Incredible earthquake disaster in Chile today. Hopefully, people around the world aren't too catastrophe-weary to help.
Team USA versus Team Canada in men's hockey tomorrow for the gold medal. I'm not a big fan of the Olympics any more but I will try to catch that. Caught a bit of a women's curling event the other day in my office lunch room because it was on and someone there before me had the controls. I have no idea what that sport is about or who was doing well but it was kinda fun to watch. I'll also add my two cents to what's been said about the Canadian women's hockey team celebrating their gold medal in hockey. Lighten up, folks. It was neither offensive nor excessive. For more and better, go here and here. One other thing from me: Congratulations, ladies.
The You're So Vain mystery never held much interest for me. It wasn't that long ago that I thought it was nothing more than a song on the radio. All music is about someone or something, maybe real, maybe not, I suppose, but if I'm still listening to it many years later, it's usually not that important to me any more. How many people still think of the casino fire in Montreux when they hear Smoke on the Water? How many people ever thought of it or knew it was about a real event?
This is going to be the slowest offseason ever in the NFL. There are fewer than usual free agents of interest this year to begin with but having no collective bargaining agreement in place means teams are going to be a little more cautious than normal regarding them. The top four teams from last year, the Saints, Vikings, Colts, and Jets are having caution forced upon them. I don't expect much movement. Because I'm a fantasy football player, I always have an interest in what's going on with running backs. In today's NFL, free agent running backs are like used cars. The more mileage they have on them, the less interest they command. Chester Taylor and Darren Sproles, who are backups on their current teams, will undoubtedly generate more free agent interest than Ladainian Tomlinson, Brian Westbrook, and Jamal Lewis, who were all starters for most of their careers. Tomlinson declared the other day that he could play four more years. Unless he learns and becomes very good at another position, he's wrong but that's moot anyway. He'll never get that chance. Oh, and one other thing about defensive end Julius Peppers: He'll be asking for $15-$20 million per year from potential suitors. General Manager Rob wouldn't go near him for that kind of money. For one thing, that's top quarterback money. A top defensive end will never have the same impact on a team or a game that a top quarterback will have. For another, Peppers piles up the majority of his stats against 2 or 3 opponents, all outside of his division, that are good matchups for him. He disappears the rest of the time. He can be handled effectively without any special attention and that's entirely too much money for a player as inconsistent and unmotivated as him. Pass.
- Terminal Frost - Pink Floyd - A Momentary Lapse Of Reason
- Part 2:So You Want To Be A Rock 'N' Roll Star - Nazareth - Close Enough For Rock 'N' Roll
- Iron Man - Black Sabbath - We Sold Our Soul For Rock 'N' Roll
- Tuesday Afternoon - The Moody Blues - Moody Blues Greatest Hits
- Hocus Pocus - Focus - Rock Of The 70's
Quote of the Day
Maybe he should invite Brees to Indy to serve as his personal representative. Well ... on second thought ... maybe having Brees in Indianapolis while the Super Bowl wounds are fresh isn't the best of ideas.
Drew Sharp, Detroit Free Press
Blog of the day is here.
Quote from said blog: "Slovakia defenseman Lubomir Visnovsky, a former King, took his country's semifinal loss to Canada on Friday stoically."
You're dead-on as far as Peppers goes. "I'm a pepper, you're a pepper" is a team thing with defense, and no team today can afford to give any one "pepper" that much.
I'd like to see LT land somewhere. He could do a lot of good as a player/mentor for a couple of more years for some team. I don't know if he has the brains for coaching, but I'm pretty sure he has the disposition.
LT will get a chance to play somewhere this season and make a contribution. He won't be a featured back making a gigantic salary, though. Lewis and Westbrook are pretty much done, I think. Aging, concussion-prone, and injury-prone players just have too many strikes against them. Peppers will probably get a great big contract from someone. I don't think anyone is one defensive end away from a Super Bowl so I can't imagine who it might be at the moment. Some say New England is interested. That would be ideal for him. He could get his offensive slacker counterpart, Randy Moss, to show him the ropes.