Hail to the Heels

I take back every bad thing I've ever said about John Bunting. That game was awesome. I kept telling Maria that Carolina was going to win. She humored me by watching Bravo's 100 scariest movie moments in the bedroom (The Exorcist number 3? Give me a break!). The defense shut down the run. After calling Carolina for offensive pass interference in the first half, the secondary had a green light to play don't-get-beat-deep-by-staying-ahead-of-your-guy-and-using-your-body-as-a-screen defense. But shutting down the run was key. They've been pounded on the ground for the last 3 years. I bought the Continental Tire Bowl tickets hoping I could give them to Maria's dad as a Christmas present when NC State went. Now, I may have to plan to go myself.

Gory Halloween

Desmond and I made a jack o'lantern two weeks ago. It has a ghost on it. We put it outside. It's developed mold all over it. I was going to throw it out and get a new one, but it's too disgusting to leave out of the halloween decorations. That's a part of the halloween spirit that gets left out too often, completely disgusting stuff. I'm glad we could bring a little bit of it to the season.

Science Experiment

I've had this sinus infection all week. I haven't been able to have any fun. Today I left work early and came home to put Vicks Vaporub on my forehead. It helped ease the pain, but I couldn't open my eyes w/o tears pouring out. So it doubly helped by forcing me to lie down w/ my eyes closed.

PC on the Radio

I was listening to Democracy Now on the radio the other day. They had this guy who was talking about voting laws. In particular he was talking about South Dakota and how voters are now required to bring a picture id. He kept going on about the Indian vote. The host tried to interject the Native American perspective, but he kept talking about the Indians. That's about as funny as left wing radio gets.

Non offensive Listerine

I don't know if you've tried citrus flavored Listerine, but it doesn't make me want to gag when I use it. The dental hygentist told me to start using Listerine, so I have. I tried the Wal-mart brand b/c it was $4 cheaper, but the hygentist told me it doesn't have the same germ killing power. I can believe that b/c it didn't burn like real Listerine. This citrus stuff is ok though. Like an orange liqueur maybe. In a related note, I bought the Wal-mart brand Robotussin. It's just called Tussin. Chris Rock would be proud.

Too Much Information

I've had a sinus infection and a runny nose. Blowing your nose w/ a mustache is pretty gross. Let's just leave it at that.

Time Wasters

I've developed an obsession w/ the game hearts on my computer. You can change the names of the computer opponents, so I've set the 3 members of Grand Funk Railroad, Mark, Don, and Mel. That computer controlled Don Brewer really sticks it to me sometimes. It's hard to get mad at such a competent drummer though.

Martinsville Qualifying

Desmond and I went to Martinsville to see qualifying today. College man, Ryan Newman won the pole. Richard Bridges was nice enough to get tickets from his wife for the Waste Management suite. I never noticed WM until we went in April. I guess 100,000 people create a lot of trash. They must do a good job b/c I didn't see any trash anywhere. However, there wasn't a recycling can in the suite. I didn't think it was right to take their free tickets, eat their free food, and then complain about the lack of recycling facilities. Maybe if they had thrown in some free beer I would have straightened them out.

Baseball

I watched some of the Yankees/Red Sox series. I really didn't start watching until the Red Sox were winning games. Turning the tv to a 10 run Yankee lead forced me to switch to the not much closer FSU UVA football game. Regardless of what the outcome of the World Series is, I have developed a newfound appreciation for Joe Buck. I used to say Joe Buck makes Skip Caray look like Jack Buck, but no more. Teaming him w/ Troy Aikman on the Fox NFL broadcast team was the main reason for my dislike. Aikman is a terrible commentator. The ghost of Don Meredith couldn't save his one too many concussions babble. Still, Joe Buck sucks up to him while letting the insightful Cris Collinsworth absorb the brunt of the sarcasm. However, watching baseball where he's teamed w/ Tim McCarver and Al Leiter brings out a different side. First, Joe Buck probably knows more about baseball than he does football. If your job is to call the action and you get 162 chances a year versus 16, you'll probably learn a lot more w/ the extra experience. He does a good job w/ the play by play, but he's as good a color commentator as the other 2 clowns in the booth. Leiter did a good job showing what a circle change up was. He demonstrated the grip and explained the importance of maintaing the same arm speed as your fastball. That's good stuff. Too bad his comments on the actual game aren't anything more than Sunday paper statistics ("this guy hit 18 home runs this year" how many against this pitcher? how many in this ballpark? how many w/ runners on base to take a lead?)Even better, McCarver points out that bringing Pedro Martinez into game 7 is a bad idea. Hmm, I thought all the Boston fans had forgotten about last year's series w/ the Yanks. If I weren't so lazy I'd look up a link to the Ben Stiller Show sketch Skank, the sock puppet w/ a catch phrase ("Shut your stinking trap!") and link McCarver's name to it. Back to Joe Buck. He provides the commentary these other guys don't deliver. Talking about how Pedro would throw 2 days after a start anyway(yeah, but not in Yankee stadium in game 7 in the 6th inning w/ nobody else warming up) is real baseball commentary. The stuff you should be getting from the former atheletes whose qualifications consist of these types of inside observations. Joe Buck has been around the sport so long that this kind of stuff is second nature to him. So I say Fox should keep Joe Buck for baseball and keep the guy he has the most chemistry w/ (Leon). And just get rid of him on football. Then I'll have nothing but nice things to say about him.

NASCAR and W

NASCAR is a pretty Republican demographic. George W's
web site even has a special link to list the NASCAR personalities who endorse him. Noticeably absent is the wonderboy himself, Jeff Gordon. I never really disliked him, but I'm certainly not a fan. Until now. There is a lady down the street who has put a Kerry/Edwards sign in her yard for the election. But she has a Dale, Jr. flag flying year round. Kerry/Edwards would have been smart to sponsor a car. Jack Roush may have endorsed W, but he had a Bob Graham for President sponsorship in the truck series last year.

Early Voting

I voted today, October 19th. It's a good idea b/c I wasn't going to change my mind. I looked at a sample ballot this weekend. The Judicial Voter Guide came last week, and I had to further examine the candidates for the most important elected office for which my vote might actually matter. Unfortunately, it only lists the statewide candidates, and if I apply my "vote might actually matter" logic then the district court judge contests are even more important. When I googled the candidates names, I went to the first result for the first judge on the ballot (Linda L Falls). When I saw it was democrat leaning, I thought this could be the site for me to find the right wing activist judges to avoid putting in office. When I saw it was a gay, lesbian, transgender PAC, I knew it was the site for me. Unfortuantely, they didn't have a candidate for every contest. W/ further research, I found an equally useful tool. They managed to get me through the 18th District Court Judge races. The other stuff (president, senator, house of representatives, commissioner of deeds) was pretty easy to decide.

Guilford College Football

Desmond and I went to see Guilford College take on Division III powerhouse Bridgewater College. It was pretty ugly. The guys on the line of scrimmage for Bridgewater were a lot bigger than the Guilford guys. Guilford tried to run it up the middle about 10 times. I don't think there was a positive yardage play on any one of those plays. The score was 63-7 when we left halfway thruogh the 4th quarter. There was some questionable 4th quarter play calling by the Eagles. They went for it on 4th and 12 on the Guilford 30ish while they were leading by 49. That's ridiculous. However, on 1st down after a turnover they attempted a pass from midfield (while up by 49) and the QB was injured. I don't know how bad it was, but even D3 football has backup players. Put them in there and let them run out the clock.

Since D3 football is really the fight for the one true Christian religion, that puts the Church of the Brethren on top of the Quakers. Hopefully the Quakers will pull out the battle w/ Catholic University on Nov 6.

Furniture Market

The telltale signs of the furniture market are here. First is the sign that says "Free Market Parking." That is the last free thing associated w/ High Point/Greensboro's price gouging fest. The Red Roof Inn by 68 and 40 lists its room rates on a big red sign. The rate is usually $39-$49. On Thursday I noticed it was up to $92. I read an article a few years ago that the car rental places were tripling their prices during the market. Supply and demand walks a thin line w/ extortion. The most interesting article I read was an economic study that said the work involved in pre-market and post-market activities (mostly construction jobs setting up the showrooms) generated more dollars than the market itself. Granted its comparing 2 weeks to the other 50 weeks out of the year, but it's still interesting. I wonder if the construction guys charge 3 times as much for these furniture market jobs.

fantasy football

I have 2 complaints about my fantasy football team. One, every week somebody on my team gets injured. I need to start playing more Cowboys, Giants, and Falcons. That way real football will benefit from my Kevorkian touch. The real complaint is the overcomplication of the league rules. It's a free site hosted by Yahoo! It has limitations and isn't ideal for exactly how you would want you league to run. So we set up some convoluted waiver process that involves a "Gentlemen's Agreement" (even NASCAR scrapped their gentelmen's agreement). Now there is no waiver order except what KK tells us. I trust that he's not doing any funny business, but it is way too complicated for a low stakes fantasy football league. I miss Andy Lathren and Steve Politi.

Hi blog!

They announced that Dale, jr won the race about 1 minute after it happened on the Panthers game. Granted I was watching the race and even saw Dale Jr. let an S-bomb fly (is that a bomb?), but FOX is serious about its NASCAR/NFL crossover. I don't think they have the Super Bowl this year, so they'll have to start advertising the Daytona 500 as soon as the NASCAR season ends. That makes it week 12 for the NFL and week 11 for the Panthers. Happy Thanksgiving!