Tag: ek Holiday

What would you do if you were stuck in one place and every day was exactly the same, and nothing that you did mattered?

That about sums it up for me.

Ned?  Ned Ryerson?!

You like boats, but not the ocean. You go to a lake in summer with your family up in the mountains. There’s a long wooden dock and a boathouse with boards missing from the roof, and a place you used to crawl underneath to be alone. You’re a sucker for French poetry and rhinestones. You’re very generous. You’re kind to strangers and children, and when you stand in the snow you look like an angel.

How are you doing this?

I told you. I wake up every day, right here, right in Punxsutawney, and it’s always February 2nd, and there’s nothing I can do about it.

How appropriate

It’s the Mind

What would you do if you were stuck in one place and every day was exactly the same, and nothing that you did mattered?

That about sums it up for me.

Ned?  Ned Ryerson?!

You like boats, but not the ocean. You go to a lake in summer with your family up in the mountains. There’s a long wooden dock and a boathouse with boards missing from the roof, and a place you used to crawl underneath to be alone. You’re a sucker for French poetry and rhinestones. You’re very generous. You’re kind to strangers and children, and when you stand in the snow you look like an angel.

How are you doing this?

I told you. I wake up every day, right here, right in Punxsutawney, and it’s always February 2nd, and there’s nothing I can do about it.

How appropriate

It’s the Mind

I have a sneaking suspicion that many regular readers of this site will be as little interested in #6 as they were in the previous 5.  If you feel compelled to share your outrage or something unexpectedly interesting occurs you’re more than welcome to share it below.

On the other hand perhaps you’re just looking for some alternative programming-

(listings from Zap2It)

I suppose I should feel more enthused about this, after all I hate the Patsies with the burning hatred of a thousand suns.

On the other hand Tebow.

On the third hand the Patsies gave him a shot after the Ponies passed on him finally.

I’m conflicted.

And it’s just a Throwball Game finally.  Fuck the ‘gators.

On paper the Ponies should have no problem, after all they have the Payton Manning who is the most over rated Quarterback in the NFL.

That said, I just can’t see the Chargers winning this one.  The Broncos have a great program.  On the other hand the Chargers have already won at Mile High, and played them close in San Diego.

This may be quite the upset.  The Panthers won the in-season clash, but by a mere 10 – 9 margin in a defensive struggle.  The ‘9ers are healthier than they were back then whereas the Panthers may have lost wide-out Steve Smith.

I suppose I hate the ‘9ers more in this one for abandoning Candlestick Park.  The Panthers on the other hand own their own stadium, something few NFL teams can boast.

This is the hard one.  Despite my deep and abiding hatred of the Patsies for the way Bob Kraft treated Hartford I have to say what Irsay did to Baltimore was worse.  I can root against the Patsies next round.

Not that the outcome is in doubt.  The Wildcard Bolts just don’t have Tom Brady and that’s it.  Besides, if you want to see another Manning/Brady matchup you have to hope the Bolts and the Chargers go down.

The Seahawks have the loudest stadium in the NFL.  The Saints at least have some experience playing in it though their last result wasn’t exactly outstanding, a 7 – 34 loss.

There are lots of sentimental reasons to root for the Saints, but all the smart money is on the Seahawks as you would expect from the top seed in the NFC.  You might argue that a short week is a disadvantage though is just as likely that the bye week is a greater liability.

The Seahawks are a straight expansion team founded in 1976 and there’s no particular reason to hate them (unless you’re a ‘9ers fan).  The Who Dats are another expansion from 1967 and after years of obscure futility started to show some life after Katrina under Quarterback Drew Brees.

An easy pick.  Have I mentioned recently that I’m only half troll?  You see in Michigan a troll is anyone who’s from under the Mackinaw Island bridge.  If you were born in God’s country, which is the Upper Peninsula, they may call you a Yooper but what do you care anyway?  They’re trolls!

Now along with that comes certain allegiances- there is only one Football team and that is the Green Bay Packers.

For me it’s not just an accident of birth.  To quote from Wikipedia–

The Packers are the only non-profit, community-owned franchise in American professional sports major leagues. Typically, a team is owned by one person, partnership, or corporate entity, i.e., a “team owner.” The lack of a dominant owner has been stated as one of the reasons the Green Bay Packers have never been moved from the city of Green Bay, a city of only 102,313 people as of the 2000 census.

…

As of June 8, 2005, 112,015 people (representing 4,750,934 shares) can lay claim to a franchise ownership interest. Shares of stock include voting rights, but the redemption price is minimal, no dividends are ever paid, the stock cannot appreciate in value – though private sales often exceed the face value of the stock, and stock ownership brings no season ticket privileges. No shareholder may own over 200,000 shares, a safeguard to ensure that no individual can assume control of the club. To run the corporation, a board of directors is elected by the stockholders.

…

Green Bay is the only team with this form of ownership structure in the NFL; such ownership is in direct violation of current league rules, which stipulate a limit of 32 owners of one team and one of those owners having a minimum 30% stake. However, the Packers corporation was grandfathered when the NFL’s current ownership policy was established in the 1980s, and are thus exempt. The Packers are also the only American major-league sports franchise to release its financial balance sheet every year.

The ‘9ers are a fine team and San Fransisco a lovely town, but they no longer play there having moved to Santa Clara and ending San Fransisco’s bid for the 2016 Olympic Games about which (to her credit) even Dianne Feinstein is incensed.

They’re unlikely to win anyway as this game will be played on the frozen tundra of Lambeau Field (named for a real human being and not a slave labor exploiting blue jean company), Titletown USA, in conditions projected to rival the fabled Ice Bowl.

This is a tough one since I care so little about either team.  The Bengals have made the Playoffs 4 out of the last 5 years but they haven’t had a playoff victory since 1990.  Their problem is that they have a tendency to give up the ball a lot in the form of interceptions.  What’s notable about them historically is they were founded by the legendary Paul Brown after he was booted by the infamous Art Modell from his eponymous team and played for many years in Cleveland Browns uniforms that Brown owned and took with him in the breakup.  His son and heir Mike Brown is pretty much universally regarded as one of the dumbest owners in the NFL, which is saying a lot.

The Chargers haven’t been in the Playoffs since 2009 and contrary to their past playbook are primarily a running team.  This will be interesting since the Bengals are tough against the rush, giving up only about 100 yards a game on average.  The Chargers are one of the original AFL teams and are currently the only NFL team in Southern California since the Rams decamped Los Angeles in 1994.  If you want to find a reason to hate them, they employ Manti Te’o of the dead girlfriend hoax fame.  You remember that one don’t you?

One of the enduring stories of Notre Dame’s 2012 season was Te’o’s strong play following the death of his grandmother and girlfriend… In January 2013, the sports blog Deadspin revealed that the existence and death of his girlfriend had been faked. An acquaintance of Te’o confessed to orchestrating a hoax that lured Te’o into an online relationship with a nonexistent woman.

The other big plot line is snow in Brown Stadium (I’ll give the Bengals that, it’s still named after Paul Brown and not some faceless corporation).  Some are predicting it in buckets, others that it will be warm enough to be just freezing rain.  It shouldn’t handicap either team, the Bengals play in crappy lake effect weather all season long and some of the Chargers’ biggest victories this season have been outside in the cold.