The Karmic Boomerang

Moving along

2010-03-20T11:20:00.000-07:00

The Karmic Boomerang has evolved and moved to a great new site.

Check out the fun now over at The Sultan of Squat.

http://sultanofsquat.blogspot.com/

Thanks for reading.

Kickers win championships too

2010-02-08T10:29:00.001-08:00

Defense wins championships. That’s something we hear a lot in sports. The great Steel Curtain Steelers teams of the 1970’s were known for their outstanding defense. The 1985 Bears, the Brett Favre Packers teams (despite having No. 4) were also known for the defense.

All we heard leading up to last year’s Super Bowl was how it was going to be the daunted Steelers defense against the high-flying Arizona Cardinals offense. This year, it was he-who-scored-last wins. The high-octane Saints led by Drew Brees versus the methodical, surgical passing attack of Peyton Manning and company.

But in the end, it came down to special teams and defense. As it always does. Don’t believe me? Take away all three Garrett Hartley field goals (the dude hit three - easily -from over 40-yards, a Super Bowl record), the Matt Stover field goal and the Tracy Porter INT-TD return. The Saints would lead 15-14. Of course, you could argue that the Saints would not have gone for the 2-point conversion if the score had been different so let’s just say the game is 14-all.

So bring Hartley back into the equation. What does it mean to have a kicker drill one field goal from 40+ yards, much less three? Ask Peyton Manning. Leading the game in the 4th quarter 17-16, the Colts turned to 42-year old Matt Stover to kick a 51-yard field goal.

Now, I had Stover on my fantasy team this year after the injury to Adam Vinatieri and he scored some good points for me, but even I knew that he couldn’t hit from 50 yards. Jim Caldwell definitely should’ve known.

This season, Stover hit nine of his 11 field goal attempts (in 10 regular season games) with his longest boot going 43 yards. His career best is 55-yards, which he hit his rookie year, 19 years ago (1991). The last time he hit a 50-yard field goal was in the first preseason game in 2007. He is no Adam Vinatieri.

Speaking of Vinatieri and the importance of kickers, let me ask you these questions.

How many Super Bowl rings does Tom Brady have? The answer…….3.

How many Super Bowl rings does Peyton Manning have? The answer…..1.

Now, how many titles have the two star quarterbacks combined for without Adam Vinatieri?

The answer is ZERO! If Vinatieri had been healthy enough to kick in SB44, he would more than likely have made that 51-yarder and changed the complexion of the game entirely.

Of course, one can only speculate at this point. But it is worth noting that the seemingly most irrelevant player on a team - maybe after the punter - could have the most influence on the biggest stage of the year. And yet he does, more often than not.

NEW WEBSITE

2009-10-22T15:26:00.000-07:00

Please help spread the word about the new site. I'm already getting some attention from people (Emailing me, asking for advice) based on my accuracy in week 6. Thanks again for all your support and help.

http://fantasyfootballnerds.blogspot.com/

Dan

New Site

2009-10-12T20:47:00.000-07:00

I wanted to introduce a new site that just launched tonight. It is called Fantasy Football Nerds and it can be found by clicking the link below.

http://fantasyfootballnerds.blogspot.com/

Please check it out and come back often to get all your fantasy football advice, including detailed stat projections using a set of new formulas created by yours truly.

Please help me spread the word. I look forward to seeing you over there.

KB

Breaking College Baseball Coaching News

2009-08-24T18:36:00.001-07:00

Breaking College Baseball Coaching News

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Sports Info 101: How to attend college baseball games in Alabama

2009-07-21T17:24:00.001-07:00

Sports Info 101: How to attend college baseball games in Alabama

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Strasburg wins the Golden Spikes Award at the MLB All-Star Game

2009-07-14T21:40:00.001-07:00

Strasburg wins the Golden Spikes Award at the MLB All-Star Game

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2009 Triple-A Home Run Derby won by hometown player

2009-07-13T23:53:00.001-07:00

2009 Triple-A Home Run Derby won by hometown player

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Golden Spikes Award to be given out at MLB All-Star game

2009-07-07T09:38:00.001-07:00

Golden Spikes Award to be given out at MLB All-Star game

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All of this has happened before (and it will all happen again)

2009-06-30T23:08:00.001-07:00

All of this has happened before (and it will all happen again)

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College Baseball Examiner Top-25 (Final 2009 rankings)

2009-06-26T08:36:00.001-07:00

College Baseball Examiner Top-25 (Final 2009 rankings)

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Breaking news: LSU defeats Texas to clinch College World Series

2009-06-24T20:02:00.001-07:00

Breaking news: LSU defeats Texas to clinch College World Series

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LSU takes the first game of the College World Series finals

2009-06-22T21:18:00.001-07:00

LSU takes the first game of the College World Series finals

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College World Series Finals preview: LSU vs. Texas

2009-06-21T09:33:00.001-07:00

College World Series Finals preview: LSU vs. Texas

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College World Series Day 6: Live brackets

2009-06-18T07:12:00.001-07:00

College World Series Day 6: Live brackets

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College World Series Day 4: Updated brackets

2009-06-16T07:11:00.001-07:00

College World Series Day 4: Updated brackets

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College World Series Day 3: Live updated brackets

2009-06-15T07:16:00.001-07:00

College World Series Day 3: Live updated brackets

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College World Series: Live updated brackets

2009-06-14T12:53:00.001-07:00

College World Series: Live updated brackets

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College World Series: Day 2 preview

2009-06-14T08:44:00.001-07:00

College World Series: Day 2 preview

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College World Series - Live bracket

2009-06-13T17:03:00.001-07:00

College World Series - Live bracket

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College World Series: Day 1 preview

2009-06-13T09:03:00.001-07:00

College World Series: Day 1 preview

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College World Series preview: Arkansas and Cal State Fullerton

2009-06-10T20:19:00.001-07:00

College World Series preview: Arkansas and Cal State Fullerton

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College World Series field is set

2009-06-08T21:58:00.001-07:00

College World Series field is set

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College Baseball Examiner: College Baseball Super Regionals recap

2009-06-07T08:00:00.001-07:00

College Baseball Examiner: College Baseball Super Regionals recap

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College Baseball Examiner: NCAA College Baseball Super Regionals Day 2 - Live coverage

2009-06-06T09:14:00.001-07:00

College Baseball Examiner: NCAA College Baseball Super Regionals Day 2 - Live coverage

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College Baseball Examiner: NCAA College Baseball Super Regionals - Live brackets

2009-06-05T09:35:00.001-07:00

College Baseball Examiner: NCAA College Baseball Super Regionals - Live brackets

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College Baseball Examiner: College Baseball Examiner All-Americans announced

2009-06-03T19:16:00.001-07:00

College Baseball Examiner: College Baseball Examiner All-Americans announced

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College Baseball Examiner: Golden Spikes Award finalists announced

2009-06-02T23:06:00.001-07:00

College Baseball Examiner: Golden Spikes Award finalists announced

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College Baseball Examiner: NCAA College Baseball Super Regionals preview

2009-06-02T07:32:00.001-07:00

College Baseball Examiner: NCAA College Baseball Super Regionals preview

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College Baseball Examiner: NCAA College Baseball Tournament Elimination Day - Live Brackets

2009-06-01T11:32:00.001-07:00

College Baseball Examiner: NCAA College Baseball Tournament Elimination Day - Live Brackets

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College Baseball Examiner: NCAA College Baseball Regionals Day 3 - Live Brackets

2009-05-31T11:36:00.001-07:00

College Baseball Examiner: NCAA College Baseball Regionals Day 3 - Live Brackets

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College Baseball Examiner: 2009 NCAA College Baseball Regionals - Complete Schedule

2009-05-25T16:19:00.001-07:00

College Baseball Examiner: 2009 NCAA College Baseball Regionals - Complete Schedule

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College Baseball Examiner: College Baseball Examiner Top-25 (05-18-2009)

2009-05-18T21:06:00.001-07:00

College Baseball Examiner: College Baseball Examiner Top-25 (05-18-2009)

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College Baseball Examiner: Saturday Night (High)Lights

2009-05-17T12:07:00.001-07:00

College Baseball Examiner: Saturday Night (High)Lights

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College Baseball Examiner: Washington Nationals to make Strasburg first pick in draft

2009-05-03T16:39:00.001-07:00

College Baseball Examiner: Washington Nationals to make Strasburg first pick in draft

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College Baseball Examiner: Friday Night (High)Lights

2009-05-01T22:53:00.001-07:00

College Baseball Examiner: Friday Night (High)Lights

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College Baseball Examiner: NCAA adds a week to college baseball schedule

2009-04-30T21:40:00.001-07:00

College Baseball Examiner: NCAA adds a week to college baseball schedule

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College Baseball Examiner: College Baseball Examiner Top-25 (04-27-2009)

2009-04-27T21:13:00.001-07:00

College Baseball Examiner: College Baseball Examiner Top-25 (04-27-2009)

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College Baseball Examiner: College Baseball Karma of the Week (04-26-2009)

2009-04-26T11:37:00.001-07:00

College Baseball Examiner: College Baseball Karma of the Week (04-26-2009)

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College Baseball Examiner: Education should be priority, even for athletes

2009-04-25T21:49:00.001-07:00

College Baseball Examiner: Education should be priority, even for athletes

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Karma of the Week (04-19-2009)

2009-04-19T11:41:00.000-07:00

Welcome to this week's College Baseball Karma of the Week. The segment that takes a look back at the past week in college baseball to bring you the best and the worst news of the week.

It has been a pretty slow week in college baseball. Very few upsets, a few milestones. All in all, a pretty quiet week. Regardless, here are some of the highlights...and lowlights.

Bad Karma

Honorable Mention- Snow....still? C'mon, you're killing me!

Check the calendar, it's the middle of April. But that doesn't stop the snow from falling in Colorado, forcing the cancellation of the TCU/Air Force series this weekend.

Photo courtesy: TCU Athletics

Seriously, I know it snows in Colorado. It's kind of a side effect from having mountains I suppose. But this is borderline ridiculous. The games will not be made up, leaving a three-game hole in the team's conference record.

Runner-up- No. 1 LSU trips up.

The top-ranked Tigers of LSU lost at home on Saturday to Tennessee. The loss is the second this week for the Tigers, who were hoping to stay in the top spot. Unfortunately, the second loss almost guarantees a drop in the rankings.

They can help their case later today as the two teams square off in the final game of the three-game series.

Winner- Cal State Fullerton is in deep trouble.

The once-mighty Titans of Fullerton have found themselves in unfamiliar territory. After losing to Pacific on Friday for the first time in seven years, the Titans lost again on Saturday giving Pacific their first series win over Fullerton....ever. And, adding insult to injury, the Titans have been at home.

The Titans look to avoid the sweep (which would mark the first time this year that has happened) later today.

Good Karma

Honorable Mention- Living up to the hype.

On Wednesday, I predicted that the weekend series between No. 11 Oklahoma State and No. 23 Baylor would be the best series of the week. So far so good.

While other top-25 teams have been rolling to easy wins on Friday and Saturday, the Bears and Cowboys have exchanged blows with Baylor winning the opener on Friday and Oklahoma State answering the call on Saturday.

Photo Courtesy: OstatePhoto.com

The Cowboys' win on Saturday snapped a five-game Big 12 losing streak. We are just minutes away from the first pitch of the rubber game in Stillwater. Top-25 positioning is on the line.

Runner-up- Shutout leads to 600th for UMass's Stone.

Senior Mitchell Clegg pitched a 3-0 shutout of St. Joseph's on Friday giving head coach Mike Stone his 600th career victory.

It was the first complete-game shutout by a UMass pitcher since March of 2005. With another win on Saturday, Stone is now 601-552-4 in his career spanning 22 seasons at UMass and five at Vermont.

Winner- A no-no is nice, but thrice?

A Florida high school senior southpaw by the name of Patrick Schuster has throw three consecutive no-hitters for J.W. Mitchell High School in Port Richey.

Schuster fired the first no-hitter in a 2-1 victory over Land O' Lakes on April 3. He followed that up on April 8 at River Ridge in a game that ended after the fifth inning under a mercy rule with Mitchell leading 10-0. Schuster then no-hit Clearwater Central Catholic on the 13th in a 2-0 victory.

Schuster seemingly was born with a baseball in his hand. (Family Photo)

Schuster, who is now 7-0 with a 0.66 ERA this season, also threw the first six innings of a combined no-hitter in the Feb. 17th season opener.

Schuster has already signed with the University of Florida and intends to attend school there in the fall. But with no less than 15 pro scouts at his last game, he also says he would like to see what kind of offers he gets from the professional ranks.

Schuster looks to continue the streak against rival school Pasco tomorrow.

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That's all for this week. Thank you once again for taking the time to read my humble little column.

Best wishes for good karma to all! Thanks for reading.

Karma of the Week (04-12-2009)

2009-04-12T10:53:00.001-07:00

Welcome to this week's College Baseball Karma of the Week. The segment that takes a look back at the past week in college baseball to bring you the best and the worst news of the week.

Remember, PLEASE, PLEASE, PLEASE CLICK HERE to give me my view count on Examiner. Views my not mean anything here on TSN anymore, but they mean the world to me on MY page. Please tell your friends and help me supplement my income. THANKS and HAPPY EASTER.

Because of today being Easter, I've decided to focus only on the good news this week and leave out the bad karma nominees.

But first, my thoughts go out to the families of those who were killed in the tragic hit and run earlier this week that claimed the life of Angels pitcher Nick Adenhart and two others.

A Ballplayer's Lament

A friend of mine was killed last night,
though I barely knew his name.
And though we'd only just met,
it hurts me just the same.

A talented life full of promise and hope,
cut tragically short by a man.
Drunk, speeding and with license suspended,
he ran a light, crashed and ran.

The coward will get what's coming to him,
karma will make him pay.
But tonight we continue without you,
the game goes on, you'd want it that way.

The tears are now dried, the game has begun,
your number is worn on our sleeve.
But when the lights are back off for the night,
we will gather again to grieve.

Another 'Angel' is in heaven they say,
and now his memories we'll share.
The idea we must continue on without you,
in the end, just doesn't seem fair.

-- D. Egan

(Moment of silence)

Good Karma

Honorable Mention- A pair of coaching milestones.

Ohio head coach Joe Carbone became only the second Mid-American Conference coach to record 600 victories when Ohio beat Eastern Michigan on Saturday 6-4. Carbone has compiled a career record of 600-510-2 for a .541 winning percentage.

Also hitting a milestone was NC State head coach Elliott Avent who recorded career victory No. 700 when the Wolfpack beat UNC Wilmington on Tuesday 10-2. Avent, in his 20th season now has a record of 701-507 for a career winning percentage of .580.

Runner-up- A pair of no-no's and a cycle.

Four TCU pitchers combined for the school's ninth no-hitter in the program's history and only the third nine-inning no-no.

Walker Kelly threw the first four, earning his first college win. Taylor Cragin, Tyler Lockwood and Eric Marshall combined to pitch the other five as the No. 22 Horned Frogs blanked UT- Pan American 3-0.

Not to be outdone, Kent State's Brad Stillings pitched a complete-game no-hitter and was only a 2nd inning error away from a perfect game. The Golden Flashes only run came in the 6th as they beat Toldeo 1-0.

The no-hitter was the 10th in the school's history, with the last one coming April of 1997, another 1-0 victory.

Illinois junior shortstop Brandon Wikhoff became the first Illini player to hit for the cycle since 1990 when he completed the feat on Tuesday against Bradley.

Wikhoff finished the day 4-for-5 with three runs and four RBI including the game-winning RBI with his triple in the 8th. Wikhoff raised his season average to .421.

Winner- Upset Special

This weekend was a weekend of upsets in college baseball. Many top-25 teams lost two of three or even all three against unranked or at least lower ranked opponents.

Why is this good karma? It's good karma for the underdogs to have their day, or in this case, their weekend.

No. 3 North Carolina has split the first two games against unranked Florida State with the rubber match coming later today. No. 12 Arkansas lost two games to unranked Vanderbilt and the third game was cancelled because of rain.

No. 26 Mississippi had their eight-game winning streak snapped by South Carolina on Friday. They then lost again on Saturday and look to avoid the sweep later today.

Kansas State took two out of three from No. 11 Texas A&M and Kansas looks for the sweep of No. 5 Oklahoma State later today. Finally, No. 20 San Diego dropped two out of three to West Coast Conference foe Gonzaga.

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That's all for this week. Hope you all have a wonderful Easter and be sure to check here tomorrow for the new Top-25 rankings.

Best wishes for good karma to all! Thanks for reading.

A Ballplayer's Lament

2009-04-11T14:59:00.000-07:00

A Ballplayer's Lament

A friend of mine was killed last night,
though I barely knew his name.
And though we'd only just met,
it hurts me just the same.

A talented life full of promise and hope,
cut tragically short by a man.
Drunk, speeding and with license suspended,
he ran a light, crashed and ran.

The coward will get what's coming to him,
karma will make him pay.
But tonight we continue without you,
the game goes on, you'd want it that way.

The tears are now dried, the game has begun,
your number is worn on our sleeve.
But when the lights are back off for the night,
we will gather again to grieve.

Another 'Angel' is in heaven they say,
and now his memories we'll share.
The idea we must continue on without you,
in the end, just doesn't seem fair.

-- D. Egan

Karma of the Week (04-05-2009)

2009-04-05T16:12:00.000-07:00

Remember, please feed the habit by clicking here so I can get my view credit on the other site before reading here. Thanks again for your help.

Welcome to this week's College Baseball Karma of the Week. The segment that takes a look back at the past week in college baseball to bring you the best and the worst news of the week.

A lot of stuff going on this weekend so I'm gonna get right to it.

Bad Karma

Honorable Mention- Ouch, that hurts.

No. 11 Texas A&M looked to have a fairly straight forward weekend against Texas Tech. Tech was 12-18 going into the weekend and the Aggies looked to improve on their top-25 standing.

Now, they will head in the other direction.

The Aggies dropped two of three from the Red Raiders, despite outscoring them 22-21 over the three games.

Runner-up- Weather will not let up.

It seems that this keeps coming up, but it's still a problem. A string of bad weather forced the cancellation or postponement of several games over the weekend. Most notably, on Friday. Six of the seven games in the Atlantic 10 were cancelled due to inclement weather. Three of the four games in the Horizon League as well as three of the four games in the Northeast Conference were postponed.

Things got a little better on Saturday as several double-headers were played either to make up cancelled games from Friday or moving them from Sunday in anticipation of more bad weather.

Hopefully, the weather becomes a little more conducive to baseball in the coming weeks. (It's 70 degrees in Portland today, come play baseball here).

Winner- Bad outing of the week.

Arizona pitcher Matt Veltmann had a bad outing on Saturday against Pac-10 foe USC. Veltmann faced nine batters, they all scored. Veltmann (2-4) allowed five hits, walked one, hit another and the Wildcats defense had two errors as Veltmann failed to record an out.

His official line: 0.0 IP, 5 H, 9 R, 6 ER, 1 BB, 0 K, 1 HBP.

USC went on to score 10 in the first inning and won 15-14. Veltmann's ERA rose from 8.06 to 10.48.

Sorry kid.

Good Karma

Honorable Mention- A no-no for the Navy.

Navy LHP Sam Long (So./Newman, Ga.) threw a complete-game (7 inning) no-hitter against Lehigh on Saturday as the Midshipmen swept a double-header 3-1 and 4-3.

Long pitched all seven innings, striking out four, walking five and allowing the one run in the first game of the twin bill. Long struggled at times with his control but managed to keep Lehigh off balance enough to keep them out of the hit column.

The no-hitter was the eighth in program history and the first since Mitch Harris in 2006. Three of Navy's eight no-no's have come against Lehigh.

Runner-up- Not to be outdone....

On a day in which his basketball counterparts danced their way into the NCAA title game, Michigan State senior Nolan Moody pitched a complete game no-hitter in the inaugural game at McLane Baseball Stadium and the Spartans beat Northwestern 2-0.

Moody threw an even 100 pitches, striking out five and walking only two in the victory. He faced only one batter over the minimum for a nine inning game. His Northwestern counterpart, Eric Jokisch made only one mistake, a two-run homer to Eli Boike. Jokisch pitched all eight innings in the loss, striking out four.

Winner- All it was thought to be....and more.

This weekend marked the first weekend where multiple Top-25 teams squared off in key inter-conference match-ups.

The headlining event was No. 2 LSU at No. 1 Georgia. The Tigers struck first on Friday as Anthony Ranaudo pitched six shutout innings as LSU cruised to an 8-4 win. Georgia rallied with three runs in the bottom of the ninth, but simply had too much ground to cover.

On Saturday, the Bulldogs answered the call and evened the series with a 10-8 victory. Georgia led 10-3 going into the 8th and it was LSU's turn to rally back, but it fell just short as well.

Sunday, LSU took the game, the series and possibly the No. 1 spot as the Tigers beat the Bulldogs 7-5.

If the LSU/Georgia game was the featured event, then the No. 5 North Carolina vs. No. 8 Georgia Tech series was the mainstream band who opens for the headliner, but could easily be a headliner themselves.

The Tar Heels took two of three from the Yellow Jackets but it was the win for Tech that was the most dramatic point of the series. On Saturday, both teams were knotted at 6-6 after Tech scored three in the bottom of the ninth. In the bottom of the 11th, Jason Haniger drilled a walk-off grand slam to give Tech the 10-6 win. However, the series win for the Tar Heels assures that baseball fans in Georgia had a bad weekend.

No. 10 Texas took two out of three from No. 4 Oklahoma State as the Longhorns look to climb back up the top-10.

In other top-25 action, No. 7 Cal State Fullerton is trying to avoid being swept at home by No. 17 UC Irvine. The titans have rallied from a 4-1 defecit to tie it 4-4 going into the 9th.

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That's all for this week. Hope you all enjoy what's left of your weekend.

Best wishes for good karma to all! Thanks for reading.

Karma of the Week is back! (03-22-2009)

2009-03-22T16:47:00.001-07:00

Hey everyone, I have found the balance between my new gig and my desire to continue writing here as well. While I still won't be blogging here more than 2 or 3 times a week, I would like to share my thoughts here as I have for almost 2 years now.

Here is this week's Karma of the Week. Please click on the link anyways, even if just for a second, so I can get the view counts up on the other site. Thanks for your support.

http://www.examiner.com/x-2961-College-Baseball-Examiner

Welcome to this week's College Baseball Karma of the Week. The segment that takes a look back at the past week in college baseball to bring you the best and the worst news of the week.

There were a lot of great games this weekend. Were you stuck inside watching the NCAA tourney? Did you take a few hours to get out of the house to watch some great baseball games? If not, here's what you missed.

Bad Karma

Honorable Mention- North Carolina falls at home.

The No. 2 North Carolina Tar Heels (17-4, 5-3 ACC) dropped two out of three at home to Duke (14-7, 5-4 ACC) this weekend.

This will definitely cost the Tar Heels some ground in the top-25 but probably not too much, as other top teams have struggled this weekend as well.

Runner-up- Undefeated no more.

No. 1 Virginia (19-2, 5-2 ACC) has lost their first two games of the season, losing on Saturday to No. 18 Miami (18-4, 7-2 ACC) 4-3 and then again on Sunday 7-5.

The Cavaliers will more than likely lose their No.1 ranking on Monday, but probably won't fall from the top-5.

Winner- No. 3 Texas having trouble.

The No. 3 Texas Longhorns (14-6, 2-4 Big 12) have dropped four in a row including being swept this weekend by Kansas (13-7, 3-0 Big 12) for the first time in the school's history.

The Longhorns will look to regroup with a game against Dallas Baptist before a three-game series next weekend at home against Texas Tech. While Kansas looks to make their debut in the top-25 on Monday.

Good Karma

Honorable Mention- Tournament is coming up roses.

While the NCAA tournament was being played a few miles away in the Rose Garden, another tournament was being held at PGE Park in Portland, Ore. The Rose City Invitational brought the University of Oregon, University of Portland, University of Washington and University of Hawaii to downtown Portland for three days of exciting baseball.

On Friday, the University of Portland Pilots exploded against Hawaii 13-2 and then got spectacular pitching performances by Scott Burris and Zach Varce who combined for a three-hit shutout of Oregon 4-0.

On Saturday, Washington and Oregon split a pair of games as the Huskies lost to the Ducks but beat the Pilots, while the Ducks lost to the Warriors.

Later today, the Invite comes to a close as Washington plays Oregon again and the Warriors try to get revenge against the Pilots.

Runner-up- A pair of coaching milestones reached.

The University of San Diego's Rich Hill and Rice's Wayne Graham each passed coaching milestones this weekend. First up was on Friday when Graham took the Owls to a 4-3 victory over Southern Mississippi.

In his 18th season at Rice, Graham has a 801-304 record and is 1376-417 in 28+ seasons of collegiate coaching.

Then on Saturday, Hill won his 700th game at the DI level when his Toreros beat Brown 11-4.
Congratulations to both coaches on their accomplishment.

Winner- Bullying their way into the top-25.

I made a deal with my readers on Wednesday. I said that if Rice beat No. 20 Southern Mississippi in two or more games this weekend, they would move into the top-25, taking Southern Miss' spot.

Well, the Owls took the first two games in the series and are going for the sweep today so I will make good on my promise and place Rice in my top-25 for the first time since the week 2.

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That's all for this week. Hope you all enjoy what's left of your weekend.

Best wishes for good karma to all! Thanks for reading.

2009 MLB predictions (NL East)

2009-03-13T16:33:00.000-07:00

Check out this year's MLB karmic predictions over on Examiner.

Click the link here:

http://www.examiner.com/x-2961-College-Baseball-Examiner~y2009m3d13-2009-MLB-predictions-NL-East

Thanks again for your love and support. Be sure to tell your friends about the site. Have you joined the Facebook group yet? PM me if you want details.

See you again soon.

The NEW Karma of the Week

2009-03-08T11:03:00.000-07:00

Hello everyone and welcome to the NEW Karma of the Week. Please take the time to click over to my site on Examiner and check out the new column. While you are there, please be sure to bookmark my site so you can get the latest updates.

Also, you can join my group on Facebook for all the latest sports info from other Examiners as well as appearances by Mo, Mal, Big Sooners Fan, Lester's Legends and more.

Thanks again for all your support. See you over there.

Karma of the Week (02-22-2009)

2009-02-22T10:19:00.000-08:00

Hey everyone. How are you all doing? Welcome to Karma of the Week. It's been a busy week so let's disperse with the small talk and get right to the main course shall we?

Bad Karma

Honorable Mention- No. 20 UCLA falls at home

The UCLA Bruins men's basketball team lost to Washington State at home last night 82-81. It was just the Cougars' second win in L.A. in 53 trips.

Taylor Rochestie scored a career-high 33 points with five rebounds and four assists and scored 14 of the final 16 for the Cougs.

The two teams were tied at the half and UCLA trailed by as many as seven with just under three minutes to play. But the comeback fell just short.

Runner-up- Garnett out 2-3 weeks

Boston Celtics forward Kevin Garnett is out for 2-3 weeks with what is being described as a muscle strain in his knee.

He injured it while going up for an alley-oop in a loss to Utah on Thursday.

The Celtics have shown that they are not the same team without KG in the mix. Look for the Celtics to fall to the 3rd seed in the East (behind Cleveland and Orlando) by the time the playoffs start.

Winner- A-Hole strikes again

I am so tired of this steroids stuff. I am so tired of players "coming clean" only to find that they lied about something else. If you haven't heard the story, you've been living under a rock - or you too do not care. A-Rod has been linked to this banned trainer as recently as 2007.

This trainer has known steroid connections. A-Rod said that he only used between 2001-2003. While that still may be true - just working with a steroid trainer doesn't mean he was still using - it doesn't look good for A-Hole.

Good Karma

Honorable Mention- The Kid is back in town

At 39 years of age, he may not be much of a kid anymore. But Ken Griffey Jr. has returned home to where he began his illustrious career. Junior signed a one-year deal with the Mariners worth about $2 million plus various performance incentives.

Reports were out that Junior would be signing with Atlanta, but his heart - and supposedly a call from Willie Mays - told the kid to go back to "The House that Junior Built" (Safeco Field).

It hasn't been reported yet whether Griffey will be relegated to DH duties or if he will in fact take his rightful place in centerfield. I'm pulling for the latter. I can't wait to go to Safeco and sit in the right-center bleachers, behind Junior and Ichiro.

Runner-up- Busch-wacked

Now I know that I have not been a very flattering supporter of NASCAR but just like with hockey, when a story is relevant...I will mention it here.

Kyle Busch made NASCAR history Saturday by becoming the first person to ever record two victories on the same day.

Busch won the Camping World Truck Series race and then capped off the day with a victory at the Stater Bros. 300 on the Nationwide Series.

Busch will try for the hat trick today at the Auto Club 500 Sprint Cup race.

Winner- College Baseball is back!

PING! Here that? That's the sound of the glorious return of college baseball. Here is a copy of the article that I wrote for The Examiner yesterday. If you like it, I encourage you to check it out. There are many great writers involved with various different topics. If you think you would like to write for them about a topic that interests you, send me a PM here or an email over on Examiner and I'll fill you in on the details.

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There was a lot going on in the opening day of the 2009 NCAA college baseball season. So how better to review it all than to introduce the weekly feature that will be available right here every Saturday during the baseball season.

We will go around the horn, spanning the globe, across the diamond - whatever you want to call it - to find what's going on in NCAA baseball. So let's get started.

Welcome Back

The University of Oregon played their first baseball game since 1981 on Friday and they made the most of the opportunity.

George Horton's Ducks defeated St. Mary's 5-3 at Louis Guisto Field in Moraga, Calif. The Ducks recorded 13 hits including one by senior OF Caleb Tommasini to leadoff the game. Tommasini finished with three hits and two runs scored.

The Ducks play their first double-header of the season later today.

Opening day no-no

You could say Kansas LHP Shaeffer Hall brought his 'A' game. The junior threw just the fifth individual no-hitter in Jayhawk history on Friday, blanking the Air Force 5-0.

There was no perfect game - Hall walked the first batter he faced - but retired 17 straight at one point and struck out seven in the game.

Hall's no-hitter was the first by a Jayhawk since David Hicks no-hit Northwest Missouri State in 1980.

Opening day jitters?

Not for anyone in the top-10. No. 4 Cal State-Fullerton barely held off TCU 7-6 and it took 10 innings for No. 17 Baylor and No. 19 Stanford but both got the win.

One team that wasn't so lucky was No. 22 Oregon State. The Beavers lost their first game of 2009 at Tennessee 5-4.

The Volunteers used a ninth-inning rally to come from behind and get their 100th season kicked off on the right foot.

Midnight premiere?

Central Michigan and Florida Gulf Coast University kicked off the 2009 baseball season like a Hollywood premiere. The two teams squared off with a 12:01 a.m. first pitch Friday morning.

FGCU recorded the first win of the NCAA season by defeating the Chippewas 4-3.

But the Chippewas got revenge in the nightcap of the extremely split double-header by downing the Eagles 19-13. Apparently once they got some rest, the offense was able to get going.

And a little bit of bad news

As part of a University-wide budget cut, the University of Vermont announced that they will terminate their baseball and softball programs after the conclusion of the 2009 season.

The decision will impact 43 players (15 softball, 28 baseball). The student-athletes will be able to transfer to another school and will be eligible immediately according to NCAA regulations regarding the elimination of sports programs.

That's all for today. There is still a lot of baseball to be played in this first weekend of the '09 season.

Be sure to check back on Monday for the first Top-25 list of the regular season.

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That's all for this week. Hope you all have a great week please remember to tell your friends about my new site. I need all the good karma you all can give.

Best wishes for good karma to all!

Karma of the Week (02-08-2009)

2009-02-08T10:19:00.001-08:00

Hey everyone. Thanks for stopping by and welcome to Karma of the Week. I would like to thank all of you who have checked out my new writing gig over at the Examiner. For those of you who don't know or haven't checked it out yet, here's the link.

http://www.examiner.com/x-2961-College-Baseball-Examiner

Please check it out and visit often. I am paid based on my views so please check back often, as I will have 3-4 new posts each week. Also, if you wish, you could subscribe to the feed. Thanks to all of you who have already subscribed.

Now, on with the Sunday Sports Page.

Bad Karma

Honorable Mention- The Bobcats trade the Stache.

Prior to the 2006 NBA Draft, there was a fan chant in Portland calling for the Blazers to "Draft the 'Stache." A call to draft Gonzaga's Adam Morrison. The Bobcats took Morrison with the third pick and the Blazers ended up getting Brandon Roy.

Two years later, that looks like the better move. The Bobcats traded the struggling Morrison with Shannon Brown to the Lakers for Vladimir Radmanovic.

Morrison missed all of last season after tearing a knee ligament in a preseason game. He is owed $5.3 million next year - the final year of his first contract - and is averaging just 4.5 points per game this year.

Runner-up- Suns are setting in Phoenix

The Phoenix Suns are shopping Amare Stoudemire and Shaquille O'Neal according to several reports.

The Suns have reportedly been in contact with the Pistons, Blazers, Bulls and Heat about potential trade scenarios.

The Suns are looking to clear payroll before next season and could move one or both players if the deal is right.

Winner- A-Roid, A-Fraud, Stray-Rod. Whatever you want to call him, he's still an @$$.

The latest revelation in the BALCO investigation is that Alex Rodriguez tested positive for steroids in 2003 - his MVP season with Texas. Anyone truly surprised? I was at first.

I watched Alex from the very beginning - since he came up through the Mariners organization - and he always just looked like he was naturally cut. He stated after the Mitchell Report came out that he never used steroids because he never felt that he was below the level of competition.

That's because you were using too.

I'm really tired of writing about all of the steroid garbage. I'm not trying to sweep it under the rug and pretend it's not there but I am trying to just move on.

A-Rod is not the last major player that we will discover used steroids. Albert Pujols is right around the corner. If you don't believe me, just wait.

Good Karma

Honorable Mention- Braves trying to not let Glavine get away twice.

The Atlanta Braves, having the distinction of being the only team in history to have let go of three Cy Young winners in the span of just six years, are trying to avoid losing one of them again.

Tom Glavine has received a one-year offer from the Braves worth between one and two million.

Glavine - who won the Cy in 1991 and 1998 - left the Braves for the New York Mets before the 2003 season but returned in 2008. He missed most of the season however due to injuries. Greg Maddux - who won four straight Cy awards from 1992-1995 - left the Braves in 2004 and retired a few months ago. John Smoltz - who won the Cy in 1996 - signed this offseason with the Boston Red Sox after the Braves failed to meet their offer.

If Glavine signs elsewhere, it will mark the first time since 1986 that none of the infamous 'Big Three' will be pitching for the Braves.

Runner-up- Phelps gets points in my book.

Michael Phelps was caught in a photograph smoking pot. And you know what? He admitted it. He came right out and said that it happened, he was sorry and that he would do better.

For one thing. BIG FREAKING DEAL! Is anyone surprised that a 23-year-old would be smoking pot? I never did but that surely doesn't mean that it doesn't happen.

But I am more moved by the fact that he didn't try to hide it, say that the picture was altered or photoshop'd....he just admitted it, apologized and we can move on.

Too many times, athletes, politicians and other celebrities deny first and have to backtrack later. Barry Bonds, Roger Clemens, Alex Rodriguez, Sam Adams (Portland Mayor), Larry Craig, Tom Daschle, the list goes on and on.

But then you have Phelps. He gets points in my book for being honest from the start. He may break that honesty later - by doing it again after he said that he wouldn't - but for now, good karma is on his side.

Winner- A tough Summit to traverse.

Tennessee Women's basketball coach Pat Summit notched her 1,000 career victory this week. A feat that had not been accomplished by man nor woman.

The Lady Vols now have a 1000-187 record under Summit. The number will surely top out near 1100 by the time she retires and it's possible that number will stand for all-time.

With the circus that is college coaching and with all of the firings and hiring and lack of loyalty to a single coach, I find it hard to believe that this will be duplicated....let alone with one team.

Congrats Coach Pat! You've earned it.

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That's all for this week. Hope you all have a great week please remember to tell your friends about my new site. I need all the good karma you all can give.

Best wishes for good karma to all!

BIG ANNOUNCEMENT! Need your help!

2009-02-04T19:22:00.000-08:00

That's right, as I promised on Sunday, I have a big announcement.

Drum roll please!

I have accepted a position with Examiner.com as their College Baseball Examiner. This means that I won't be posting here as much. I will still post Karma of the Week every Sunday and will comment on as many of your fine blogs as I can.

I need your help to make my debut with Examiner a successful one. I need as many of you that are willing to go and visit my new site, bookmark it, visit it often, even subscribe to it. I am rated and paid according to my views and readers.

So please, tell your friends, have them tell their friends, help me spread this like wildfire so I can retire to a sunny island somewhere....okay maybe not. But please help in whatever way you possibly can.

Here is the link.

http://www.examiner.com/x-2961-College-Baseball-Examiner

Check out my first post, which is up now.

Thanks again for all of your support. I hope to see you all over there soon.

See you back here Sunday with Karma of the Week.

Karma of the Week (Super Bowl XLIII)

2009-02-01T11:19:00.001-08:00

This week, I will not be posting a Karma of the Week column as I am shoulder deep in preparations for my family's Super Bowl party.

But I did want to take the time to wish everyone a fun time and to remind everyone to:

Drive safe

Drink responsibly

Use a designated driver (or have an alternate plan of transportation that does not involve you driving)

Again, have fun! See you Wednesday with a MAJOR announcement.

GO CARDINALS! SHOCK THE WORLD!

Time for a good old fashioned rant

2009-01-28T20:36:00.000-08:00

First of all I would like to thank those of you who are joining me on a Wednesday for the first post-Get to Know the 50 States entry. It was a fun series and while it was pointed out to me that it lost some steam at the end - and to be fair, it did - rest assured that the states that received less than desirable attention will get all the glory they deserve as I transform my little series into a "Sports Lovers Atlas of America" to be released hopefully by mid-2010.

Thanks again to all of you who read, helped contribute to or commented in that series.

Now, let's get on with today's rant:

Let's take a step back and look at this reasonably shall we? I have broached this topic before and have received many comments lamenting the fact that Dale Murphy is not in the hall of fame. If you can't bear to read another entry on the subject, then I am truly sorry. I figured since we are a few weeks removed from this year’s HoF discussions, my argument may not get as lost in the shuffle. I have been bottled up on this matter too long and it's time to set some people straight.

Dale Bryan Murphy played in 18 seasons in Major League Baseball. He complied a .265 career batting average with 398 homers (46th all-time), 1266 RBI and 1197 runs scored. He won the National League MVP award in 1982 and 1983 (becoming the youngest player to win back-to-back awards - and still is).

Murphy was a 7-time All-Star including five times as a starter. He also won five Gold Gloves. He finished in the top-5 in the league in home runs seven times (leading it twice), finished in the top-5 in RBI's five times (leading it twice) and finished in the top-5 in runs scored five times (leading it once).

Dale finished the 1980's with more home runs in the decade than any player not named Mike Schmidt - who is in the Hall - with more RBI's than any player not named Eddie Murray - who is in the Hall - and with more runs scored in the decade than any National League player....period.

Now many people have commented previously saying that if there were a Hall of Fame of character than he would be a first-ballot vote. While it is true that his character was above reproach, I don’t like that sentiment because Murphy IS hall-worthy on his stats alone.

The biggest criticisms against Dale’s inclusion have been the following: 1. His lifetime batting average was too low. 2. He stretch of brilliance was too short. 3. He had too quick of a falloff. 4. He struck out too much.

Let’s take them one at a time.

1. His lifetime batting average was too low.

Fair enough. His average of .265 is not flashy. Let’s take into account what team he played for. He played for the Atlanta Braves for 15 and a half seasons, many of those were cellar-dweller teams. But that’s not an excuse. Plenty of good ball players played on bad teams and posted high batting averages.

Early in Murphy’s career he was a catcher. He was “messed with” quite a bit for the first few years before the organization finally settled him into the outfield.

But even if we take the first three seasons off the books - as well as the last two where he was injury-riddled - his average only rises to .270.

Still, Cal Ripken Jr. had a .276 batting average and nobody blinked an eye to let him in. (I am in no way saying that Cal didn’t deserve induction. Ripken and Murphy were different players entirely, I am simply drawing comparisons based on batting average)

But let’s take a look at one player that got in the Hall that I can’t understand. Ryne Sandberg is in the Hall of Fame and Dale Murphy isn’t. Not to say that Sandberg shouldn’t be. But let’s look at the stats.

Homers: Murphy (398-282)
RBI: Murphy (1266-1061)
Runs: Sandberg (1318-1197)
Hits: Sandberg (2386-2111)
AVG: Sandberg (.285-.265)
OBP: Murphy (.346-.344)
SLG: Murphy (.469-.452)

Sandberg may have won more Gold Gloves than Murphy (9-5) but consider that Sandberg was going against 11 other players at the time for his position while Murphy was up against 35 others.

It’s almost a wash, telling me that if Sandberg is in....Murphy should be as well.

What about Johnny Bench? I know what you are thinking....WHAT?

But Baseball-Reference.com listed him as a similar batter. So I looked at it. Bench had a career average of .267 with 389 homers and 1376 RBI. He scored 1091 runs and had 2048 hits. So is Murphy being punished for the Braves postseason failures (namely their inability to get there) after all?

2. His stretch of brilliance was too short.

Says who? Murphy was one of the best if not THE best player in the National League from 1980-1987. That’s eight seasons with only one in that time where the numbers were down - due to injury. During that 8-year stretch, Murphy averaged .285 with 33 homers and 84 RBI. Remember, this was a time where those numbers would be good enough to be in the top-10 in MVP voting (which he did finish four of those years, winning the two).

And while he may rank 46th in career homers now. When he retired in 1993, he ranked 27th. 19 players have passed Murphy since his retirement. Only Mike Schmidt and Eddie Murray played in the same time frame as Murphy and hit more homers than him (and again....they are in the Hall).

3. He had too quick of a falloff.

Again, says who? 1988 was the beginning of the end for Murphy. He was 32 years old and suffering from a chronic bad knee injury. Over the next four years between Atlanta and Philadelphia, he averaged .240 with 22 homers and 81 RBI.

His last season with Philadelphia, he played in 18 games and then played a limited role in 26 games for the expansion Colorado Rockies before retiring in May of 1993 at the age of 37.

Too quick of a falloff? His body broke down and he was unable to recover from chronic knee problems. And since he wasn’t using steroids like hundreds of other players were, he was forced to hang it up. The falloff was consistent with other players that went before him, that weren’t on steroids.

4. He struck out too much.

This one is hard to argue. He was a free swinger. That is part of the reason why his batting average was so low. His 1748 strikeouts rank 13th all-time. He led the NL in K’s three times with three 2nd place finishes and three 3rd place finishes.

So there you have it. You be the judge now. Should Dale Murphy be voted into the Hall of Fame? How can a guy like Jay Bell receive even two votes for the Hall this year - from writers who did not vote for Murphy. Are voters forgetting what the 1980’s looked like in terms of stats? Are they forgetting the fact that at the alleged beginnings of the steroid era, Murphy put up MVP-worthy offensive power numbers without being on the stuff?

More importantly, the most important gauge of Hall-worthiness in my opinion: Can you tell the history of your sport without mentioning you? Can you? Can you tell the history of baseball without mentioning the youngest player to ever win back-to-back MVP awards? Can you tell the story of baseball in the 1980’s without mentioning Dale Murphy?

It is my humble opinion that you cannot and therefore, Murphy should finally be allowed in.

Karma of the Week (01-25-2009)

2009-01-25T11:40:00.000-08:00

Hello everybody, nice seeing you again. Welcome to Karma of the Week. Picking this week's stories for bad karma was pretty easy. I had a hard time finding a 3rd good karma story this week (been a lot of bad news out there).

I'm sure most of you have probably heard about most of these stories but in case you haven't, here's what made the list.

Bad Karma

Honorable Mention- You only have to be 18 to enjoy a Sam Adams.

Portland Mayor Sam Adams has admitted that he had a fling with an 18-year old former intern. Adams, who just took office on January 1st, is openly gay and was accused of this fling during the election in May of last year.

At the time, Adams vehemently denied the relationship - which was thought to have been with a then 17-year old intern. But last week, as a local weekly publication was set to run a story about the relationship, Adams addressed the public and stated that he indeed had a sexual relationship with the teenager, but that he was 18 at the time.....he had met him when he was 17 but he waited until he was legal to pursue the relationship.

Many City officials as well as media publications are calling for Adams to step down. While he hasn't made a decision yet - and he can't be recalled until July 1st - the damage is already done.

There are ramifications in the sports world as well. Adams was a big proponent of the City's bid for an MLS expansion team. He was in support of a plan by Portland Beavers (triple-A baseball) and Portland Timbers (USL first division soccer) owner Merritt Paulson III to convert PGE Park into a soccer-only stadium in an attempt to draw an MLS team next year.

If Adams goes down, the hopes of MLS in Portland more than likely go down with him.

Runner-up- Hey Coach! Take your foot of the gas!

Two Dallas-area private school girl's basketball teams took part in a historic game of hoops last week.

Unfortunately, the game was historic because one team - The Covenant School - defeated the other - Dallas Academy - 100-0.

The Covenant School had a size and experience advantage and decided to exploit that at the expense of the Lady Bulldogs. This was only a 30-minute game.

Should the coach of the Covenant school taken his foot of the gas at some point? Is sportsmanship completely dead? Maybe with a few minutes remaining, the team could have stopped shooting 3-pointers and playing full court defense.

After the barrage of attention this story has received as far away as Australia, the Covenant School released this apology.

The Covenant School wrote:

The Covenant School, its board and administrators, regrets the incident of January 13 and the outcome of the game with the Dallas Academy Varsity Girls Basketball team. It is shameful and an embarrassment that this happened. This clearly does not reflect a Christ-like and honorable approach to competition. We humbly apologize for our actions and seek the forgiveness of Dallas Academy, TAPPS and our community. The school and its representatives in no way support or condone the running up of a score against any team in any sport for any reason. The school’s board members, Head of School Kyle Queal and Athletic Director Brice Helton have acted to ensure that such an unfortunate incident can never happen again.

Covenant school officials have met with and personally apologized to Dallas Academy Headmaster Jim Richardson and Athletic Director Jeremy Civello and wish to extend their highest praise to each member of the Dallas Academy Varsity Girls Basketball team for their strength, composure and fortitude in a game in which they clearly emerged the winner. Accordingly, The Covenant School has contacted TAPPS and is submitting a formal request to forfeit the game recognizing that a victory without honor is a great loss.

Kyle Queal
Head of School

Todd Doshier
Board Chair

Yeah....it's a little too late. To truly be understanding of what it takes to "win with honor" you need to be able to have the foresight to take the foot of the gas when the score is 30-0 or even 50-0. Had the final score been something in the neighborhood of 70-12 (God forbid that Dallas Academy should score any points right?) then this story more than likely would never have come to light nationally.

Winner- Brotherly Love?

Jay McGwire, the estranged younger brother of former slugger Mark McGwire, is trying to sell a book entitled "The McGwire Family Secret: The Truth about Steroids, a Slugger and Ultimate Redemption."

In the book, the younger McGwire supposedly details the former sluggers use of steroids. Jay claims that the reason for his outing his brother is not due to any ill will, but instead he says, "Mark is a man I think most would like to forgive because his reason wasn't nefarious -- it was for survival. My bringing the truth to surface about Mark is out of love. I want Mark to live in truth to see the light, to come to repentance so he can live in freedom -- which is the only way to live."

Still, what a horrible thing to do to one's brother.

According to the book, Jay - a former bodybuilder - introduced Mark to steroids in 1994 and later helped him turn to androstenedione before the 1998 season - the season in which he broke Roger Maris' single-season homerun record.

I don't care what his motivations were and I have no desire to protect Mark McGwire but if I were in Mark's shoes, I would feel pretty betrayed if my brother came out and told the alleged truth without my involvement.

Good Karma

Honorable Mention- Readers choice

Give us a sample of your top good karma story for the week. Is it the return of the NHL All-Star game to Montreal? Kerry Collins making the Pro Bowl roster to replace Brett Favre? Or some other local story in your area that we may not have heard?

Give us your good news for the week in the comment section. Thanks for the assist.

Runner-up- Roy puts himself in the Blazers record book

Trail Blazers "do everything man" Brandon Roy cemented himself into trivia question territory Saturday night as he recorded 10 steals, tying him with Clyde Drexler and the aptly named Larry Steele.

Overall, Roy had 22 points, 5 rebounds, 7 assists, the 10 steals and 2 blocks.

It was a team effort but Roy led the way, as the Blazers held the Washington Wizards to only 31 points in the first half - a new low for Blazers opponents.

Winner- Cubs have a fan for an owner now.

Tom Ricketts, a member of the billionaire Ricketts family that will be the next owners of the Chicago Cubs, is a lifelong Cubs fan and even met his future wife in the bleachers at Wrigley.

The deal, which is said to be worth approximately $900 million, includes the team, Wrigley Field and a 25% share in a regional sports network.

The Ricketts family founded TD Amertrade Holding Corp. Joe Ricketts is listed as #161 on the Forbes list of wealthiest Americans with a net worth of $2.6 billion.

Perhaps a billionaire family will bring the type of success that Cubs have so desperately been lacking. The type of success that the Dallas Mavericks and Mark Cuban have experienced. (Though to be fair, Cuban's Mavericks haven't won a world title either.)

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That's all for this week. Hope you all have a great week and I will see you Wednesday with a new segment....or perhaps just some filler until I think of a new series. Either way, it should be fun.

Best wishes for good karma to all!

Get to Know the 50 States (THE FINALE) AK & HI

2009-01-21T20:07:00.000-08:00

Ladies and gentleman, boys and girls. Welcome to the end of the line. A journey that I began just over a year ago is finally coming to a close. It all started with the first one (Delaware) which was posted on January 9, 2008. Before we get to the final installment of #49 Alaska and #50 Hawaii, let's take a quick look back at some fun facts of the first 48.

- Nevada had the most views with over 28,000. Connecticut was 2nd with almost 20,000 and New Hampshire came in 3rd with over 17,000 views.

- Oregon had the most comments with 29.

- The information used to complete these posts have taken up over 250 pages in my word processor at 12 point Times font.

- There has been at least one spinoff series. MinnyNewfie12 has his What is....Canada? series. His series has my blessing (he contacted me before he posted to see if I'd be okay with it) and each post has this disclaimer.

"The following is a MinnyNewfie12 presentation paid for by Karmic Boomerang Enterprises. Any rebroadcast, re-transmission or any other use of the pictures or descriptions of this post without the express written consent of the Oregon Tailgater is prohibited!"

- Every state has had at least one contributor or commenter that has either lived in the state or had a memorable experience in the state. Thanks to all of you that have contributed over the past year.

Enough nostalgia and fun facts, let's get on with the show. Here are the final two.

ALASKA

Capital: Juneau

Admitted: Jan. 3, 1959

Order: 49th State

Nickname: The Last Frontier

Historical (fun) Facts:

- Outsiders first discovered Alaska in 1741 when Danish explorer Vitus Jonassen Bering sighted it on a voyage from Siberia.

- Russian whalers and fur traders on Kodiak Island established the first settlement in Alaska in 1784.

- In 1867 United States Secretary of State William H. Seward offered Russia $7,200,000, or two cents per acre, for Alaska.

- Alaska accounts for 25% of the oil produced in the United States.

- The state of Rhode Island could fit into Alaska 425 times.

- Nearly one-third of Alaska lies within the Arctic Circle.

- Alaska is a geographical marvel. When a scale map of Alaska is superimposed on a map of the 48 lower states, Alaska extends from coast to coast.

- At 20,320 feet above sea level, Mt. McKinley, located in Alaska's interior, is the highest point in North America.

- In 1915 the record high temperature in Alaska was 100 degrees Fahrenheit at Fort Yukon; the record low temperature was -80 degrees Fahrenheit at Prospect Creek Camp in 1971.

And, before we get to the people from Alaska....here's the 50th state.

HAWAII

Capital: Honolulu

Admitted: Aug. 21, 1959

Order: 50th State

Nickname: The Aloha State

Historical (fun) Facts:

- Hawaii is the most isolated population center on the face of the earth. Hawaii is 2,390 miles from California; 3,850 miles from Japan; 4,900 miles from China; and 5,280 miles from the Philippines.

- Hawaii is the only state that grows coffee.

- More than one-third of the world's commercial supply of pineapples comes from Hawaii.

- From east to west Hawaii is the widest state in the United States.

- The Hawaiian Islands are the projecting tops of the biggest mountain range in the world.

- Hawaii has its own time zone (Hawaiian Standard Time.) There is no daylight savings time.) The time runs two hours behind Pacific Standard Time and five hours behind Eastern Standard Time.

- The wind blows east to west in Hawaii. The highest recorded temperature is 96' F (Honolulu Airport), but temperatures over 92' F generally occur only once or twice a year. The lowest temperature (under 3000 feet altitude) is 56' F. Temperatures under 60' F may occur but rarely more than once a year. Average daytime temp. (July) is 82' F. Average daytime temperature in January is 72' F.

- Honolulu is the largest city in the world -- at least it has the longest borders. According to the state constitution any island (or islet) not named as belonging to a county belongs to Honolulu. This makes all islands within the Hawaiian Archipelago, that stretch to Midway Island (1,500 miles northwest of Hawaii) part of Honolulu. Honolulu is about 1,500 miles long or more distance than halfway across the 48 contiguous states.

- Iolani Palace is the only royal palace in the United States.

- Mauna Kea is the tallest mountain in the world (measured from its base at the ocean floor).

Famous People Born in Alaska

Curt Schilling

Kate Earl

Famous People Born in Hawaii

44th President of the United States Barack Obama

Tia Carrere

Lauren Graham

Kelly Preston

Michelle Wie

Your turn

Alright bloggers. Let's here from you. Have any of you ever been to or lived in Hawaii or Alaska? Have you ever gone fishing in Alaska? Played one of Hawaii's famous golf courses?

I personally have never been to either state and don't plan on going to Alaska any time soon.

THAT'S IT! It's all done!

(WILD APPLAUSE)

It's been fun. I hope you all have enjoyed the show....and maybe even learned a thing or two. I do not have any plans for my Wednesday time slot as of yet but I will think of something to talk about.

Thanks for reading and I'll see you Sunday with Karma of the Week.

Previous States

1. Delaware

2. Pennsylvania

3. New Jersey

4. Georgia

5. Connecticut

6. Massachusetts

7. Maryland

8. South Carolina

9. New Hampshire

10. Virginia

11. New York

12. North Carolina

13. Rhode Island

14. Vermont

15. Kentucky

16. Tennessee

17. Ohio

18. Louisiana

19. Indiana

20. Mississippi

21. Illinois

22. Alabama

23. Maine

24. Missouri

25. Arkansas

26. Michigan

27. Florida

28. Texas

29. Iowa

30. Wisconsin

31. California

32. Minnesota

33. Oregon

34. Kansas

35. West Virginia

36. Nevada

37. Nebraska

38. Colorado

39/40. The Dakotas

41. Montana

42. Washington

43. Idaho

44. Wyoming

45. Utah

46. Oklahoma

47. New Mexico

48. Arizona

Get to Know the 50 States (ARIZONA)

2009-01-18T09:43:00.000-08:00

Hello again and welcome to Get to Know the 50 States. We are nearing the end of our little adventure and I can't say I'm sad. As much fun as this has been over the past 54 weeks, it has also been VERY time consuming. I am looking forward to moving on to bring you a new series in my Wednesday time slot.

This week, I will not be posting Karma of the Week, in an effort to wrap this up. KotW will return next Sunday.

But until then, we have the 48th state today and we will conclude Wednesday with the 49th and 50th.

But now, here's..........

ARIZONA

Capital: Phoenix

Admitted: Feb. 14, 1912

Order: 48th State

Nickname: The Grand Canyon State

Historical (fun) Facts:

- Petrified wood is the official state fossil. Most petrified wood comes from the Petrified Forest in northeastern Arizona.

- The amount of copper on the roof of the Capitol building is equivalent to 4,800,000 pennies.

- Arizona observes Mountain Standard Time on a year round basis. The one exception is the Navajo Nation, located in the northeast corner of the state, which observes the daylight savings time change.

- The Arizona ridge-nosed rattlesnake is perhaps the most beautiful of all eleven species of rattlesnakes found in Arizona.

- Located in Fountain Hills is a fountain believed to be the tallest in the world.

- Arizona, among all the states, has the largest percentage of its land set aside and designated as Indian lands.

- The world's largest solar telescope is located at Kitts Peak National Observatory in the city of Sells.

- At one time camels were used to transport goods across Arizona.

Famous People Born in Arizona

David Spade

Sean Elliott

Lynda Carter

Jules Asner

Jordin Sparks

Michelle Branch

Your turn

Time for all you Arizonans to tell us about your state. Tell us about your love for your Phoenix Suns, your NFC Champion (possibly) Arizona Cardinals, your Diamondbacks or your extreme hate for any or all of them.

See you Wednesday with the final installment. We will look at both Alaska and Hawaii.

See you then.

Previous States

1. Delaware

2. Pennsylvania

3. New Jersey

4. Georgia

5. Connecticut

6. Massachusetts

7. Maryland

8. South Carolina

9. New Hampshire

10. Virginia

11. New York

12. North Carolina

13. Rhode Island

14. Vermont

15. Kentucky

16. Tennessee

17. Ohio

18. Louisiana

19. Indiana

20. Mississippi

21. Illinois

22. Alabama

23. Maine

24. Missouri

25. Arkansas

26. Michigan

27. Florida

28. Texas

29. Iowa

30. Wisconsin

31. California

32. Minnesota

33. Oregon

34. Kansas

35. West Virginia

36. Nevada

37. Nebraska

38. Colorado

39/40. The Dakotas

41. Montana

42. Washington

43. Idaho

44. Wyoming

45. Utah

46. Oklahoma

47. New Mexico

Get to Know the 50 States (NEW MEXICO)

2009-01-18T09:42:00.000-08:00

You all know the drill, I probably don't need to introduce these by now......let's get right to it with the next stop on the tour.......

NEW MEXICO

Capital: Sante Fe

Admitted: Jan. 6, 1912

Order: 47th State

Nickname: Land of Enchantment

Historical (fun) Facts:

- Santa Fe is the highest capital city in the United States at 7,000 feet above sea level.

- The province that was once Spanish New Mexico included all of present day New Mexico, most of Colorado and Arizona, and slices of Utah, Texas, Oklahoma, Kansas and Wyoming. The Original American Territory of New Mexico that congress created in 1850 included all of New Mexico and Arizona plus parts of Colorado, Nevada, and Utah. The boundaries of present day New Mexico were drawn by congress in 1863 but New Mexico didn't become a state until 1912.

- Las Cruces makes the world's largest enchilada the first weekend in October at the "Whole Enchilada Fiesta".

- Lakes and Rivers make up only .002% of the state's total surface area. The lowest water-to-land ratio of all 50 states. Most of New Mexico's lakes are man-made reservoirs. A dam on the Rio Grande formed the Elephant Butte Reservoir the state's largest lake.

- New Mexico is one of the four corner states. Bordering at the same point with Colorado, Utah and Arizona.

- The Palace of Governors in Santa Fe, built in 1610, is one of the oldest public buildings in America.

- The Navajo, the Nation's largest Native American Group, have a reservation that covers 14 million Acres.

- Public education was almost non-existent in New Mexico until the end of the 19th century. As late as 1888 there was not a single public college or high school in the entire territory.

- Since New Mexico's climate is so dry 3/4 of the roads are left unpaved. The roads don't wash away.

- New Mexico's largest city Albuquerque was founded in 1706 as a Spanish farming community. It was named after a province in Spain.

- The town of Gallup calls itself the "Indian Capital of the World" and serves as a trading center for more than 20 different Indian groups. My wife refers to it as "the @$$hole of the nation." (apologies to anyone living in Gallup)

Famous People Born in New Mexico

Ralph Kiner

Ronnie Lott

Demi Moore

Conrad Hilton- Founder of Hilton hotels and great-grandfather to these annoying but fairly attractive women.....

Hank Baskett- Philly Eagles WR and fiance to this beautiful woman.

Your turn

Here's the part where all of you New Mexicans....that doesn't sound right....tell us about your state. Why should we come visit? Why should we stay away?

Thanks for visiting, see you next time.

Previous States

1. Delaware

2. Pennsylvania

3. New Jersey

4. Georgia

5. Connecticut

6. Massachusetts

7. Maryland

8. South Carolina

9. New Hampshire

10. Virginia

11. New York

12. North Carolina

13. Rhode Island

14. Vermont

15. Kentucky

16. Tennessee

17. Ohio

18. Louisiana

19. Indiana

20. Mississippi

21. Illinois

22. Alabama

23. Maine

24. Missouri

25. Arkansas

26. Michigan

27. Florida

28. Texas

29. Iowa

30. Wisconsin

31. California

32. Minnesota

33. Oregon

34. Kansas

35. West Virginia

36. Nevada

37. Nebraska

38. Colorado

39/40. The Dakotas

41. Montana

42. Washington

43. Idaho

44. Wyoming

45. Utah

46. Oklahoma

Get to Know the 50 States (OKLAHOMA)

2009-01-14T19:03:00.000-08:00

Hello everyone and welcome to the final stretch of Get to Know the 50 States. We kick off the final five with the first state incorporated in the 20th century.

Off we go.....to...........

OKLAHOMA

Capital: Oklahoma City

Admitted: Nov. 16, 1907

Order: 46th State

Nickname: The Sooner State

Historical (fun) Facts:

- The world's first installed parking meter was in Oklahoma City, on July 16, 1935. Carl C. Magee, of Oklahoma City, Oklahoma, is generally credited with originating the parking meter. He filed for a patent for a "coin controlled parking meter" on May 13, 1935.

- During a tornado in Ponca City, a man and his wife were carried aloft in their house by a tornado. The walls and roof were blown away. But the floor remained intact and eventually glided downward, setting the couple safely back on the ground.

- The Amateur Softball Association of America - a volunteer-driven, not-for-profit organization based in Oklahoma City, OK - was founded in 1933 and has evolved into the strongest softball organization in the country.

- Born in 1879 on a large ranch in the Cherokee Nation near what later would become Oologah, Oklahoma, Will Rogers was first an Indian, a cowboy then a national figure. Will Rogers was a star of Broadway and 71 movies of the 1920s and 1930s, a popular broadcaster and wrote more than 4,000 syndicated newspaper columns.

- Okmulgee owns the world record for largest pecan pie, pecan cookie, pecan brownie, and biggest ice cream and cookie party. Each June, Okmulgee rolls out the welcome mat to thousands of its closest friends as the annual Pecan Festival comes to town.

- The National Cowboy Hall of Fame is located in Oklahoma City.

- The town of Beaver claims to be the Cow Chip Throwing Capital of the World. It is here that the World Championship Cow Chip Throw is held each April. (An event that my wife has actually been to.)

- Spiro Mounds, Oklahoma's only archaeological park, is a 140-acre site encompassing 12 southern mounds that contain evidence of an Indian culture that occupied the site from 850 A.D. to 1450 A.D. The Mounds are considered one of the four most important prehistoric Indian sites east of the Rocky Mountains.

- Oklahoma is one of only two states whose capital cities name includes the state name. The other is Indianapolis, Indiana.

- On April 22, 1889, the first day homesteading was permitted, 50,000 people swarmed into the area. Those who tried to beat the noon starting gun were called Sooners. Hence the state's nickname.

Famous People Born in Oklahoma

Ron Howard

Chuck Norris

Brad Pitt- This one is for the ladies

Garth Brooks

Johnny Bench

Warren Spahn

Mickey Mantle

Carrie Underwood

Jennifer Berry- Miss America 2006

Lauren Nelson- Miss America 2007

Your turn

Alright people, you know the drill. If you are from Oklahoma or have ever visited Oklahoma....tell us about it.

I was going to go to college in Edmond, Oklahoma when I first graduated high school. I was there for all of three weeks.....maybe a month but I don't think it was that long.....before I came home.

I enjoyed my time in Edmond and my brief time in Oklahoma in general. I drove past the remnants of the federal building in Oklahoma City and that was a very chilling experience (this was about a year after the bombing).

Share your stories.

That's all for this installment. But stay tuned because I will be back tomorrow with the next stop on our tour.......New Mexico.

OT

Previous States

1. Delaware

2. Pennsylvania

3. New Jersey

4. Georgia

5. Connecticut

6. Massachusetts

7. Maryland

8. South Carolina

9. New Hampshire

10. Virginia

11. New York

12. North Carolina

13. Rhode Island

14. Vermont

15. Kentucky

16. Tennessee

17. Ohio

18. Louisiana

19. Indiana

20. Mississippi

21. Illinois

22. Alabama

23. Maine

24. Missouri

25. Arkansas

26. Michigan

27. Florida

28. Texas

29. Iowa

30. Wisconsin

31. California

32. Minnesota

33. Oregon

34. Kansas

35. West Virginia

36. Nevada

37. Nebraska

38. Colorado

39/40. The Dakotas

41. Montana

42. Washington

43. Idaho

44. Wyoming

45. Utah

Karma of the Week (01-11-2009)

2009-01-11T14:16:00.001-08:00

Happy Sunday everyone and welcome to the little Sunday staple I like to call Karma of the Week.

I have had some new readers pop up over the last week or so, so let me take a minute and explain how this works. Each week, I pick six stories from the past week. I classify three of them as good news or good karma and the other three as bad. It is not a scientific process and is strictly my opinion (it is my blog after all). Sometimes you will agree, sometimes you won't.

Usually the stories are sports related, sometimes some of them aren't. I have a lot of fun with it and I hope you will too.

Let's get on with this week's winners.

Bad Karma

Honorable Mention- Go ahead and sue me.

The Memphis Grizzlies have disregarded a warning by Trail Blazers President Larry Miller that the team would seek litigation against any team that signed Darius Miles simply for the purpose of putting the $18 million back on the Blazers books.

Huh? I know, it's tough to follow but here's the skinny. (If my details are wrong I apologize. This is how it was explained to me by someone with connections in the organization) Miles was injured and the Blazers got his contract off the books because his injury was deemed to be "career-threatening".

However, if Miles were to be signed and play in 10 games, it would prove that his injury was in fact not career-threatening and the remaining $18 million left on Miles' contract would count back against the Blazers next season, forcing them over the cap and forced to pay a luxury tax.

Miles has played in eight games so far this season (two in the regular season) and with the recent revelation that the six preseason games count towards the total, the Blazers knew some team might sign him just to stick it to Portland.

The Grizzlies have done just that.

The Grizzlies of course say that Miles was a valuable veteran asset to the team when he played there earlier this year. But the Blazers aren't buying it.

I don't know were the bad karma really goes here. To the Blazers for threatening litigation and trying to keep Miles from playing if he in fact can play (even though team and league doctors say his career was over). Does it go to the Grizzlies for disregarding the threat and signing him anyways? Does it go to the league for not stepping in and protecting the interests of the Blazers by blocking any transaction involving Miles?

I don't know for sure, but I do know that this mess is far from over.

Runner-up- Oh I'm gonna sue you!

I have lifted the moratorium on Adam "Pacman" Jones stories due to the latest exploits of the embattled strip club aficionado.

After the Dallas Cowboys released the cancerous Jones, I thought that might be the end of it. But now, Jones has stated that he intends on suing ESPN for defamation of character.

I think Barbie Girl said it best over on her blog "People I Want to Mace" when she said "how can you defame someone who's character is already in the dumpster?"

I think someone should sue Jones for defamation of character. Actually, two people. The creator of Pac-Man the video game, Toru Iwantani and Adam Jones, the baseball player.

Can you imagine how many times the baseball Jones has gone to a club and been denied entrance because he said his name was Adam Jones?

Now that's defamation of character.

Winner- Atlanta Braves

I never thought, as a Braves fan, that I would ever have to put my team down on the bad karma list. But here we are, just days after John Smoltz announced he was signing a one-year deal with the Boston Red Sox. Yes Braves fans it's true....after 21 seasons in Atlanta, Smoltz is going to Beantown.

I'm not sure who the bad karma actually lies with here. It's not the Red Sox, they just simply signed a really good pitcher who was out on the market.

It could be Smoltz himself, for taking the offer with more money versus taking slightly less money to remain loyal to his organization. Though loyalty to one's team is something that died in the 1990's.

I decided to stick the blame on Atlanta for allowing him to walk. But the bad karma is with the Braves not only for that but for also not working out a trade for Jake Peavy, not landing A.J. Burnett, going after Derek Lowe and for rumors that Chipper Jones will be traded by the July 31st trade deadline.

Yes, it's official....the once mighty Braves are rebuilding and will become the Yankees of the late 80's.....or perhaps more fitting, the Braves of the late 80's.

"And like lambs to the slaughter, the Braves take the field." --- Skip Carey

Good Karma

Honorable Mention- Don't eat the old man!

City Crab and Seafood in New York City released a lobster believed to be about 140 years old back into the wild this week.

PETA had been lobbying for the release of the 20-lb lobster known as George. The newly released lobster will be released off the coast of Maine where he should be allowed to live out the rest of his days. Maine has a maximum weight limit for catching lobsters.

The restaurant said they had no intention of actually cooking this particular lobster, just using him to draw a crowd at the restaurant, which he did.

The age of 140 was estimated by scientists who use a scale based on his weight to determine age.

Runner-up- 2nd chance at a 2nd Heisman?

Tim Tebow, fresh off of wining his 2nd National Title with Florida, is coming back for his senior season.

And why not? He is after all a great college quarterback who will probably find limited success in the pros.

Tebow, the 2007 Heisman winner and the 2008 2nd runner-up will be the odds on favorite to win the Heisman and a 3rd national title.

Winner- Fly like an Eagle....or a Cardinal.....or even a Raven.

The NFL playoffs have a distinct bird-like feel to it, which will be spoiled by whoever wins today's Chargers-Steelers game.

But the fact remains that all three bird teams in the playoffs stunned the higher-seeded teams including both number one seeds (New York Giants and Tennessee).

Will we have another upset in Pittsburgh? I hope so, but for now....good karma is with the feathered faithful.

Final Thought

For better or for worse, the 2008 college football season is over. Here is my final Top-10. (Many of you won't like it)

1. USC
2. Florida
3. Utah
4. Texas
5. Oklahoma
6. Alabama
7. TCU
8. Oregon
9. Penn State
10. Georgia

Also, the 2009 MLB Hall of Fame inductees will be revealed. This is the last chance on the ballot for Jim Rice, the first chance for Rickey Henderson and I say they both get in.

Here is my ballot (which I don't have but my name is under consideration for a vote.....long shot though):

YES

Rickey Henderson- Any questions?
Bert Blyleven- 5th in career strikeouts. How is he not in?
Andre Dawson- The Hawk should have been in by now.
Tommy John- He has a surgery named after him...how much more famous do you need? Remember it's called the Hall of FAME.
Mark McGwire- Get off your high horse and vote him in.
Dale Murphy- You all know where I stand on him.
Jim Rice- Yup.
Lee Smith- Former all-time saves leader, now sits 3rd. If Goose and Sutter are in, Smith needs to be too.

No

Harold Baines- Just doesn't make the cut.
Jay Bell- ESPN's Pedro Gomez voted for him.....HOW?
David Cone- Close, but just not enough.
Ron Gant- Sorry. If Murphy can't get in, Gant has no chance.
Mark Grace- He was famous enough, but the writers will never put him in.
Don Mattingly- Again, famous enough. He has some good stats but if Murph isn't in, Donnie Baseball won't get in.
Jack Morris- A good big game pitcher. Just falls short.
Jesse Orosco- Played forever....stat padding isn't a sign of a good player.
Dave Parker- Really close.
Dan Plesac, Tim Raines, Alan Trammell, Greg Vaughn, Mo Vaughn and Matt Williams all good players but not quite Hall material.

----------------------------------------

That's all for this week. Hope you all have a great week and I will see you Wednesday, Thursday, Friday and Saturday as I try to finish up Get to Know the 50 States.

Best wishes for good karma to all!

Get to Know the 50 States (UTAH)

2009-01-07T14:07:00.001-08:00

Hey everyone and welcome back to the series that just keeps going. Today is my birthday so I must be brief. Got cake and presents and such to get to. But this series has waited long enough.

Without further adieu here is the next state on the tour......

UTAH

Capital: Salt Lake City

Admitted: Jan. 4, 1896

Order: 45th State

Nickname: The Beehive State

Historical (fun) Facts:

- Completion of the world's first transcontinental railroad was celebrated at Promontory where the Central Pacific and Union Pacific Railroads met on May 10, 1869. It is now known as Golden Spike National Historic Site.

- Levan, is "navel" spelled backwards. It is so named because it is in the middle of Utah.

- Utah is the site of the nations first department store. Zions Co-operative Mercantile Institution was established in the late 1800's. It is still in operation today as ZCMI.

- Rainbow Bridge, Nature's abstract sculpture carved of solid sandstone, is the world's largest natural-rock span. It stands 278 feet wide and 309 feet high.

- The Great Salt Lake covers 2,100 square miles, with an average depth of 13 feet. The deepest point is 34 feet.

- The Mormon Temple in Salt Lake City took 40 years to complete.

- The name Utah comes from the Native American Ute tribe and means people of the mountains.

- Utah has the highest literacy rate in the nation (2002).

Famous People Born in Utah

Steve Young

Roseanne Barr

Nolan Bushnell- Founder of Atari & Chuck E. Chesse's

Jewel- Raised in Alaska but born in Utah

Your turn

Anyone out there from Utah? Do we have any Jazz fans out there (the basketball team, not the music)?

Tell us about your state. I've been through there a couple of times and the scenery is the most breathtaking of any I have seen in this country.

And I think I saw a UFO near the Utah-Colorado border once....true story.

That's all for now. Tune in next Wednesday as I try to put a neat little bow on this series. Next week we get #46 Oklahoma on Wednesday, #47 New Mexico on Thursday, #48 Arizona on Friday, and #49 & #50, Alaska and Hawaii on Saturday.

Previous States

1. Delaware

2. Pennsylvania

3. New Jersey

4. Georgia

5. Connecticut

6. Massachusetts

7. Maryland

8. South Carolina

9. New Hampshire

10. Virginia

11. New York

12. North Carolina

13. Rhode Island

14. Vermont

15. Kentucky

16. Tennessee

17. Ohio

18. Louisiana

19. Indiana

20. Mississippi

21. Illinois

22. Alabama

23. Maine

24. Missouri

25. Arkansas

26. Michigan

27. Florida

28. Texas

29. Iowa

30. Wisconsin

31. California

32. Minnesota

33. Oregon

34. Kansas

35. West Virginia

36. Nevada

37. Nebraska

38. Colorado

39/40. The Dakotas

41. Montana

42. Washington

43. Idaho

44. Wyoming

Karma of the Week (01-04-2009)

2009-01-04T15:27:00.000-08:00

Hello everyone and welcome to the first Karma of the Week of 2009. The 2008 Karma of the Year awards ceremony was a wild success. Thousands of people tuned in to see O.J. Simpson win the Bad Karma of the Year award and Myron Rolle win the Good Karma Trophy.

Thanks for your support.

Let's begin with the first nominees for 2009's awards.

Bad Karma

Honorable Mention- B-B-B-Brett Favre and the Jets.

First, Brett Favre threw three picks last Sunday against the Miami Dolphins and the Jets missed the playoffs. Then on Monday, the Jets fired coach Eric Mangini. Then, an anonymous player said that Favre was aloof in the locker room, he was distant and not part of the team.

That same player said that it was Favre, not Mangini that caused the Jets to miss the playoffs. Then....as if there needed to be more....running back Thomas Jones spoke out and basically threw Favre under the bus.

Note to Brett Favre: YOU ARE NOT WELCOME IN NEW YORK ANYMORE! This year's retire or not to retire decision should be a lot easier.

Runner-up- Barkley needs to have less Bark.

Tom Ziller has a piece up right now on The Sporting Blog on TSN that says it all.

Charles Barkley is not the end-all-be-all for information in the NBA. He played the game, he has a loud voice and a strong opinion but that doesn't make him right.

Barkley was picked up on DUI charges in Arizona this week, adding more proof that Barkley doesn't always make the most sound of decisions. Add to that the admission that Barkley was "looking for sex" when he was picked up.

"I was going to drive around the corner and get [oral sex]," the basketball Hall of Famer told police in Scottsdale, Ariz., according to the police report.

He said the woman had performed the sex act for him last week and "it was the best one he had ever had," the report said.

Barkley, 45, was pulled over around 1:30 a.m. A cop saw him blow through a red light, then pull over to pick up the woman, who wasn't charged.

"I am disappointed that I put myself in that situation," Barkley said.

You think? You were disappointed? Here's a simple thing you can do when you find yourself heading down that road again......DON'T!

I think we ought to join Ziller in realizing that NBA fans need to stop listening to Sir Charles just because he's Sir Charles and understand that you don't have to just blindly accept his opinions.

Good call Tom.

Winner- Bowl games not immune from upsets.

NOTE: This could be seen as good karma (from the winning team's perspective, but this is bad karma from the perspective of the losing teams)

The wild and crazy college football season spilled into the Bowl schedule. With 11 games having been played involving Top-25 teams, nine of them resulted in upsets.

Unranked Arizona beat No. 17 BYU 31-21
No. 11 TCU beat No. 9 Boise State 17-16
No. 25 Missouri beat No. 22 Northwestern 30-23
No. 15 Oregon beat No. 13 Oklahoma State 42-31
No. 24 Oregon State beat No. 18 Pittsburgh 3-0
Unranked LSU beat No. 14 Georgia Tech 38-3
No. 21 Virginia Tech beat No. 12 Cincinnati 20-7
No. 20 Mississippi beat No. 8 Texas Tech 47-34
No. 7 Utah beat No. 4 Alabama 31-17

Only two (No. 5 USC and No. 16 Georgia) defeated lower ranked teams (No. 6 Penn State and No. 19 Michigan State respectively) as expected.

There are still three games remaining and they all involve Top-25 teams (No. 1 Oklahoma vs. No. 2 Florida, No. 3 Texas vs. No. 10 Ohio State and No. 23 Ball State vs. Tulsa) I smell at least one more upset.

Good Karma

Honorable Mention- One final gift

Donald Peters and his wife of 59 years had a 20-year ritual, buying lotto tickets in the Connecticut lottery. Peters would buy the tickets for up to 10 weeks in advance. So when Donald passed away later that day, his wife was so caught up in grief, she didn't think to check the lotto tickets as they came up.

Until recently.

Charlotte Peters won the $10 million lottery prize on the Dec. 2 drawing that her late husband had purchased on Nov. 1 (the day he died of a heart attack).

"I was in the grocery store and I had it checked and they told me I was a winner," she said. "I had no idea how much it was."

Charlotte now has 60 days to decide whether to take a $6 million pre-tax lump sum payment or stretch the winnings into 21 yearly payments of almost $477,300 each.
She does not yet know what she will do with the money.

"I've always wanted a Corvette, but I don't think I'll buy one. I'll stick to a small car."

Runner-up- Bolts top Colts

There was one sign in the crowd Saturday night in San Diego that said it perfectly.

Jay Cutler- Pro Bowl
Peyton Manning- NFL MVP
Getting to beat them both in consecutive weeks- PRICELESS!

The Chargers are on fire after beating the Indianapolis Colts Saturday night....and they did without LaDainian Tomlinson for most of the game.

The Chargers look like this year's Giants - peaking at the right time, everyone counting them out - and they should be taken seriously next week against Pittsburgh.

Winner- Frozen Pond at Wrigley?

Now many of you who have been following me for the better part of 18 months now know that I am not a hockey fan. I don't hate it, I don't hate people who enjoy it....I just never got into it and I never will.....it simply does not float my boat.

However, I do realize when a story in the hockey world is significant enough to be included in the Karma of the Week. And the first Good Karma winner of 2009 is the 2nd Annual Winter Classic, played at Wrigley Field on New Year's Day between the Detroit Red Wings and the Chicago Blackhawks.

NBC broadcasted the event and it received a 2.9 overnight rating with a 6.0 share. The number was the best overnight rating for an NHL game in nearly 13 years and it was up 12% from last year's Classic held at Ralph Wilson Stadium in Buffalo.

"Year one was an extraordinary experience," NBC Sports president Ken Schanzer said Saturday. "Year two was the establishment of what promises to be a great tradition."

Absolutely. Heck, I might even watch next year's to see what all the fuss was about.....maybe.

Final Thought

As I sit here typing this today it is hard for me to believe that 2009 is finally here. This year has been in the back of my mind for several years and it seemed like it was so far away. This is a big year for me and my family (in terms of milestones).

This is the year I turn 30 (this Wednesday), the year my wife turns 30 (in June), the year my wife and I celebrate our 10th wedding anniversary (in March), the year our oldest son turns 10 (October), the year my sister graduates high school (in June) and turns 18 (in July). We will be moving this Summer to a bigger home (FINALLY) and perhaps in a different city.

It's just such a big year for me and my family....I can't believe it's finally here. It's exciting and scary all at the same time. So, Happy 2009 everyone.....it's gonna be a hell of a ride!

----------------------------------------

That's all for this week. Hope you all have a great week and I will see you Wednesday as I try to finish up Get to Know the 50 States.

Best wishes for good karma to all!

Karma of the Year ( 2008 )

2008-12-28T10:34:00.000-08:00

Welcome.........to the 2nd Annual Karma of the Year awards.

(WILD APPLAUSE)

Ladies and gentleman, the votes have been tallied and the awards are ready to be given out. But first let's welcome to the main stage.......Radiohead.

(WILD APPLAUSE)

Alright. Let's get on with the recipient of this year's bad karma awards. First, the winner of the Britney Spears award for Honorable Mention Bad Karma in 2008 goes to........

The Detroit Lions

The Lions proved that futility is an accomplishment. The 0-15 Lions could potentially win later today and avoid becoming the first team to ever finish the NFL season 0-16 but that's not likely.

Accepting the Spears award on behalf of the Lions is WR Calvin Johnson who had this to say.

"You deserve better from us, we can be better, we will be better, thank you."

Did he steal that from 'Hancock'?

Moving on, we go right to the winner of the Zinedine Zidane trophy for Runner-up bad karma. The winner is..........

Chad Ocho Cinco

The embattled Cincinnati Bengals wide receiver made the game all about him earlier this year when he legally changed his name from Chad Johnson to Chad Ocho Cinco. (Which actually means eight five in Spanish, not eighty-five).

Ocho-Stinko has been about as productive on the field this season as Tom Brady has. And for that, and for trying to make the game about you and not the team, Ocho Cinco is the winner of the 2008 Zinedine Zidane award.

We have one more bad karma winner to recognize. This one should go as no surprise. Without further adieu, the winner of the 2008 Michael Vick award for bad karma goes to.....

O.J. Simpson

(CROWD YELLS JUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUICE!)

The Juice....the Juice....the Juice is in jail. The karmic boomerang finally caught up with Mr. Simpson and put his @$$ in jail. Nothing more needs to be said.

Now ladies and gentleman, we are half way home (a lot quicker than the Academy Awards huh?). I would like to direct your attention to the main stage once again, please welcome the Black Eyed Peas!

Now, let's get on to some good news.

The winner of the Good karma license plate for honorable mention good karma in 2008 is.......

The Tampa Bay Rays

The little team that could shocked the baseball world this season. They dropped the word "Devil" from the name, changed the uniforms and most importantly, their young talent was finally ready for the next step.

The Rays charged through the regular season and right into the World Series. They may not have won the Series, but they will be back.

Moving right along, we have the winner of the Good Karma cookie for runner-up in good karma for 2008, the winner is......

Michael Phelps

Phelps' quest for eight Olympic Gold medals in Beijing captivated the country...and much of the world. His smile was infectious, we loved watching his mother react in the stands and we all felt at least a glimmer of national pride each of the eight times he took the top spot on the medal platform.

Before we announce the winner of the coveted Good Karma Trophy, ladies and gentleman, the lovely and talented Ms. Alicia Keys.

(WILD APPLAUSE AND CAT CALLING)

Alright, here we go. After all of the votes were tabulated in the inbox, comment section both here on TSN and on http://thekarmicboomerang.blogspot.com, the winner of the 2008 Good Karma Winner Trophy is......

Myron Rolle

This young man from Florida State University reminded us all that a student-athlete is a student, first.

Rolle graduated from Florida State after only 2.5 years, majoring in Exercise Sciences with a concentration in Pre-Med, and is currently completing a Master of Public Administration degree.

Oh and by the way, he won a Rhodes Scholarship. Rolle has yet to announce his intentions as to whether he will forgo his senior season of eligibility and the NFL to study at Oxford, where he intends to study medical anthropology.

Rolle set the bar high for future student-athletes and is an example to all of us. Congratulations on the good karma trophy Myron Rolle.

That concludes our awards ceremony for this year. Congrats to the winners and losers. I will be back with Karma of the Week (the first of 2009) on Jan 4th. Happy New Year to everyone and good karma to all.

Karma of the Year (Call for nominees)

2008-12-21T09:58:00.000-08:00

It's that time of the year isn't it? It is time to recognize the biggest story makers of 2008.

It is of course, time for the 2nd Annual Karma of the Year awards.

There will be a winner, runner-up and honorable mention for good and bad karma.

The honorable mention for bad karma will receive the Britney Spears award.

The runner-up receives the Zinedine Zidane award.

The winner of bad karma for 2008 wins the Michael Vick award, named for last year's bad karma winner.

For the good karma awards, the honorable mention will receive the good karma license plate.

The runner-up will receive the good karma cookie.

And the winner will receive the coveted Good Karma Statue.

Sorry....that wasn't it. Here it is.

Cast your votes for any or all of the awards. Votes will be tabulated and the results will be posted in an awards ceremony next Sunday.

Thanks for your help and have a great week.

Karma of the Week (12-14-2008)

2008-12-14T10:49:00.000-08:00

Hello everyone and welcome to Karma of the Week. I'd like to extend a special welcome to those of you who are new to the blog. Here's how things work on Sunday.

I will give you three stories that fall into two categories, good karma and bad karma. Basically this is a top-3 list of feel-good and feel-bad stories of the week. Usually it comes from the world of sports, sometimes I throw in some extra stories.

Bad Karma

Honorable Mention-You can run, but you can't hide.

Many of you have probably seen a story out of Woodburn, Oregon that has made national headlines.

A bomb was detonated inside a Woodburn bank on Friday, killing an Oregon State Police bomb technician, a Woodburn Police captain and seriously injuring the Woodburn Police Chief.

A bomb threat was called into a bank in Woodburn and police responding to the threat found nothing. Then another threat was called in about a different bank and when police arrived on scene, they found a device outside the bank. Officers cleared the area and then brought the device inside the back where it went off.

As of right now, there are no suspects. But if you are out there, reading this....you will be found. Officials are offering a $35,000 reward for information leading to an arrest.

Woodburn is a small town between Salem and Portland. If you have any information you are asked to contact the Oregon State Police, Woodburn police or the Salem police departments.

Runner-up-No Mo!

The Philadelphia 76'ers fired Maurice Cheeks Saturday. Cheeks who was in his fourth season was 9-14 so far this year, but higher expectations for this season led to the early dismissal.

Cheeks became the fifth NBA coach fired this season following P.J. Carlesimo (Oklahoma City), Eddie Jordan (Washington), Sam Mitchell (Toronto) and Randy Wittman (Minnesota).

The Sixers never had a winning record under Cheeks.

Winner-Down economy? What down economy?

The New York Yankees went into the winter meetings and ignored the fact that the country is going through one of the worst recessions since the Great Depression.

The Yanks loaded up the pitching staff, acquiring C.C. Sabathia for about $23 million per year and AJ Burnett for about $12 million per year.

They reportedly now have their sights set on Manny Ramirez (which will cost another $20 million or more per year) and could they still go after Mark Teixeira?

I am going to make a bold prediction for next year...mark it down....the Yankees will miss the playoffs again next year.

Good Karma

Honorable Mention-He did it the right way

Future Hall of Fame pitcher Greg Maddux officially announced his retirement on Monday. The 23-year veteran leaves the game having won the most games of anyone since Warren Spahn.

His 355 career victories gives him one more than Roger Clemens, whose alleged steroid use leaves many of those victories are under a cloud of suspicion.

Maddux did it the right way. He was a small guy with pinpoint accuracy. He finishes his career with only 999 walks in over 5,000 innings.

The four-time Cy Young winner and eight-time All-Star is a sure thing first-ballot hall of famer when he is eligible in January 2014.

He finishes eighth all-time in career victories, 13th in innings pitched, 10th in strikeouts and 16th in K/BB ratio.

Runner-up-Time for the TSN awards as well

Over on backell's blog, he is taking nominations for the TSN Blog awards. Check out the list of current nominees and be sure to add your favorites - don't forget to vote for your favorite karma-based blog as well (shameless plug).

But seriously, there are some fun categories (blogger you'd most like to meet) and standard categories as well (best writer, best MLB blogger, etc).

Check it out and get your nominees in today.

Also, MinnyNewfie12 has started a new series based on my Get to Know the 50 States. It's called, What is.....Canada? His first one is up right now so head on over there and show him your support. Thanks.

Winner-Heisman vote, a national championship preview?

If the Heisman voting is any indication of how the Final BCS ranking will go, it will read:

1. Oklahoma
2. Texas
3. Florida

Sam Bradford, the Oklahoma Sooner gun-slinger won the Heisman Trophy on Saturday, denying Florida's Tim Tebow the chance to become only the 2nd player ever to win two Heismans.

Texas' Colt McCoy (what a football name) finished second with Tebow finishing third, despite getting the most first-place votes (309 to Bradford's 300 and McCoy's 266).

Now, the BCS National Championship game will feature two Heisman winning quarterbacks and may the best kid win.

Final Thought

It's snowing here in Portland today and while I love to see the excitement in my children's faces, the panic in mine is unmistakable. The weather bimbos are predicting a winter storm the likes this region hasn't seen in over a dozen years. If all goes according to plan, the kids will be out of school all next week (a week early for Christmas break).

However, as a UPS driver, I still have to go to work. AND, it's a week and a half before Christmas which means we are already busy as it is.

For the kids, teachers and others who can stay home on snow days, I wish you lots of fun and happiness. For the UPS drivers and others for which the snow doesn't stop you from going to work....I hope it all melts by tomorrow morning (which it won't.).

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That's all for this week. Hope you all have a great week and I will see you next Sunday.

Best wishes for good karma to all!

Karma of the Week (12-07-2008)

2008-12-07T10:14:00.000-08:00

Happy Sunday and welcome to Karma of the Week. What a week it has been. A lot going on, it was hard to pick just 3 for each good and bad karma. But, that is how it works, so sit back and enjoy.

Bad Karma

Honorable Mention-Ducks continue a scary trend

The Oregon Ducks announced this week that their head football coach, Mike Bellotti will move into the Athletic Director's position when he is ready. They also announced that when that happens, Offensive Coordinator Chip Kelly will become the new head coach at Oregon.

This is a trend that has been developing in the college ranks (Texas, Florida State) and in the pros as well (Seattle). TSN's Sporting Blog entry by Spencer Hall has a great article up right now. He makes a valid point:

It is nepotism, not racism that is the real problem in hiring practices.

Isn't there some NCAA rule that is being violated by not opening up the hiring of head coaching positions? People always scream when a top black coaching candidate is not even interviewed for an opening, why is no one screaming about the complete lack of an interview process?

Runner-up-I'm loving it....in your face!

In Vero Beach, Florida, a man attacked his girlfriend with a McDonalds burger while the two sat arguing in their car.

Vincent Gonzalez, 22, and his girlfriend got into an argument while sitting in his car, outside of their home. The woman tried to leave the vehicle but Gonzalez wouldn't let her. The woman then threw his drink out the window to protest his unwillingness to let her leave. That is when Gonzalez smashed the burger in her face.

They then got out of the car where he took the burger again, and again smashed it on her face.

This comes just a few weeks after a Florida man threw a sandwich at his girlfriend's head while she was driving.

WHAT IS WRONG WITH THESE PEOPLE IN FLORIDA? When did sandwiches and burgers become weapons of choice?

If Plaxico Burress had been packing a Big Mac instead of a handgun, he wouldn't have shot himself in the thigh....and he would've had a snack.

Winner-Who will look for the real killers now?

O.J. Simpson is finally going to prison and will be gone for at least nine years and as many as 33 years. The only problem is....with O.J. finally behind bars, who will look on the golf courses of Florida and California for the real killer now?

Simpson's attorney stands by his statement that his client was convicted more on the negative feelings from his acquittal than he was on the charges of this case. Well, DUH! All Simpson had to do in 1995 was to disappear, never to be heard from again. But he had to be in our living rooms, writing books about how he did it...err...how he would have done it, and the karmic boomerang came around full circle and knocked him atop his bald melon.

BYE BYE JUICE! Have fun in prison.

Good Karma

Honorable Mention-Phelps the Sportsman

Sports Illustrated named Olympic swimming icon Michael Phelps, the 2008 Sportsman of the Year. They called the decision "the easiest one they ever had to make".

While I agree that Phelps' drive towards eight Olympic gold medals drove interest in this year's Olympic games and help to instill a sense of national pride, the pick was almost too obvious and too easy.

But who else is there? Not Plaxico Burress, not Adam "Pac Man" Jones, not Michael Vick. Roger Clemens? Barry Bonds? Wow, there have been a lot of bad press this year. Okay, give me the Michael Phelps story...good call SI.

Runner-up-What's your story?

Normally I leave the winner space open for discussion, but I have a clear-cut winner this week. So I will leave the runner-up, up to you today. What was your favorite good news story of the week? Leave me your stories in the comment section. Let's spread some good karma people.

Winner-Going against the Tide.

Heisman winner Tim Tebow led the Florida Gators past the No. 1 Alabama Crimson Tide in the SEC title game on Saturday, and all but assured themselves a spot in the National Title game.

Tebow, who will win his second Heisman, was brilliant again with 216 yards passing with 3 TD tosses and oh by the way....he led the team with his 57 rushing yards.

The Gators could leap over Texas and Oklahoma to claim the No. 1 ranking in the BCS later today. At the very least, they will play Oklahoma in the National Championship Game.

What a season this has been.

Final Thought

This has been a new addition to KotW and it feels a bit like the Jerry Springer show. I apologize for that but it's just a way for me to get one more thought in without fitting it into the 3 good, 3 bad format.

This week, I would like to make a simple request from you all. Please, drive safely. Don't take chances, don't speed excessively, realize that your actions on the road don't always just impact you.

As most of you know, I am a UPS driver. On Monday, this story came across to us out of Salt Lake City, Utah. Watch the video, please.

So, this 54-year old UPS driver did nothing wrong. The dump truck driver took a chance by turning in front of the UPS driver when he really didn't have enough time to complete the turn. And now, the UPS driver, husband, father, son, grandfather is now dead because the other driver couldn't hold his load for a few more seconds.

How you drive on the road, affects more people than just the ones in your car. Please, drive defensively, drive responsibly, drive safe. Thanks for reading.

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That's all for this week. Hope you all have a great week and I will see you Wednesday with Get to Know the 50 States.

Best wishes for good karma to all!

The Gentleman's Guide to 1st Date Etiquette

2008-12-06T10:29:00.000-08:00

This was originally posted on TSN in March of this year for Week 6 of the Blogger Championship Series. Hope you enjoy.

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For this week's BCS topic, I am back to movies. And in a continued effort to avoid blogging about the greatest sports movies of all-time, I thought I would talk about something a little more personal.

I give you, "The Gentleman's Guide to First Date Etiquette" (At the Movies Edition).

Do you remember the first date you went on? Do you remember how old you were? What did you do?

I don't mean the first date with any particular girl or guy, I mean the first date you EVER went on.

Chances are you went to a movie. Now, there are some of you out there who may refer to the movies as "the picture show", "the talking pictures" or some other older derivative but the main idea is that you watched a movie.

The movie theatre is an ideal place for a first date. Why you may ask?

Well, let's take a look at what makes the movies such a great date destination.

1- It's dark

This is perfect if a guy decided he wanted to try to make a "move" on his girl - because 'good girls' would never dream of making moves.

A typical "move" is the fake yawn with arm stretched up and out so it conveniently lands on your date's shoulders.

Another is the one where you reach down to put your popcorn on the floor and your hand comes back up and lands on your date's thigh.

These moves, along with more "advanced" moves would not be possible without the cover of darkness.

2- It's in public

Despite the fact that it is dark, it is also in public, so if the "moves" don't go over too well with the ladies, the chance of getting slapped in front of all those people is lessened a bit. Unless she's really peeved. In that case, brace for impact.

The public nature is also good in case the date isn't going as planned. You could excuse yourself to the restroom and make a break for it, knowing that she could probably find a ride home from someone in the theatre (I know a guy who actually did that, but I would never personally do it). However, if your mother or some other person dropped the two of you off there, you're going to have to wait it out.

3- It's relatively inexpensive

Or at least it used to be. But even today, a movie runs anywhere from $8.50-$12 per person plus an average of $15 for a large popcorn and two large soft drinks.

My father would tell you that back in his day, you could go to the picture show, get a popcorn, drink and candy and still have change left from a quarter.

Well, this isn't 1960 and the movies are still a bargain, given the cost of everything else. And because of that, the movies remains as a top spot for first dates. If the date doesn't go well, you aren't out a lot of money.

Extra Credit

For those with a little more gusto, or for those of you who had a car on their first date, the drive-in was the venue of choice.

If you are asking "what's a drive-in?" you are either under the age of 25 or have never lived in a small town (or a medium-sized suburb near a large town).

Example

My first date, was probably much like many of yours...it was at the movies.

I was 10.

It was during the summer after my 5th grade year. Her name was Beth and I had originally met her in 3rd grade. But before the year was over, she had moved to a different part of town and presumably out of my life forever.

Then, just in time for the 5th grade year...there she was. She had shoulder-length black hair and brown eyes. She was an inch taller than me and almost a year older (I was always the youngest in my class because I skipped 2nd grade).

I was one of the first people she spoke to upon her return and the first thing she did was give me her phone number (digits for the younger crowd).

You see, back in the day, for a girl to give you their phone number meant that they actually had to take the time to grab a piece of paper, write their name and number on it and usually adorn it with a few hearts or smiley faces. It was much more personal than today's text messaging or the "call my phone and then I'll have your number" thing.

But I digress.

It took me a few weeks before I could get up the courage to call her. A few weeks into the summer that is. But I finally did it. And after hanging up about a dozen times when someone picked up the phone, I finally stayed on and talked to her (after apologizing to her mother for prank-calling 12 times).

We agreed that we would in fact go see a movie. My mother would chaperone to make sure that there was no "funny business" going on between a 10-year-old and his 11-year old friend.

The movie of choice was Honey, I Shrunk the Kids.

Perfect date movie right?

Well, it didn't go too good. Whether there was too much build-up leading to the highly anticipated date, or the fact that I got really nervous and ended up losing my wallet and tore apart the theatre searching for it like a crazed lunatic before finding it at the snack bar.

I had a lot of money for a 10-year old, didn't I?

We didn't talk much after that. I found a new "crush" and Beth moved away again after 6th grade.

YOUR TURN

Now, I'd like to hear from you. What was your first date? Was it at the movies? What movie did you see? Did you make a "move" or was a "move" put on you?

Your stories just may help first-timers out there for years to come and avoid situations like this.....

Thanks for stopping by....comments are always welcome.

My Little Rebel Rouser

2008-12-01T21:38:00.000-08:00

This was originally posted in March, on TSN for Week 5 of the Blogger Championship Series. Hope you enjoy.

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My topic for the BCS this week is kids. I know a little something on the topic. I have three of them.

I always thought I was going to be a great father...until I had kids.

I was a young father. My daughter was born when I was only 19-years-old. Her mother and I were not working out and I had a hard time believing that I was bringing a child into this world, into an already unstable situation.

The situation between her mother and I is subject for another blog, but needless to say that I was not "good enough" for her - or my daughter - in the eyes of my daughters' grandmother.

They came from a rich family, I came from a working-class family. It would never work out. The mother of my child was too used to having everything she wanted whenever she wanted.

But I digress.

I met my wife in the Summer of 1998. I still remember that day like it was yesterday (and in some ways it was). We were married the following Spring and in late October we welcomed our first son.

We knew from the beginning that he was going to be a handful. My wife had to undergo emergency cesarean surgery because the umbilical cord was wrapped around his ankle several times and he was not dropping.

I was originally going to tell you the story of how my son came to be diagnosed with Asperger's Syndrome. A mild form of autism, Asperger's affects a person socially more than anything else. My son is at times "socially awkward". He doesn't have that little voice in his head to tell him when a thought is inappropriate and therefore shouldn't be vocalized.

The reason why I chose to switch gears a bit is because my son came home from school earlier this week and a phone call came from the office.

It seems that my son (now in 2nd grade) had been caught trying to flood the bathroom. He tells us that the sink was already clogged and that he was just trying to fill it up so he could watch it drain.

The public schools are such these days that my son has a lot of "free time" on his hands. The teacher gives them a list of tasks/assignments that must be completed by the end of the week. My son usually finishes them by Tuesday and has three days to sit in class and read and go to the bathroom (something he apparently does several times a day).

He is bored. Plain and simple. Bored children, especially boys and especially boys with Asperger's, will look for things to do - whether they are appropriate or not.

He is a very inquisitive boy and likes to experiment. But I initially was upset. Angered that MY SON was now on the path towards becoming a hoodlum.

But then I remembered a story from my youth.

I was about 10-years old and I had a friend who was a bad influence. He was the type of kid that was fun to hang around (he had all the cool video games, an extensive baseball card collection and a cool bike) but you just knew he was trouble.

One of our favorite things to do was to head down to the neighborhood Circle K and get candy and comics. When I say "get" of course I am referring to the "five-fingered discount."

One time, we got caught. We were on our way out the door and heading towards our hiding place (a pipeline that led a creek into the sewer system).

The clerk was yelling at us as we ran towards the pipe. Usually we just hung out at the entrance of the pipe. But this time, we ran into the pipe and found ourselves without much light in only a few moments.

The last thing we saw was the clerk at the entrance of the sewer yelling that he was calling the cops.

We hung out in the drainage pipe for what seemed like hours. We finally decided that the only way to escape was to follow the pipe until we reached a manhole and climb out.

We followed the pipe and the water level began to rise. Soon, we were knee deep in God knows what. It was dark, we were wet and we heard a....waterfall?

Suddenly, we found ourselves in a sewer junction. The water from several pipes were dumping into the junction which appeared to be about 10 feet down.

We made our way up the ladder to the manhole which ended up being across the street on the property of an abandoned cannery. Rumor had it that the cannery had land mines to keep trespassers off the land. (Of course that was total hogwash but a 10-year-old didn't know better)

We noticed as we came up that the police were indeed across the street at the Circle K.

We made our way out of the manhole and stepped lightly around the "land mines" and made our way off the property and back to our block.

Needless to say, I had a hard time following "friends" of that persuasion after an experience like that.

But, my reflection on my actions at that age made me realize that what my son did wasn't too different.

Granted, I broke the law...but what he did could have resulted in serious property damage. However, it's just two examples of little boys being little boys. Don't get me wrong, my son received a good talking to and appropriate punishment...but my initial reaction to this news was toned down after a little self reflection.

My wife says that is the sign of a good father. Realizing that kids will be kids and doing your best to ensure that they don't make the same mistakes that you made...or at least make lesser ones than you did.

I don't know if she's right or not, but it makes me feel better about the work I've done so far.

Obligatory picture of my other son.

Karma of the Week (11-30-2008)

2008-11-30T10:57:00.000-08:00

Happy Sunday and welcome to Karma of the Week. I hope you all enjoyed your Thanksgiving holiday. I am on my way out of town this morning for yet another round of leftovers at another family members house so I am pressed for time. Let's get right to it then shall we?

Bad Karma

Honorable Mention-Black Friday madness

For those of you who read my blog on Friday, you saw these stories (even if you didn't see my blog you probably saw these stories) but in case you were in a turkey-induced coma, check out my blog on blogger to see these honorable mentions of bad karma.

The Karmic Boomerang

Runner-up-Beavers lose Civil War.....Rose Bowl hopes

The Oregon State Beavers watched most of their aspirations of getting to their first ROse Bowl in 44 years go up in smoke on Saturday. The Beavers lost the Civil War 65-38 in the highest scoring Civil War in the game's history.

Now, for the Beavers to get into the Rose Bowl on New Years Day, they need UCLA to defeat the Trojans this next Saturday. Then, the Trojans, Beavers and Ducks would share a three-way tie for the Pac-10 title with the Beavers holding the tiebreaker for the Rose Bowl.

So, this week I have become a UCLA fan. (see the favorite teams list)

Winner-Plaxico Burress is a freaking moron.

Troubled New York Giants wide receiver Plaxico Burress has added to his drama in 2008. He apparently shot himself in his thigh at a nightclub the other night.

For the whole story check out my friend Football News from a Chick.

I wonder if the Giants injury report reads like this:

New York: Out- Plaxico Burress (Gunshot wound).

Good Karma

Honorable Mention-Duhon and Lee love fantasy basketball players.

For those of you who had Chris Duhon and/or David Lee in your starting lineups last night were pleasantly surprised to their scoring lines.

Lee had a career-best 37 points and 21 rebounds as the Knicks ran up to a franchise-best 82 points in the first half. Duhon had a franchise-best 22 assists in the 138-125 victory over Golden State.

With the win, the Knicks end November at or above .500 ( 8-8 ) for the first time since 2004 (7-6).

Runner-up-Tom Turkey to the rescue.

From Raleigh, North Carolina comes the story of a carjacker who was stopped by a frozen turkey.

According to police, Fred Louis Ervin stole money from a gas station and then ran across the street to a store where he began beating a woman while attempting to steal her car.

Shoppers came to the woman's rescue including one who hit Ervin with his frozen Thanksgiving turkey.

Despite head injuries, Ervin got away in the stolen car and hit several cars as he fled. Police arrested him a short time later.

He was hospitalized and is in good condition. He faces charges including assault and auto theft.

Good karma goes out to the brave shoppers who came in to assist and especially to the one with the frozen bird.

Winner-Flyers are flying high

The Dayton Flyers knocked off No. 15 Marquette in the final game of the Chicago Invitational Challenge 89-75. The Flyers are now 6-0 and feeling pretty good about their latest conquest.

Dayton's bench outscored Marquette's 48-5.

"Marquette is very physically tough," said Dayton head coach Brian Gregory. "If we didn't match it, you've seen what happens. So we did, we matched it. ... We play 12 guys and people keep asking, 'Can you do that?' We're going to keep doing it, because we've been fresh."

The Flyers now go home to face Troy on Tuesday.

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That's all for this week. Hope you all have a great week and I will see you Wednesday with Get to Know the 50 States.

Best wishes for good karma to all!

Why is Congress in Baseball?

2008-11-29T09:23:00.000-08:00

This post was originally seen on TSN in March of this year as my Week 4 entry in the 8-week Blogger Championship Series. Hope you enjoy it.

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I've read many posts over the past few months all asking the same basic question.

"Why is the U.S. Congress getting involved in baseball's business?"

The answer is not as complex as you may think and I thought it might make for a good topic for my Week 4 BCS assignment (Politics).

I figured this would make a good topic in lieu of talking about the upcoming Presidential election or other "politicky" things. I'm a big advocate of trying to keep politics and religion out of sports....but since I have both topics in the BCS, I will do my best.

Let's jump head first into answering the question that is on all of your minds. The fact that Congress is in MLB's face over steroids and other things is due to the league's antitrust exemption.

So, what is the antitrust exemption and how did baseball get it?

Any business that operates across state borders -- therefore engaging in interstate commerce -- is subject to antitrust legislation. Attempts to control trade and monopolize may be deemed illegal by federal circuit courts.

Baseball has been exempt from these antitrust laws since 1922, when the Supreme Court ruled in its favor in Federal Baseball Club of Baltimore, Inc. v. National Baseball Clubs.

Baltimore, a member of the Federal League that operated as a major league in 1914 and 1915, had sued the National and American Leagues, charging the Federal League's inability to sign players was due to antitrust violations.

The Supreme Court determined even though there was scheduling of games across state lines, those games were intrastate events since the travel from one state to another was "not the essential thing."

Thus, the basic financial structure of MLB as we know it today was born.

It's been 86 years. Why does the exemption still exist?

The Supreme Court had a chance to revisit its decision in 1953, when it heard arguments in Toolson v. New York Yankees. The case concerned George Toolson, whom the Yankees had reassigned from their minor-league Newark franchise to another team. Toolson sued, claiming that the reserve clause in his contract violated antitrust laws.

But the high court stood by its 1922 decision. It stated that if Congress had disagreed with the earlier ruling, it would (or should) have introduced new laws in the interim.

Congress, however, again failed to act, and ballplayers remained bound to a system in which they had no say. Then, in 1969, the St. Louis Cardinals traded their star outfielder Curt Flood to the Philadelphia Phillies without his consent. Flood did not want to uproot his family, abandon his business interests in St. Louis, or move to a city with a notoriously racist mayor (Frank Rizzo).

He appealed the trade to Commissioner Bowie Kuhn, stating, "After twelve years in the Major Leagues, I do not feel I am a piece of property to be bought and sold irrespective of my wishes." Kuhn sided with the Cardinals ownership and upheld the trade. Flood retired rather than play for the Phillies.

Flood's case reached the Supreme Court in 1972 and the court upheld Flood's trade by a vote of 5-3.

Ironically, shortly after Flood, baseball players won the right to free agency and ended the 100-year tyranny of the reserve clause. The avenue of compensation wasn't litigation but collective bargaining, through which the players' union had recently secured the right to arbitration

In October 1998, in a belated effort to address the labor problem, President Clinton signed into law the so-called Curt Flood Act, which stipulated that baseball's antitrust exemption didn't apply to player employment issues after all.

But with the players faring well through collective bargaining, and with free agency now a fixture in baseball's practices, the point was now moot. On the other hand, the 1998 act explicitly left untouched such issues as team relocation, minor-league play, the employment of umpires, broadcasting agreements, and league expansion—suggesting that the exemption did in fact apply in these areas.

Why don't other sports have the antitrust exemption?

For 18 years after Toolson, in case after case, judges admitted that the baseball exemption was flawed, but it was never overruled. Exemptions for boxing, football and basketball were denied in the higher courts, while hockey and golf antitrust exemptions were also denied in the lower courts.

Does that mean that other leagues are subject to antitrust lawsuits?

Yes. If an owner wants to move a team to another city and the league stops him from doing so, the owner can bring an antitrust claim. Raiders owner Al Davis won an antitrust lawsuit in 1982 after the league wouldn't allow him to move from Oakland to Los Angeles. The NFL lost and Davis moved.

The threat, and in some cases the actual filing, of antitrust lawsuits led to more movement among NFL teams, such as the Los Angeles Rams to St. Louis and the Cleveland Browns to Baltimore.

Between 1971 (the Washington Senators became the Texas Rangers) and 2004 (the Montreal Expos became the Washington Nationals), there have been seven NFL moves, seven NBA moves and nine NHL moves.

Enter George J. Mitchell

Former Senate Majority Leader George Mitchell (heretofore known as FSMLGM) was appointed by MLB commish Bud Selig to investigate the steroids problem in baseball.

Many people have questioned the reason for bringing in Mitchell. My thoughts are that Selig simply wagered that if he brought in someone of Mitchell's status, then Congress would be convinced enough that MLB was doing everything possible to correct the problem and then they would have no choice but to leave the league alone.

One problem...FSMLGM did a better job than Selig had planned.

Mitchell's report was 409 pages of detailed accusations, testimony and hard evidence that steroid was not only in baseball, but that it ran rampant throughout the sport.

The list included the names of 89 former and current players for whom it claims evidence of use of steroids or other prohibited substances exists. This list included names of Most Valuable Players and All-Stars, such as Roger Clemens, Andy Pettitte, Miguel Tejada, Denny Neagle, Paul Lo Duca, David Justice, Barry Bonds, Eric Gagné, Todd Hundley, Randy Velarde, and Benito Santiago.

But how reliable is this information? Is it at all tainted by the fact that Mitchell serves as a Director in the front office for the Boston Red Sox? You heard me. Mitchell's report has come into question due to the fact that no prominent Red Sox player was named in the report while several Yankees were.

At the time of his appointment, Mitchell said he would not resign his position with the Red Sox. He was also (at the time) chairman of The Walt Disney Co., the parent of ESPN, a national broadcast partner of baseball.

"I don't think there's any conflict," he said in a telephone interview with The Associated Press. "I'm going to be independent, have complete independent authority and will act."

This all goes back to the original question: Why Mitchell?

What is so special about this guy that would make Selig think to use him? He has had his hands in so many things that it's hard to figure him out. Maybe that's why.

The illegality of it all

Despite all of this, the main reason why Congress is so interested (besides the antitrust exemption) is that steroid use - without a proper prescription - is illegal in the United States, punishable by up to seven years in a federal prison.

While MLB had not included it on their banned substances list - and began subsequent testing for it - until recently, the law still remained in effect.

If players - and more importantly businesses such as BALCO - were distributing and/or using these drugs without a prescription, then they are subject to federal guidelines...that is of interest to Congress and the FBI.

The connections

Finally, Congress is in baseball's business because they always have been. Baseball owners have a long documented history of being connected to lawmakers. President George W. Bush was an owner back in the day.

Owners are in the inner circle of friends of senators, representatives, presidents and other rich influential people.

When something reflects negatively on baseball, it can reflect negatively on their friends and so members of Congress feel that they need to cover their collective behinds.

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That's the basics. That is why Congress is so interested in the "goings on" of MLB. If the league cannot keep their own house clean, Congress can and will come in, revoke the antitrust exemption and the business-side of baseball will change forever.

But maybe that's not a bad thing.

GREEDY SONS OF BITCHES!

2008-11-28T13:11:00.000-08:00

I can't believe the stories I'm seeing around the web this morning/afternoon.

First there was this one out of New York:

Wal-Mart worker dies after crowd rushes store

At a Wal-Mart store on Long Island, as Black Friday shoppers burst into the store, a 34-year old man was trampled to death by the mob. Nearly 2,000 people were waiting for the store to open for the "best bargains of the season."

"This crowd was out of control," said Nassau police spokesman Lt. Michael Fleming. He described the scene as "utter chaos."

From the MSNBC story:

Dozens of store employees trying to fight their way out to help the man were also getting trampled by the crowd, Fleming said. Witnesses said that even as the worker lay on the ground, shoppers streamed into the store, stepping over him.
Kimberly Cribbs, who witnessed the stampede, said shoppers were acting like "savages."
"When they were saying they had to leave, that an employee got killed, people were yelling 'I've been on line since yesterday morning,'" she said. "They kept shopping."

What the Hell? Add to that, a 28- year old pregnant woman also was knocked to the ground and had a miscarriage. I hope the families of these people file massive lawsuits against Wal-Mart for not keeping better control of the situation.

Read the whole story and you get an idea of just how crazy these people are. It's not a European futbol match....it's a freaking retail store sale!

In other news, this just coming across the wire, two people are dead inside a Toys 'R Us store in California after an apparent shooting.

No news yet on what precipitated the altercation but my guess is that some one grabbed the last Nintendo Wii and some jerk off teenager with a gun (we know that much) shot them to get the Wii for himself.

C'mon...it wouldn't surprise you right?

UPDATE FROM MSNBC.com

Immediately after the shooting, about 20 people rushed into the World Gym across the street from Toys "R" Us, the gym's assistant manager Glenn Splain told The Associated Press in a telephone interview.

"They were crying, tearing and shaking," Splain said, adding that one woman came in cradling a baby.

"Some people got into a fight," said Splain, who spoke with some of the customers. "One of the guys here thought it was over a toy, but it got louder and louder and then there were gunshots."

Sarah Pacia of Cathedral City told The Desert Sun newspaper she was in the store with her two boys, ages 4 and 6, looking at coloring books when she heard a commotion in the next aisle. She thought it was people rushing to get a sale item. Then she heard three or four shots.

She said she froze, and store employees calmly escorted her out of the store.

"This is Toys "R" Us. There are kids shopping in there," Pacia said. Her son Jayden, 4, was clinging to her leg. He told her he didn't want to die, she said.

Toys "R" Us officials did not immediately return calls seeking comment.

This is why I stay home on Black Friday. Hopefully all of you are well and in one piece.

Fun at the Movies

2008-11-26T21:54:00.000-08:00

This was originally posted in February of this year for Week 3 of the Blogger Championship Series on TSN. The topic was a "home" game for me which means, movies. Keep in mind that this list was posted by me before The Dark Knight, Iron Man and Hulk hit the theaters this summer.

On with the fun. Enjoy.

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This week, I have decided to turn my focus to the top-10 superhero movies of all time. This idea was inspired by my 5-year-old son who LOVES superheroes and creates his own costumes whenever he gets a chance.

But, to find the best superhero movies of all time? Where do you begin? What do you consider?

I like a good story line, good character development, good acting, killer special effects and at least an attempt to follow the comics that they came from (if they apply).

With movies like Captain America, The Green Hornet and Wonder Woman coming in the next few years, this list may change. Only time can tell.

On this list, you will not find The Hulk, Fantastic Four, Daredevil, Elektra, Catwoman, The Phantom, Underdog (sorry son, he loves that movie) or any Batman movie directed by Joel Schumacher.

So, you may agree or disagree. Tell me what your top-ten is.

Here's mine.

10. TMNT (2007)

Okay, I know what you are thinking. How can I start of my list with a group of four mutated turtles who aren't really considered superheroes? Just because they don't come from the family of MARVEL or DC doesn't mean that they aren't superheroes.

This movie, unlike the live-action versions of the 1990's, was created with CGI animation and has the best story line of the Turtle movies by far.

Here's a rundown. After the defeat of their old arch nemesis - The Shredder - the Turtles are needed more than ever. But Raphael, Donatello, and Michelangelo have become lost and lack direction. Leonardo has gone to Central America - on the orders of the martial arts master and father figure Master Splinter - for training. Donatello and Michelangelo have started small businesses in Leonardo's absence. Meanwhile, strange things are happening in New York City. An army of ancient creatures threatens to take over the world and the Turtles must unite again to save it.

I took my wife and kids to see this when it was in the theatres last Spring and my wife told me on our way back out to the car, "I'd go see that without the kids."

The story is unique and there is tremendous drama in the relationship between Raphael and Leonardo. The recurring theme of family brings a "human" element to these mutated turtles.

9. Batman (1966)

Yes, it's cheesy. Yes, it's campy. But...it's the original and it is awesome.

Basically, the film is just a giant episode of the 60's TV show. Here's the basics. When the four greatest arch super-criminals ever to plague Gotham City join forces, their only objective can be the entire world!

Armed with a Penguin-personalized pre-atomic submarine, an army of ruthless pirates, exploding sharks and octopi and an arsenal of missiles, the Penguin, the Joker, the Riddler and Catwoman have set their sights on the United World Security Council!

Can the dynamic duo, Batman and Robin, stop the United Underworld before its too late? Will they save the Security Council from almost certain dehydration? Can they possibly save the free world from the four most powerful villains it has ever seen?

It's been a long time since I've seen this film and it was a little before my time, but one must appreciate the classics if one wishes to understand the modern.

8. Blade ( 1998 )

Vampires, sword fights, kung fu, more vampires — Blade is an excellent example of how to make a fun popcorn movie out of a relatively obscure, second-string character. A far better film than one might expect, Blade laid the groundwork for the superhero movie revival that began in the early 2000s.

The sequels are garbage in my opinion. The first is by far the best. Wesley Snipes is one of my favorite action actors from the 90's and this film is a big reason why.

Here's a quick synopsis. When Blade's mother was bitten by a vampire during pregnancy, she did not know that she gave her son a special gift while dying: All the vampire strengths with none of the weaknesses.

Blade grew up to be a vampire hunter, seeking revenge on his mother's death. In the film, Blade endeavors to prevent the evil Deacon Frost from unleashing the blood god upon the world. Fights, blood, more fights and more blood ensue.

7. Spider-Man (2002)

The first isn't necessarily always the best. This is a great movie on many levels. The story as told by Sam Raimi through the acting of Tobey Maguire makes it a great movie period...not just a great superhero movie.

Peter Parker is bit by a genetically engineered super-spider and it's DNA crosses with his to turn him into Spider-Man.

The film follows Peter as he learns about his powers, while at the same time, tries to cope with the daily stresses of teenage life.....

....and that guy.

His transitions from high school to college, boy to man and kid to superhero are played out through the movie with style and grace.

I admit, when I first heard that this movie was coming out and that Maguire was the lead, I had my doubts. Now, I can't imagine anyone else playing the part.

6. X2: X-Men United (2003)

After the events on Liberty Island, everyone at Xavier's School for Gifted Youngsters are settling in. Magneto is locked up in a plastic cell, Rogue and Bobby Drake have finally got together, and Wolverine has set off to find the origins of where he came from.

But it wont stay quiet for long. After a mutant attack on the President, everyone starts to fear any type of mutant. William Stryker who plans to stop all mutants, takes over the school, causing Wolverine and his team of mutants to go into hiding.

Stryker has managed to capture Xavier and will use him to create another version of cerebro. Wolverine and the team must now team up with their enemy, Magneto to stop Stryker before it's too late.

This movie is leaps and bounds ahead of the first one. The story is much more engaging and the action is better. I have only seen it twice and need to watch it again. Perhaps I would move it up on the list.

5. Batman (1989)

The first of the Tim Burton takes on the Caped Crusader puts Michael Keaton in the bat suit with Kim Basinger as Vicky Vale and Jack Nicholson as The Joker.

For 1989, the special effects are pretty good. What 10-year-old kid - or 30-year-old man for that matter - didn't want the Batmobile after seeing this movie?

The tone is dark and mysterious - just like the comics intended. There are some puns and bad jokes but for the most part, it's just plain fun.

Bat-mania swept the nation in the summer of 1989 in anticipation of this release. How can it not be in the top-5?

4. Superman II (1980)

Why this one and not the original? Because in this film, Superman actually fights some worthy bad guys.

Superman/Clark Kent, must deal with his feelings for Lois Lane and the thoughts that he cannot live a "normal" life as long as he is Superman (something every superhero goes through at some point).

The fight scenes may be choreographed and a tad over-rehearsed, but this is a much better film than the original and far superior to the other sequels.

I did not include the new Superman Returns in this list despite the fact that it was a pretty good movie. The original films with Christopher Reeve hold a special spot in my heart.

3. The Incredibles (2004)

One of the most original and well thought out cartoons of the past 50 years. Disney/Pixar's The Incredibles takes a look into the life of superheroes, after they were forced to go into hiding, blending in with normal society.

Fifteen years ago, superheroes walked the streets of Metroville, performing acts of great heroism and inspiring many to follow their example. But a string of lawsuits by disgruntled people they'd helped lead to political and public outcry, and the Supers as they are known, were forced into retirement and government-funded anonymity.

Bob Parr used to be Mr. Incredible, one of the greatest and strongest of the Supers; now, he lives a mundane life as a suburban insurance agent. Although his wife Helen (formerly Elastigirl) has moved on and is more concerned with raising their children Dashiell "Dash" (who is super-fast and super-confident), Violet (who can turn invisible - and is super-shy) and baby Jack-Jack (whose super powers are somewhat unknown) than battling evil, Bob still yearns for the good old days - and his chance comes when he is approached by a shadowy government organization and asked to join their numbers.

But all is not as it seems, and Bob will find himself trapped by Syndrome, an embittered enemy who in his youth once idolized Mr. Incredible - and only his family will be able to save him now.

The story line is fantastic...no...Incredible. Sorry.

A wonderful tale of family, friendship, teamwork and of course....superheroes.

2. Batman Begins (2005)

By the looks of the previews, the new Batman movie coming out this summer - The Dark Knight - looks to replace this one on the list. But for now...Christopher Nolan's take on the origins of the caped crusader are true to the comics and make for one hell of a flick.

The only thing that holds this back are the appearances by Katie "I'm crazy like Tom" Holmes.

But fear not Gothamites. The part of Rachael Dawes has been re-cast for the new movie and now stars the goddess of glamour, Maggie Gyllenhaal. Along with the late Heath Ledger as The Joker, this looks to be as good if not better than the first.

But for now, we have the first one. The fight scenes in this movie alone make it worthy of a top spot. But throw in an amazing story, tremendous acting and keen direction and you've got the second-greatest superhero movie of all time.

Second-greatest, because the greatest is.....

1. Spider-Man 2 (2004)

Peter Parker is at it again with his antics as the web-crawling Spider-Man. This time, Peter is dealing with trying to balance his school work, his social life, his after hours antics and now...Mary Jane has fallen in love with him???

Oh yeah, some brilliant scientist went crazy and now has four mechanical arms fused to his body. They call him Doctor Octopus.

Peter is forced to deal with choosing between living a normal life (passing college, living with Mary Jane, convincing his friend Harry to give up trying to kill Spidey for killing his Dad) or the superhero life (saying goodbye to Mary Jane, trying to avoid being killed by his friend Harry, saving the city from Doc Ock and figure out why his powers are all of a sudden failing him when he needs them the most).

Again, the acting is tremendous in a well-written and well-directed story. And the fight scenes are amazing.

The 3rd film took the momentum left behind from this film and spit upon it, but that's another story.

There you go. Agree? Disagree? What's your top-10? What's your bottom-10?

Take care and have a great week.

Recruiting

2008-11-25T20:06:00.000-08:00

This is a post that first appeared on TSN in February of this year for the Blogger Championship Series competition. This was the second week of the 8-week competition. It was originally written and published in my now-defunct magazine. It is heavy with local, Oregon information but I feel the statements made could be about almost any school. I hope you enjoy.

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Recruiting. It’s something that has been around in some form or another, in all walks of life, for generations.

Over the past several years, college recruiting has become a focus of even the most casual of sports fans.

A top prep athlete’s decision to go to one school or another garners a press conference and even coverage on ESPN’s SportsCenter.

The common fan’s desire for this information has spawned a multi-million dollar industry which first began developing during the 1980’s.

In the years prior to the internet, popular recruiting services used newsletters and toll telephone numbers to circulate information to those who wanted to know.

Since the mid-1990’s, many online recruiting websites—such as Rivals.com and Scout.com—have offered fans player profiles, scouting videos, player photos, statistics, interviews and other information including rankings of both a player and a team’s recruiting class.

It Begins with Football

Football is one sport that many athletes don’t focus on academics as much as they do the size of the school, the size of the conference and the success of the program.
College football receives more national media attention than any other collegiate sport, except maybe college basketball, but only during March Madness.

This is probably why many local high school players are looking outside the state for their football destination.

Programs like Oklahoma, Nebraska, Michigan, USC, Notre Dame and Miami have a history of being competitive, an abundance of national media attention and they look good on your resume when it’s time for the NFL Draft.

Despite the fact that Oregon has had a history of success over the past 14 seasons, and the fact that Oregon State has enjoyed a tremendous amount of recent success, the lack of national attention garnered by the two schools leaves many local athletes to head outward.

Of the 17 Oregon high school football players who committed to D-I schools last season, only eight committed to Oregon schools (4-Oregon State, 3-Oregon, 1-Portland State).

When looking for a silver lining in the dark cloud of recruiting, one can look no further than the fact that the Ducks did land Myles Wade, the top prep prospect in Oregon and the Northwest region’s number one overall prospect according to Scout.com.

Wade, a 6-2, 305-lb defensive end from Central Catholic High School, was recruited by the National Champion Florida Gators as well as many others around the country.
Myles was offered a scholarship by Florida just two days after the Gators won the title.

After a week had gone by, Wade had a chance to let it sink in some more.
“After that first call, I was waiting to see what they might say, but I didn’t hear much,” Wade told Scout.com. “Just a text message. No more calls.”
Ultimately Wade picked Oregon. “I’m not going to take a visit to Florida,” he said. “I’m going to stay home. I know where I’m wanted.”
For every story like Wade’s, there are several others that end like Southridge High’s Marcus Matthews.

The top wide receiver prospect and the first ever four-star wide receiver in Oregon’s history, Matthews committed to BYU.

Matthews’ decision to attend BYU was probably based on his faith more than it was on anything else. He has stated that his desire is to serve the LDS church through mission work first.

The Coach’s Role

The ability to recruit well at the college level is an integral part of any coach’s success.

More importantly, where a coach gets his recruits from can say a lot about the potential of the program and the coach.

There are varying theories regarding the general approach to recruiting, but one common thread seems to surface: Get the players in your state first, and then look elsewhere.

“I’m a firm believer that in all things being equal, you take the in-state talent,” says University of Portland head volleyball coach Doug Sparks. “Now the problem is, most of the time, all things aren’t being equal. [But] when it comes down to it and you’re offering a scholarship, you always want to offer it to the local player first.”

But why?

Is it because the athletes who play for their hometown schools are more motivated to succeed in familiar surroundings?

Wouldn’t they be more motivated to succeed if they received national attention regardless of where they went?

Or is it something else?

The Oregon State Beavers’ baseball program certainly enjoyed the benefits of local recruits, all the way to the College World Series and the NCAA National Championship in 2006 and 2007.

Local athletes Dallas Buck (Newberg), Jonah Nickerson (Oregon City), Chris Kunda (Philomath), Kevin Gunderson (Portland), Cole Gillespie (West Linn) and Darwin Barney (Beaverton) were all integral parts in bringing the 2006 title to Corvallis.

In fact, on OSU’s 40-man roster last season, 24 players were from Oregon, with another seven from Washington.

That’s over 77 percent of the roster coming from the Pacific Northwest.

Compare that to OSU’s football roster from 2006.

Out of the 107 players on the Beavers’ roster that year, 32 of them were from Oregon with another three coming from Washington.

That’s less than one-third of the roster coming from the region.

So how is it that Oregon State was able to obtain so many great local baseball players?

“I think it’s very unique in some sports,” says Sparks. “Oregon State has the benefit of Oregon and Portland State not having baseball programs. So if you’re a baseball player and you want to stay close, you’re either looking at big school Pac-10 Oregon State, or small private University of Portland.”

Of course that’s not entirely true.

George Fox University’s head coach Pat Bailey did a great job of retaining local talent — prior to his departure to become OSU's assistant coach — and they won an NCAA Division III title in 2004.

But therein lies the problem.

George Fox, along with Willamette, Linfield, Pacific, Western Oregon and all the other small collegiate baseball programs in the state, are just that—small collegiate baseball programs.

If a ballplayer wants to play at the highest level of competition available to them in-state, then they do need to go to either Oregon State or Portland.

That should suggest that the University of Portland, much like its in-state rival to the south, is able to draw many local players as well, even if they aren’t as top-tier as those that sign with the Beavers.

“We like to have local kids,” says University of Portland head baseball coach Chris Sperry. “But our recruiting has been limited to how many coaches I have and how far we can travel by car. For instance my most efficient time can be spent up in Seattle, because you can draw a 15-mile radius around downtown Seattle and have more players in that area than in the entire state of Oregon.”

This is very much reflected in the current Pilots’ roster with 16 of the 35 players hailing from the state to the north.

Two more are from British Columbia and only eight (less than one-fourth) are from Oregon.

In a sport like volleyball, where Oregon has four highly-competitive programs, do the schools take in-state talent away from each other?

“I’m not sure we recruit against Oregon, Oregon State and Portland State,” says Sparks.

“There is some competition there. But Nevada-Reno is a school we recruit against a lot. Boise State and some of the West Coast Conference schools like University of San Francisco, Gonzaga, St. Mary’s and Loyola Marymount to an extent.”

Sparks goes on to say that it doesn’t always come down to whether a student-athlete likes Portland or one of the other in-state schools better.

It often comes down to one local school and one or two from out-of-state. It all depends on what the individual student-athlete wants in a program.

“The four different [Oregon] schools all have real unique things to offer,” says Sparks. “If we are recruiting a student who wants to go to a big school, then they’re not going to be happy here. I think Portland State and ourselves do a good job of selling the city of Portland. I think that’s a big recruiting advantage—for someone who doesn’t live in Portland—is the size of the city, the vibrancy and excitement of the city. One thing that we can sell that the other three can’t is that we’re a big, big-time volleyball conference but were also big, big-time academics.”

The Ones that Got Away

In basketball, you’ll find a similar story.

At Oregon State, there were three commits to coach Jay John’s program for this season.

None of them were from Oregon.

In fact, out of the five Oregon high school athletes who committed to D-I programs for the 2007-08 season, none of them stayed in the state, despite last year’s Elite-8 appearance by Oregon.

Three out of those five players are ranked in the top-10 nationally at their respective positions, giving this group of athletes the distinction of being one of the top groups of prep basketball talent ever to come out of the state at the same time.

Because of the national exposure, Kevin Love (C- Lake Oswego), Kyle Singler (SF- South Medford) and Clint Chapman (C- Canby) have all committed elsewhere.
Singler is going to Duke while Chapman is off to Texas.

Love’s father Stan, who played at Oregon and then in the NBA, was purportedly adamant that his son would not go to Oregon.

Why not? There has been some speculation that Stan simply dislikes Oregon Head Coach Ernie Kent

Other signs simply point to the Love family just wanting Kevin to go to a school that would give him the optimum amount of national exposure, even if it’s only for one year before going to the NBA.

Going to Oregon wouldn’t do that.

So, despite the fact that Oregon had an offer on the table for Love, his father’s perceived distaste for the Ducks’ head coach led him to guide his son towards UCLA.

He probably couldn’t bring himself to send his son to Oregon State, no matter how much he was angry with his alma mater.

Portland and Portland State were not viable options, due to their lack of national exposure.

Another school in the Pac-10 would have to be good enough.

Is it a Shallow Pool?

Perhaps this has just been a down year for prep athletes in Oregon.

With the exceptions of Love, Singler, Chapman, Wade and Matthews, maybe there wasn’t a top-tier choice out there for our local schools to choose from.

Let’s take a look at the Class of 2008.

Out of the 23 high school football players that the University of Oregon has already made offers to in the class of ’08, only one of them is from Oregon.

The same thing is true at Oregon State.

The Beavers have made offers to 13 players and only one is from Oregon.
And it’s the same one that Oregon has made an offer to.

Ethan Johnson is a defensive tackle out of Portland’s Lincoln High School.
He is listed by Scout.com as a four-star recruit.

Johnson finished his junior season with 80 tackles and 10 sacks.

He is considered in many circles to be the best defensive talent to come out of Oregon in many years.

So naturally, he is looking around the country.

Johnson has already received offers from Oregon State, Oregon, USC, Auburn, Colorado, Notre Dame, Washington, Nebraska, Michigan and Minnesota.

“I haven’t narrowed it down enough to actually say what my favorites are,” he told Scout.com. “I think I’m going to start narrowing it down towards the end of the summer because I’m going to take some unofficial visits in the summer. Sure you have an idea of what you might like, but once you visit the place you might absolutely hate it. On the other hand, you might love it and jump that team all the way to the top.”

Johnson says that despite Oregon State being his first offer at the end of his sophomore year, and the fact that they are close by, it doesn’t necessarily mean that they are the front-runners.

“They are only about two hours from my house,” Johnson said. “Oregon is probably an hour and a half away. They are both really close and I like Eugene and Corvallis a lot. They are small towns with great people. Also, it would be nice to be able to come home during the weekends, but I’m pretty independent and distance won’t be a deciding factor for me. I’m not a homebody.”

Perhaps the best chance for an Oregon school to make some national noise in recruiting is if Oregon or Oregon State can sign Michael Harthun.

The 6-3 shooting guard from South Medford High School has already received an offer from Oregon State as well as Washington State, Pepperdine and Montana.

However, the recent situation brewing in Corvallis may deter Harthun, a former teammate of Kyle Singler, from staying in the state.

What’s Next?

So at what point do local schools recognize that the lack of local influence on their teams is a problem?

When do programs really sit back and look at the Oregon State baseball team, which won with a majority of local talent?

How many top-tier, four-and five-star high school athletes do we have to watch walk out of the state before we recognize the problem?

Is any of it actually a problem? Perhaps it’s simply much ado about nothing.

But when the Ohio State Buckeyes made it to the National Championship game in college basketball with a roster comprised of 10 local players out of 13 total (77%); when the Florida Gators won a national title in football with a roster consisting of 98 local players out of 133 (74%); when the Oregon State Beavers men’s basketball team finishes ninth in the Pac-10 with only six of their 18 roster players (33%) coming from Oregon; perhaps it’s much ado about something after all.

A Simple Plea

2008-11-24T21:55:00.000-08:00

This is a post that first appeared on TSN in February of this year for the Blogger Championship Series competition. This was the first week of the 8-week competition. I hope you enjoy.

Since I joined the TSN blogging community in August of last year, I have seen many lists claiming that they had the top-10 sports movies of all time. Being that I signed up for a "non-sports" conference in the Blog Championship Series, I only thought it appropriate that I not simply give you my list of the best sports movies of all-time.

I consider myself to be a great aficionado of movies. But more than just that, my strongest passion lies in independent films and lesser-knowns. I am a fan of the summer blockbuster and the Disney Pixar/kids movies as well, but I see movies as an expression of one's self. And they should be appreciated as such.

Like a great piece of art or a beautiful song, a movie can be the very heart and soul of its writer and/or director. It can be a wonderful piece of fiction, a heartfelt true story or just a collaboration of great ideas.

One of my favorite writer/directors of all-time is Quentin Tarantino. Many of you probably know him for writing Pulp Fiction, Kill Bill and his most recent Death Proof.

But many of you - I'm willing to bet most of you - have probably never heard of a movie called Four Rooms. This movie was a collaboration with Tarantino and three other writer/directors that hit the scene in 1995.

Set on New Years Eve, the story surrounds a young bellhop named Ted (Tim Roth) who is beginning his first shift at the Mon Signor Hotel, a formerly elegant hotel in Hollywood which has since fallen on bad times.

The movie opens with this catchy tune and amusing animation.

Each scene - each room - is written and directed by one of the contributors. The first scene is titled "The Missing Ingredient" and is by Allison Anders (director; Sex and the City, The L Word, Men in Trees).

The scene focuses on five witches (including Madonna of all people) who are trying to break a spell that was placed on their goddess, on her wedding night.

Basically, you take a giant indoor spa, add eye of newt and cat's tongue and a secret "manly" ingredient, throw in half a dozen beautiful topless women and you have yourself a story.

The second story is titled "The Wrong Room" and is by Alexandre Rockwell. Ted is met at gunpoint by a crazed husband (David Proval; The Sopranos, Balls of Fury) who fears that his wife (Jennifer Beals; Flashdance, The L Word) has been cheating on him.

This scene has guns, pills, bondage and although this is probably the least enjoyable of the four rooms, it does offer some fun word play when the wife describes her other lovers' "man parts" with every possible pet name imaginable.

WARNING: THE FOLLOWING VIDEO IS FOR 18 & OLDER ONLY. IT IS NOT GRAPHIC IN APPEARANCE JUST IN VERBAL CONTENT.

The third room is titled "The Misbehavers" and is directed by Robert Rodriguez (Sin City, Spy Kids, From Dusk till Dawn). The scene stars Antonio Banderas and Tamlyn Tomita as a couple who are trying to enjoy New Years Eve but are burdened by the fact that their kids are with them.

The couple convinces Ted to watch them and tend to their every need. I'm not going to spoil the fun of this scene because it is one of the great moments of the film and has some of the more memorable lines. But if you like Antonio Banderas, Salma Hayek, prostitutes, Vicks VapoRub, needles, fire and annoying children, then this is the scene for you.

Finally, we get to the boiling point of Ted's night.

WARNING: THE FOLLOWING VIDEO IS LACED WITH PROFANITY AND DEPICTS CASUAL DRUG USE. 18 & OLDER ONLY.

And that is where we begin our final scene. "The Man from Hollywood" is directed by Quentin Tarantino and is the most uncomfortable and yet brilliantly written scene of them all - in classic Quentin style.

It stars Quentin, Bruce Willis, Paul Calderon and Jennifer Beals....yes the wife from the other room.....she's here again.

I will not go into great detail about this scene either because it would essentially give away the best parts of this movie. But basically, Chester (Tarantino) is a movie director who is celebrating the release of his new project (The Dog Catcher). Chester and Norman (Calderon) have placed a bet that serves as the premise for the entire scene. If you have ever seen the old Alfred Hitchcock Presents episode titled "Man From the South" (referred to in the film incorrectly as "The Man From Rio") then you probably have an idea where this is going.

If you've never seen it, then it involves a cutting board, a bucket of ice, a cleaver, a sandwich, lots of Cristal, a 1964 Chevy Malibu and a Zippo lighter.

The last five minutes are some of the most intense and uncomfortable five minutes I've ever spent watching a movie, which leads to the brilliant and abrupt ending that will either leave you laughing your head off or squirming in agony.

Many people have criticized this movie - and the reason why it failed at the box office - because of the general flow of the movie. The first two segments and the intro scene were edited heavily, therefore it can be hard to follow.

Regardless. I would love for all of you to at least try this film. It is in my opinion, one of the more cleverly written movies of the 1990's. It's not for everyone - my own wife doesn't like it all that much - but it's definitely worth the time to check out. It is my opinion that directors should get together and collaborate on movies like this more often.

Movies like this are amusing, entertaining, well written, can be cheap to produce and if done right, extremely popular. Four Rooms has been overlooked for too long and deserves some respect.

Granted, it could go too far. For every great idea, there are 20 equally embarrassing and ridiculous ideas such as having George Lucas, Martin Scorsese, Peter Jackson and Joss Whedon work together to create a story about a gangster from a distant planet who comes to Earth to build an army of vampires. Only to be stopped by a super-powerful team of intergalactic heroes comprised of a giant ape, a vampire slayer, Hans Solo and the ghost of Howard Hughes.

Hmmm. Sounds like a pretty good movie actually. But I digress.

Can you imagine what we could have if more directors would write and produce collaboration movies?

How about "Bring IT On?"

What about this one?

Oh wait, I take on politics in my Week 4 BCS post.

Okay, I know, I'm joking about it again. My point is, Hollywood could use some more teamwork and I for one would be the first in line to watch these movies.

Another REAL example is a movie called Paris, je t'aime or Paris, I love you.

Paris, je t'aime is about the plurality of cinema in one magical location: Paris, the City of Love. Twenty filmmakers (Joel and Ethan Coen, Gus Van Sant and Wes Craven among them) bring their own personal touch to 18 separate scenes, underlining the wide variety of styles, genres, encounters and the various atmospheres and lifestyles that abound in the neighborhoods of Paris.

Each director has five minutes of freedom, and the producers weave a single narrative unit out of those eighteen moments. Each film is fused together by transition. Each transition begins with the last shot of the previous film and ends with the first shot of the next film.

The topics range from strangers meeting on the street to troubled marriages finding resolution. There's also a beautiful vampire and a cracked-out Maggie Gyllenhaal. It is a brilliant film and completely embodies everything that I have been talking about when it comes to filmmaking as a form of art and expression.

Here's the theatrical trailer.

There are plenty of other examples. Those two just happen to be the ones that stick out in my mind the most.

What are your thoughts? Would you like to see more movies like this? Do you hate movies like this? Does a two-hour blockbuster with a lot of explosions move you more than a 90-minute expression of one's self? Can you think of any other examples that I may have missed?

I'd love to hear your thoughts.

The Forbidden Topic?

2008-11-23T16:35:00.000-08:00

I’m going to go in a different direction today. I’ve spent some time recently thinking about something that many of you probably don’t talk about — women’s sports.

Why is that?

Why is it that women’s sports in this country don’t get the respect that they so richly deserve?

If you are one of those who could care less about women’s sports, please keep reading. You are the ones I would like to hear from the most.

It’s no big secret that I am a UPS driver by day — it says so on my profile page. Recently I was delivering a package at a local marketing business when I saw a former volleyball player from the University of Portland.

For the sake of anonymity I will keep the name a secret, but she was not just a scrub on the bench. She was a very successful member of the Pilots team.

Upon seeing her there I had a thought — why was she working here instead of playing professionally? Of course the answer is that there is really nothing for her to do outside college…no widespread outlet for her talent.

But even when she was in college she received very little to no recognition for her efforts — outside of the local volleyball community. Admittedly, the only reason I even knew of her was because I was covering local volleyball for the magazine I used to produce.

Over the years I have heard many opinions as to why we as guys don’t follow women’s sports. Here are just a few of them.

- the sports are boring, less intense.
- the women are unattractive.
- they are girls.
- all women athletes are lesbians.

First of all, have any of you ever been to a volleyball game? This game has high-flying, intense, non-stop action. Think of a basketball game where every point scored is from a slam dunk. Or a football game in which the final score is 91-84 and every score was a 70-yard “Hail Mary”.

In the case of women’s basketball, these women play with the style and grace that marked the early days of the NBA. They play with teamwork — something that is missing in today’s NBA. The games may be low scoring but they are still fun to watch because of the thought process that goes into each run up the floor.

How about softball? Can you throw a ball twice the size of a baseball — underhand — at speeds of over 70 MPH (100 MPH — MLB equivalent)? I didn’t think so. Most of us guys play in slow-pitch softball leagues. There is a reason that Jennie Finch has been able to strike out Mike Piazza, Jim Thome, Albert Pujols and others.

WARNING — THE FOLLOWING CONTAINS EXAMPLES OF A GUY BEING A TYPICAL GUY. IF YOU DON'T WISH TO SEE PICTURES OF BEAUTIFUL ATHLETES, SKIP THIS PARAGRAPH.

Speaking of Finch, if women athletes are so unattractive than why has Finch been such a cover girl for every major “men’s” publication out there (ie. Maxim, FHM)? And she’s not the only one — Kristi Leskinen, Anna Kournikova, Maria Sharapova, Amanda Beard. Need I say more?

Going back to volleyball…have you seen what they wear? I’m trying to remain on topic here but they wear short, tight shorts and jump up and down all game…isn’t that what guys like?

Speaking of what guys like…the comment that all women athletes are lesbians…aren’t many guys' most common fantasy involving lesbians? Throw in another favorite topic — sports — what’s the problem here?

Okay, enough of the typical man-speak. Back on topic.

Shouldn’t we as guys, at the very least, respect women’s sports? Shouldn't we be able to appreciate it for the accomplishments and athleticism and not just the pretty faces?

After all, do you root for the Yankees because you think A-Rod is hot or because he wins games? Okay, maybe you have a man crush on your favorite player but I think you see my point.

Earlier this year, a reader wrote in to my former magazine. The topic was the lack of local media attention that a high school JV softball team was getting, despite being undefeated (they ended the season with one loss on the last game of the year).

Upon reading the comment, which I printed in the magazine, I received an email from the high school sports writer at the Statesman Journal — Salem, Oregon’s local daily paper. Here is what he wrote:

"Can you please tell your reader to let it go. Blasting us in your rag about not writing about JV, who gives a sh--. I don't f---ing care if a JV team does anything. If they were any good, they would be playing varsity and then, if they were any good, I would write about them. Screw JV. JV doesn't need sh--. JV players need to get better.
I wrote a whole column about the JV team, or at least how the JV team kept hitting softballs into a drainage ditch. C'mon. That's a hell of a lot more than I do about any other JV team.
No one gives the slightest bit of a crap.
What year is the player anyways? Shouldn't she be like a junior or something. Man, she must suck to still be on JV."

Classy. But in the fairness of full disclosure, this writer and I have history and he was probably just ribbing me a little, but the sentiment is still the same.

This comment may have been more about it being a JV team than about a women’s team but the point is, the media treats women’s sports with about the same respect.

Where does it end? When do we step out of the 1950’s and into the 21st century. Women’s sports are just as entertaining — and sometimes more entertaining — as their male counterparts.

All I am asking is that you give it a shot and a little respect. If you have never watched a women’s game in your life — try it out.

If you have and didn’t like it — try it again.

If you still don’t like it, I understand. Some people don’t like hockey or NASCAR for various reasons. But if the reason is because it’s women’s sports, I challenge you to reply here and give me an intelligent reason as to why that is a valid reason.

Karma of the Week (11-23-2008)

2008-11-23T10:33:00.000-08:00

Happy Sunday and welcome to Karma of the Week. This week I am going to give you a couple of my favorite non-sports stories of the week as well. I have one in both good and bad karma. Hope you enjoy.

Bad Karma

Honorable Mention-Let it snow, let it snow, let it snow.

Notre Dame players were pelted by snowballs by their own fans Saturday as the Fighting Irish fell to Syracuse 24-23.

Fans at first were simply throwing snow in the air, but then switched to tossing snowballs toward the Notre Dame sideline.

According to FOX News: Defensive lineman Ian Williams got hit in the helmet, defensive end Ethan Johnson was struck on the left cheek and a St. Joseph County police officer on the sideline looking into the crowd got hit in the chest. An camera man also was a frequent target and several snowballs reached the field, although none landed near where play was occurring. When the Irish defense held a meeting on the sideline, injured linebacker Brian Smith stood on a bench to try to shield his teammates. But when a snowball hit Kuntz, he stood and faced the crowd and appeared to challenge whoever threw it to come down on the field.

"I was pretty mad about that, but whatever the fans want to do," Kuntz, a senior who was playing his last game at Notre Dame Stadium, said flatly. At least one fan was seen being led away by police.

I don't have anything to add to this except....I don't blame them.

Runner-up-Let it snow?

An anti-fur campaigner representing the animal-rights group PETA dumped flour over actress Lindsay Lohan Friday evening in Paris.

The group PETA (People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals) took claim for the action in a statement to Access Hollywood.

“The actor, who was on her way into the VIP room on the Champs-Elysées just after 1 AM early Saturday, had an entire bag of flour dumped over her head by a French fur foe who shouted, ‘Lindsay Lohan—fur hag!’”

Lohan apparently wore fur coats while in London earlier this week with girlfriend Samantha Ronson, and continued to do so as she went south to France.

“Lindsay Lohan might be able to ignore images of bloody animals skinned alive for their pelts, but we hope a dash of flour will help her rise to the occasion and forsake fur once and for all.” according to PETA Europe’s Robbie LeBlanc said in the statement.

Samantha Ronson quickly fired back at the activists in her MySpace blog.

“Today I’m pissed at the bag of flour thrown on Lindsay last night. Not because I got powdered down, but because the girl who threw it acted like an animal herself,” she wrote. “It’s a pity that some groups feel the need to assault people as opposed to fighting with words. I don’t wear fur, but I don’t think I have the right to ATTACK those who do. No one has that right.”
“PETA should focus their efforts on educating people on what they believe are injustices instead of seeking press via harassing those in the limelight,” she concluded.

I love seeing stories like this. Not because I myself am a PETA activist or that I hate celebrities or anything like that. Just because it gives me a good old-fashioned chuckle. The activist should have been arrested for assault, not sure if he or she was or not.

Winner-Thunder already have 2nd head coach

The Oklahoma City Thunder, only 13 games into their teams existence, already have their second head coach. The Thunder - God I hate that name - fired P.J. Carlesimo after OKC started the season 1-12.

Little do the brass in the Thunder front office realize that it wasn't Carlesimo's fault the team sucked.....it's called KARMA. This organization is getting exactly what they deserved for the way they treated the fans of Seattle when they ripped the Sonics away from the Northwest.

If there is any justice in the world, the Thunder will finish 10-72 or worse.

Good Karma

Honorable Mention-The cell phone is truly mightier than the sword.

A man in Covington, Louisiana was hit by a stray bullet while mowing his lawn. What saved his life? The bullet hit his cell phone that was in his chest pocket.

The 68-year-old man was bruised. He said doctors told him two things prevented worse injury, maybe even death: the phone, and the fact that the bullet came in at an angle rather than head-on. He said that when he pulled the phone out of his pocket, it fell apart instantly.

The man, R.J. Richards put the phone in his overalls pocket instead of his pants pocket as he usually does. He figured the bullet was fired by a hunter near his 5-acre property.

Runner-up-Everything is coming up roses.

The Penn State Nittany Lions are going to the Rose Bowl. They will more than likely be looking at a rematch against No. 21 Oregon State. The No. 7 Nittany Lions defeated the No. 17 Michigan State Spartans 49-18 to earn their trip to Pasadena.

The Beavers of Oregon State (is there some fate here that Penn State plays at Beaver Stadium?) defeated the Arizona Wildcats Saturday 19-17 and still need to win the Civil War, at home against Oregon next Saturday to secure their first trip to the Rose Bowl since 1965.

When the two teams met earlier this year, the Beavers were shellacked 45-14 at Beaver Stadium. But since losing at Utah to go to 2-3 on the year, the Beavers have won six straight and sit at 7-1 in the Pac-10, tied with USC - but owning the tiebreaker by being the ones to hand the Trojans their only loss of the year.

Winner-Reader's Choice

Who is your good karma recipient of the week? It can come from the NBA, NFL, NHL, MLB or none of the above. Let me know in the comment section who your choice is for the week.

Final thought

As we get close to the Thanksgiving, it is natural to be thankful for what you have. This year more than any year since the Great Depression, many Americans are struggling to find the things that they are thankful for. The economy is in the toilet, more people are unemployed than at any time in recent history and more job cuts are in the near future.

One such example of that was the announcement that DHL is pulling out of America, cutting over 9,500 jobs. While that is good news for me and other drivers at UPS and FedEx who will see some more work even in the tough economy, that is a really tough number to swallow.

9,500 more people who now have to look for work among the millions who are already looking as well. 9,500 people who may join the list of possible foreclosures that is growing each and every day.

So my thoughts as we near Thanksgiving are with those who are looking for answers in this tough time. I am thankful that I have a job that at the very least, appears to be safe for now. I am thankful for the health of my family and I am hopeful that this country will turn a corner and give millions of Americans more to be thankful for next year.

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That's all for this week. Hope you all have a great week and I will see you Wednesday with Get to Know the 50 States.

Best wishes for good karma to all!

Karma of the Week (11-16-2008)

2008-11-16T09:44:00.001-08:00

Hello everyone and welcome to Karma of the Week. I want to do things a little differently this week. I want to take a look at some of the potential moves that will be made in the MLB offseason and give my two cents.

So here we go with a special edition of MLB Karma of the Week.

Bad Karma

Honorable Mention-Los Angeles Dodgers

The Dodgers have withdrawn their offer to Manny Ramirez. This may actually mean little, but for now, it allow Man-Ram to go listen to other offers. Florida and Washington are thought to be interested in throwing the 6-year contract that Scott Boras wants for his client, at him.

If the Dodgers lose Manny and then lose Derek Lowe and Rafael Furcal (could go to the A's) then you are looking at a completely different team that upset the Cubs in the playoffs this past year.

Get your $#!T together L.A. You are going to upset my girl.

Runner-up-Detroit Tigers

This has nothing to do with free agents but I wanted to float it out there. The Tigers announced that they would be raising ticket prices for choice seats to select games.

The increase will range from $2 to $7 for 21 games, including the three-game series with the Cubs and Red Sox, Friday and Saturday games in June, July, and August, and opening day.

What the? Another reason why MLB has taken a backseat to the NFL. In this economy, and in Detroit of all places? Absolutely ridiculous!

Winner-New York Yankees

They have already made a move for Nick Swisher and have apparently made an offer to C.C. Sabathia for more than the 6-year $137.5 million that Johan Santana signed for last season. The Yankees, thought to have been changing their ways, are proving once again that they are the same team. Sabathia was struggling last year with the Indians and found new life when he was traded to the National League. If he goes to the Yankees, it's a 14-13 season with an ERA around 4.50.

As for other moves, the Yankees are also thought to be in the running to trade for Padres ace Jake Peavy. If he's smart, he'll exercise his no-trade clause to ANY American League team.

Andy Pettitte filed for free agency and if the Yanks have any sense, they leave him alone.

Bobby Abreu is also on the market.....see Pettitte response.

The Yanks are heavily rumored to be going after Mark Teixeira. They will offer him a ton of money but I think in the end, he goes to Boston.

Good Karma

Honorable Mention-Chicago Cubs

Lou Pinella won Manager of the Year and now it looks as if a former Pinella player will come back to him once more. Randy Johnson has been linked to the Cubs just days after saying that he will not return to the Arizona Diamondbacks. Johnson is only five wins away from the 300-win mark and could be a valuable addition to the Cubs rotation for next season (instead of Jason Marquis).

The Cubs have also been rumored to be in the running for Peavy. Can you imagine a rotation of Carlos Zambrano, Jake Peavy, Ryan Dempster (as long as they can re-sign him) and Randy Johnson?

Runner-up-Atlanta Braves

The Braves pulled themselves out of the Jake Peavy sweepstakes saying that the Padres just wanted too much. Now, the focus heads to the free agent market where the Braves are thought to be making offers to Ben Sheets and C.C. Sabathia (though they are not thought to be seriously in the running for C.C.).

The Braves could be working on a deal to bring Rick Ankiel or Ryan Ludwick to Turner Field.

DO NOT RE-SIGN MIKE HAMPTON!

The Braves could target Dodgers Rafael Furcal and Derek Lowe. DON'T GO AFTER FURCAL. You've already been down that road.

Winner-Boston Red Sox

The Red Sox are thought to be the top contender to win the Mark Teixeira sweepstakes. What a lineup that would be. They need a pitcher too, don't know if they can get Lowe, or even if they want Lowe. They could go after A.J. Burnett or Ben Sheets.

Whatever they do, they will more than likely be ready to fight off the Tampa Bay Rays next year. It won't come as a surprise this time.

One more picture of Alyssa.

Final thought

One final thought this week. The Seattle Mariners have interviewed a list of potential candidates for Manager. That list included former Mariner Joey Cora. The Mariners want a fresh face as manager, someone with no previous experience. If that is 100% true, you HAVE to sign Cora. Fans are going to be looking for the silver lining with an experienced manager and having a familiar face around is better than a Chip Hale or Randy Ready, someone the fans don't know.

If I were the M's GM, I would hire Cora and then encourage him to hire Edgar Martinez or Jay Buhner as the new hitting coach, Dan Wilson as the new pitching coach and I would then go sign Ken Griffey Jr. and bring him home to Seattle to finish off his career as the M's DH.

Even if the team lost 85 games, the city would be abuzz. That's what Seattle needs more than anything right now....good PR.

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That's all for this week. What do you think? What free agent moves are you looking forward to? What moves would you make for your team?

See you Wednesday with Get to Know the 50 States.

Best wishes for good karma to all!

Pepe's Week 11 picks

2008-11-15T22:55:00.000-08:00

Hola amigos! Pepe here with another round of sexy NFL picks okay. Pepe was an amazing 11-3 last week - despite the joker that tried to call me out and say my picks sucked. I am now 83-61 on the year okay.

Here are my picks for Week 11.

New Favre Bretts @ New England

I know the game is over but I picked it in my spread pick game and won. I thought the Jets would win (with New England favored) by a field goal - what luck okay.

I picked the Jets to beat the Pats 27-24 okay.

Denver @ Atlanta

The Broncos have a good passing game. The Falcons have a good passing game and a great running game. The Broncos can't stop the run. This game would be more lopsided if the Broncos weren't so good through the air.

100+ yards rushing and a score for Michael Turner. Two touchdowns through the air for both Matt Ryan and Jay Cutler.

The Falcons will beat the Broncos 28-21 okay.

Philadelphia @ Cincinnati

This is a no-brainer if ju ask me. Brian Westbrook comes within a handful of yards of 100 yards rushing and the Eagles roll.

Eagles win 27-17 okay.

Chicago @ Green Bay

Kyle Orton is back for the Bears and that is a good thing. Going into Lambeau to face the Packers is the bad thing. Aaron Rodgers is earning the admiration of the Green Bay faithful. This game helps his standing.

Packers win on a game winning field goal 23-20 okay.

Houston @ Indianapolis
Steve Slaton and Ahman Green against Joseph Addai and Dominic Rhodes. Peyton Manning against......Sage Rosenfels?

Manning leads the charge to prove that the Colts are still a relevant threat this season.

Colts are firing on all cylinders, 31-20 okay.

New Orleans @ Kansas City

This game has the makings of a shootout. Tyler Thigpen is looking like the real deal. Larry Johnson is back and should run the ball well against the Saints whose defense has more holes than O.J. Simpson's defense strategy.

First team to 40 wins. Chiefs win 41-35 okay.

Oakland @ Miami

The Raiders will not win another game this season. Enough said.

Dolphins win easily 24-12 okay.

Baltimore @ New York Giants

Baltimore has been better than advertised with their RB committee of Ray Rice, Willis McGahee and Le'Ron McClain. The Giants are at home and better.

Giants tested, but win 24-17 okay.

Minnesota @ Tampa Bay

Vikings are good against the run, but the Bucs have this deep threat emerging named Antonio Bryant. He will catch the ball and run a long way okay. Earnest Graham and Warrick Dunn are both banged up and will have a hard time against the Viks anyways.

Bucs win at home 21-17 okay.

Detroit @ Carolina

Steve Smith will have a big bounce back from last week's lackluster performance. The Lions receivers can't catch a cold. The Panthers will have fun this week.

Lions go to 0-10. Panthers win battle of big kitties 28-14 okay.

St. Louis @ San Francisco

The Niners are still sore about the way things ended Monday night against Arizona. They will take out their frustrations on the hapless Rams.

Frank Gore will close in on 150 yards rushing and at least one score. The Rams....well, Steven Jackson is out again and Marc Bulger couldn't hit the broad side of a barn.

The 49'ers win 24-14 okay.

Arizona @ Seattle

Matt Hasselbeck is back and primed for a big game against the bad Cardinals secondary. But one big hit and he could be out again. The Cardinals want to keep their lead. With the Niners projected to win, they need to beat the Seahawks.

The Seahawks suffer a rare home loss 24-21 okay.

San Diego @ Pittsburgh

The Steelers have one of the best defenses in the league. LT2 will have a hard time running the ball, the receiving core will have a hard time getting open. The Chargers defense will hold the Steelers offense in check as well. This should be a great game, too bad it's not on national television.

Steelers win 21-20 okay.

Tennessee @ Jacksonville

Many people have projected that this will be the game that the Titans go down. I am not one of those. The Jags will give the Titans all they can take, it may even go to OT. But the Titans will go to 10-0.

Titans win 20-17 okay.

Dallas @ Washington

What a game this will be. Clinton Portis is questionable for Washington and that bodes well for Dallas who gets Tony Romo back for the first time in four weeks. If Portis was going at full strength, this is a different story. But even if he plays, he will be severely limited.

Cowboys get revenge for their Week 4 loss, 27-21 okay.

Cleveland @ Buffalo

Finally this week, the Monday night game played in the forecasted snow in Buffalo. Cleveland's new look offense includes throwing the ball to Kellen Winslow more and Braylon Edwards less.

If this were Cleveland's Week 12 matchup against the Texans, this might go down differently. As it is, it's in Buffalo against a Bills team who REALLY needs a win.

Bills shake off the snow and beat the Browns 17-10 okay.

That's it, have a great weekend of the football okay.

Adios!

Get to Know the 50 States (Idaho)

2008-11-12T20:54:00.000-08:00

Hello everyone and welcome to Get to Know the 50 States. This is a pretty short post this week as we are visiting a pretty small (population-wise) state.

So, to fill a little space, here is a look at the schedule for the final few weeks of our journey (to ensure that we finish on schedule- by the end of 2008 ).

Nov. 19- No. 44 Wyoming
Nov. 26- No. 45 Utah
Dec. 3- No. 46 Oklahoma
Dec. 10- No. 47 New Mexico
Dec. 17- No. 48 Arizona
Dec. 24- No. 49 Alaska
Dec. 31- No. 50 Hawaii

As you can see, we get done just in time. Then....a major announcement involving Wednesdays in 2009 coming in the Arizona post. So stay tuned.

Moving on, we get right to the 43rd state on our tour. My neighbor to the east...I'm talking of course about......

IDAHO

Capital: Boise

Admitted: July 3, 1890

Order: 43rd State

Nickname: The Gem State

Historical (fun) Facts:

- Bruneau Dunes State Park contains North America's tallest single structured sand dune. It stands 470 feet high.

- The Kamiah Valley is rich in the heritage and legends of the Nez Perce. It was here, among the ancestors of the present day Nez Perce, the Appaloosa horse was first bred, primarily for use as a war animal.

- Hell's Canyon is the deepest gorge in America.

- Shoshone Falls, The Niagara of the West, spills over a 212-foot drop near Twin Falls.

- Soda Springs boasts the largest man-made geyser in the world.

- Rigby is known as the birthplace of television since it is Philo T. Farnsworth's hometown. Farnsworth pioneered television technology.

- President Theodore Roosevelt established the Caribou National Forest in 1907. The area now covers more than 1 million acres in southeast Idaho.

- Idaho's first territorial prison was opened in 1872. It was placed on the National Register of Historic Places. It was converted into a public facility after the last prisoners were removed in 1974.

Famous People Born in Idaho

Harmon Killebrew

Lana Turner

Sarah Palin- Everyone's favorite dimwit.

Torrie Wilson- McCain may have won if she had been the running mate.

Your Turn

I've been through Idaho....twice. I know I've shared this before but my favorite memory of my trip through Idaho was at a gas station in Boise. I was on my way to Oklahoma to go to college, away from home on my own for the first time. I had never been to a gas station outside of Oregon. Remember the Oregon post? We, along with New Jersey, are the only states where pumping your own gas is illegal.

So I pulled into the gas station and waited nearly 5 minutes before laying on my horn to try to get the attendant out to the pump. A voice from the speaker above called out "you need to come inside." That is when I noticed the large word SELF on the pumps.

Anyone in the TSN world from Idaho? Anyone have a funny story to share from the Gem State?

That's all for this week. Tune in next Wednesday as we head southeast to Wyoming.

OT

Previous States

1. Delaware

2. Pennsylvania

3. New Jersey

4. Georgia

5. Connecticut

6. Massachusetts

7. Maryland

8. South Carolina

9. New Hampshire

10. Virginia

11. New York

12. North Carolina

13. Rhode Island

14. Vermont

15. Kentucky

16. Tennessee

17. Ohio

18. Louisiana

19. Indiana

20. Mississippi

21. Illinois

22. Alabama

23. Maine

24. Missouri

25. Arkansas

26. Michigan

27. Florida

28. Texas

29. Iowa

30. Wisconsin

31. California

32. Minnesota

33. Oregon

34. Kansas

35. West Virginia

36. Nevada

37. Nebraska

38. Colorado

39/40. The Dakotas

41. Montana

42. Washington

Karma of the Week (11/09/2008)

2008-11-09T10:58:00.000-08:00

Hello everyone and welcome to Karma of the Week. I have been really sick this week and just did not feel up to posting the 50 states blog on Wednesday so we will pick up with Idaho this Wednesday. There was a lot going on this week so let's get right to it.

Bad Karma

Honorable Mention-No. 3 Penn State falls

Penn State just couldn't get things done against Iowa on Saturday and now their hopes of a BCS title game are gone. Fans had just been complaining about how Texas Tech could be No. 2 and the Nittany Lions were 3rd in the BCS standings, how they deserved to be No. 2.....how's that going for you now? Texas Tech took care of Oklahoma State and you couldn't stop Iowa?

This guy was a big part of it.

With one loss, they could still get a BCS berth, but it won't be the perfect ending the Penn State fans wanted for Joe Paterno's last season.

Runner-up-Braylon Edwards sucks.

Braylon Edwards was shut down in the Browns 34-30 loss to Denver on Thursday night. Edwards had one catch for 15 yards and was rendered irrelevant as Brady Quinn found Kellen Winslow frequently throughout the night.

Edwards has been a disappointment to my fantasy team this year. His status as a "stud-must start" is in jeopardy. Quinn seems to have found a groove with Winslow and Edwards just doesn't fit the scheme.

It doesn't help that he can't seem to catch the ball when it does come his way.

Winner-Bulls lose Hinrich

Bulls captain Kirk Hinrich will require surgery to repair a torn ligament in his thumb and will be lost for at least 12 weeks. This is bad news indeed for the Bulls who are simply not the same team without Hinrich.

Hinrich is kind of the team's everything player, and without Larry Hughes as well right now, the team has no true point guard. Hughes should be back soon but with Hinrich out until the All-Star game....the Bulls are in trouble.

Good Karma

Honorable Mention-Phils to get Holliday?

A day after it appeared that the St. Louis Cardinals were primed to acquire Colorado slugger Matt Holliday, the World Champion Phillies appear to be the lead suitor to nab the slugger.

It isn't clear how Holliday will fare away from the thin air of Coors Field but the Phillies would definitely increase their chances of a repeat World Series appearance by adding Holliday.

Stay tuned.

Runner-up-NCAA Bk-Ball is coming

It's almost time to tip-off the 2008/09 NCAA basketball season. Some exhibition games are already underway but the real fun is coming soon.

I admittedly don't follow it too much before March Madness. But with Oregon State hitting the hardwood with first-year head coach Craig Robinson -- the brother-in-law of President-Elect Barack Obama -- running the floor, I am more interested than usual.

So, good luck to all of your college hoops teams (Men's or Women's) and I'll see you in March.

Winner-Change is Coming

This last Tuesday, Americans came out in record numbers and cast their vote in what was being called "The most important election of our generation."

And the result? America voted in the first African-American President in our nation's history. Now, you know I don't like to talk a lot of politics here but you also probably know that when I do, I have had a more liberal slant to my arguments. Needless to say, my vote was cast for Barack Obama like over 64 million other Americans.

I don't care if you are Republican, Democrat, Independent, Liberal, Conservative, Moderate, White, Black, Hispanic, Asian, Native American or if you just fell out of the sky...this is a historic time for this country and Obama's election as our 44th President is a good thing for the country and the world.

The perception of our country in the eyes of those abroad has already changed and that is an undeniably good thing.

Congratulations to President-Elect Obama!

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That's all for this week. Again, if you have some stories to share, I am open to suggestions. Next week I will have some stories that were on my mind this week. Have a great week filled with good karma. See you Wednesday with Get to Know the 50 States.

Best wishes for good karma to all!

FINALLY!!!!!!!!!

2008-11-04T20:46:00.000-08:00

Thank you! No more Bush and/or broken policies. Congratulations to President-elect, Barack Obama.

Karma of the Week (11/02/2008)

2008-11-02T11:17:00.001-08:00

Hey everyone and welcome to Karma of the Week. Like I said in my 50 States blog on Wednesday, I appreciate the well wishes from people wondering where I was last Sunday. I just took a day to work on household stuff (we completely rearranged the front room among other things) and didn't have time to post.

This week I am feeling a bit under the weather but I am ready to go regardless. On with my picks of the week.

Bad Karma

Honorable Mention-No. 1 Texas (and the BCS) goes down

The Texas Longhorns could not withstand a fourth straight "tough game". The Texas Tech Red Raiders QB Graham Harrell found Michael Crabtree for a 28-yard touchdown catch with 0:01 remaining to win 39-33.

This puts the BCS into a scramble again....and I couldn't be happier about it. Congrats to the Red Raiders and bad karma to the Longhorns for not gettin 'er done.

Runner-up- World Series has 45-hour rain delay.

Prepare for a rant. I hate Bud Selig. Plain and simple. He has ruined baseball almost to the point of no return. No some may argue that Interleague play and the Wild-card have been overwhelming successes and to that I would agree. But no single commissioner in any sport has done more to sabotage their sport than Bud has.

And there is no greater example of that than this past World Series. Game 5 of the Phillies-Rays series in Philadelphia was played in a torrential downpour from about the 3rd inning on. This is BASEBALL, not football. The game should have been called at that point and either attempted in its entirety again later, or resumed later. As it was, the game went past the 5th inning (an official game) with the Phillies winning 2-1. Then, only after the Rays tied the game in the 6th, was the game postponed.

WHAT? Were you waiting for the Rays to tie the game Bud? Now, the game was postponed through Tuesday and into Wednesday, picking up where they left off in the bottom of the 6th. If the game would have been called early, the Phillies could have brought their ace Cole Hamels back in to pitch. But since he already pitched 6 innings, they weren't able to do that.

This is just the latest example of a man who needs to leave. World Series games with a 8:37 p.m. Eastern start time? They do realize that children can't stay up until midnight on a school night to watch a baseball game right? Some argue that a 5 p.m, 6 p.m. or even 7 p.m. Eastern start time is bad because the people on the west coast aren't even home from work yet. That never seemed to matter before. The television ratings for the World Series have never been lower than they have been over the past 10 years. (The only exception being when the Red Sox won their title in 2004)

Playoff games on ESPN and TBS are killing ratings. Not everyone gets TBS and/or ESPN. The games used to all be on FOX and CBS. Of course, with all the levels of playoffs now, another network needs to be used I suppose. But with the Division Series only on TBS and ESPN, starting at different times every day and with ridiculous days off between Games 1 and 2 for some series, no wonder people have stopped watching.

Speaking of ridiculous days off. If baseball would get rid of the multitude of unnecessary days off during the regular season and the postseason, we wouldn't have the playoffs running to bad weather (as much) and running into November (which the World Series will next year). Baseball can get rid of several "travel days" that are built into the schedule of the regular season, get rid of the day off between Games 1 and 2 of playoff series and the World Series would end no later than October 20th....as it should be.

I personally would shorten the regular season from 162 games back to 154 and keep the travel days, but baseball is not going to shorten the regular season. I also would change the playoff format from a 5-7-7 to a 5-5-7, but again, baseball probably wouldn't do that.

As for the idea of a neutral site for the World Series, that is something that I have actually thought of before. I have seen a lot of people blasting Bud for suggesting this but please hold judgment until you hear my idea. Now, I'm sure it needs fine tuning, but what if you had the first 2 games of the World Series at a neutral site and baseball made a HUGE deal of it like the Super Bowl? HUGE pre-game festivities, a star-studded 7th inning stretch, a television ratings bonanza on a Saturday afternoon. Then, Game 2 would be on Sunday night (in place of Sunday night football like they did this year) and a similar spectacle could be made of it. Then, Games 3 and 4 would be in one teams city, with Games 5 and 6 being in the other city (if necessary) and Game 7 would go back to the first teams site.

I think it would be a huge success not only in terms of ratings but in getting younger fans back to the game. Kids like hoopla and that is exactly what a series like that would bring. Games 1 and 2 could be rotated - like the Super Bowl - between warm weather climates and cities with retractable roof stadiums (San Diego, Los Angeles, San Francisco, Seattle, Houston, Arlington, Miami, Tampa, Atlanta, just to name a few) Plus, if a team whose city was hosting the World Series that year got into the World Series, talk about home field advantage.

That's just my humble opinion. What do you think? Bottom line is that Selig needs to go.

Winner- John Daly is a complete train wreck.

Everyone's favorite drunk and disorderly John Daly was forced to spend a night in jail to sober up after he was found drunk outside a Hooters restaurant in Winston-Salem North Carolina last week.

When medical workers arrived on the scene, Daly, 42 was passed out. Police say that while in the restaurant, Daly "appeared extremely intoxicated and uncooperative.

This coming not too long after telling reporters and fans that he was going to be turning his life around.

HEY JOHN! You were only supposed to do a U-turn, not a complete 360.

I think Daly has stepped into a class with Brittney Spears and Pacman Jones. Stories involving him are no longer stories anymore. They are tabloid fodder.

Good Karma

Honorable Mention- Pepe on Craig Ferguson.

In case you missed it, Pepe was on Craig Ferguson promoting his new book. Check out the clip here.

And be sure to pick up his new book: It's Hard Out Here for a Shrimp

Runner-up- NBA season in full swing

It's been a great first week in the NBA....like I paid attention. But really, the Lakers are 3-0, the Blazers had a thrilling win at home against the Spurs, the Hornets are perfect after beating the Cleveland LeBron's.

The best part? The Oklahoma City Thunder are 0-2 to start the year, losing by an average of 11.5 points. While that isn't necessarily good karma for them, it's good for fans of the league for that poor example of a franchise to finish the year 0-82.

Winner- The Phucking Phillies

The Philadelphia Phighting Phillies won the World Series in five games over the Tampa Bay Rays. As a Braves fan, it's hard for me to say that as I typically hate the Phucking Phillies. But I have no choice but to tip my hat off to them as they took care of business in beating the favored Rays four games to one.

I don't know if they can repeat in an increasingly improving NL East division, but it's nice for the Phils to bring some much needed good karma to the city of Brotherly Love.

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That's all for this week. Again, if you have some stories to share, I am open to suggestions. Next week I will have some stories that were on my mind this week. Have a great week filled with good karma. See you Wednesday with Get to Know the 50 States.

Best wishes for good karma to all!

OT

Pepe's Week 9 NFL picks

2008-11-01T22:02:00.000-07:00

Hola amigos! Pepe here with another round of sexy NFL picks okay. After a very sexy 9-5 week last week, Pepe is 64-52 on the year, while Mrs. OT is 38-31 picking winners strictly based on uniform preference.

Pepe is a little short (no short jokes) on time this week, so I am just going to give the matchup and my pick okay.

Now, for the picks. But first.....did ju see Pepe on Craig Ferguson this week?

New Favre Bretts @ Buffalo

I think the Bills win but the Jets cover 28-24 okay.

Detroit @ Chicago

Lions and Bears oh my. The Bears get the better end of this one 34-10 okay.

Jacksonville @ Cincinnati

The Bengals could go 0-16. The Jaguars win 28-17 okay.

Baltimore @ Cleveland

The Browns can't catch a break, Edwards can't catch. Ravens win 21-17 okay.

Green Bay @ Tennessee

The Titans roll to 8-0, 27-17 okay.

Tampa Bay @ Kansas City

I will take the Bucs to knock down the Chiefs 31-17 okay.

Arizona @ St. Louis

This game could go either way but I give the edge to the Cards 21-20 okay.

Houston @ Minnesota

I think the Texans shock the Viks 35-28 okay.

Miami @ Denver

The Broncos reel in the Dolphins 35-24 okay.

Atlanta @ Oakland

Oakland gets a surprise win at home 27-24 okay.

Dallas @ New York Giants

Not the game we thought it would be. Giants win

Philadelphia @ Seattle

The Eagles will embarrass the Seahawks at home 42-24 okay.

New England @ Indianapolis

Not the game we thought it would have been before the season started. Colts win a desperation game 31-28 okay.

Pittsburgh @ Washington

Scoring is a premium 14-10, Skins win okay.

I'll post Mrs. OT's picks later.

Adios!

Get to Know the 50 States (Washington)

2008-10-29T21:46:00.000-07:00

Hello everyone and welcome to Get to Know the 50 States. For those of you who were wondering where I was on Sunday, I just took a day to do some household stuff and never got around to posting Karma of the Week. Thanks to those of you who checked in with me to see if I was okay. I am indeed okay and still here.

Moving on, we get right to the 42nd state on our tour. My neighbor to the north...I'm talking of course about......

WASHINGTON

Capital: Olympia

Admitted: November 11, 1889

Order: 42nd State

Nickname: The Evergreen State

Historical (fun) Facts:

- The state of Washington is the only state to be named after a United States president.

- Seattle is home to the first revolving restaurant, atop the Space Needle. (1961)

- Washington state produces more apples than any other state in the union.

- Washington state has more glaciers than the other 47 contiguous states combined.

- Medina is the home of the United States wealthiest man, Microsoft's Bill Gates.

- Before it became a state, the territory was called Columbia (named after the Columbia River). When it was granted statehood, the name was changed to Washington, supposedly so people wouldn't confuse it with The District of Columbia.

- Starbucks, the biggest coffee chain in the world was founded in Seattle.

- Spokane was the smallest city in size to host a World's Fair. - 1974

- Washington state's capitol building was the last state capitol building to be built with a rotunda.

- It is pronounced: WASH-ing-ton, not WARSH-ing-ton. Contrary to popular belief, there is no 'R' in Washington.

- By the turn of the 20th century, Aberdeen had the distinction of being "the roughest town west of the Mississippi" because of excessive gambling, violence, extreme drug use and prostitution (the city remained off-limits to military personnel into the early 1980s).

- On May 18, 1980, the northeast face of Mount St. Helens exploded outward, destroying a large part of the top of the volcano.

- The percentage of non-religious people in Washington is the highest of any state, and church membership is among the lowest of all states.

Famous People Born in Washington

Drew Bledsoe

Mel Stottlemyre Jr.

Kurt Cobain[ From the aforementioned Aberdeen

Bob Barker

Connor Trinneer

Jimi Hendrix

Paul Allen- Blazers and Seahawks owner

Emily Rose

Your Turn

I have been to the great state to the north many times. Mostly because, Seattle is the only place nearby to catch an MLB or NFL game. If anyone either from Washington or that has visited Washington would like to share some stories here, I'd love to hear from you.

That's it for this week. Tune in next Wednesday as we get to state No. 43. Next week, we visit Idaho.

OT

Previous States

1. Delaware

2. Pennsylvania

3. New Jersey

4. Georgia

5. Connecticut

6. Massachusetts

7. Maryland

8. South Carolina

9. New Hampshire

10. Virginia

11. New York

12. North Carolina

13. Rhode Island

14. Vermont

15. Kentucky

16. Tennessee

17. Ohio

18. Louisiana

19. Indiana

20. Mississippi

21. Illinois

22. Alabama

23. Maine

24. Missouri

25. Arkansas

26. Michigan

27. Florida

28. Texas

29. Iowa

30. Wisconsin

31. California

32. Minnesota

33. Oregon

34. Kansas

35. West Virginia

36. Nevada

37. Nebraska

38. Colorado

39/40. The Dakotas

41. Montana

Get to Know the 50 States (Montana)

2008-10-22T21:28:00.001-07:00

Hey everyone, welcome to Get to Know the 50 States. If you are viewing this for the first time, every week in 2008, I am giving you some fun facts, famous people from and a little history into each of the 50 states. Sometimes we get a visit from a TSN member who is from the state to give us even more insight.

The idea was conceived with a sports theme in mind, but people have really taken to the history....and the babes. If you would like to see any of the previous 40, you may do so with links at the bottom of the post. Now, without further delay I give you the 41st state on our list.

MONTANA

Capital: Helena

Admitted: November 8, 1889

Order: 41st State

Nickname: The Treasure State

Historical (fun) Facts:

- Montana has the largest migratory elk herd in the nation.

- The state boasts the largest breeding population of trumpeter swans in the lower United States.

- The Montana Yogo Sapphire is the only North American gem to be included in the Crown Jewels of England.

- In 1888 Helena had more millionaires per capita than any other city in the world.

- 46 out of Montana's 56 counties are considered "frontier counties" with an average population of 6 or fewer people per square mile.

- Virginia City was founded in 1863 and is considered to be the most complete original town of its kind in the United States.

- The Museum of the Rockies in Bozeman gained fame through the work of its chief paleontologist, Jack Horner. Horner was the prototype for the character Dr. Alan Grant in the best selling novel/movie, "Jurassic Park."

- Just south of Billings, Lt. Col. George Armstrong Custer and his troops made their last stand. Little Bighorn Battlefield National Monument features the Plains Indians and United States military involved in the historic battle.

- In Montana the elk, deer and antelope populations outnumber the humans.

- Competing with the D River in Lincoln City, Oregon for the title of the world's shortest river, the Roe River flows near Great Falls. Both rivers lengths vary from 58 feet to 200 feet. The source for this small river is Giant Springs, the largest freshwater spring in the United States.

Famous People Born in Montana

Phil Jackson

Ryan Leaf- Remember him?

Dwan Edwards- Played his college ball at Oregon State

Dana Carvey

Evel Knievel

Theodore Kaczynski

Katie Blair- Miss Teen USA 2006

Michelle Williams

Your Turn

HELLO! Anyone home? Is there anyone out there in the TSN community from Montana? Can anyone shed some light as to why you would want to live out there? I suppose it's nice and all if you like rodeos, birds, elk, bears and dirt. But seriously, tell us about your home.

That's all for this week. Tune in next week when we visit my neighbor to the north......Washington.

OT

Previous States

1. Delaware

2. Pennsylvania

3. New Jersey

4. Georgia

5. Connecticut

6. Massachusetts

7. Maryland

8. South Carolina

9. New Hampshire

10. Virginia

11. New York

12. North Carolina

13. Rhode Island

14. Vermont

15. Kentucky

16. Tennessee

17. Ohio

18. Louisiana

19. Indiana

20. Mississippi

21. Illinois

22. Alabama

23. Maine

24. Missouri

25. Arkansas

26. Michigan

27. Florida

28. Texas

29. Iowa

30. Wisconsin

31. California

32. Minnesota

33. Oregon

34. Kansas

35. West Virginia

36. Nevada

37. Nebraska

38. Colorado

39/40. The Dakotas

World Series Preview

2008-10-20T21:49:00.000-07:00

Finally, Major League Baseball gets what they've asked for. A World Series that will not only be the least watched World Series ever, but may possibly go down as the least watched final series in any of the four professional sports history....and that includes hockey.

The only matchup that could have been worse this year would have been a Brewers-Rays series.

But here we go....the Tampa Bay Rays will host the Philadelphia Phillies beginning Wednesday. The Phillies are in the World Series for the first time since losing to Joe Carter and the Toronto Blue Jays in 1993. The Tampa Bay Rays are in the World Series for the first time in their 11-year history.

The Phillies last won the World Series in 1980. In that year, only nine of the 25 players on the Tampa Bay active playoff roster were even alive and only three of them were older than age 5.

As for the series, my thoughts are this:

- The Rays just came off a thrilling 7-game series with the Red Sox.

- The Phillies will have been off for about a week before the WS starts.

- Last year, the Red Sox had a tough 7-game series while the Rockies had time off and then the Sox rolled the Rockies in 4. Same thing happened in 2006 with the Tigers and Cardinals.

- The Rays are young and not used to playing this many games.

- The Phillies are young but have more experienced ball players.

The bottom line is, this will be a great series. You heard me, this will be a GREAT series. This will go 7 games with the home team winning each game. There will be 5 close games (decided by 3 runs or fewer) and 2 blowouts.

It's a shame no one will watch it. But, perhaps the low TV ratings will finally show MLB that they have lost an entire generation or more of baseball fans by having playoff games that start at 10 p.m. eastern, playoff games that start at 1 p.m. pacific, different start times for each game and the horrible marketing campaigns that virtually ignore children.

I will be watching, with my two boys, every single game. Good luck to both teams, Rays in 7.

Karma of the Week (HAPPY BIRTHDAY SPENCE)

2008-10-19T09:04:00.000-07:00

Hello everyone. Welcome to Karma of the Week. Be sure to check out Pepe Suave's blog where I picked the Week 7 NFL games for him this week.

Today is a very special day. Today, my oldest boy celebrates his last single-digit birthday. We had the party yesterday at the local bowling alley and it was a HUGE success. Neon lights, loud music, fog machine, close friends and family...it was amazing.

Today is his actual b-day and we are going to kick back and play with all the new toys and video games and such.

So today, I have no stories to share, though there are plenty. But I just wanted to say HAPPY BIRTHDAY SPENCER! Daddy loves you. Next year you will be a double-digit midget.

And I've never felt older.

--------------------------------

That's all for this week. Again, if you have some stories to share, I am open to suggestions. Next week I will have some stories that were on my mind this week. Have a great week filled with good karma. See you tomorrow with a World Series preview and then again on Wednesday with Get to Know the 50 States.

Best wishes for good karma to all!

2008-10-17T22:32:00.001-07:00

Hello everybody, it's me...Oregon Tailgater.

Pepe has asked me to give the picks this week because he is not feeling very good about what happened last week, or the week before, or the week before. Pepe was 7-7 again last week and was 4-10 against the spreads. Mrs. Oregon Tailgater was 7-7 picking teams based on uniform preference. Pepe is now 45-43 while Mrs. OT is now 23-18.

Let's see if I can bring some good karma to the picks. Here we go. The theme for this week is...REDEMPTION. You'll see what I mean.

For those of you still alive in the MFL, here are your Week 7 picks.

The Spike- Houston (you had already picked TB in Week 2)
IGGLZZZZZZ- New York Jets
fraber- ???????

On with the picks.

San Diego @ Buffalo

It could be that I have Ladainian Tomlinson and Antonio Gates on my fantasy team, but I think that the Chargers are going to have a field day in Buffalo.

I know that west coast teams have a hard time making the 3,000 mile trip to play on the east coast (see Seattle @ Buffalo in Week 1) but I think the Bills have come back down to Earth a little after their great start. They don't give up a lot of yards on the ground (sorry LT) but they have allowed seven rushing scores in the first 5 games (Go LT!).

Vegas has it at a pick, that means they think it will be close.

I say to take the Chargers to pull out the win 31-28.

Minnesota @ Chicago

Who knew at the beginning of the year that this game would be a good one to watch? The Vikings are a team that is just primed and ready for a big offensive explosion. The Bears have those frequently. Kyle Orton is giving Bears fans good reason to be smiling this season and have them saying...."Rex who?"

Chicago is favored by a field goal, I think that it's there to get people to jump on the Bears band wagon. Okay....I will too.

I like the Bears to stop the Vikings 24-17.

Pittsburgh @ Cincinnati

The Steelers are coming off the bye week and the Bengals need a win. Doesn't look to promising. Big Ben can't get any protection up front and will probably end up on his back again....a lot.

I don't think that the Bengals win, but I do see the potential for a low scoring game in which the Bengals cover the 9.5 spread.

I'll take the Pirates to beat the Reds 10-6

Tennessee @ Kansas City

The Titans are also coming off a bye week and face a Chiefs team who desperately needs a win. This game is tempting to pick the outright upset because the Chiefs aren't THAT BAD are they?

Vegas has a 8.5 spread on the game which tells me that they want you to think blowout.

I will pick the Chiefs as my upset pick of the week, 21-20 over the Titans

Dallas @ St. Louis

To play, or not to play? That is the question that is on Tony Romo's mind this week as he contemplates whether or not to try to play despite a broken pinky on his throwing hand.

The Rams are coming off a thrilling first win of the year on the road, the Cowboys are fresh off a startling defeat on the road. I wouldn't bet on the Cowboys losing again this week. Not against the Rams.

It doesn't matter if Tony Romo, Brad Johnson or Mickey Mouse is behind center. The recent acquisition of WR Roy Williams means that TE Jason Witten will not see anymore double teams. He will be left open often and should see his production double.

I like the Cowboys to slaughter the Rams 38-20.

Baltimore @ Miami

Baltimore was embarrassed last week by Indy. The Dolphins have that "wildcat" offense that everyone is talking about. I just traded Ronnie Brown in my fantasy league so frankly, I'm hoping he gets shut down.

And I think the Ravens will do just that. The Dolphins are favored by a field goal because they are home. Take the Ravens to win outright.

I will take the Ravens to take out Week 6 frustrations on the Dolphins 31-17.

San Francisco @ New York Giants

Speaking of teams that lost badly last week...how about the Giants? After destroying the Seahawks, the defending champs were led to the slaughter by Derek Anderson and the rejuvenated Cleveland Browns.

That won't happen back home. The Giants are going to walk all over the 49'ers who will be looking for Joe Montana to come out of retirement to help out. Forget Montana, the Niners need Jerry Rice. Did you know that Frank Gore is the teams leading receiver? HE'S THE RUNNING BACK!

The Giants will score early and often, and roll 42-13.

New Orleans @ Carolina

Here's another one of those 3-point spreads that I don't like. Reggie Bush has been very effective this year for the Saints, and Drew Brees will keep the Carolina defense in check with his arsenal of wide receivers that have stepped it up of late.

But Carolina has a 1-2 WR punch in Steve Smith and Muhsin Muhammed. Oh, I forgot....has anyone looked at the Panthers defensive stats? I find it hard to pick the Saints on the road pulling off the upset.

I think that the Panthers send the Saints marching home, 35-24.

Detroit @ Houston

This matchup is another one I'm looking forward to because I have Steve Slaton on my fantasy team and the Lions SUCK! They just traded their one bright spot in Roy Williams and they will be on the road facing a Texans team that is better than advertised.

Houston wins easily 28-17

Indianapolis @ Green Bay

Indy is coming off an offensive display at the Ravens expense and now turns their attention north to face the Packers.

Is Peyton Manning back to his old self? Only time will tell. Joseph Addai is out but Dominic Rhodes is a more than capable backup (note to fantasy owners, if Rhodes hasn't been picked up....do it now! I did.)

I think that the Colts will struggle early, but pull away late. However, I think that a Manning interception late in the game swings it back to the Packers.

I think the Packers steal one from the Colts 24-21.

New Favre Bretts @ Oakland

My recently acquired Brett Favre (they aforementioned trade for Ronnie Brown) looks to send the Oakland Raiders back to mediocrity....wait...they never left. I have a good friend who is a diehard Raiders fan. I asked him, "Are the Raiders gonna win another game this year?" His answer was a resounding..."NO!"

He feels that the Raiders will go 1-15 on the year and have the number one pick in the draft again. I don't know about that, but I don't think that the Raiders will beat the Bretts, though I think that if Oakland is close in the fourth quarter, they could pull it out.

I think the Bretts send the Raiders to 1-5 (only 10 more losses to go) 24-17.

Cleveland @ Washington

Speaking of redemption (remember the theme?), Washington is coming off a terrible loss to the Rams. Cleveland is coming off an emotional win over the Giants on Monday night. The Skins are looking for something to punch and the Browns just happen to be that goofy looking nerd who just happened to walk around the corner just as the bully was thinking he needed someone to pick on.

This game will NOT be close. Take the Skins, take them to cover the 7.5 spread.

The Redskins will turn the Browns white with fear, 35-14.

Seattle @ Tampa Bay

I have another friend who is a Seattle fan. I told him that if Matt the Hasselbeck doesn't come back soon, the Sea Chickens could finish the year 4-12. He said 1-15. I wonder if the NFL would have an opposite Super Bowl between the 1-15 Raiders and the 1-15 Seahawks to see which one sucked more?

Earnest Graham (another fantasy team player of mine) looks primed to run the ball ALL OVER the Chickens, who can't seem to stop a runny nose.

The Seahakws lose again, this time to Tampa, 28-14.

Denver @ New England

Last, but not least this week. New England just got spanked last Sunday by the Chargers. Now they are home and welcoming the unsuspecting Broncos into what should be a coming out party for Matt Cassel.

You heard it here first! I predict 250 yards passing and 3 TD's for Cassel (two of them to Moss) and a big win for the Patriots just when they needed some good home cookin'.

I'm taking the Patriots to stick it to the Horses 24-10.

Finally, here are Mrs. Oregon Tailgater's picks for the week, based solely on her preference in the uniform.

Buffalo
Chicago
Pittsburgh
St. Louis
New Orleans
San Francisco
Baltimore
Kansas City
Houston
Cleveland
New York Jets
Green Bay
Seattle
Denver

That is all for this week. Thanks to Pepe for having me over for some picking fun. Hopefully we have a good week.

See you Sunday with Karma of the Week.