Guest Blogging

If there is anything you want to submit to the blog, you are more than welcome to shoot me an email regarding a subject or even an entire post at vc151.angrybrownguy@blogger.com. Of course everything will reviewed but more than likely, even if it is something I disagree with, I will post it in your name.

The post can be about anything from sports to politics to video games to a random rant of anything you could possibly think of. I am open to listening on all topics and go for it. Pick something obscure and surprise me.

It's Not Possible!

I was watching this game with my roommate the other day while he supposedly tried to do his homework... yea right.

Washington went up by 3 with 1.2 seconds left on the clock. Toronto calls a timeout to move up the court and the following happens courtesy of Anthony Parker...




This game also brought back memories of what Morris Peterson did to them last year...




Surprisingly those games with the two teams were about a year apart ... 10 months is more like it but close enough - (January 29, 2008 and March 30, 2007).

Moola - It's For Real

I have been playing Moola since November now and at first what seemed like a fake money making scheme has turned out to be pretty fun and very real. You always have a balance of at least a penny and can always play a game. There are 3 games that you can currently play (Hi/Lo, Rock Paper Scissors and a Gold Rush Game. To play, you must wager any or all of your current balance in increments of a penny being doubled up multiple times.



Currently my balance starts at $9.37 but I was well over $20 just a month ago. I cashed out $10 just to see how well it would work and the check is on its way. You need to have a minimum $8-$10 balance before you can cash out which is not too unreasonable of an amount. Also, everyday you can spin a wheel from their search engine and just earn free money. It is a pretty fun thing to do online and reliable too, compared to the other gimmicks.



Enjoy it. If you are interested in joining, just click one of the two pictures above and you'll be taken their straight. Let me know if you join as well, We can always play head to head, whether at least the money just stays within us. Happy Playing!

Obama Helps Out Richardson

This is interesting.

During a Democratic debate, Senator Obama helped out his fellow Democrat at a tough moment.

"I had just been asked a question -- I don't remember which one -- and Obama was sitting right next to me. Then the moderator went across the room, I think to Chris Dodd, so I thought I was home free for a while. I wasn't going to listen to the next question. I was about to say something to Obama when the moderator turned to me and said, 'So, Gov. Richardson, what do you think of that?' But I wasn't paying any attention! I was about to say, 'Could you repeat the question? I wasn't listening.' But I wasn't about to say I wasn't listening. I looked at Obama. I was just horrified. And Obama whispered, 'Katrina. Katrina.' The question was on Katrina! So I said, 'On Katrina, my policy . . .' Obama could have just thrown me under the bus. So I said, 'Obama, that was good of you to do that.'" - Article

This is an example of the Senator Obama's character.

Religious Comic

Courtesy: Joseph Sullivan

Death of a Sports Writer's Son

The son of well renowned sports columnist for the Boston Globe Bob Ryan apparently committed suicide in Islamabad, Pakistan yesterday where he was an attaché for the US Immigration and Customs Enforcement agency.

"Mr. Ryan was a well-respected, trusted, and longtime member of the US Mission in Pakistan," the statement said. "His death is a great loss. He will be sorely missed by all who have known and worked with him here in Pakistan." - Article

I can admit I did not know at all that his son was working in Pakistan but if he was remotely like his father, who is well respected and knowledgeable on issues (albeit his father only covers sports), it will speak volume to the kind of man he was. His father, Bob, is often on the discussion panel on Around the Horn and is an occasional guest host on Pardon the Interruption.


Speaking of Pardon the Interruption, regular host Michael Wilbon suffered a heart attack today.

Santana: Mr. Met?

Nothing official yet but it looks like the New York Mets are ready to part with 4 minor league prospects (outfielder Carlos Gomez and pitchers Phil Humber, Deolis Guerra and Kevin Mulvey) for Santana. Reportedly, Mets now have a 48-72 hour window to negotiate a contract extension probably in the range of 6 or 7 years... I will have an update when there is one.

MMO Gamers Documentary?

My roommate showed an interesting trailer for an upcoming documentary. I am not sure if I can will myself to watch an entire documentary on the subject but I am sure there are plenty of people out there who have been waiting for something like this to come out. For those of you, enjoy the the little introduction on the documentary below and have fun with the clip.

Second Skin is an upcoming documentary by Pure West Films that focuses on the lives of seven MMO gamers, exploring how their games of choice have affected their lives. It touches on many popular MMO topics, such as falling in love, becoming addicted, gold farming, and the effects virtual worlds can have on the handicapped.

Courtesy: Joseph Sullivan

Allen Iverson

I saw this live yesterday and was waiting for someone to post a video of it online. If anyone gets a better quality one, let me know and I will put that up instead. Even at his age, Iverson can still play with the best of them in the league and without Carmelo yesterday, he still gave the Mavericks a good fight.

Tigers Woods

Tiger Woods makes one of his better putts in a while. He seems to be off to a start where he left off... looks like trouble for the rest of the field.

In the clip, Tiger Woods makes a long, snaking birdie putt on the par 3 11th to go to 20-under in the final round of the 2008 Buick Invitational.

Fundraising Spike

Well I guess here are the first signs of the election race post-South Carolina...

A source inside the Obama campaign says the candidate's web site has seen one of its best hours tonight, raising $525,000 in one hour. A senior aide inside the Obama campaign said the candidate's site saw its "highest peak" tonight in both online donations and traffic, "bigger than after Iowa, bigger than after New Hampshire."

The Obama campaign measures online donations every 15 minutes, and the source said that online money was pouring in at the rate of more than $500,000 per hour. - Washington Post

Gotta wait and see until Super Duper Tuesday to see if it actually makes a difference.

Burnout Paradise

I picked up Burnout Paradise yesterday for XBox 360... I was a little disappointed that while playing locally, you can only do one player but it does support up to 8 players cooperatively. I am only an hour into game play but I like method where you can pick up challenges and races as you please. So far I would say maybe one or two wreckages seem a little questionable but that is to be expected, you can only hope it is limited. I will play more in these upcoming days and nights and maybe I will put up a revised review.

Advice: Avoid this if you want to play multiplayer local, quite a disappointment with the lack of that feature. Maybe it will not be that bad online, who knows?

A Reason To Believe?

After Barack Obama recorded the largest victory in this very early primary season in South Carolina, now is there a reason to believe in this race again? With a resounding 55% of the votes from nearly half a million Democratic voters from which there were around 75% support from African American voters but only 35% of non-African American voters. Now with two belts on completely different ends of the spectrum... Iowa - rather large White population to South Carolina with its large Black population.

Now there is a Florida primary next Tuesday which carries no delegates and outside of Hilary Clinton, no major Democratic candidate had even campaigned there. So expect a Clinton win there setting up a super heavyweight match up come Super Tuesday of monumental proportions.

Now the wait is on for February 5th, which is in a week and a half...

Word Press

So I am really considering switching over to Word Press. It has plenty more options and features to play with but certainly I lose the analysis and financial benefit from Google Analytics and Google AdSense (unless someone knows how to do that and wants to help me.)

I have temporarily set up a mirror blog available at (http://angrybrownguy.wordpress.com/) for those of you who are interested and certainly, it is much more aesthetically appealing than this one but I am still deciding whether I should convert over. I really like the ability to play around with the layout and options to add Tag Clouds, Archive Calendars, view Recent Comments. The 3 Gigabytes of personal space always helps too for the long run as opposed to only 1 Gig here.

Nothing official, but I am SO CLOSE to converting over.

Summer Olympics 2008 - Pollution Style

So New York Times had an article yesterday about how athletes should be training themselves for the upcoming conditions in Beijing Olympics this August. The pollution is so bad there that the athletes are not sure how to train themselves and whether they should run in highway traffic or behind vehicles that are shooting exhaust into their lungs just to adjust themselves to the change in environment in China.

Should I run behind a bus and breathe in the exhaust? Should I train on the highway during rush hour? Is there any way to acclimate myself to pollution?

Mr. Wilber answers those questions with a steadfast, “No.”

“We have to be extremely careful and steer them in the right direction because the mind-set of the elite athlete is to do anything it takes to get that advantage,” he said. “If they thought locking themselves in the garage with the car running would help them win a gold medal, I’m sure they would do it. Our job, obviously, is to prevent that.”

Everyone sort of knows that athletes will pretty much try anything to try to get a competitive advantage and this is probably one of the most bizarre things you will see... but I guess it is this or shooting yourself up with HGH or something like that.

Tax Rebate?

So apparently there is talk amongst Congress and the White House regarding President Bush's economic stimulus plan on how to provide immediate relief to the country which could already be in a recession. The current proposed plan will provide a $600 check to any individual who paid tax last year, or a $1,200 check for couples. Those who who did not pay federal income taxes but did earn an income greater than $3,000 will get a $300 rebate per individual or $600 for a couple. It is reported that only those who earn up to $75,000 individually or $150,000 as a couple will be eligible for the rebate. If the plan does not face a lot of hurdles in the House or in the Senate, people could start receiving their check as early as June, which for "immediate relief" is still half a year away.

It is too early to say whether a flat rebate like this will work but certainly if people go out and buy things it will be a great quick fix. However, if people just use the money to pay down their debts on their credit cards, it will fail because all this money will be used towards something they had already spent and it will not be the shot in the arm that the government is looking for. So we will see how this works out, but still plenty of time to go before anything is decided on who gets what and when.

Happy spending those who get a check!

A Real Problem

Ever lock your keys inside with you outside? Well this could probably be the worst ever scenario for you to do that.




Courtesy: Stephanie Albright

The Tom Brady Bunch

So I never thought I would have a separate post about Tom Brady but who knew? Certainly as my roommate said "Is there nothing more important going on in sports?", that they had a 5 minute segment dedicated just to this?

As most of you know already, I am no fan of Tom Brady and the New England Patriots but yea, I guess this is a little funny at times.

Movies

A couple of movies I watched this past week which I think are really good are Lions for Lambs with our favorite Tom Cruise, Robert Redford and Meryl Streep... the second one is Michael Clayton with George Clooney.

IMDB recaps for both movies are below... great movies, I would recommend them to anyone who has not seen either.

Lions for Lambs begins after two determined students at a West Coast University, Arian and Ernest, follow the inspiration of their idealistic professor, Dr. Malley, and attempt to do something important with their lives. But when the two make the bold decision to join the battle in Afghanistan, Malley is both moved and distraught. Now, as Arian and Ernest fight for survival in the field, they become the string that binds together two disparate stories on opposite sides of America. In California, an anguished Dr. Malley attempts to reach a privileged but disaffected student who is the very opposite of Arian and Ernest. Meanwhile, in Washington D.C. the charismatic Presidential hopeful, Senator Jasper Irving, is about to give a bombshell story to a probing TV journalist that may affect Arian and Ernest's fates.

Michael Clayton is an in-house fixer at one of the largest corporate law firms in New York. A former criminal prosecutor, Clayton takes care of Kenner, Bach, & Ledeen's dirtiest work at the behest of the firm's co-founder, Marty Bach. Though burned out and hardly content with his job as a fixer, his divorce, a failed business venture, and mounting debt have left Clayton inextricably tied to the firm. At U/North, meanwhile, the career of litigator Karen Crowder rests on the multi-million dollar settlement of a class-action suit that Clayton's firm is leading to a seemingly successful conclusion. But when Kenner Bach's brilliant and guilt-ridden attorney Arthur Edens sabotages the U/North case, Clayton faces the biggest challenge of his career and his life.

Hockey News

I have not got around to much hockey news but here is some... The Maple Leafs have fired their GM John Ferguson and temporarily replaced him with Cliff Fletcher. I think it is about time the Leafs made some sort of a move for a team that has missed the playoffs the past two years even though last year it was by only one point. Standing at 19-22-8 which is second last in the entire league for points, this team definitely needs to go in a new direction. They have plenty of young talent, Mats Sundin will probably be traded before year's end and who knows with the new salary structure around the league, this team could be turned around in a year or two.

In other news, Sidney Crosby's high ankle sprain will force him to miss not only the All-Star game this weekend but he could possibly be out up to 8 weeks. Tough loss for the Penguins and certainly a loss for the NHL with its best player going down.

Conference Championship Recap

So I guess I am finally getting around to talking about the two games because I am finally getting over the Packers loss. I will start with this game first because certainly this was arguably one of the best playoff games I have ever seen. A back and forth game from the start where neither team really got true momentum and even though it was a game that many will argue Giants dominated from the start (outside the one 90 yard pass to Driver). The Packers, much to my surprise, never established a running game that had really balanced out their offense in the second half of the season and really burst wide open in the last game against the Seahawks. Give all the credit in the world to Eli Manning who kept going to Plaxico Burress against a clearly over-matched Al Harris. Make no mistake about it, Packers gave this game away to the Giants with their mistakes but Eli stayed composed the entire game even though the Packers responded to every Giant score. I will still say it, Tom Coughlin's decision to play all of his starters in that 'meaningless' Week 17 game versus the Patriots really brought this team together and there is no way they are in the Super Bowl unless their starters play that game. 3 straight road playoff wins, 10 straight road wins... this team has the momentum that could produce a victory in Arizona, but that is a little too early to call. Momentum is a dangerous opponent to play against regardless of who you are.

Oh by the way, Patriots continued their winning ways basically because the Chargers could find a way to score in the red zone. They were held to four field goals, two of which certainly could have been touchdowns and who knows, might have produced a different result at the end of the game. Regardless, the Patriots played less than their 'A' game but still found a way to win. They did that this game and have done that often over the course of the season and now stand one win away from a perfect 19-0 season. I will not elaborate more into what I think happens in two weeks but yea, I just might pick the Patriots two weeks in a row, who knows?

Bush to Pardon Himself...

How is doing this even legal... I just do not understand how many times they can pull stuff off like this and continue to get away with it. Does that not really give it away that they did things on purpose and are now covering up their mistakes? Give me a break.

Speechless...

I do not want to blog about the games tonight, I will do it tomorrow.

Animator vs. Animation

I either find things like these or usually I have someone who sends the link my way. This time it was I was shown this. It is really funny to watch, maybe a little long but definitely worth the watch.

Animator vs. Animation by *alanbecker on deviantART

Courtesy: Cindy Murray

Nevada Caucuses

Let me just summarize what happened in Nevada...

- Hilary Clinton won the popular vote (51%-45%)
- Barack Obama picked up more delegates (13-12)
- Mitt Romney picked up a crucial victory
- Ron Paul finished 2nd with 14% of the votes

- I do not understand why Rudy Guiliani is still in the race
- I do not understand why Fred Thompson is still in the race
- I will excluse Ron Paul and Dennis Kucinich because they are both lunatics

MIT Sketching

This is just one of those cools thing you wish you had but you don't... or maybe it's just me who wants this...

Courtesy of Cindy Murray.

Old Photo

Just ran across an old photo and I guess Rusty and I are still that cool... That photo is dated June 28, 2005 - The Home News Tribune.

Rick Nash - Pure Ownage

I think this is quite an appropriate post for it being my first hockey post on the blog. This is probably one of the greatest individual goals you will ever see in the National Hockey League. Rick Nash just simply owns the Phoenix defense and makes a mockery of their goalie. Enjoy.

Wait a Minute...

I know pretty much everyone has seen this in one form of another but I ran across it todaym, so here it is.

If you use Microsoft Windows, you've seen the Webdings and Wingdings fonts. They're "dingbat" fonts — in place of letters they offer small clip-art images and symbols.

Well, here's "NYC" in Webdings:

And here's "NYC" in Wingdings:

Make of this what you will.

Courtesy: Futility Closet

Conference Championship Predictions

Well here we go again... it is Conference Championship weekend - the Final Four of the National Football League. 3/4 the first week but a very disappointing 1/4 last week - only 50% for the playoffs... gotta pick it up with a perfect week this week.


San Diego Chargers at New England Patriots (3:00 PM - CBS)

Not too many people expected the Chargers to pull off the upset over the Colts last week without the help of Rivers and LT for the entire second half but give credit to Norv Turner and his team for sticking together and pulling out a gutsy playoff victory. Let me just say that the Chargers will not be able to repeat the same kind of result this week unless they do have quality contributions from Rivers, LT and Gates. The Patriots have proven all year long that you might slow them down for a little bit by taking away Moss or taking away their running game but that only works for so long. They just have so many weapons on offense that they can give any defense nightmares. Now the Chargers do have quite an athletic defense that has the ability to stay with the Patriots playmakers and with the weather forecast for heavy gusts, the Patriots short passing game that they run so well will probably be in full use. Chargers need to be able to apply some sort of pressure onto Brady if they want to have any chance this game. Brady was sacked on the first play of the game last week but then he was barely touched for the entire game after that. If San Diego can bring pressure often, I can see them keeping this game close in the 4th quarter otherwise it is an easy path for the Patriots to the Super Bowl. Patriots 31-21.



New York Giants at Green Bay Packers (6:30 PM - FOX)

Now this is the Eli Manning everyone had been waiting for. Who really expected this Manning brother to be in the Conference Championship game while is brother was sent home packing? Give all the credit in the world to Tom Coughlin for playing his starters in the last game of the regular season against the New England Patriots - these guys really came together on the field then and that has led to 2 straight victories on the road for the Giants. Now they head to Green Bay where the high temperature for Sunday is forecasted to be about 4 degrees. Brett Favre is a career +40 in win/loss ratio at home and only has a handful of losses when the temperature drops below freezing. Everyone questioned the Packers running game at the start of the year and whether it would be good enough to provide a balance to defenses to keep them honest with their prolific passing attack. Ryan Grant proved that last week with a franchise record for rushing yards in a playoff game - one that seemed very unlikely after he fumbled the ball twice on the Packers first two possessions of the game. The Gaints' pass rushers need to be able to do what most teams have not been able to do all year and that is bring pressure on Brett Favre and force him to make mistakes. He has really cut down on his interceptions and if he manages the game again the way he did last week vs. Seattle, the Giants are in for a long day in Green Bay. I think you have to tip your hat to Eli Manning for finally bringing his game to that next level and I certainly think he is going to have another efficient game this week, I just do not think that will be enough for the battered Giants team to pull out a victory at Lambeau Field. Packers 35-20.

Find the Man in the Coffee Beans

I found it in about 20 seconds…

THE TRICK IS TO FIND THE MAN IN THE COFFEE BEANS:

This is bizarre - after you find the guy - it’s so obvious. Once you find him - it’s embarrassing, and you think, why didn’t I see him immediately?

Doctors have concluded that if you find the man in the coffee beans in 3 seconds, the right half of your brain is better developed than most people.

If you find the man between 3 seconds and 1 minute, the right half of the brain is developed normally.

If you find the man between 1 minute and 3 minutes, then the right half of your brain is functioning slowly.

If you have not found the man after 3 minutes, the advice is to look for more of this type of exercise to make that part of the brain stronger!!!

And, yes, the man is really there!!!

At Stevens? Really?

So as most of you know I am currently an undergraduate student at Stevens Institute of Technology where it is pretty safe to say has a lot of diverse people from all over the place. So imagine my shock when I hear the following conversation as I walk out of my Political Science class this morning. I was walking in front of two guys and never looked back to see who they were.

Guy 1: So for not being a morning person, that guy was totally bouncing off the wall.

Guy 2: Yea, everyone told me to take a "Wharton" class but what everyone failed to mention was that he was BLACK!

Let me give some background information for those who are not familiar with Wharton. He is a professor here at Stevens while currently getting his Ph.D. from Howard University down in Washington D.C. He is one of the most energetic personalities on campus and certainly a great professor to be taught from. I have had him now for several classes (Sixties: Decade of the Protest, Political Science II, Modern East Asian Studies). He always keeps his classes lively, he seems to fit in like a regular student and you probably would not even know he is a professor if you saw him the first time. So certainly, comments like that up there take you back about the bias and the perceptions people form only from a person's skin color. It is disgusting.

It is my third year here and it had been pretty good but it just goes to show people like that are still all over the place and maybe somethings will never change.

Be Afraid America

I am sure most of you have seen this clip already but it sort of has been the talk ever since Huckabee said it. I heard a great comment but not sure where it is is from... If it was from anyone but Huckabee we would dismiss this idea as complete religious fanaticism but since he has the charisma and is able to talk, he is still considered a Republican front runner. Be afraid America.

Copyright Material

How true this is...

Changing World...

Lessons Learned

Never before, nor after this post, will you see me talk like this... so take it for what you want.

There are obstacles that everyone comes across over of the course of a lifetime that can either choose to define who we are or can cause us to never recover from what we were. I would probably say I just went through one of those this past week before the start of my semester but I do not look at it as a lost cause. I do not intend to dwell on it much longer and I certainly do not wish any ill-will to those that caused it. Instead, I take it as probably one of the most valuable lessons I could probably learn and I am quite grateful for that I experienced now at quite the young age of 20.

Some would call the incident a careless oversight. Others are looking at it as an overreaction by the other party involved. Certainly there are two sides to every story and for every honest mistake, there is a deliberate action of deceit. Absolutely there is a sense of disappointment at what could have been but it is not the easiest thing to just move from especially since many people have still yet to learn of it and will ask for explanation. I have nothing to hide... those who ask will get as much of the story as they desire.

I do not seek no pity. I do not seek revenge. I do seek to move forward.

This was probably a big mistake blogging about this.

Divisional Playoff Results - Part 2

Well I went 0/2 today, much to the delight of all Giants' fans out there but I am going to start with the Chargers/Colts first. Who really saw this upset coming? The verdict was out in the Giants game where they had two quality games against the Patriots and then a solid game against the Bucs last week but the Chargers who were winners of their past 7 games really were not given any respect, myself included. Their defense really buckled down and slowed the Colts offense enough for the battered and bruised Charger offense to squeak out this victory. As if no respect was not enough, the Chargers go on to lose LT and Phillip Rivers for most of the 2nd half and still pull this off. Sure guts and determination can pull out a victory but they will need a complete healthy arsenal if they want to have a shot next week.

Eli Manning did this wrong, Eli Manning did that wrong. That is all we have heard about him for the past few years but man has he turned things around. Everyone questioned Tom Coughlin for playing his starters in the last game of the season with "nothing" on the line... yea, the Giants had the progress of their playoff season on the line. I guarantee it that if Coughlin benches his players that game, they are out of sync for the playoffs, they do not have the confidence they have in Eli now, and they are probably sitting at home next week instead of having a shot at the Super Bowl.

Certainly looking forward to next week now, more on the NFC side. I know all the Giants fan have certainly rallied behind their team and I probably would have to but they are playing the Green Bay Packers. The very same Green Bay Packers who played in the very first NFL game I watched back in 1997. The very same Green Bay Packers who had Brett Favre at their helm back then. The very same Green Bay Packers who went to the Super Bowl (hopefully they will win it instead of losing it like they did in 1997). Green Bay cannot afford to take this Giants team lightly because confidence is a very dangerous opponent to be up against and the Packers will be facing just that in this New York Giants football team.

I will have a more in depth preview on both games on Friday but I will leave on a few factual notes from today...

- Dallas Cowboys become the first NFC team seeded #1 to lose in the Divisional Playoff round since the NFL expanded to a 12 team playoff system
- San Diego Chargers win a road playoff game for the first time since 1982
- New York Giants have not committed a turnover in this playoff season
- Teams scoring first in the playoffs this year are now 2-6 (Giants and Seattle)

Divisional Playoff Results - Part 1

So as you could have probably deciphered from the previous post that the Packers put a beat down on the Seahawks. Certainly, I failed to account for the weather that certainly affected both teams. The slick ball early on caused two fumbles for the Packers even though the second one was a solid tackle from the defense. On the flip side, Seahawks were never able to get going offensively where balls they should have caught slipped out of their hands and the running game was seemingly stuck in the snow. I was afraid the youth of the Packers would finally catch up with them and it showed a little bit early when Grant fumbled on the first two drives but boy did he make up for it with franchise record for rushing yards in a post season game. Another well played game by Brett Favre and his wide receivers who continue to get a majority of their yardage after catching the ball (YAC!). Now they go on to face the winner of the Giants/Cowboys game (vs. Giants at home, on the road if against Cowboys). Oh by the way, Brett Favre is 0-9 in his career at Texas Stadium.

The game of the weekend as I had earlier predicted certainly lived up to it in 3 of the 4 quarters - Patriots just dominated the 3rd quarter which proved to be the difference maker. Tom Brady looked like he was going for some XBox Live Achievement for consecutive passes completed at one point but finished the day going 26/28 (92.9%) - which is a post season record for highest completion percentage in a game beating Phil Simms' 86% (I think). Jags did a good job taking Randy Moss out of the game but they were still unable to stop Tom Brady and his passing attack. David Garrard had a great regular season with only 3 interceptions but he also had 3 in 2 post season games and it caught up with him today on his final drive of the game. He's a smart quarterback who will develop into a star in the league if he continues to play like this. A little disappointed with the lack of a running presence by the Jags with either Taylor or Jones-Drew (combining for 68 yards). Now the Patriots will host the winner of the Chargers/Colts game, both teams who can keep with the Patriots offensively but the question will still remain... Can any defense slow down these Patriots?

Packers Game

Random sayings by me during the game...

Grant fumble #1: "Well that was a rough way to start the game"
Grant fumble #2: "Things can't get any worse, can they?"
Green Bay TD #1: "That's a little better."
Green Bay TD #2: "That's a whole lot better."
Seattle Fumble: "Talk about Seahawks choking already."
Note: after Seahawks went up 14-0, Packers out gained them 153 to -5 yards to tie the game at 14
Green Bay TD #3: "Well this game is going to be out of hand by halftime, so much for my 27-24 score prediction."
Green Bay TD #4: "Brett Favre is by far the greatest and most creative quarterback in the history of the game."
Green Bay TD #5: "Brett Favre's first touchdown pass to a running back... this entire season."
Green Bay TD #6: "What happened to the 14-0 deficit for the Packers?

Divisonal Playoff Prediction

Well here we go, NFL Divisional Playoff Weekend is just about here.

Seahawks at Packers (Saturday @ 4:30 on FOX)
I really want to see how Brett Favre decides to play this football game. He has lost 6 of his last 8 playoff games and could be his last game in Green Bay. Hopefully he does not play like he did in the Dallas game, going back and just slinging every pass 50 yards down the field. The Packers need to continue doing what got them to the playoffs this season - spread out the wide receivers and allow them to gain yards after the catch as well as using Ryan Grant to keep defenses honest. I think if the Packers still to that game plan, Seattle just cannot score enough points to beat them this year, maybe if they had Shaun Alexander of a couple of years ago where they would run over everyone but this year they ranked 20th in the league on the ground and with passing game that is only decent, I think Green Bay squeaks out a win in Lambeau Field. Green Bay 27-24.

Jaguars at Patriots (Saturday @ 8:30 on CBS)
This is probably going to be the best match up of the weekend. The Jaguars are coming off an impressive victory in Pittsburgh and you know the Patriots after their 16-0 regular season performance do not want their season to end with a disappointment. I like the way the Jaguars defense plays and forces the offenses to become one dimensional with their great rushing defense. Yes the Patriots are great a passing team but the Jags have an athletic defense that could pose trouble for the likes of Moss or Welker. I think if the Jaguars just hold their own in the early stages of the game and do not succumb to a deep pass or two early, they are a team that can probably will out a win later in the games where so many other teams have failed. I think that because of their quarterback David Garrard - who is no Eli Manning, no AJ Feeley and certainly no Kyle Boller - he is a much better quarterback and only threw 3 interceptions in the regular season... that is going to be key, protecting the football. For everything that the Patriots have done this year, you certainly cannot count them out but do not overlook the Jaguars because I see them winning this game. Jaguars win 31-24.

Chargers at Colts (Sunday at 1 on CBS)
If you want to see a game with two high powered offenses, this is the game to watch. It is not only Peyton Manning vs. LaDainian Tomlinson, but Manning has so many options in Wayne, Addai, Clark and now add Harrison into that mix as well. Phillip Rivers will be troubled with the apparent loss of Antonio Gates who is still game time decision will not be 100% even if he plays but they have added Chris Chambers since the last time these two teams met and that will provide some balance in the Charger attack. Chargers pulled out a lucky win earlier in the year when Adam Vinatieri missed a chip shot, I have a feeling Manning will not let the game be that close this time around. One thing that is often overlooked about this Colts team is their defense. The D ranked #1 in the league in scoring, allowing just over 16 points a game and while they put up nearly 30 that does not bode well for their opponents. No team has put up over 25 points on the Colts this year and it will still be the case after this game. Colts win easy 35-21.

Giants at Cowboys (Sunday at 4:30 on FOX)
So Eli Manning finally got that monkey off his back last week with an impressive win over the Bucs. The Giants certainly have everything working for them right now - they have the momentum, they have the confidence in their quarterback and everyone seems to be on the same page and traveling to Dallas, they are going to need every bit of that if they wish to pull out a victory. The Cowboys pretty much limped into the playoffs losing 2 of their last 3, scoring only 12 points in the loses. Tony Romo and company should benefit from the extra week's rest and the home field advantage but the winning streak the Giants have can be very dangerous. Everyone says it is very difficult to beat a team 3 times in one season but I think if they have done it twice already, they sort of know what to do against you and unless the Giants make dramatic changes I do not see how they will avoid making it 3 straight.A healthy TO should provide to be the difference maker in this game, I see the Giants falling just a little short. I know I am going to take beating from some over enthusiastic Giant fans but I will stick by my original prediction, Cowboys win 24-17.

Sliming Obama

Just received an interesting email from FactCheck.org. I figured it was only a matter of time before these types of "swiftboat" actions start to take place on a much wider scale. The country fell for it in 2004, I can only wonder how they will react to it this time...

Dueling chain e-mails claim he's a radical Muslim or a 'racist' Christian. Both can't be right. We find both are false.

Summary

If these two nasty e-mail messages are any indication, the 2008 presidential campaign is becoming a very dirty one.

One claims that Obama is "certainly a racist" by virtue of belonging to Chicago's Trinity United Church of Christ, which it says "will accept only black parishoners" and espouses a commitment to Africa. Actually, a white theology professor says he's been "welcomed enthusiastically" at the church, as have other non-blacks.

Another e-mail claims that Obama "is a Muslim," attended a "Wahabi" school in Indonesia, took his Senate oath on the Koran, refuses to recite the Pledge of Allegiance and is part of an Islamic plot to take over the U.S. Each of these statements is false.

These false appeals to bigotry and fear remind us of the infamous whispering campaign of eight years ago, when anonymous messages just before the South Carolina primary falsely accused Republican candidate John McCain of fathering an illegitimate child by a black woman.

The rest of the article can be found here.

Give Us Back Baseball

A great post by Peter Abraham from The Journal News. If you really want your Yankee news and want to be kept updated on what's going on, that is really the place to be. Here is his post from earlier this evening about how baseball really should have been focusing on the positive news this off season instead of now being bogged down by all this steroid talk.

You have to wonder whether Bud Selig is still so pleased with himself for getting George Mitchell to investigate the use of performance enhancing drugs in baseball.

I’m trying to figure out how looking into the past will help the game now or in the future. Thanks to this investigation, baseball is all tied up by Congress, the IRS, the FBI, assorted lawyers, weepy trainers and preachy columnists wringing their hands.

The Hall of Fame has been dragged into the muck and the 2008 season is headed that way. Andy Pettitte is now scheduled to appear before Congress on Feb. 13, a day before he reports to Tampa.

For what? Selig would have been much better off having Mitchell simply investigate the testing program and come with ideas to improve it. The Mitchell Report should have ended there. Now Selig has created a world where grandstanding Congressmen will try and get teammates to rat on each other before a live television audience. I didn’t need to see Rusty Hardin in action, thanks anyway Mr. Commissioner.

We should be reading about Joba Chamberlain and Jacoby Ellsbury, two Native American kids who will be center stage in the game’s biggest rivalry. Or hearing tales of the old days from Goose Gossage. Or trying to guess when Ken Griffey Jr. will hit his 600th home run.

Instead we get lawyers, hearings, charges and counter-charges. For what? I get it, a lot of players cheated. I knew that before. Stop telling us, just fix it. Give us back baseball.

Umm... What Happened?

Chris Matthews on MSNBC is still trying to figure out what just happened tonight. What underlying factor played a role in all of these polls being incorrect and not just by a few points here or there, but 10-15 points. Was it race that played a factor where a predominantly White state told pollsters they would support Obama but when they went in to vote... they, as I had originally thought, that Americans just are not ready to support an Black man...

Congratulations to the Clinton camp who have certainly found a second wind early on where it seemed like she was dead in the water. I am certain this puts the African American vote in South Carolina up in the air whether they will go back to supporting the Clintons or can they support "one of their own".

Now there are talks about a union nomination that Obama was supposed to get from Nevada is being put on hold which could have devastating repercussions to the campaign but as we found out tonight, it is way to early to announce anything. As of today, less than one half of one percent of the American electorate has voted... why not give the other people some say as well before jump on a nominee.

P.S. up to day four now on the MIA amigo

New Hampshire

So the early result from the very first voting in New Hampshire were in early morning. It's from this little town with 17 registered voters that always vote at midnight and have this tendency to be quite accurate in predicting the eventual nominees from both parties. Obama and McCain pick up early momentum by winning that town's primary for their parties. Meanwhile for the rest of the state, primaries close about 8 PM tonight I think, so look forward to tonight for what I am expecting to be another Obama victory (hopefully)... 2/2 would be nice to start a campaign, don't you think?

Meanwhile, I still have not heard from my friend overseas and we are up to the 3rd day now... official counter will be up shortly somewhere.

P.S. What a joke yesterday's Roger Clemens press conference was. McNamee seemed like a mentally unstable person at the moment and how cheap did Clemens look recording the phone call without letting the other side know? Either way, not like he got any new information or got McNamee to admit he lied or anything... what a total waste.

By The Way...

Obama has opened up a double digit lead on Hilary in New Hampshire with the primary just two days away. Just thought I would throw that out there.

Weekend Wrap Up

Let me quickly get this one out of the way. Nothing new was revealed from the Roger Clemens - 60 Minutes interview, really what a waste. Probably just wait a couple of weeks for the congressional thing to see what comes out of it but Clemens continues to deny things and McNabee has gone into hiding. Somebody is wrong here but I was shocked to hear Clemens say he had never heard of Andy Pettitte doing anything. It is just so hard to know who is telling the truth nowadays.

Now back to the good stuff. I went 1/2 yesterday and even though I got both correct today, the two games today seemed to be opposite of what I expected.

The Giants seemed to thoroughly dominate the Bucs right from the start. Eli Manning played a well controlled game (185 yards, 2 TDs) and got plenty of help from his defense as well. This game probably saves Coughlin his job and might even secure the extension. Huge game next week now in Dallas, I probably would have picked Dallas without a doubt but momentum can be a huge thing going for the Giants right now.

Norv Turner validated tonight why he was brought here to coach a team that went 14-2 last year by finally winning a playoff game for the first time in 13 years. The Titans pretty much owned the first half on both sides of the ball that included two drives of 60+ yards but only 6-0 and that ended up costing them the game. Holding LT to only 6 yards in the first half and only 42 for the game but his crucial touchdown in the 4th secured the victory. Next stop: Indianapolis Colts. Good Luck.

Weekend in Review (score wise)
Predictions: Redskins 24-14, Jaguars 27-24, Giants 31-10, and Chargers 24-10
Actual: Seahawks 35-14, Jaguars 31-29, Giants 24-14, and Chargers 17-6

I will take a 3 for 4 week in the first week. Great match ups next week all around.

• Holmgren goes to Green Bay to face the team he coached.
  
• Giants and Cowboys are always an intriguing divisional matchup.
  
• Colts/Chargers is a match up of two high powered offenses
• Jags are as good as any team in the league right now and may have everything needed to stop the Patriots.
  

Before I leave, I'll leave you all with this that AP put in the Seattle game recap for this week:

The Seahawks will travel to Green Bay next Saturday, a rematch of a 2004 wild-card game remembered for Matt Hasselbeck's proclamation of "We want the ball and we're going to score!" after the Seahawks won the overtime coin flip.

Instead, Hasselbeck threw an interception that was returned for a touchdown.

I love playoff football.

A loving brown guy signing off...

Crazy Day

That's why you play the entire 60 minutes. Jaguars give up a 18 point lead in the 4th quarter but come back for a 31-29 victory. They are the only visiting team to win in Pittsburgh this year and they did it twice, hats off to the Jags. I apologize to any Steelers fan that I might have teased during the game, they did play one heck of a game.

In the earlier game, Seattle seemingly dominated that game early on with tons of pressure on Collins and the Redskins never really got into the groove of things. You have to admire what they did, winning four straight but you can only run so high on emotion and the Seahawks were just the more talented team Saturday.

I went 1/2 with my picks today... can use a little boost from the Giants tomorrow if they decide to show up to play. The Chargers game seems like a blow out but I guess that is why you play the game.

In other news, ABC in conjunction with Facebook held back to back debates which was entertaining. In the Republican corner, I think John McCain and Fred Thompson did real well, keeping their collective cool and Romney took quite a beating from all corners. Iowa winner Mike Huckabee did pretty well to avoid any major arguments that usually the front runner from Iowa might face. I think he is going to have a strong showing in New Hampshire even though I still think McCain and Romney finish 1-2. Does two second place finishes for Romney where he has heavily spent time and money mark the end of his campaign? I doubt it but I am not sure how many more hits they can take.

For the Democrats, Bill Richardson was the clear cut winner. The "Big 3" traded quite a few barbs and he was the only one to keep his cool. He cut the tension several times like the "I've seen hostage negotiations more civil than this" and then being the only candidate to honestly answer the "mistake" question where he supported a Supreme Court Justice nominated by President Kennedy who ended up the opposite side of the abortion issue with Richardson and was against civil rights. So that was a good laugher from Richardson, gained a lot of respect from me.

NFL Playoffs Predictions

Before I call it a night, I wanted to get my playoff predictions in for the first round at least. Feel free to post your predictions in comments section.

The four games this weekend are Washington at Seattle and Jacksonville at Pittsburgh on Saturday while New York Football Giants at Tampa Bay and Tennessee at San Diego are on Sunday.

I think the Redskins are a great feel good story after the death of Sean Taylor. They won their last 4 games to get into the playoffs and look for them to ride that at pull off an upset at Seattle. The Seahawks to me never really got things going on the ground with Shaun Alexander who only got 700 yards on the season while the Redskins have really come together. Look for Clinton Portis to get a pair of rushing touchdowns and I will take Washington in this one, 24-14.

Jaguars at Steelers is probably the marquee match up this weekend. The Jaguars pulled out a gutsy 7 point win in Pittsburgh about 3 weeks ago in the snowy and awful conditions. I think the Steelers will be better prepared for the Jaguars this time but the loss of Willie Parker has to hurt their chances. Big Ben has been a total monster this season with 30+ TD passes but I do not think that will be enough as the balanced Jaguars attack will once again tame the Steelers. Jaguars by 3, 27-24.

If Eli Manning plays anything close to the way he played last week against the Patriots, the Bucs have no shot this week. That being said, it is still Eli Manning we are talking about. He has led the Giants to 3 straight playoffs but he has yet to do anything once he has gotten there. I really think this is his breakout year in the post season. His confidence has been building, his teammates are supporting him, and we have not heard anything from Tiki Barber which is always a good sign for the state of affairs in the Giants locker room. I think Eli throws 3 TD passes and Jacobs runs in for another as Giants win in a rout, 31-10.

Finally, Titans at Chargers. Who would have thought after the 1-3 San Diego start that they would be hosting a playoff game? Give credit to Norv Turner for really turning that club around and going 10-2 to finish off the season. They have beaten the Titans already earlier on this season and do not overlook the squeaker they had past the Colts in the middle of the season. Certainly this could post an intriguing Pats/Bolts matchup but let's not get ahead of ourselves. Vince Young for the Titans is still banged up and will not be 100% even though he'll start and Chargers 'lightning' offense should be more than enough to control this game from the start. 24-10 Chargers.

Let the playoff season begin...

Roger Clemens and the Steroids ERA

I did not expect to post today but in light of the dark cloud of steroids that does not seem to be going away even in January, I figured I would talk about it.

There is news that Roger Clemens, Andy Pettitte along with their former trainer Brian McNamee are going to testify before a congressional committee in a couple of weeks. I am not really sure how much will come out of this congressional session but I guess maybe putting these guys under oath, someone will crack like Mark McGwire's "I'm not here to talk about the past". Only time will tell... currently the committee is set for January 16th, so the countdown begins.

Roger Clemens clearly said on December 18th, "I want to state clearly and without qualification: I did not take steroids, human growth hormone or any other banned substances at any time in my baseball career or, in fact, my entire life." That could not be more opposite to the one Brian McNamee gave Senator Mitchell where he said he injected Roger Clemens multiple times. It is hard to say who is correct and certainly Roger Clemens is in a tough spot with his teammate and close friend Andy Pettitte admitting that McNamee injected him two to four times with Human Growth Hormones while he was injured in 2002.

Right about now, it is probably impossible to say who is right and who is wrong, but the one question I would like Roger Clemens to answer is how he produced his 2nd best full regular season numbers at the age of 35 in 1997 with a 2.05 ERA (league average 4.53) when he won the CY Young Award and followed it up with another CY Young year in '98 with 20-6 and a 2.65 ERA. I just do not get how a pitcher who was let go by the Boston Red Sox after 12 years and seemed a little washed up posted up numbers like where the average ERA around the league dropped only 0.5 runs, that a pitcher his age drops his numbers 3 times the league average. I just have a hard time believing it was only his work regiment that led to that change... once again at the age of 35.

I never really had a lot of respect for Clemens but the little amount i did, I lost it when he threw the piece of bat at Mike Piazza in the 2000 World Series. I never really bought into his hype of retiring and coming back to help teams half way through the season with all his perks in his contract and certainly if all of these allegations about steroids and human growth hormones turn out to be true... kiss the Hall of Fame good bye Mr. Clemens.

I guess I needed to get that out of my system... so now this a relaxed Brown Guy signing off...

Happy New Year

Happy New Year everybody! So I had told myself that I would start off this new year by finally starting my own blog. I plan to write maybe a couple of times a week usually about whatever is either bugging me that week or could even be something good. I am not always an angry brown guy, actually most of the times I am not but who knows. So from the 2008 US Elections to Sports to International Politics to Video Games, whatever seems to be the flavor of the day for me then, expect to see it here. Feel free to comment away on how you feel about the topic, it does not matter if you agree or disagree, I just maybe want to hit a nerve or two which gets people talking about something.

I'll start off this first one on the 2008 Iowa Caucuses. I have heard some people say they don't understand the caucus system or they are not fans of how it is done but that is usually the people who have not sat down on voting day and witnessed the event. This is democracy working it self in front of your eyes. These people in Iowa give up their regular lives and thoroughly investigate and background check these candidates and leave no stone unturned. It might have been Chris Matthews on MSNBC who said most of us get angry if we have to wait more than 10 minutes in a line at a voting booth come our primary or election night but not these people. Not only do they spend countless number of hours beforehand looking at which candidate to support but come caucus night, they get together for a couple of hours, trying to jockey for votes so they can pick up an extra delegate or two for their candidate. These people deserve a lot more credit than they get but I am sure sooner or later, they will get their dues.

Before tonight, I had hoped to see Mike Huckabee and Barack Obama as the two victors in tonight's electoral process and I am glad it turned out that way. I think when Obama came on the stage in 2004 with a speech that literally blew the country away, I thought that speech set the bar way too high for him and he would never top it. He still has yet to do so but his victory speech tonight in Iowa really sent some chills down people's back. He has a way of captivating his audiences and this is no time to get lazy now but if he keeps it up in New Hampshire and maybe pick up one or two in Michigan, Nevada or Florida right before Super Tuesday, I think he is in very good shape to lock up the nomination very early.

Cannot wait for the Rutgers Bowl game on Saturday, New Hampshire Primary on Tuesday and a sad departure of a dear friend for a semester abroad sandwiched in between. Expect to hear from me somewhere around then.

This is a pretty subdued brown guy right now... signing off.