David Spade, Kevin Nealon, and Rob Schneider all have bit parts (some of the good SNL people from the day), Allen Covert is the main character (he's in every Adam Sandler movie), Joel Moore (skinny guy from Dodgeball), Jonah Hill (Superbad and Knocked Up), Doris Roberts (Everybody Loves Raymond- Ray's mom), Peter Dante (again, every Adam Sandler movie every made), Nick Swardson (Reno 911, Blades of Glory), and even Kevin Nash (I know you'll appreciate that one Adam). Basically think of the funniest movies from the past decade, and there's at least one character from those movies in this one. It makes for a great/familiar cast. Again, how did I not know about this movie with all these people in it?

The movie is basically about a video game programmer named Jeff, who is 35 and stuck in a rut. He works as a video game tester at a company called 'Brainasium" with kids ten years his younger. One of those kids is J.P., the company's video game prodigy who creates all the best-selling games, and whose latest game, called 'Eternal Deathslayer 3', is falling behind schedule. The company decides to bring in Samantha, a super hot babe whose job is to get the game released on time. From that point on Jeff has to deal with working with J.P. (and having his game design stolen by J.P.), being the oldest in the company, living with his grandparents, and with his growing feelings for his new coworker, Samantha.

There are a ton of pot jokes in this movie, so if you like to smoke weed, I think you've found yourself a winner. But besides that, the thing that appeals most to me about the movie was that it is centered around this group of video game nerds. Now the whole movie could have been nerd jokes about gamers (and well, it is), but the movie also portrays these guys as kind of cool. I liked that. They played video games, had fun, and sometimes got girls. They all had the attitude of "Yeah were nerdy gamers, and your point is? Oh, none? Well then fuck off." I liked it.
I'd give you some quotes, but I found a couple of funny scenes that I liked the best. Take a look.

Anyway, all in all I give the movie 3/4 of a thumbs up. It falls into that Super Troopers and Harold and Kumar genre. It's worth watching. Kevin, I'm really curious to see what your reaction to this movie will be. I don't know if the crude sex and pot jokes will get annoying to you, or the video game humor will make you laugh. Adam, I have no earthly idea if you will think this is funny. You hated Blades of Glory, but liked Knocked Up. I was just the opposite. You will just have to see it and let me know.

~Mikey D

~I'm not quite sure where to start with this post, so I'll just start it with Joakim Noah. Usually I'll hate a guy during his college years, but then when he turns pro not care so much about him. I was watching Bulls/Knicks highlights, and you know what? I still hate Joakim Noah. The guy makes me want to take scissors, cut all his hair off, stab his eyes out, thread his hair through his eye sockets, and then move it back and forth like I'm flossing his brain. I'm just glad he doesn't play for Cleveland, because he'd be right alongside Varajeo, which would just make me explode in outrageous fury every time I watched a Cleveland game.

~Billy Beane. I always felt he was slightly overrated as a general manager. Yes he's made Oakland a very competitive baseball franchise over the years, which is impressive in a small market. The thing is, he's never got them to the top. If that's good enough for some folks, then hey, he's one of the best in the business, but I've never seen him pull off that one move that's puts them over the hump. I do, however, have to give him credit for his latest trade. Dan Haren, arguably the team's ace, to Arizona for six prospects. Not only did he pack a moving truck full of blue-chip Diamondbacks to take back to Oakland, he put Haren in the National League. Think of Oakland's last four great pitchers: Mulder, Hudson, Zito, and Haren. Where are they all now? St. Louis, Atlanta, San Francisco, and Arizona. What do they all have in common? They're all in the National League! So while loading up on prospects (except for Zito, but he's the worst of the bunch), Beane never gets hurt by his old hurlers. I give him props for being able to pull that off.

~Looking at the college football bowl schedule, I only see three games I'm really interested in watching (other than MSU, that's just a given). I would like to see Florida-U of M, USC- Illinois, and Oklahoma-West Virginia. Although I think Florida will beat U of M, I just want to see those seniors for U of M play well for Lloyd and his final game as head coach. I want to see what Juice Williams and the underdog Big Ten Illini can do against the nation's hottest team. Oklahoma-West Virginia looks like there might be a lot of points, which equals excitement. I do not want to see LSU-OSU. I am too angry at the bowl system, and will not watch out of protest. Besides, has anyone seen ESPN's mock bowl coverage? They don't even have OSU/LSU in the title game. Hmmm...why is that? Because even the media thinks they're not the two best teams, despite them voting those two teams in. This system sucks.

~Mitchell Report. Sigh, I hate all this coverage. It's college basketball, NFL stretch run, college football bowl season, and NBA basketball time. I want to talk and watch coverage on those things, and not whether Larry Bigbie heard Brian Roberts say he shot himself up with some roids. It's going to be accusations and denials for the next year I feel. And I hate it.

~Switching gears, I am really excited to go home to Michigan for the break. It'll be nice to see the fam and Kev and Adam again. I really wish I could come back and visit more often, but it's hard with Grace and I having jobs and stuff. Stupid jobs. I think the drive up to MI won't be bad, because I have MSU/Texas to look forward to. Oh, and an MSU win. It will definitely be great to watch the game with Kev and Adam. Just like old times =).

~At school there is a door decorating contest for the holidays going on. Since I have an open classroom, this provides an interesting challenge. I am a competitor though, and I want to win. So in lieu of the absence of a door, my homeroom class decided to decorate the whole fucking room. And decorate they did. They brought in lights, dancing Santas, tree, garland- you name it, they brought it in. They even stayed after school to put everything up. Now my room has more blinking lights, bells, and dancing Christmas robots than a Chuck E. Cheese Christmas party. We have successfully decorated for Christmas, while completely ignoring Hanukkah and Kwanzaa. Eh, just how we do. If we do not win this contest (the prize is a free breakfast, which I'm all for), my kids will probably snap and go ballistic. And rightfully so. They've worked hard and deserve this win. It's been a total team effort.

~I have officially made "the wall" at school! The wall being a bathroom stall in the girl's bathroom. In a lovely red sharpie (how did they know red was my favorite color?), a girl wrote that, and I paraphrase, "Mr. Dennison is a cock-sucking faggot stupid ass teacher." I feel like I've made it. My rite of passage. I am officially a teacher. By the way, they caught the girl, and surprise, surprise- she is failing my class. But I won't hold a grudge...haha, yeah right...

~Despite my numerous complaints about fantasy this season, four out of my five teams made the playoffs this year (with the fifth finishing one spot out). I tried to find a correlation between the rosters, and I really can't. Most of my teams are uniquely different. I have one team that has the number 1 seed in the league. Here's what I'm rolling out with:
QB- Kurt Warner
WR- Tory Holt
WR- Lee Evans
WR- Jabar Gaffney
RB- Earnest Graham
RB- Jamal Lewis
TE- Dallas Clark
K- Mason Crosby
DEF- New York Giants
That's a solid team in my opinion, but the number one? I don't know. One thing I think I do well in fantasy is play the matchups fairly well. Sometimes I'll get burned by benching the big names, but more often than not the moves pan out. I know Adam is very good at this as well, as he is a very successful fantasy player. So again, luck or skill? Half of each?

~Michael Crabtree is the nation's best wide receiver. Fair enough. I can accept that. I'd like to think he won that award because of my constant promoting of his game. It's definitely not because of his gaudy and eye-popping stats. Yup, more me than him. Congratulations sir, you're my preseason 2008 Heisman favorite. Oh, and is there any doubt that he will be a future Lion?

~Speaking of the Lion's, time for Mr. Martz to go. It's been fun. In the NFL, unless you're the Patriots with Randy Moss and Tom Brady, you need a running game. I love the pass as much as the next guy, but the pass will be much more effective if you establish a run. Keep the defense honest at least! Can you imagine how much better Kitna could be if he wasn't facing a pass rush each and every play? It must be the easiest thing in the world for a D-coordinator to prepare for the Lions. "Just keep rushing the passer, and eventually we'll stop them." If we are going to run Martz's system, we need a more versatile back and QB. A back that is Marshall Faulk-esque, who can be a speedy safety valve for the QB under pressure, and a QB that can scramble and avoid pressure in the pocket (although Kurt Warner debunks that assertion). So what should the Lion's draft next year? Defense? O-Line?

~I've become a real Redskins fan down here. I like watching them play. They usually find ways to get their fans' hopes up and ultimately lose games. It's almost like I'm back home watching the Lions!

~Grace got me Pistons/Wizards tickets for my birthday. I'm excited. The game is actually the day of my birthday, January 2nd. That worked out real nice. I can't wait to see a Detroit team live. It's been awhile. Speaking of seeing a Detroit team live, I am going to take every opportunity I can to see the Tigers play next season. I am ridiculously excited to watch that team with Cabrera and Willis on it.

Alrighty, that's enough for now. Take care folks.

~Mikey D

I liked ranking the teams myself. West Virginia won my national championship. Boooo....

http://sports.espn.go.com/ncf/bowls07/bracket

I'm pretty sure I'd give this movie two thumbs up.

Ohio State and LSU. Explain this to me. Because what we have right now is the exact reason I hate college football.

These are the two best teams in college football.
According to who? The writers and press? Wait, the same writers and press that LSU as the 7th best team a week ago? This bothered me last year when Florida jumped U of M, and it bothering me now. Why does LSU jump Georgia, Kansas, and Virginia Tech? All three of those teams were in front of LSU and didn't lose. To me, the writers and coaches once again just voted on the team they wanted to see in the national championship. If they really thought LSU was better than those teams, they would have put LSU in front of them in last weeks poll. It's flat out bullshit to jump those three teams.

LSU won it's conference championship, the others didn't.
Um, Virginia Tech? ACC champions, and won their conference championship game.

First, because of division formatting, Georgia was left out of the game. All I've heard this past week was how the hottest two teams in football are Georgia and USC. And now they get no love, despite being ranked higher? Whatever.

Second, Kansas, again because of division formatting, was left out of its conference championship. Its one loss? To then-number 1 ranked Missouri. One of LSU's two losses were to an unranked team.

LSU beat Virginia Tech by 40.
The problem with college football. Each and every game is life and death, and some might think that the game is more exciting and thrilling that way, I hate it because of arguments like this. To me, the team Virginia Tech is now is not the same team they were the first game of the season. And neither is LSU. Just ask Michigan about how their season started. I don't like that people will argue that LSU beat them earlier because both teams are different now. And if you really felt that LSU was the better team, why did you put them behind Virginia Tech in the first place?

The fact LSU beat another quality opponent in its conference championship put them over the top.
Hold up. Tennessee was ranked 14th in the polls, and Boston College was ranked 11th. But wait, LSU played a higher quality opponent?

LSU is the only undefeated team in regulation. It's only two losses came in two triple-overtimes.
Probably the worst argument of them all. Yes or no: did you lose the two games? Yes? Well then you have two losses, which is one more than Kansas and Georgia. This argument reminds of the sore loser, who will tell the world that they were the better team because they ran for more yards, passed for more yards, committed less turnovers...yada yada yada. Bottom line is you lost two games. YOU LOST TWO GAMES. I don't care how you did it, but you just did it. Sorry, but that's the truth.

LSU has played a tougher schedule.
Stop sucking on the SEC's cock. Of LSU's wins, four of the teams are in the top-25, and one of them is from the ACC (Va Tech). Of Virginia Tech's wins, three are in the top-25. Altogether that's three conference wins against three conference wins against top-25 teams.

***

It's frustrating to me because it doesn't seem to me that the polls have any meaning anymore. Teams can jump teams for little to no reason after conference championship games, because the writers and coaches feel the are suddenly better than the rest. What kind of system is this??? I would respect it more if OSU and Georgia played, because they were the next two in line. But that's not the case. It's coaches campaigning for their teams place in a game a month from now. It's teams jumping five spots in the polls over teams that didn't do anything to hurt themselves. It's just not right, and I'm glad this season is almost over.

Go MSU in the Motor City Bowl!!!

~Mikey D

Have you seen the new commercial for the "Bourne Ultimatum"? It bothers the hell out of me.

There are a lot of action scenes, and then the voice over says (to effect of), "Your ultimatum for this holiday season: buy the Bourne Ultimatum."

Or what?????

Stop telling me you're a giving me an ultimatum when you're not!!!

Stupid ad wizards.

~Mikey D

Well, we definitely handled our business tonight. We played a young and tired team at home, and we destroyed them, like a veteran team should. It's really hard to get any sort of feel for how are team has responded since the UCLA loss because this was such an easy win. Here are the things I took away from this game though:

~Suton was nothing short of amazing in the first half. I read about his stats against Oakland last game, and it looks like he's followed those up nicely tonight. If he can become a consistent, low post threat, that makes us all the more dangerous. I especially liked his hustle tonight. He was running the fast break, crashing the boards, and stripping people. I really liked the shot he had that was blocked where he chased down his miss and threw it off an N.C. St. player. Great hustle from the big guy.

~ I love how Izzo chewed his team out with five minutes left in this game. You do not want complacency to sink in with this team at any point. It wasn't okay after five minutes against UCLA, and it's not okay with five minutes left against N.C. St. You go hard for 40 minutes, then you rest. That's why Izzo is the best. He knows this team is good, but he wants them to be great. Hey, me too.

~ It is awesome to watch Drew Neitzel when he is in his groove. Every shot he takes you know is going to fall. It makes me very happy.

~ The freshmen are still making bonehead plays, and that's going to happen all year. It seems with every big shot Allen makes, he takes one terrible one. With every fast break layup Lucas makes, he commits one unnecessary turnover. Summers is the same way (although I really liked his reverse and-one play). Take the good with the bad I suppose.

Good win. There are only two games upcoming that I worry about: at Bradley and Texas. Bradley could be a trap game, and Texas, well Texas is #8 in the country- enough said. The Texas game is at 6:30 on the 22nd...the day I drive back to Michigan.

So whose house we watching that one at?

~Mikey D

Okay, because I spend way too much time with fantasy (much in the way Adam does researching MLB player salaries =) ), I always think it's fun to look back on the team you started with, and compare it to the team you have now. You always feel so optimistic on draft day that the group of guys you drafted on your team will take you all the way to the championship. Unfortunately (or maybe fortunately), the group of guys you started with vastly changes over the course of a year (well, for us owners who make a lot of changes). I always find it interesting to look at the guys I started during a given week that I had no intention of starting at the beginning of the year. So I came up with my own, "I Started Who?" Team for 2007.

QB~ Trent Green
QB~ J.P. Losman
Preseason Starters: Drew Brees, Marc Bulger
I cannot believe I actually started a Miami Dolphin this year, much less the QB, and much more less, one that threw his head into the knee of a 300 pound D-lineman. J.P. actually worked out for me, but 9 out of 10 times it's a bad idea to roll with any Bills QB. Kevin, your point is right on this year, fantasy is all luck.

WR~ Kevin Walter
WR~ Andre Davis
WR~ Nate Burleson
Preseason Starters: Reggie Wayne, Larry Fitzgerald, Javon Walker
Could I even name Kevin Walter before this year? Nope. I tried to take advantage of the absence of Andre Johnson, and did alright picking up Walter and Davis. Burleson made this list as well, because with Wayne, Fitzgerald, Walker, and Evans, I didn't think I'd ever need the 4th wide receiver for the Seahawks. Thank you injuries and bye weeks, because I had Mr. Burleson in my lineup for two weeks. Icky.

RB~ LaMont Jordan
RB~ Clinton Portis (Week 4 and after)
Preseason Starters: L.T., Maurice Jones-Drew
I started the year with Tomlinson, M. Jones-Drew, Portis, T. Jones, C. Benson, and J. Norwood. I hoped two would emerge as cream of the crop starters, but it took awhile for that to happen. Jones, Benson, and Norwood proved to be crap. Tomlinson hasn't been great, but he's still been good. I gave up on Jones-Drew too quickly (my bad). Portis was my surprise in how well he's played, but also the fact he's not injured yet! I thought I could use him for a few weeks, but he'd break something and be out for the year. Surprisingly it's week 12, and I can still roll with Portis. Jordan also made this list for his first few games where he actually did well, which nobody thought would happen after last year.

TE~ Owen Daniels
Preseason Starter: Antonio Gates
Once again, who? My bye-week filler for Gates. One and done for Mr. Daniels.

K~ Mason Crosby
Preseason Starter: Jeff Wilkins
He did well for Adam's team, so I put him in the silver and black and he's done alright for me. I was quite angry at the Packers for getting rid of MSU alum Rayner, but he's with Chiefs now, so all is good.

DEF~ Houston
Preseason Starter: Minnesota Vikings
My fourth Texan to make the list. One of those bad decisions I'd like to take back. No wonder I started the year so poorly.

I don't know, I just think it's cool to see guys you've never heard of or dreamed of playing on your fantasy roster. I just made my 50th move of the fantasy season, which is what brought about this list.

Funny, and I'm the one who's so resistant to change...

~Mikey D

Okay, I've calmed down and I'm ready to write about this now. I actually took notes during the game because I'm a giant dork (and it helped me stay awake in the wee hours of the evening).

~Kevin Love was the best player on the floor. We have a collection of good/very good players, but that guy changed the entire complexion of the game. He's raw, but he kept UCLA in the game in the first half.

~I was intrigued by Izzo's comment that Allen might be the next Shaun Respert. I remember the last guy that got compared to Respert, and that was none other than Chris Hill. Hopefully Allen's MSU career finishes a little stronger than Hill's, and he lives up to the Respert compliment.

~I swear, if I see Kailin Lucas dribble back to midcourt and into another trap I will punch him in the face. I do not care if he's a freshman. How are you that stupid to do that over and over again?

~Well, Naymick, Suton, and Ibok did what they do best- pick up a crapload of early fouls. Some things will never change.

~Speaking of things that will never change, Marquise Gray's game looks just about the same- he can dunk and snarl a lot. At least he kept his fouls to a minimum.

~Tom Herzog sighting! Well, it was a sighting when he wasn't standing sideways. He must be the skinniest guy ever. Seriously, he makes Shawn Bradley look like Shaq.

~Drew Neitzel confirmed what I've always thought about him- he cannot defend. I kept a running tally of Neitzel defense lapses, and I counted 5. That's not what I want from my senior leader. Allowing the pass under the basket on an inbounds? Unacceptable. He also did not fight through screens and seems to get out-physicaled by the opponent's stronger guards. Those big 3's that UCLA hit? Yeah, those were Neitzel's guy running away from Neitzel for the open looks. Not impressed.

~UCLA was in the bonus at the 11 minute mark in the first half. Again, unacceptable. I think we all agree that MSU completely owned UCLA in the first half, especially the first five minutes. The only thing, and I mean only thing, that kept UCLA in the game was free throws. I know we went to halftime with a double digit lead, but that lead could have seriously been closer to twenty, rather than ten.

~I can accept the freshman mistakes. They are going to make some bad passes, force things they shouldn't, etc. (although Kailin Lucas pissed me off). What I cannot stand is mistakes by veterans. Raymar's ill advised pass late in the game. Ibok trying to drive to the basket for a bucket. Both Suton and Neitzel giving up looks underneath the basket on inbounds plays. Miscommunication between defenders where both guys end up guarding the same guy. Travis Walton being careless with the ball late in the game when we needed him to protect it. I know it's early, but these guys have played together for over a year now, so I expect a little improvement off last year's team. Get it together, vets.

~Poise. To say I was disappointed is an understatement. Everybody knew UCLA would make a run in the second half. To let UCLA come back and then to look so rattled and confused is an utter shame. Bad decision after bad decision led to our demise. I would have liked to have seen the same intensity out of the fellas throughout the game. Even if UCLA went on a run, I still wanted our team to be physical and rebounding like crazy. We looked like lost puppys running around in the second half.

~23 offensive rebounds for UCLA. Don't make me ever write that sentence again, MSU.

~10-10 freethrows in the first half. I like it. Even the freshman look like they can knock them down. When teams put us on the line, they will pay. Now if only we can get to the line more than we send the other team...

Just from the tone of this post, you can probably tell than I'm really disappointed with the outcome. Had we won last night I would probably point out more of the positives (from the first half mainly), but the bottom line is that we didn't. I saw glimpses of greatness, and glimpses of the same old, same old. As a fan of MSU basketball, that is frustrating. So I went to bed last night feeling equally disappointed and frustrated.

At the same time I think about this team now compared to last year's team at this point, and there really is no comparison. UCLA would have destroyed us last year. We wouldn't have had the talent and players to step on the court with UCLA and really take it to them the way we did in the first half. The thing that is tough for me personally is realizing that this is a long season. The team we watched last night has ample opportunity to fix its mistakes and develop its own identity.

Do I think we'll allow 23 offensive boards ever again? No. Will two inbounds plays result in easy layups again? No. Will two defenders ever chase the same guy leaving another unguarded? No. Will we finally figure out how to withstand runs from an opponent and hang on to win basketball games? Time will tell. But I'd like to say yes.

~Mikey D

I am too upset right now to even discuss this game. I will share later.

The only thing I will say is that this game was definitely a tale of two halves:
1st Half: This is the team MSU could be- one to be reckoned with.
2nd Half: This is the team MSU still is- frustratingly mediocre.

~Mikey D

Oye, I hate when it feels like I haven't posted in awhile. School has kept me terribly busy, and I kinda hate it. Being the lazy son of a bitch that I am, anything that keeps me from doing what I love (blogging, video games, television, master-, well, you get the gist) by making me do real work makes me unhappy. So boo school.

I was down at the inner harbor in Baltimore this past weekend with Grace. It was a good time. We went down to the ESPNzone for lunch and the UofM/OSU game. I was thoroughly disgusted with Michigan's performance (I was hardcore rooting for the Wolverines) against the Buckeyes. You could have slapped some green and white jerseys and a big 'S' emblem on the helmets, and I could have sworn it was MSU against OSU all over again. OSU running the ball like crazy mother fuckers? Yup, check. A non-existent passing game? Check. Absolutely no running game? Gotcha. Seriously, the Wolverines looked awful. They were lucky that the final score was only 14-3, as OSU did not have to sit on the ball for the ENTIRE SECOND HALF. I'm guessing it was Ohio State's gift for Lloyd Carr- another loss, but a respectable score. Have a nice retirement, Lloyd.

ESPNzone. We ate at the restaurant, and I have to say I was a little disappointed. We started with an order of nachos with queso (can't go wrong with that, right?), and my only request was no tomatoes (because they're fucking disgusting) on the top. Sure enough, my request was denied. I spent the next half-hour picking through tomatoed nachos while watching Chad Henne sail pass after pass over his wide open receivers. Good times. My lunch (the BBQ smokehouse burger) was devoid of everything that a burger should have- lettuce, pickles, onions. It should just be assumed that every decent burger should include these things. I should not have to request half the shit for my burger. Maybe that's just me though.

I did like the arcade though. I loved playing the 'Supershot' basketball game. That's the game that has the moving basketball rim, and you have to make as many buckets as possible in a certain amount of time. I have to toot my own horn, because I'm pretty damn sweet at that game. There were six games next to each other, and they'd have competitions between the six players. During my fifteen minutes of playing, I did not lose once. In fact, I smoked every opponent that played against me. By smoked I mean I would have 80 points, while they'd be in the 30's. As I told Grace, it's all about having the competitive spirit, being in the zone, and being just damn good. Toot toot!

All around the Baltimore harbor there are trash cans with the label "litter" on them. This bothers me to no end. What's supposed to go in these trash cans? Trash. Can litter go in them as well? Sure. But let's say I have an empty pop bottle and I want to throw it away. Should I throw it in these cans marked litter? Or should I drop it on the ground, making it litter, then come back and pick it up and put it in the litter can? Of course the word litter sounds nicer than trash (I think), and I'm pretty sure that's why they're labeled that way. But still, not all trash is litter. It just irked me seeing one of these trash cans, excuse me, litter cans, every fifteen feet. I can already picture Grace shaking her head going, "Of course something stupid like that would irk you..." Damn straight.

I know I haven't pushed Michael Crabtree in awhile, so lets look at his stats with a game to go:
125 Receptions
1,861 Yards
21 Touchdowns
Not too shabby. Heisman esque? Probably not, but his numbers are absolutely ridiculous for a freshman. The surprising part about his season is that he hasn't struggled against the teams we all thought he would- Texas and Oklahoma. Against Texas he had 9 catches for 195 yards and 2 touchdowns. Against Oklahoma he had 12 grabs for 154 and a touch. The only teams to keep him under a 100 yards receiving were Baylor and Missouri. Other than that, he's fucked up everyone he's played, including the big boys. The kid has skills, and since I don't see one clear unanimous Heisman winner out there, Crabtree still gets my vote.

Michigan State basketball is 2-0. I haven't seen any of their games, but I've been reading up on each afterwards. I'm really curious to see a game live now, because it looks like these freshmen, Allen and Summers, are for real. They've been getting minutes, and they're producing. Come tournament time, if these guys can keep producing and have gone through their "growing pains", then we could be a dangerous team. Anything that can alleviate the pressure on Neitzel being the only dominate scorer on our team is a good thing. For the first time in awhile I am excited about the front court. Morgan, Summers, and Gray- that's a lot of energy and athleticism. Having Naymick and Sutton there gives us great depth and experience. I like it. I think this team has a lot of potential, and I think once everybody finds their place and knows their role, this team could be damn good. So my prediction is a couple close games against some teams we shouldn't be that close to, a couple losses to some teams we should probably beat, a big run to start the Big Ten season, at least a sweet sixteen berth, and who knows the rest. I would not be shocked to see this team in the final four, but I'm not going to go their yet. I want to see them live first.

I saw a little bit of the Pistons/Lakers game last night. I have a very uncomfortable feeling about this team. It feels like this is the year the rest of the East catches up with us. Anybody else get that feeling? Rip doesn't seem to be as dynamic, Rasheed and Chauncey are older (and Rasheed is still our only low-post threat), and Tayshaun, and I hate to say this, doesn't seem like will ever be that guy we can count on to step up in a game when we need him to. It just feels like Detroit is in this awkward transition phase trying to infuse the youngsters (Maxiel, Johnson, Stuckey) while still giving enough minutes to the deserving vets (Billups, Hamilton, Wallace, McD). What does anyone else think?

Grace and I have to bring a vegetable platter to Thanksgiving at her brother in law's house. We got broccoli, carrots, tomatoes, and cucumber. I also got green olives. Aren't olives a fine addition to any vegetable platter? I think so. I would like to eat olives. Grace just looked at me funny when I suggested them. Olives seem like a wonderful compliment.

Okay, when I start talking about vegetable platters I know I'm done. Good long post. Football day today, and I'm going to enjoy it. Hollllllllla!

~Mikey D

Apparently we should just expect the freakiest injuries that will sideline Joel Zumaya for half a season for the rest of his time here in Detroit. Guitar Hero one year, moving during wild fires in California the next. I'm fully expecting to read the ESPN.com article halfway through next season: "Joel Zumaya out after pulling tendons in his pitching arm after jacking off carnie on ferris wheel ride." It's practically inevitable.

Edgar Renteria. Love it. He upgrades the defense at short (I have a sneaking suspicion that Neifi Perez isn't coming back...call it hunch), as well as the offense. You figure he is basically replacing Sean Casey's production (I doubt he'll be back), which was little to none, so it's an automatic upgrade. Adam made a great point about Renteria's time in Boston and how unsuccessful it was. That makes me worried that this guy is just a productive NL player, but can't cut it in the AL. I hope there's less pressure in Detroit for him to deal with, as well as a line-up with even more protection around him than Boston boasted. Also, he has a great relationship with Jimmy L, going back to their days in Florida. Personally I think he'll fit right in.

On ESPN.com, Buster Olney listed the odds of potential suitors trying to land Alex Rodriguez. Number two? The Tigers. At first I was completely against this move, because I hate A-Rod's character and there's no way in hell I'd want our team to spend 25-30 million on a single player. It feels like we'd be selling out and selling our souls to some evil devil. But after taking a look at our potential line-up, it's tempting:
CF- Curtis Granderson
SS- Edgar Renteria
RF- Magglio Ordonez
3B- Alex Rodriguez
DH- Gary Sheffield
1B- Carlos Guillen
C- Pudge Rodriguez
LF- Marcus Thames
2B- Placido Palonco
Good luck trying to get through the middle of that line-up. I'd be worried about our team defense though. Can Guillen cut it at first? Is Thames going to be the guy in left, and if so, can he show a little mobility? A-Rod is a downgrade defensively at third over Inge. Can Renteria and Polanco develop a chemistry as a double play combo. It's a lot of pieces, and I just want to see them fit together on the field.

As always, pitching will be key for us. Lucky for us, our starting rotation is set already, with Verlander, Bonderman, Rogers (assuming he comes back), Robertson, and Miller. These guys need to step up like they did the year before last. They all had a difficult time last year, and I wouldn't say any one of those guys pitched to their potential consistently. It was frustrating to watch as a fan. Hopefully with the long winter and rest they will be good to go. I'm counting on it.

The thing that is our biggest weakness is our bullpen. To me this isn't fixed through free agency. The good relievers are usually locked up by their teams. It's the mediocre ones that get tossed into the free agent heap and get ridiculously over-priced contracts by desperate teams. I hope we are not one of those desperate teams. With Zumaya's injury (again), as much as I hate to say it, we need Todd Jones back for a little- and this is probably the wrong word to use with Todd Jones- stability. I am hoping that Dombrowski, if he hasn't traded them all away, has some good, young, hard-throwing rookies down in the minors that can step up (a la Jaba Chamberlain, and Zumaya two years ago). Rookies that the rest of the league haven't seen yet and haven't picked up on. Rookies that can come in and baffle the league for the next year or so. And will the real Fernando Rodney please step up? I still can't figure out if this guys is good or terrible.

Curt Schilling listed the Tigers on his list of teams he'd be willing to go to. Seemed like half the league was on the list, but whatever. The only way I see the Tigers bringing in Schilling is if they move him to the bullpen role, which I totally wouldn't mind, because again, that's our weakness. But if they bring him in as a starter, I'll be pissed. One, he's not the Schilling of two years ago. Two, I don't think he can be depended on for a whole year. That being said, whose spot in the rotation will he take? Probably Andrew Miller's. If Schilling probably won't make it through an entire season healthy, that means Miller is going to be going back and forth from the bullpen to the starting rotation. That's the last thing I want for a young starter to do. Schilling=bullpen help.

Please tell me you heard this. The Toledo Mud Hens were the first official team to make A-Rod an offer. If you haven't, read this: http://sports.espn.go.com/mlb/news/story?id=3090231

Funny as hell.

~Mikey D

The Patriots have been more than impressive to start the NFL season. 34+ points in nine straight games is, well, an NFL record that speaks for itself. With Pro Bowl caliber players on both sides of the football, the Patriots are the most complete, well coached, and flat out scariest team the NFL has seen since the 49ers of the 80's and the Cowboys of the mid-90's.

All that being said, I couldn't help but be bothered with the way New England finished their game against the Washington Redskins this past Sunday. I really felt that New England was running up the score on Washington in the 4th quarter, and I found it blatantly disrespectful. Now if you listened to Mike and Mike this morning, they both said they had no problem with what New England did. They took the stance that since the NFL is a professional league and all teams operate under the same financial restrictions, the playing field is even. Mike and Mike both saw no reason for "calling off the dogs". At the professional level, they argued, if you want the other team to stop scoring, you need to stop them.

While I understand where they are coming from, I have to disagree. I'm not sure if it is because I grew up with baseball and its unwritten rules, but I found myself completely angered by New England's play in the 4th quarter. I relate what New England did to Washington to a baseball team stealing bases with a fifteen run lead late in the game, with their closer warmed and ready to come in and pitch the ninth. At some point the manager respects the opponent enough to say enough is enough. That is why teams don't steal late in the game. That is why teams bring in the guy who hardly ever pitches to finish out the fifteen run games. While they are all professionals and they have the right to do whatever they want, they just shouldn't. It's sports etiquette in my opinion, and the Patriots have shown they have none.

I know someone out there will utter the phrase, "It ain't over till it's over". True. The greatest comeback in NFL history was the Bills and Oilers in the playoffs about fifteen years ago when the Bills came back from 35 down at halftime to beat the Oilers. Heck, the Texans came back 29 points on the Titans last week, and even though they lost, they almost came back to win. There are, however, a couple differences with this game that really showed this game was over. One, If a comeback was to occur by Washington, the earliest it could have possibly occurred was at the 11:02 mark in the 4th quarter. This wasn't Washington coming out charging after halftime. This was New England inside the Washington ten with 11 minutes left. Couple that with New England's top-flight defense, Washington's anemic offense, and New England's home field advantage...and yeah, this game really was over.

So with this game over in everyones mind (including Washington's...did you see their faces on the sideline?), New England attacked through the air in the fourth quarter- even with their back-up QB in. This boggles my mind. Of the 19 fourth quarter plays New England ran, 8 were passes. That's almost 50% passing with the game well in hand! Why not just run the clock out?

Let's look at a comparison quickly. The Colts were at Carolina this past weekend. They were on the road, and up 24-7 heading into the 4th quarter. Obviously they had far less of a commanding lead than New England did against Washington. The Colts, however, did the classy and respectful thing by running down the clock against the inferior opponent. The Colts, like the Patriots, had 19 offensive plays in the 4th quarter. Of those 19, 16 were runs. That's twice as many runs as New England. Could the Colts have passed all over the Panthers? You bet. They did all day. But they didn't when they didn't need to. They respected the Panthers and the game of football.

There are reasons that teams take knees at the ends of games. I'm not saying New England should have taken knees all fourth quarter, but I am saying they should have stopped passing the ball down field and going for it on fourth down. Mike and Mike are right, these athletes are not collegians, but rather professionals. They failed to see, however, that term applies very loosely to a team like the Patriots.

~Mikey D

Alright, so the trailer for the new 24 season is out! (http://www.24trailer.com/)

Here are some of my initial thoughts:

1) I'm glad they are taking this season in a new direction. Although it might be hard to accept some the new changes without missing some of the old nuances, I think it's for the best. Jack appears he will still be bad ass, and that's all that really matters, isn't it? I like the fact that the preview mentioned Jack is by himself. Basically they are saying Jack is going to do what the fuck he wants, whenever the fuck he wants, without anybody (CTU) telling him to stop. In the famous words of Rip Hamilton, "Yes Sirrrrrrrrrr!"

2) Tony Almeda?!?! Hmmm...I love Tony, but like Jack, I thought the guy was dead. Silly me. I'm curious how they will explain this one. Although Tony appears to be the bad guy in the trailer, there's in no way in hell that Tony is bad. I just don't believe it for a second. It will probably be one of those angles where Tony appears to be bad, but in the end there's some bigger picture none of us were able to see (except Kevin) where Tony's true colors are shown. But since 24 likes to be surprising, I'm probably dead wrong. Although I'm not a fan of bringing people back from the dead, I'm glad to see Tony (he looks pretty badass).

3) The trailer for this season almost felt like an action-movie trailer. Could this be a shift from less story line based episodes to more "heart pounding excitement"? I'm all for more action, but part of the beauty of 24 is having that perfect balance of action and story. I just hope they don't lose the story in their quest for more action. At the same time, I hope the story is better than in years past.

4) I don't want to see the following things this year:
1) Kim.
2) Audrey.
3) Michelle back from the dead.
4) Any old president from seasons past. Let's start clean. A new chapter.

All in all I'm excited. I can't wait for January.

~Mikey D

I've been following the story of Genarlow Wilson for about a year and a half now, and today the Georgia Supreme Court finally did the right thing. It was two years and an unnecessary conviction too late, but it's finally over. This young man can be free now.

This story is a classic case of why some Americans have so little faith in our judicial system. Today, however, the judicial system redeemed itself in a small way, and I can't help but smile and feel extraordinarily happy for Genarlow Wilson and his family. He refused to plead guilty for a crime he didn't committ and he refused to take any deals from the prosecutor because he did not want to be labeled as a child molestor. He did the right thing, and now so did the state of Georgia.

(http://sports.espn.go.com/espn/news/story?id=3080331)

WHAT TIME IS IT?!?!?!



GAME TIME, HOOP!

~I realized something today- Tom Brady is kind of amazing. I am in the middle of my Madden 08 season and I am an offensive juggernaut like the Patriots. I just recently dropped 80 on the Eagles, and 56 on the Redskins. I am now through 7 games, and with my QB I have thrown 24 TDs and 5 INTs. Tom Brady is doing better than I am in real life against real NFL football players. He is officially beyond crazy video game numbers, that's how good of a season he is having.

I also keep thinking back to the argument Kevin, Adam, and I had about which QB was better, Tom Brady or Peyton Manning. Kevin and Adam picked Manning because of the numerous passing records and unstoppable offense he ran, I picked Brady because of his leadership and 3 Super Bowl rings. Honestly though, I was just arguing because I wanted to argue. I really felt Manning was the better quarterback. Now? Now it really makes me think. Brady finally has weapons, and look what he's doing. I also wonder how much of it all is actually Brady. I mean, I watched yesterday's highlights against the Dolphins, and I watched Moss pretty much win two jump balls, Stallworth break five tackles on a 10 yard route, and Welker turn two slants into TDs. Is that Brady's good, or just his receivers being freakin' ridiculous? Probably both, but man is he putting up some crazy numbers.

~I will talk fantasy for just a second. I think the best way the characterize this fantasy season is to look at Kevin and Adam's matchup from this past week. The way it played out pretty much sums up the type of fantasy season that is going on this year. Kevin loses one of his starting quarterbacks in the first half, one of his running backs is held to a career rushing low and fumbles while the other fails to find the endzone, two of his receivers catch next to nothing, he starts a guy named Spaeth at tight end, his kicker LOSES three points...and he still wins. Fantasy 2007- it's like that.

~I read an interesting article about possible fantasy drafts for next year being more QB heavy in the first rounds rather than RB heavy, due to more passing plays (and thus more passing touchdowns) and the RBs by committee that have taken over the league. The writer predicted a top-10 next year could look like this:
1. Tom Brady, QB, New England
2. Peyton Manning, QB, Indianapolis
3. LaDainian Tomlinson, RB, San Diego
4. Tony Romo, QB, Dallas
5. Joseph Addai, RB, Indianapolis
6. Randy Moss, WR, New England
7. Carson Palmer, QB, Cincinnati
8. Larry Johnson, RB, Kansas City
9. Adrian Peterson, RB, Minnesota
10. Terrell Owens, WR, Dallas
Interesting to say the least, and I can't say that I agree with Owens being in the top-10, but can you really argue with Brady and Manning as your 1-2 picks in a league? Brady dropped 45 fantasy points last game, and he has officially become this years L.T. He is winning fantasy games all by himself. Manning is doing just fine as well, with 10 TDs. That's 2 every game...I would gladly take that sort of consistency.

~I have a teacher friend here in Maryland from the Cleveland area, and he was quite excited about Cleveland's chances after they went up 3-1. I talked to him after game 5 when they lost, and he said that they were done. It was a Lions mentality for a baseball team. It was as if the Indians had taken the halftime lead, but he knew they were the Indians, and they'd blow the game in the 4th quarter somehow. And sure enough he was right. I just can't believe being only a game away from the World Series you wouldn't hope a little bit. Apparently hope is dead in Cleveland- for everything that is sports. In Columbus this past weekend, before game 7, I was surprised to see more people on the streets with Boston Red Sox hats (I'm not counting you Adam) than Indians. That would never happen in Detroit. You walk the streets near Detroit, you are going to see old English D's. I'm finding it real interesting to see how cities react to their teams. Philly fans will root to the death, even if they know their team is going down. Cleveland fans are just resigned to their fates, and can accept it. Baltimore fans are delusional and cannot accept that one of their teams is mediocre or just not good (see Baltimore Ravens).

~Had a good trip to Columbus. I can't even begin to describe how much I miss Kevin and Adam sometimes. It was really nice to see those guys again, and just play video games, watch sports, and throw the football around. It was like old times. I even got to annoy the shit out of Kevin a little bit, so the trip was very worthwhile. Thank you Adam for letting us stay at your place. Remember, you guys are always welcome to come down here and stay if you'd like. Mi casa es su casa.

~I am now officially tired of driving. All night Friday. All day Sunday. Back and forth to work. And now tomorrow I pack my bags and head to camp with the sixth graders for two days...so back in my car I go. When I come back, my mom will be down to visit, so it's trips to Baltimore and D.C. to see the sites. No mas conduciendo. Conducir. That's driving, right? Did I conjugate that right? It's been a few years since high school Spanish =).

~Michael Crabtree sucked last week. I am still voting for him for the Heisman because I'm too stubborn to choose anyone else. Fuck all y'all, I'm going with the tree that's made out of crab.

Alrighty, gonna go pack. Holllllllllla!

~Mikey D

I figured I'd do a couple contrasting top-10 lists just because.

Top 10 Things I Miss About Michigan
10) People with Michigan phone numbers. I still haven't switched mine and don't think I will. Marylanders always look at me funny when I say the 5-1-7. Whateva.
9) White Castle. My football Sundays are missing something, and it's those delicious White Castle burgers that melt in my mouth.
8) Knob Hill. Some good times were had there by all.
7) Less-humid heat. It's practically unbearable down here.
6) Highways with only a little bit of traffic. Oh, and good drivers and faster speed limits.
5) Sports talk radio. Just not the same down here.
4) Meijer. Reasonably priced hamburger, hot and spicy taco seasoning, less than $2 milk, and cappuccino coolers. Enough said.
3) Tigers, Lions, and State games. But that went without saying, right?
2) Familiarity. I like when I knew where everything was. Just my personality though.
1) Family. Friends.

Top 10 Things I Like About Maryland
10) Peoples stupid sounding east coast dialects. Words can't explain how silly they sound, but it's always fun to mock them and laugh at them for sounding retarded.
9) New York J&P. Oh how I missed you delicious pizza restaurant.
8) No more Knob Hill cable. Finally real television. You might say this is a stupid addition to my list, but you don't know how fucking important television is to me.
7) Having a real job. Sure I will always complain about it, but every other Friday I am pretty happy watching the pennies go into my bank account. It's been awhile.
6) Seeing all the old places. My old houses. My old schools. My old towns. Just a little bit of Mikey nostalgia.
5) My drive to work in the morning. It's dark and the highways are less crowded, and I get the full night view of the city of Baltimore, including the water. There's something peaceful and beautiful about it that I just can't explain.
4) Avalon Hills. I really do like our place. I think Grace and I have really made it our own, and it is centrally located to everything. D.C., Baltimore, Philly, Frederick, our jobs...seriously, everything.
3) Being closer to my dad and brother. They're both within driving distance.
2) Always something to do. Two major cities, sports, hiking, festivals, etc...There's usually something going on somewhere.
1) Grace. It's been wonderful down here with her =).

That's it. Hollllla!

~Mikey D

Let's start off with a complete random thought. I was thinking about this on the way to school one morning, so just entertain me here. I happened to drive pass a hobo on the side of the street as he collected cans, and it got me thinking: Should people who pick up cans/bottles from the side of the road be considered hobos, or environmentalists? I even got to school and looked up two definitions:
Environmentalist-Someone who works to protect the environment from destruction or pollution.
Hobo- One who wanders from place to place without a permanent home or a means of livelihood.
How do we classify people these days? By the job titles they hold, not their residence. I am considered a teacher, not an apartment dweller. If a hobo's means of livelihood is collecting cans and bottles, does that mean he doesn't classify as a hobo? What if he wanders the same places over and over, but has a permanent box he calls home? What is even considered a home??? Also, even if we decide a hobo should be classified as a hobo, can they still be environmentalists based on the definition above? They are indirectly working to protect the environment from pollution. I'd be curious to hear what you peoples have to say about this thought, as it's been bugging me for a few days now (Yeah, I've thought about this more than once...).


Let's start off with a little baseball. Diamondbacks, Indians, Red Sox, Rockies. I really think that Rockies/Diamondbacks series will be a great series...that no one will watch. Such a shame. Honestly I have no interest in any of these series. I don't like the Rockies because they beat my now second favorite team (Phillies). I don't like the Red Sox because, well, they're like the good cop gone bad. While the Yankees were out buying all their players a few years ago, the Red Sox stuck to their guns and didn't get into any bidding wars. Then of all a sudden they followed the Yankee Way and bought their team (Dice-K, Drew, Lugo). They went to the dark side. They aren't the Yankees, but they're damn close. I don't like the Indians because they beat out the Tigers. I don't like the Diamondbacks that much because I can't name their starting line-up (probably the only team in baseball I can't). All in all I'm just hoping for some good baseball. That's all you can ask for.


Is it just me, or did the chase to the baseball postseason and first round have a lot more excitement than the LCS? That's wrong in my head. Could the race for the wild card be a detriment to the game? I think baseball needs to generate some more excitement for the latter rounds of their tournament. How you go about doing that is a great question. I think you could start by making the wild card have a greater disadvantage. I'm really tired of seeing these red hot wild card teams make runs late in the season and have it carry over into the season. I think I would rather have consistency rewarded over streaky-ness. I would propose to give the wild card less home games. With the current playoff format, perhaps a 4-1 home field advantage for the division winner. Also, make the first round series longer! Home field advantage is virtually meaningless in 5 game series. Finally, allow the team with the best record to choose their opponent. This would allow a division winner to choose which team they match-up best against. Maybe the Red Sox (although this is a moot point now), would have rather faced the Yankees in a short series with home field advantage? Again, I like the consistent teams who have been at the top for the whole year to be rewarded. This also lets fans get familiar with the teams at the top, and aren't going to say things like, "I don't know anything about the Rockies". Just a few thoughts.

Okay, my weekly push for Michael Crabtree for the Heisman. This week the 5-1 Red Raiders of Texas Tech are up against the Texas A&M Aggies (also 5-1). This is a classic run versus pass match up. Tech is the number one passing offense, while the Aggies are the number seven rushing offense. Both, however, are accustomed to putting up points. Tech is second in the nation in scoring at 52.2 points, while A&M is 26th at 35.3. So despite the difference in styles, I expect points! And after reading a quote from an Aggie cornerback about the Tech passing attack ("I never actually flew F-16s in a dogfight, in a war, but I imagine that's about what it feels like...You've got seven or eight incomings coming at you and you're by yourself. And they're coming in fast."), I like Crabtree's chances. I was off by one yard last week, so I'll try and do better.
Prediction:
8 Catches
136 Yards
2 TDs

You ready for the upset pick? Cardinals over Steelers. Bears over Packers. Looking at the schedule this week it was hard to pick a giant upset. So this week you get the underdog Titans over the Bucs. I know Tampa is at home, and Garcia has been impressive thus far, but Tampa has no running game anymore (Williams and Pittman are both down). You are basically forcing Garcia to throw the ball downfield for big chunks of yards, and that is not his forte'. Couple that with a Tennesee defense that has been getting great pressure and penetration, and it's not looking good for the Buc's offense. Also, this just in, Vince Young knows how to win football games. And do you know what the Titans like to do? Run the ball. Do you know the weakness in the Tampa D? Run defense. 22nd in the league. Pick the Titans.

I am really excited to see this New England/Dallas game this weekend. Should be great. It's sad to think that this match-up will probably have more intrigue for me than whatever teams end up playing in the Super Bowl. Two undefeated offensive powerhouses meeting early in the season is more spicy than a couple of teams with a few losses surviving to the end. I expect fireworks from all these stars in this game. Should be a good one.

I still shall not speak of fantasy, even though I won last week. My team still makes me upset every time I look at it.

Fuck MSU for losing to Northwestern. Fuck them all.

~Mikey D

I've said it once, and I'll say it again: I will never understand women. Never ever. As the years pass in my life, and as I become wiser and wiser, I've just come to accept this as fact. Polar coordinates versus rectangular coordinates (Kev gets this).

At school I teach on the third floor of my building. It's where all the sixth grade teacher teach (except the science teachers because they suck balls). I am the only male on my floor. I thought, rather conceitedly, that because of this the young ladies would take a liking to me rather easily. I thought this theory to be true for the first five weeks of school. Young ladies would stay after class to clean my room, make me little pictures (two words: Recycling. Bin.), say hello to me in the hallways, etc. The fact that none of the boys did this made me think (again, rather conceitedly) that indeed these little young ladies just had a little schoolgirl crush.

There is one girl in particular that constantly waits after class before lunch to walk down with me. She rearranges my binders in my cabinets so they're neat. She showed up for my after school tutoring class for help...even though she got a 95% on her test. She leaves me food on my desk (oranges), or gives me food in the cafeteria during my lunch duty (rice krispies treat), or sticks things in my pocket when I'm not looking (totally creepy). To me, she just liked me, and this was her 11 year-old way of showing me.

The other day, however, she totally shocked me. She said something that was totally unexpected to me, and never occurred in my mind. After class she said to me, "You know, the first day I came to your math class I wished that you were my dad."

Right. Wait. What? Your dad!?!? All this time I thought this girl was hot for teacher, when in reality I was the father figure she longed for. Never, not once, did it occur to me that could possibly be the case. The more I think about it though, and the more I examine the type of students that come to my school, I wonder how many have "daddy issues" at home. How many of these girls don't have crushes (although deep down they probably do because I'm a damn good looking man....toot toot! (me tooting my own horn)), but rather just want some positive feedback, encouragement, or support from a male figure?

I feel foolish that I didn't even consider the emotional needs of some of my students. It's made me look at things in a totally different and more complex perspective than I had originally been doing.

And so, even at the age of 11, I still don't understand women. Stupid r= [rcos(theta), rsin(theta)]. I'm sure all the women out in the world just went, "ooo the polar coordinate form for a position vector!" Nerds.

~Mikey D

My blog has turned into a complete sports talk blog. That's okay, because this is a great time for sports. One of the best times actually. I'll blog about something else someday, but my mind is only on sports right now. Just deal.

~ I want to comment on LeBron wearing a Yankee hat to the Cleveland game the other day. I know this story falls in the category of stupid and pointless sports stories, so I won't waste too much time with it. I thought about if a Piston's player wore a different team's hat to a playoff game, and I don't think I'd be bothered by it. The players are all from different cities and have the right to wear the cap they want (which goes against the whole "wherever you live, that's your team" argument, but oh well). Like Tom Brady wearing a Yankee cap. He's not from Boston. He's a California boy, coming to New England via Michigan. Not a big deal. People are up in arms about LeBron being born close to Cleveland, so they expect him to have an allegiance to the city. And I'm sure he did at some point. But speaking from experience, you can change the team you root for, even if you were born near a city with a team. Now was LeBron making the smartest decision in the world? Probably not. After all, the fans in Cleveland are the ones coming to his basketball games and buying his jerseys (although LeBron does quite fine making money off other fans outside of Cleveland, I'm sure). It's not good to be not liked by your hometown fans, so image wise, not smart on LeBron's part. I think Cleveland should just trade the guy to Detroit for a second round pick in next years draft. Sounds like it'd be for the best.

~Michigan State's next three games:
Home against Northwestern
Home against Indiana
Away against Ohio State

We need to hold serve and win at home against NU and IU. There's no reason we shouldn't beat those two teams. I expect the games to be close, but I expect to win. I want to be 2-1 in the conference, and 6-1 overall heading into Columbus on the 20th. If we can do that and pull off a monumental upset against OSU, this year will be considered a success for me. We'd already have enough wins for a bowl game, with a top-ten win to boot. Plus, we'd have won the games we were supposed to. Predictions? 38-20 over Northwestern, 28-24 over Indiana, and 17-20 loss against OSU. I hope I'm wrong on that last one.

~Lions against the Skins this weekend. This is a big game for the Lions. I was looking ahead at their schedule, and we get Tampa Bay at home, Chicago on the road, and Denver at home for the next three. Tampa Bay is good this year, Chicago should be better at home (they could have easily won last week in Detroit had they minimized their mistakes), and Denver has the corners to suppress our passing attack more than any other team. We win against Washington (which would also get us a nice road win), we'd be 4-1, and if we take just one out of the next three, we'd still be 5-3 and in a good position. I'll take that. To be halfway through the season and have a winning record, and a projected 10-6 record (Kitna- looking good with that prediction!), puts us in a good spot. All that being said, I hope for a damn shootout in Washington, for my fantasy team's sake. 56-55 Lions. Also, this is rematch of the NFC Championship game (from way back in the early 90's). The last one the Lion's have been to.

~ Did anybody else hear about Kitna converting 20 members of the Lions' team into followers of the Lord almighty? I found this interesting. While I'm not much of a religious man, I did like reading that. It shows me that the Lions have a true football leader in Kitna, and they are coming together and gelling as a team. All for one. You know what that means? That means when the game is on the line, we have someone we can trust and rally around, and we're going to stick together and not fold. This team is fun. They are going to be competitive all year, they have an explosive offense, and for the first time in years they are an actual TEAM. I really do wish I could watch more games. I am really excited to see this offense with all of its pieces on the field at once. Kitna, Williams, Johnson, Fuerry, McDonald, Jones, Bell, Ducket...I want the whole kit and caboodle, and I want Martz to unleash his offensive monster onto the rest of the league.

~Upset Special: Bears over the Packers. I gave you Arizona over Pittsburgh, now go put your money on the Bears this week. Favre can't keep up this pace he's on forever. They have no run game. Griese can't be as bad as last week. Green Bay's early schedule (Philly, Giants, San Diego, and Minny) looks good on paper, but have a combined 5-11 record- not good- and they were all close games. Most importantly, the Bears need this game more than Green Bay. I'll take the desperate, something-to-prove, Bears over a Green Bay team basking in their early success glory.

~Michael Crabtree for Heisman! Today he goes up against Iowa State. I'm going to guess another big game for him, since he is the absolute shit. Prediction:
155 Yards Receiving
10 Catches
3 Touchdowns

Heisman! Heisman! Heisman!

~I still will not speak of fantasy. Except for that time I mentioned it earlier. Boo fantasy.

~Mikey D

~Michael Crabtree, freshman for Texas Tech, this past weekend:

8 Receptions
145 Yards
3 TDs

Somebody mention him for the Heisman! I'm leading the campaign. His season totals (after 5 games) are now:

60 Receptions
920 Yards
14 TDs

~I'm shocked by the number of upsets in college football this weekend. Where did the Auburn, Colorado, and Maryland ones come from? They shouldn't have happened. Shame on those teams that got upset. I guess it's a two pony race now, with USC and LSU. Bleah. I was hoping for like a bajillion undefeateds and tons of confusion/controversy at the top. Because that's what college football is really about, right? They'd rather have a lot of controversy than actually settle things on the field. That's the impression I get.

~Arizona over Pittsburgh. Your hero's upset pick of the week. Like money in the bank.

~The Phillies won the NL East, and you think they haven't been waiting for playoff baseball for awhile? I got the MLB package online, so Grace and I watched the final outs of their clinching game yesterday. It was cool to see all the fans excited for their Phillies and to see all the Phillies get on the mics and thank the fans. Grace? She was crying she was so happy! I guess that's reaffirms my previous statement that Philly fans aren't so much assholes (okay, sometimes...), but moreso fans that give out the tough love. They really do care about their teams. Hopefully the Phils can make a run at the Series like the Tigers did. They are definitely the team I'm rooting for.

~Detroit is 3-1, with a game against Washington next week (which I get to see...yes!). I am ecstatic with a 3-1 start, as I was envisioning quite possibly an 0-4 start to the year. I thought there was a good possibility we could lose to Oakland, since it was in the blackhole. I thought we definitely could have lost to Minnesota (hadn't we lost like 14 straight to them or something ridiculous like that?). We did lose to Philly. And the division champ Chicago we could have lost to. But we are 3-1!!! 1 game out of first place Green Bay, with the Bears and Vikings sitting at 1-3, a full two games back of us. It's Green Bay, Dallas, Seattle, Tampa Bay, and Detroit with the best records in the NFC. Honestly, we can hang with all those teams. We beat Dallas last year at their place, so I know we can do it again. What's Dallas' weakness again? Pass defense? Hmmm...and what's our strength? Pass offense? Now I'm not saying we'd win, but I'm saying we could hang. I know that Dallas team has a pretty good offense of their own.

~Fantasy. Bleah. Boo. Yuck. Until I can get in the win column, I will no longer speak of fantasy.

~Mikey D

As I mentioned in my last post, I am proud of Hope Solo.

I am disgusted, however, with her coach's decision to not let her suit up for the final game, and also with her teammates.

Her coach talks of sticking together and putting the 20 best players out on the field who've stuck together through thick and thin. What a bunch of bullshit.

Solo should be happy she is not on this team anymore. This is a team of cowards. They are afraid to speak their mind, to voice their opinions, to let their coach know what they're feeling. Why didn't the U.S. captains speak up to the coach after his decision to bench Solo? Solo shouldn't even have had to make the remarks she did because the team should have stuck behind Solo. The team should have stuck with the best goalie. The team should have stuck with the one who was with them through the thick and thin of the 2007 World Cup. But they didn't. Cowards.

And now, after Solo has apologized to Scurry, her coach has benched her, which chances are has effectively ended her run as U.S. goalkeeper. What a brilliant public relations move by Greg Ryan. With one move he has moved all the attention off himself for making possibly the worst decision in U.S. women's soccer history by kicking Solo off the team. He frames Solo as being the distraction and not the team player. Who was really the distraction here? How about the coach who benched the starting goalie in a semifinal match for someone who hadn't played in 3 months? Why isn't he the biggest distraction? And her teammates? Team players? Not one came to Solo's defense, even though they agreed with her.

Run and hide, Team USA. Leave Solo out in the cold. But don't give me this bullshit about sticking together through "thick and thin" and having the best players out on the field when not two days ago you did none of it.

Fucking ridiculous. I applaud you still, Hope Solo.

What a long week. School kicked my fucking ass all over the place. Apparently in Maryland they give out mid-quarter progress reports. Basically students get to see their grades and have a list of all the assignments that they've done with each individual grade and percent. And basically that means a lot of extra work for me preparing them for all the little kiddies. Bleah. I think my favorite part of handing out the progress reports is the questions I get from the kids. "Why did I get a 3/12 on this assignment???" Well, because you got 3 right out of the 12 problems. What do you want me to say??? "How come I don't have a grade for this homework???" Because you didn't do it. Duh. You turn it in, you get a grade. Simple. I'm scared for the youth of the future.

~I just realized that the Redskins play the Lions next week, which means I get the game! I'm so excited! (How excited are you?) I'm SO excited that I plan on watching the game even if my penis is lit on fire and there are deadly parasites going up inside my pee-hole. It will almost feel like an old football Sunday. Not my penis being on fire, watching the Lions.

~So Stephen A. Smith and Mike Tirico took over Dan Patrick's old radio time slot on ESPN Radio. When I get out of school, I get treated to the Stephen A. portion. I listen to him because I love sports talk, but I find myself flipping to other local sports talk radio stations (and these are terrible, let me tell you) because he's so fucking annoying. Also, I don't mind debating topics and giving opinions and arguing and all, but Stephen A. loves to gives his opinion, but he will not listen to what others have to say. I believe in a good argument or debate you have to respond to what the other person says, you just can't keep repeating your opinion over and over.

For example, Stephen A. tried to defend Michael Vick being busted with marijuana. He said that although he doesn't agree with pot smoking, he understands why he did it. He said what's the big deal if he's going to prison for years? What's pot smoking have to do with dog fighting charges? Why would he have to take a drug test if he was up on dog fighting charges? Stephen A. felt that the courts were just piling on Vick, and that they should just leave Vick alone.

Smith's co-host merely pointed out that as a condition of Vick's bail, he was not to do drugs, and that he'd be tested. If that's the case, how can you sit here and defend Michael Vick's actions? Doesn't that tell you right then and there that Michael Vick is the biggest fucking idiot on the planet?

But Smith continued to repeat his opinion...over and over...and with each valid and logical counter argument ("he broke the law"..."he violated the terms of his bail"...things that are not debatable!) he had nothing. I suppose it'd be one thing if he argued whether drug testing should be a part of the bail process, but he didn't argue that! He argued that Vick should be left alone, and his pot smoking was not a big deal because he was going to jail for something more serious anyway.

As you can see, it annoyed me to no end. Hey Stephen A., what if I was going to jail soon for murder? Is it okay for me to rape a woman since I won't have the chance to have sex for a long time, and not get in trouble? I mean, I'm going to jail for something more serious anyway. Seems like it follows your line of thinking...

Tool.

~As evidence that I don't understand soccer still, the U.S. benched my favorite player, Hope Solo, for no reason. Literally no reason. It's like benching your star quarterback that's led you to the playoffs for the backup that beat the team you'll be playing three years ago. It's like sitting the ace of your staff for the old veteran who once did well against a team ages ago. It just doesn't add up in my head how you can possibly do that. Solo was 3-0-1 in World Cup play. She had 300 minutes of scoreless play. What more could you want?

And did you hear Solo's comments afterwards? Everybody is ripping her for being a terrible teammate and the such, but I COMPLETELY AGREE with her and she is now my favorite soccer player of all-time. Everything she said was practically spot-on and was everything that we were thinking. We were all thinking what she said. Admit it. Even as you watched the highlights of the game, and you watched some weak goals go past Scurry, you probably said, "Man, she should have had that one..." Could Solo have stopped them all? Probably not. Brazil was definitely the better team (Marta's goal was freakin' amazing). But I have ZERO problem with what she said and am glad she did.

I really hate it when we rip on athletes when they give us honest answers. We all complain when athletes give us the generic sports interview, and then we rip them for being honest. Hope said what everybody was going to write and say in the paper the next day. Give her a break. And don't think practically everyone on that team isn't behind her (okay, maybe not Scurry), because I guarantee they were all thinking it too. Props to you Hope Solo.

~Good article on ESPN.com about the Tigers. Interesting quotes from Jim Leyland. I like the part where Leyland was asked about why he didn't ride his team more (get on them) like he did last year when they played poorly. He said, and I paraphrase, that there wasn't anything he could say to the team. What could he possibly say to Granderson, Guillen, Ordonez? Play better when they all had career years? Polanco? Shef before the DL? I liked how Jimmy Leyland says he was happy with his teams performance. After looking at this year, and seeing how we were decimated by pitching injuries, pitching inconsistencies, rookies being thrown into the mix, and under performing players (Monroe, Inge, 2nd half Pudge, Casey), we are still 15-20 games above .500. Not too bad, especially with everyone in the league gunning for you. I think it'll be good for the Tigers to get the rest this offseason and come back fresh, prepared, and with a vengeance. I expect it.

~Who's the front-runner for the Heisman? I'll tell you who in my eyes. It's not John David-Booty. Not Colt Brennan. Not Darren McFadden. It's actually a freshman...from Texas Tech. That's right, a freshman from Texas Tech. His name is Michael Crabtree and he is going to obliterate receiving records this year- as a freshman. Take a look at his stats through 4 games:
52 Receptions
775 Yards
14.9 Yards per Catch
0 Fumbles
11 Touchdowns

Michael Crabtree has more touchdown catches than all but 10 quarterbacks in Division I football. He is projected (and yes, it is hard to think he'll keep this up) to have 156 receptions, 2,325 yards, and 33 TDs. Insane.

Front runner for the Heisman? Michael "Fucking" Crabtree.

~Hoping to get the State game this weekend. I've been happy because I've gotten every U of M game down here, and 3 out of 4 of State's games. It's been nice.

~NFL Upset Pick: Arizona over Pittsburgh.

Alrighty, I'm out.

~Mikey D

~The Lions gave up 56 points to the Eagles, and I'm not surprised. McNabb playing with a chip on his shoulder, Westbrook demanding the ball all week, the Eagles coming off two losses, a home game in Philadelphia...oh yeah, and possibly THE WORST pass defense I've ever seen. Even the Browns and Bengals thought that was bad. At least Cleveland got lit up by Chad Johnson and T.J., and Cincy by Braylon and Winslow, we got lit up by Kevin Curtis. Kevin fucking Curtis.


~So I should be down this week since the Lions lost, right? Actually no. Is there a more perfect week to catch the Bears? We get them at home, our defense has something to prove (obviously), division rival, and most importantly, Chicago looks bad. Their defense hasn't clicked yet, and their offense is stuck in the mud. We can go two games up on the Bears if we can take this one. That would be huge. 3-1 with a two game lead on the Bears would be a mighty impressive start to the season. It might actually make me forget about this past weekend's game. Kevin fucking Curtis.


~Fantasy football this year has reached a different kind of frustration for me. In years past I would always try to tweak my team and pull off trades because I would always have one glaring weakness that I couldn't stand. This years team is just under performing. I think about what I would have done differently in the draft, and without the knowledge I have now, I wouldn't have done anything different. I like Brees and Bulger. I like Tomlinson, Portis, Jones-Drew, Benson. I like Wayne, Fitzgerald, Evans, and Walker. I like Gates at tight end. Really, who has a team with more under performing players? Bulger, Brees, Fitzgerald, Walker, Evans, Tomlinson- that's 6 guys! And if you didn't notice, that's both my QBs, all my WRs, and supposedly the best back in the NFL! For the first time in years, I feel like there's no moves I can make. I feel like I just have to stay on board and hope the ship rights itself...judging by the way it's tilting right now, the bottom of the ocean is pretty close looking.


~I still think Stacey has the most balanced fantasy team. She's going to be tough every week, especially if Brady keeps playing lights out. 900 yards and 9 TDs in three games? Wow. And Barber is a fantasy beast. Even with the coaching change, he's still the man in Dallas.


~Let's compare the numbers of Harrington and Schaub against Carolina:
Joey Harrington: 31-44, 361 yards, 2 TDs, 0 ints
Matt Schaub: 20-28, 227, 2 TDs, o ints
Fairly comparable, yes? I want to reiterate that Atlanta trading away Schaub was not the worst move of the offseason, especially if you want to say it was by comparing Harrington and Schaub. Joey has faced much tougher defenses than Schaub (his first came against Indy, and he failed), but when it comes down to it, an easy pass defense is easy to throw against for anybody, even Joey Harrington. Now Schaub will have the better year, but that's mostly because he has a better team around him. I honestly can't picture him doing that much better than Harrington if he was still in Atlanta.


~Speaking of Atlanta, DeAngelo Hall apparently got the shit kicked out of him by his own teammates for getting into it with Bobby Petrino. Fucking awesome. Don't think those players are behind their head coach? They just kicked the shit out of their all-pro corner!


~Grace and I went to the Phillies-Nationals game in D.C. this past weekend. I bought the cheapest seats I could find, and low and behold they were in the Phillies' fans section. Everybody around us was a Phillies fan. Let me just tell you, this was the most fun I've had a ball game in a long time. Rooting for the Phillies these past couple of weeks has been a blast. Everybody knocks Philly fans for being rude and such, but they are the most passionate and loyal fans I've ever been around. Sure they'll boo you if you're playing like shit, but that's only because they care about you so much. Tough love.


Anyway, this whole section of Philly fans was so loud the entire game. They made sure they were heard throughout the stadium. Philadelphia fans migrated from all parts of the stadium to be near our section. The Philly fans had chant after chant ready, from "Expos Suck" to "This is our house!" to "M-V-P" every time Jimmy Rollins stepped to the plate. They were all done in good fun, and none of the fans were out of control.

Yet, security was brought to our section. They yelled at the entire section and told them to shut-up or they'd be kicked out. It was kind of ridiculous. Since when couldn't you root for your team? One of the security guards reminded me of the cop in Harold and Kumar. You know the one, "Kumar, how do you spell that, with like four o's and two u's?". Well remember when Kumar gives that whole speech about how the only reason he was a cop was so he could push around people still? Well that cop was there that night. And he was an ass.

During the Philly fans' rendition of "D.C. sucks" the cop tried to pick on a guy that was bigger than him. He told the guy to "say it again" and he'd kick him out. The guy just looked him in the eyes and shouted it louder. Priceless. Of course the security guy didn't do anything, because he only pushes around those that are smaller than him. He just left mutter, "I'll get you", whatever that means.

Anyway, throughout the 9th and 10th inning it was non-stop cheering and clapping from these fans. They were so into the game! As a baseball fan you wish every fan of your teams was into the game like these fans. It made being at the game memorable (because that stadium, RFK, was not...what a fucking dump). Being around those fans made me want to be a Philly fan. Those are some die-hards.

Anyway, that was a top-5 game I've ever been to. Right up there with the Tiger's playoff game from last year and catching Jimmy Rollins' home run in Philadelphia. It was purely based on atmosphere alone, as the stadium was shit. Totally unique and fun baseball experience.

~Mikey D