Recently in Football (NCAA, NFL, Fantasy) Category

Got an email today that states: "In the next few days, crabapplelane.com will be listed for sale. Since you have a similar domain name, I thought you might be interested in acquiring crabapplelane.com." No thanks. I have no interest in it and doubt it will lapse anyway. They're doing my brake tag trick. My brake tag (Inspection sticker) expires at the end of the month. If it expires on May 31, I go in for a new one on June 1. It will expire the following June instead of May. I get an extra month. Shhhh. I think domain names work the same way. You maintain the rights to it for 30 days after it expires so you can break out your credit card on day 30 and get extra time. Amazon.com would never risk that but average amateur hobbyist does it quite often. Crabapplelane.com has expired a few times. I've been notified those few times by various concerned do-gooders that want to help me out. Lots of good Samaritans on the internet, dontcha know? Crabapplelane.com is usually renewed. Since I don't see a website there this time, maybe they're finally giving it up. I'm NOT staying tuned.

Nasty earthquake in New Zealand yesterday. Kiwifruit is OK. Great news.

5 days until football season ...

5 song iTune shuffle:

1. Treat Her Right - George Thorogood & The Destroyers - The Baddest Of George Thorogood & The Destroyers
2. Come Together - The Beatles - 1
3. Maybe I'm A Leo - Deep Purple - Machine Head 25th Anniversary Edition [Disc 2]
4. Crank Call - Billy Idol - Rebel Yell
5. Blowin' Free - Wishbone Ash - Live Dates [Disc 2]

Quote of the Day

The thing that will stay with me is the sound of smashing glass.

Tony Stuart, New Zealand resident

Blog of the day is here.

Quote from said blog: "Christchurch Hospital is operating but anyone who is injured is being urged to go to their local medical clinic first, unless their situation is severe."

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Last night's Titans-Saints game featured two blocked punts and the Saints electing to go for the win on 4th down with 11 seconds to go when a field goal would have tied it and sent it into overtime. It was still a pretty dull game. 21 penalties. Glad it's over.

Every team in the NFL played last night. I don't remember that ever happening. 32 teams all playing on the same day? Maybe back in the 60s when all games were played on Sunday but it was considerably fewer teams then.

6 days until football season ...

5 song iTune shuffle from the CrabAppleLane Five Star playlist:

1. Big Yellow Taxi - Joni Mitchell - Ladies Of The Canyon (Remastered)
2. Supernaut - Black Sabbath - Black Sabbath Vol. 4 (Remaster)
3. Tall Cool One - Robert Plant - Now And Zen
4. Highway Star [Live] - Deep Purple - Made In Japan [Disc 1] [Live]
5. Love To Love - UFO - Essential UFO

Quote of the Day

Those weren't the defending Super Bowl champs Thursday night. It was a team of backups. Quarterback Drew Brees didn't even take the field for the Saints.

Jim Wyatt, The Tennessean

Blog of the day is here.

Quote from said blog: "Please realize folks this is nothing more than a shot in the dark. None of us know what’s going on inside the heads of Brad Childress or Rick Spielman right now."

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New Orleans Saints v Tennessee Titans tonight. According to the Tennessean, Jeff Fisher is playing a substantial number of starters for a half. Kinda surprises me. The Saints have declared about 10 starters out. Some of them aren't even making the trip. Drew Brees will not play. Although I love watching him play, this Saints fan is just fine with him riding the bench tonight. I think most Saints fans are.

All of the starters on offense are settled. The only things being decided between now and Saturday are who the backup QB will be and how many at each position will be kept. Things are a little more unsettled on defense but not much more. I don't think there will be any big surprises when cuts are made Saturday. One thing is certain. They're going to be releasing a few guys who can play in this league.

7 days until football season ...

5 song iTune shuffle from the CrabAppleLane Five Star playlist:

1. On The Turning Away - Pink Floyd - A Momentary Lapse Of Reason
2. Tea For The Tillerman - Cat Stevens - Tea For The Tillerman
3. Woodstock - Crosby, Stills, Nash & Young -Déjà Vu
4. Gallows Pole - Led Zeppelin - Led Zeppelin III
5. The Load-Out - Jackson Browne - Running On Empty

Quote of the Day

If you live in New Orleans and die of old age it's your fault.

Angus Lind, Times-Picayune

Blog of the day is here.

Quote from said blog: "The Tennessee Titans have not really been what you could call a blitzing team. In 2009, they brought only 4 rushers 79.9% of the time, tops in the league."

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Shamelessly stolen from Marie: The anagram generator. My favorite for Rob Ferrara:

A Barf Error

Well, yeah.

Long-winded, whiny rant about the nuisance that are cellphones ___ [Deleted].

Speaking of barf errors, the Patriots are wondering if Randy Moss will stay motivated. Guy is in the league 13 years now. Still don't get him? This is it in a nutshell. As long as he and his team are doing well and as long as it's easy, he's motivated.

Final cutdown day in the NFL is Saturday. All teams had to get down to 75 yesterday and all teams will have to get down to 53 by Saturday. It was reported here that the Saints will start getting ready for the Vikings Sunday. I'm sure a similar report will be filed in Minneapolis sometime this week. When Jim Mora was head coach here, he let it be known that they start preparing for the season opener the day training camp starts. Every camp is a little different but, if you believe these two teams haven't already started to prepare for each other several weeks or even months ago, I've got this bridge ...

Today's QOTD is from Chris Johnson, the Titans excellent running back, and it's on Reggie Bush, a player he seems to know only from television.

8 days until football season ...

5 song iTune shuffle from the CrabAppleLane Five Star playlist:

1. Heartbreaker - Led Zeppelin - Led Zeppelin II
2. Turn The Page - Bob Seger - Greatest Hits
3. Wind Up - Jethro Tull - Aqualung
4. Icarus (Borne on Wings of Steel) - Kansas - Masque
5. Already Gone - The Eagles - Their Greatest Hits

Quote of the Day

I don’t know if he met expectations of what everybody thought he would be. I don’t know what the Saints and their coaching staff expected him to do. But he probably met their expectations.

Chris Johnson, Tennessee Titans

Blog of the day is here.

Quote from said blog: "Which was tough because plenty of interesting things happened in the wide world of Vikings football while I was distracted by the cuteness of my teething eight-month-old niece."

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That "illegal snap penalty" being called this preseason needs adjustment. If the ball is snapped before the umpire is in position, they blow a whistle and there's a 5yd penalty on the offense. I'm all for safety but it's not working the way they're doing it now. It's interfering with the game. Someone suggested that the QB look to the line judge for a signal that the umpire is in position. Some have suggested there be a whistle to signal that it's OK for play to begin. Any kind of signal to the quarterback that it's now OK to snap the ball is going to benefit the defense too much.

I think it safe to say we didn't learn much from the Chargers-Saints game Friday night. The Saints won. Big deal. The offenses alternated between going on long drives and punting. The defenses alternated between giving up those long drives and forcing punts. The Saints were deeper. Their reserves did a better job and are most responsible for the win. The Saints travel to Nashville to take on the Titans Thursday night and the preseason will come to a close. Good riddance. Brees, Vilma, Greer, Porter, Bush, Will Smith, and Pierre Thomas need not even make the trip as far as I'm concerned.

10 days until football season ...

5 song iTune shuffle from the CrabAppleLane Five Star playlist:

1. Temptation Eyes - The Grass Roots - 20th Century Masters: The Millennium Collection: Best Of The Grass Roots
2. The Jean Genie - David Bowie - Aladdin Sane
3. Mississippi Queen - Mountain - Hard N' Heavy: 70's Greatest Rock Hits, Vol. 1
4. Classical Gas - Mason Williams - Am Gold 1968
5. Megalomania - Black Sabbath - Sabotage (Remaster)

Quote of the Day

But even if, as Ettlinger writes, many of the Twinkie’s ingredients are “more closely linked to rocks and petroleum than any of the four food groups,” they still technically come from the Earth, right?

Laura T. Coffey

Blog of the day is here.

Quote from said blog: "Wow. That was one of the worst games I've ever watched. The good news is that NFL.com has gotten back to regular-season form as far as the quantity of videos. Unfortunately, the Titans didn't really do anything worth putting up. Only 1 more week of this silliness, though!"

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Whenever I think of Hurricane Katrina and I certainly don't as much now as I once did, I keep ending up on one thing. If the levees hold, we're not talking about Katrina now. It was a substantial hurricane but Louisiana can handle that. There would be no horrific images, no politicization, no second guessing. New Orleans, Slidell, and Chalmette would have been on the same recovery pace as St Tammany and most of Mississippi. The damage would have been repaired in a few months and we would have be on to other things in no time. If only the levees had held ...

Another morning after a fantasy football auction. Feel as good about this team as I do my other one. Not very. Death on Two Legs - 2010 version:

QB Brett Favre - $7
RB Joseph Addai - $18
RB Jamaal Charles - $37 -- My transition player - Overpaid by a lot. No one knew anything about him until I tagged him - Could have gotten him for half this or even less
RB Cadillac Williams - $3
RB Donald Brown - $3
RB Tashard Choice - $1
WR Marques Colston - $22
WR Reggie Wayne - $26 - Franchise player
WR Chad Ochocinco - $9
WR Lee Evans - $3
WR Dexter McCluster - $2
TE Jason Witten - $14
TE Justin Keller - $1
PK Jeff Reed - $1
D/ST Dolphins - $1

I offer one from just outside my kitchen window this wet CrabAppleLane Sunday morning.

CrabAppleLane Althea - August 29, 2010

11 days until football season ...

5 song iTune shuffle from the CrabAppleLane Five Star playlist:

1. Miss Misery - Nazareth - Hair Of The Dog
2. San Francisco (Be Sure To Wear Flowers In Your Hair) - Scott McKenzie - AM Gold: The '60s Generation
3. Roundabout - Yes - Fragile
4. Star Spangled Banner - Dixie Chicks - Super Bowl XXXVII
5. Easy Lover - Phil Collins - Hits

Quote of the Day

President Obama had lunch at Parkway Bakery today. As usual for well-known folks in NOLA, he was just another customer. Voice on loudspeaker said, "Barack, pickup." He got a shrimp po-boy.

Fleurty Girl

Blog of the day is here.

Quote from said blog: "Across the states, the general first estimate of cost to insurers sits at $16 billion."

Ended up being in the neighborhood of $125 billion. -Rob

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Saints fans, players, and coaches should totally ignore what's going on with the Minnesota Vikings. With the whole Brett Favre thing, Percy Harvin's very serious migraine issues, and with yesterday's unexpected news that their top receiver, Sidney Rice, will miss at least half the season, there's a temptation to think the Vikes are in trouble. Don't give in to it. I'm not sure how their present difficulties will play out for 16 games but it will have zero impact on the one game we really care about in 15 days. For that one, they'll have had a lot of time to prepare, they'll have fresh legs under them, and they'll rally around each other. The Saints are going to get the best the Vikings have. They'd better be ready.

Today's QOTD is from Dallas Cowboy quarterback Tony Romo's girlfriend. TMI.

15 days until football season ...

5 song iTune shuffle from the CrabAppleLane Four Star playlist starting with "B”:

1. Budapest - Jethro Tull - Crest Of A Knave
2. Bloody Nose - Earlimart - Mentor Tormentor
3. Blue Tarp Blues-(w Mark Knopfler) - Sonny Landreth - From The Reach
4. Bittersweet Symphony - The Verve - Urban Hymns
5. Beyond My Wildest Dreams - Mark Knopfler & Emmylou Harris - All The Roadrunning

Quote of the Day

He has good hygiene.

Candace Crawford

Blog of the day is here.

Quote from said blog: "Brett Favre‘s return, Percy Harvin‘s migraines, and Sidney Rice‘s overdue hip surgery and likely half-season sidelining have stoked my Bernard Berrian fire. The Minnesota Vikings‘ BB gun has already boasted profit potential as a No. 5 or lower wideout in many drafts. I took advantage twice even before the Rice news broke."

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Not sure what to make of Rizzoli & Isles. It's a female buddy show, I suppose. Sasha Alexander, who plays Isles, is a brainy, well-to-do, eager beaver do-gooder medical examiner. Angie Harmon is Rizzoli. She's a cop from a cop family. She's working class and kinda crude but she cleans up nice. The show has resorted to proving that in at least two episodes. It's not much of a transformation. She's fairly gorgeous in just about anything. It tries but Rizzoli and Isles is light summer fare and not much more. Borderline CME. It's set in Boston and has cool Irish theme music, though.

16 days until football season ...

5 song iTune shuffle from the CrabAppleLane “Foghat” playlist:

1. Fool For The City [1977 Live Version] - Foghat - Live
2. Ride, Ride, Ride - Foghat - Rock & Roll
3. Maybelline - Foghat - Foghat
4. Long Way To Go - Foghat - Rock & Roll
5. A Hole To Hide In ( LP Version ) - Foghat - Foghat

Quote of the Day

Mailman
Stay away from my door
Got too many bills
I don't need no more
I don't know what I'm gonna do
But while I'm deciding
To save my soul
I'm going to find me a hole to hide in

Foghat, A Hole To Hide In

Blog of the day is here.

Quote from said blog: "The series, debuting on Monday, July 12 at 10 p.m. ET, stars Angie Harmon as Boston homicide detective Jane Rizzoli and Sasha Alexander as chief medical examiner Maura Isles and is based on stories and characters by novelist Tess Gerritsen."

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This Friday night's Saints-Chargers game will be nationally televised. We'll finally see Drew Brees for more than a quarter and it will be against his old team. He hasn't lit anyone up yet and I don't care if he does this Friday. That guy will be ready to play in 17 days. That's all I care about.

There's always going to be some shoddy tackling in preseason. The Saints took their turn last week against the Patriots. The Texans did so this week against the Saints. I found this line funny from a Texans fan board:

There's no reason to become alarmed, and we hope you enjoy the rest of the season. By the way, is there anyone on the board that knows how to tackle a football player?

Fantasy football tip from CrabAppleLane: All AFC West teams are pretty awful on defense and roll up big yards against each other. Statistically, those are usually their best games. They're almost always shootouts. They play five games against each other. Technically, they play six but one of them will be in Week 17 by NFL mandate so the sixth game won't matter in most fantasy football leagues. I loves to have AFC West players on my team.

Anxious to see Ryan Matthews against the Saints this Friday night. I picked him for my fantasy football team.

For better or worse, undoubtedly worse, the 2010 Border Reivers fantasy football team:

Starter QB - Kevin Kolb - $20
QB - Sam Bradford - $1
Starter RB - Jamaal Charles - $23
Starter RB - Ryan Matthews - $32
RB - Fred Taylor - $1
RB - Marshawn Lynch - $2
Starter WR - Miles Austin - $25
Starter WR - Calvin Johnson - $25
WR - Lee Evans - $3
WR - Anthony Gonzales - $1
WR - Dexter McCluster - $1
Starter TE - Brent Celek - $8
TE - Todd Heap - $1
Starter PK - Adam Vinatieri - $1
Starter D/ST - Titans - $1

The homer in me is disappointed that I didn't get any Saints players. They're slightly overpriced here but only slightly.

17 days until football season ...

5 song iTune shuffle:

1. I Just Want To Make Love To You - Foghat - Live
2. On Fire - Van Halen - Van Halen
3. An Old Fashioned Love Song - Three Dog Night - The Best Of Three Dog Night
4. Oh, Susannah - James Taylor - Sweet Baby James
5. The Railroad - Grand Funk Railroad - Caught In The Act

Quote of the Day

Up each morning at five o'clock
Seem like the noon day sun aint never gonna stop
The work is hard in a railroad yard
Hey, hey, gotta make it today to punch a time card
Workin' on the railroad

Grand Funk Railroad, The Railroad

Blog of the day is here.

Quote from said blog: "So in short, enough is enough A.J. Time to stop worrying about your reputation and start worrying about the success of your team. Give McNeill a contract and get this offensive line back on track."

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This Whitest Kids U'Know skit made me laugh last week. Some, maybe most, of their shtick is crude for crude's sake and gets old rather quickly and some, like the one linked, are too long and don't finish well. It's like they needed to fill some air time. If they'd do less, they'd do better.

I offer two from the CrabAppleLane yard this morning. The two bushes below were the same size when I bought them. One thrived, the other not so much. I transplanted the one not doing so well. I'm hoping that a change of scenery is all it needed.

CrabAppleLane - August 22, 2010

CrabAppleLane - August 22, 2010

Still only preseason but I think most Saints fans are a little more upbeat after last night's game with the Texans than they were after last week's game with the Patriots. A few thoughts:

I have to wonder what the Saints are going to do with Adrian Arrington. I doubt they can trade him but he's too good to release. I hope they can keep him as insurance if one of the other four (Colston, Meachem, Henderson, Moore) in front of him gets hurt.

Ladell Betts had better get his butt on the field. Chris Ivory and P.J. Hill both look like they can run the ball. Don't know if I trust either of them to protect Drew in the passing game, though.

About today's QOTD: The Redskins are stuck with Haynesworth. That much is pretty clear. If they release him, they eat his ridiculous contract and he plays somewhere else. A trade is unlikely because no one wants to assume that contract.

Mario Williams is Julius Peppers. He plays a monster game two or three times a year and then disappears the rest of the time. There's money in that. I don't think his name was called once last night. I'm glad the Texans chose him and passed on Reggie Bush. Reggie's name was called quite a few times last night.

18 days until football season ...

5 song iTune shuffle from the CrabAppleLane Mark Knopfler playlist:

1. So Far From The Clyde - Mark Knopfler - Get Lucky
2. Golden Heart - Mark Knopfler - Golden Heart
3. Whistle Theme - Mark Knopfler & Alan Clark - Local Hero
4. Whoop De Doo - Mark Knopfler - Shangri-La
5. In The Sky - Mark Knopfler - Kill To Get Crimson

Quote of the Day

I don't know. I guess make yourself look good, I don't know. Make me look bad for not going to their offseason conditioning program. But, I mean, next year I'm not coming either. I'll be on my trainer again, and I'll get back in the same shape I'm in, and feel good about myself.

Albert Haynesworth, Washington Redskins

Blog of the day is here.

Quote from said blog: "The Texans kicked the Saints' butts on kickoff returns. They averaged 32.8 yards on six returns. The Saints averaged 21 yards on five returns."

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Breaks my heart to see what has happened to one of sports most storied franchises, the Pittsburgh Pirates. I can't even remember the last time they finished in the upper half of their division. 18 straight losing seasons? The Saints endured 21 consecutive non-winning seasons but that was due to total ineptitude across the board. I don't believe that to be the case in Pittsburgh. The Pirates have made their share of mistakes in those 18 years but they are also being seriously outspent by their competitors. No matter how well they manage themselves, a well-managed team with more revenue has a distinct advantage. Baseball is a great game but they have serious problems.

For better or worse, undoubtedly worse, the CrabAppleLane Fantasy Football 2010 Cheat Sheet in Microsoft Excel. Finished just this morning. It's the one I'll use tomorrow at my first auction. Only seem to be a handful of rookies this season. Most of the good teams are loaded with veteran skill players. Rookie starters on bad teams usually don't fare well so I'd probably stay away from them anyway although rookie Sam Bradford figures to be throwing the ball a lot this year and that could give him decent fantasy numbers. His team figures to be playing from behind quite a bit. Anxious to see if he can last a whole season in the NFL.

The Saints take on the Houston Texans tonight in the SuperDome. It will be their first game in the Dome since the NFC Championship game back in January. I'd like to see better pass protection from the first unit tonight than they offered last week against the Patriots. I don't need to see #9 knocked around again.

19 days until football season ...

5 song iTune shuffle:

1. Killer Queen - Queen - Sheer Heart Attack [Bonus Track]
2. Trouble Child - Joni Mitchell - Court And Spark
3. Back Off Bitch - Guns N' Roses - Use Your Illusion I
4. Wanted It To Be - Sister Hazel - ...Somewhere More Familiar
5. Help Yourself - Sad Brad Smith - Up In The Air

Quote of the Day

A rape charge carries a possible prison sentence, while a molestation charge would not, Rosander said. In Sweden, a crime of molestation is not limited to child victims.

CNN.com

Blog of the day is here.

Quote from said blog: "Yeh, it's real.LA knows how to market baseball. No marketing dorks in charge of sales. The Dodgers do it right, sales runs marketing. Ahh, what a concept."

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St Tammany Parish, where CrabAppleLane is located, is cracking down on property owners who designate their property incorrectly. Some, probably most, do so to get a more favorable property tax rate. Some have their property designated as agricultural even though the only thing they're farming is azaleas and centipede grass. There are several designations that will get you a better rate. I digress. We received a letter stating that we needed to fill out a new "Use Value Application/Agreement" if we wanted to maintain our "Use Value Assessment" eligibility. I didn't remember ever filling out an old "Use Value Application/Agreement" so I figured they just sent these letters to everyone. I never looked into it. Dumb mistake. Apparently, they sent these only to those who had filled out an agreement. We got a second letter this week. This one stated that our assessment will go up by 15% or more and our property taxes will rise accordingly if we didn't fill out the new agreement. THAT got my attention but I still had no idea what they were talking about. I fired off an email that was snippier than it had to be asking them to explain it to me. Worse, I even had a typo that I discovered just now. I must have seemed like an imbecile.

The public servant who responded was very gracious in his/her response that we HAD filled out such a document and had designated 1 acre for our residence and 4 acres for timberland and they simply wanted us to confirm we were still using it that way. It was one of those 500 documents we signed at closing and undoubtedly we signed it sometime between when our brains stopped absorbing anything they were saying and when our wrists started to cramp. No excuse. I apologized and expressed thanks but it seems inadequate. I still feel bad about it.

5 fights broke out yesterday between the Saints and Texans. Good to get that out of their system, I suppose. All scrimmages are over now. Time to start getting down to business.

20 days until football season ...

5 song iTune shuffle:

1. Wild Honey - Nazareth - Play 'N' The Game
2. The Green Manalishi - Judas Priest - Living After Midnight
3. Starstruck - Rainbow - Rising
4. But You Know I Love You - Alison Krauss & Union Station - Live [Disc 2]
5. Distant Early Warning - Rush - Chronicles [Disc 2]

Quote of the Day

People affected by the spill seeking final settlements face a choice similar to that faced by the 9/11 victims: If they decide to sue instead of accepting a settlement, they could face years of litigation; and if they decide to accept the settlement, it could come before the full damage from the spill is known.

Ian Urbina, New York Times

Blog of the day is here.

Quote from said blog: "Do you have comments closed on your site after a certain date, or do you allow comments indefinitely? What are the pros and cons you have experienced?"

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I am trying not to post football stuff every day but that seems to be all that's here some mornings. So, here I go again.

A little perspective before we all get too worked up for the very first game of the season: Last year's Kickoff Classic featured the previous year's top two AFC playoff seeds, the Titans and Steelers. They played a fantastic defensive game that was decided in overtime. Then, they had to play 15 more games each, they both blew up, and neither team made the playoffs.

The Saints' Darren Sharper and the Vikings' Visanthe Shiancoe tweeted trash talk to each other for a few weeks earlier this year until they were told to stop.

Saints defensive coordinator Gregg Williams spouted off last week about how the Saints were going to send a message to the league that they're going to be physical on defense ... starting on September 9.

Yesterday, Minnesota Vikings Head Coach Brad Childress made some comments about last year's NFC Championship Game and the Saints responded. I have nothing to add to what I said back in January about that except this:

The game is on.

As if this one needed any extra mustard.

3 weeks until football season ...

5 song iTune shuffle:

1. Copland: Fanfare For The Common Man - Eugene Ormandy: Philadelphia Orchestra - Copland: Greatest Hits
2. Mary's Kitchen - O.C.M.S. - Tennessee Pusher
3. Way Of The World - Genesis - We Can't Dance
4. Tapestry - Carole King - Tapestry
5. Alone and Forsaken - Neko Case - Neko Case/Live From Austin, TX

Quote of the Day

I've made the decision not to do radio anymore. The reason is, I want to regain my First Amendment rights. I want to be able to say what's on my mind and in my heart and what I think is helpful and useful, without somebody getting angry, some special interest group deciding this is a time to silence a voice of dissent and attack affiliates and attack sponsors -- I'm sort of done with that.

Dr Laura Schlessinger

Blog of the day is here.

Quote from said blog: "The QB went on to say that his teammates know “he’s got their back” and he thinks his teammates have his back, too."

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Before I get into some silly sports drama, I'd like to take a moment to salute one of sports' most dramatic, most magical moments and the player most responsible for it, Bobby Thomson. His "shot heard round the world" is so famous that baseball fans may never stop talking about it. R.I.P., Bobby.

And, now, the silliness ...

I have no idea what to make of the Minnesota Vikings sending three of their best players to Hattiesburg yesterday to talk to star QB Brett Favre. Normally, I would think that's pretty extraordinary but normally is not a good word to use when talking about this guy. Some, including me, have been saying he's a diva and a money grubber. I only called him a diva but that was a couple of years ago. A case could be made for both. His antics over the last few weeks have brought him a lot of attention and a nice bump in pay. I don't think he's all that cold and calculating, though. For one thing, that doesn't always work. The Vikes showed him the money and the love but the Packers and the Jets showed him the door. Looks like it will all work out for him but I can't imagine that he planned any of it. My sense is that he simply lives life the way he plays football ... by the seat of his pants.

About the retirement story fiasco a few weeks ago: It was a feeding frenzy but I don't believe it was media-driven any more. I think Brett put the chum in the water. I think he DID text his teammates and that one of them found his way to a reporter. Before the dust had settled, he either changed his mind or was talked out of retirement.

I thought it pretty cool that he was photographed yesterday wearing a Nike shirt with their "Just Do It" across his chest.

Lots of relief in Minnesota this morning. No change in New Orleans.

22 days until football season ...

5 song iTune shuffle from the CrabAppleLane Five Star playlist starting with "T":

1. The Trawlerman's Song - Mark Knopfler - Shangri-La
2. Til I Hear It From You - Gin Blossoms - Empire Records
3. Temptation Eyes - The Grass Roots - 20th Century Masters: The Millennium Collection: Best Of The Grass Roots
4. Tea For The Tillerman - Cat Stevens - Tea For The Tillerman
5. Teacher - Jethro Tull - The Anniversary Collection [Disc 1]

Quote of the Day

Jared Allen, Steve Hutchinson and Ryan Longwell -- in what appeared to be a last-ditch effort -- flew to Hattiesburg, Miss., on Monday with one very strict order: Come back with your quarterback.

Judd Zulgad, Minneapolis Star Tribune

Blog of the day is here.

Quote from said blog: "There's a long drive... it's gonna be, I believe...THE GIANTS WIN THE PENNANT!! THE GIANTS WIN THE PENNANT! THE GIANTS WIN THE PENNANT! THE GIANTS WIN THE PENNANT! Bobby Thomson hits into the lower deck of the left-field stands! The Giants win the pennant and they're goin' crazy, they're goin' crazy!"

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Quite an amazing turnaround for Ford and GM. Good job.

I think I have to read that book before the movie is released. I've heard a lot about it.

Although Avatar had some golly gee 3D moments and the modern, requisite glasses are more comfortable and less likely to give me a headache, I hope filmmakers use that technology sparingly. It really adds very little in most cases.

I turned to the game last night just in time to see Eli Manning take a tough hit. Looks worse than it is but hits like that are why fans hold their breath when their star QB is in any preseason game. There's an upside for Eli according to the QOTD. I love it.

23 days until football season ...

5 song iTune shuffle:

1. Last - Nine Inch Nails - Broken
2. Hot 'n' Nasty - Humble Pie - Smokin'
3. Make Your Own Kind Of Music - Mama Cass Elliot - The Best Of The Mamas & The Papas: 20th Century Masters
4. South Bound Saurez - Led Zeppelin - In Through The Out Door
5. Behind Blue Eyes - The Who - Who's Next

Quote of the Day

When you see a quarterback bleeding like that it was something out of a Friday The 13th Movie. Now we know it's pretty much a laceration. I think, hopefully, it will make him look a little tougher.

Shaun O'Hara, NY Giants

Blog of the day is here.

Quote from said blog: "Burke, for example, once showed how improved trade in the ancient world led to the understanding of magnetism during the 16th century, which in turn led to the discovery of electricity in the 17th century and ultimately the development of radar and nuclear weapons in the 20th century."

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