C stands for Confusion

One day I wore the hat on the right while on Cass City grounds. A Cass City staff member (and JV baseball coach, whom also played college football at Albion or something like that) saw me wearing that hat and said, "You're coming around here with THAT hat on?"

Then, another time I wore that same hat while at school in Caro. Another teacher gave basically the same response.

I guess I didn't realize how similiar the Central Michigan colors AND logo were to Caro and Cass City High School. Oh wait, that's right, not at all similar. Let's see...Caro has no maroon at all, so yeah, I guess it does somewhat resemble CMU. And CMU has just one C on the front of the hat, so I guess Cass City just ignores that other C on their gear. Maybe Cass City is one word. Casscity. That makes more sense.

Now I see the confusion.

"ZIMBA!"

With the early retirement incentive across the state of michigan for educators, Middle School guidance counselor Shelda Rea jumped at the opportunity.

Her replacement? Caro's new varsity football head coach (he's currently 1-0), Kraig Houthoof. Awesome.

I'm actually looking forward to school starting.

Same Division, Final Game

It doesn't happen often, but I'm almost completely in agreement with Lynn Henning. I write "almost" because I'm not near as certain as Henning (...Michigan is sure to return soon enough to its old glory...)
that it is a foregone conclusion that Michigan will return to form.

Draft Prep

Here's a few links to help with your fantasy draft preparation:

1. Rotter's Top 300 from FoxSports. We will use this as our default ranking list.

2. Rotter's Tier Rankings.

3. Funston's Big Board.

4. ESPN's Top 200.

5. ESPN's Cheat Sheets.

6. ESPN's Projections.

Rivalry Weekends?

I didn't actually have many worries about the Big (12) Ten's upcoming divisional split and schedule adjustments. Sure, it was going to be complicated and some things were going to be lost, but I figured the conference would get it mostly right. But after the talk over the past week, like these comments by Michigan AD Dave Brandon, I am concerned. It's starting to feel like 50/50 that they won't completely screw up. And that's a bad place to be.

One additional thought for UM: Before you permanently set the divisions to protect your title game with OSU, maybe you should, you know, win a few games? As they say in the financial ads, past performance is not a guarantee of future returns.

A Voice In The Dark

Comic Cover of the Week: Science Dog Special #1

Quote of the Day

Chad Johnson has been fined again. I really feel for him:

"Dear NFL I apologize for tweeting during the game but that was 2 monthsof my Bugatti payments you just took from me,I won't do it again," he wrote.

Draft Day

As our normal fantasy football draft is fast approaching, do we have a time and place set? It seems to me that the Sunday evening before Labor Day at one of the CC residences would be our traditional setting.

Also, if you haven't signed up yet *cough* Big Daddy *cough* then click on this link.

Bears?

While I was shopping earlier in the week at Target I picked up some Coke Zero. It was on sale and the box had a football theme, so since I need large amounts of caffeine to function at work I figured I couldn't lose. I saw this after I had the pop at home:


While I'm impressed that different cans are being printed for different regions (I assume), I sure could do without the Bears logo every time I open a can. However, I suppose it might be better than being of reminded of the Lions every day.

Silent Star Wars

Via Millionaire Playboy:

Maybe Ron Artest Isn't So Bad

Note to self, don't wear red.



I've actually been to a bull fight in "May-he-co" about 20 years ago. I think that crowd split faster than the Red Sea.

Twisted

Disclaimer: I nearly cried, puked, fainted, and dropped to the fetal position all at the same time reading this story, especially this portion, taken from the Huron Daily Tribune:

In February 2007, Ryan Welshans told Huron County Circuit Court Judge M. Richard Knoblock he was aware of the court order when he left his Bad Axe apartment to grab the mail on Feb. 3, 2006, leaving Stardust Welshans inside the apartment alone with their newborn. Welshans said he believes his wife threw the child onto the bed and the baby hit the wall. The child, just less than a month old at the time of the abuse, suffered life-threatening injuries. The baby was hospitalized at Hurley Medical Center, suffering from a depressed fractured skull, multiple rib fractures, clavicle fracture, multiple skull fractures and had multiple areas of bleeding on the brain. A doctor who treated the child at Hurley reported to authorities he felt the injuries “were not induced by one single event, but the injuries occurred at different times.”

The reports from the physician also noted the scrotum area of the child also was swollen and bruised when the child was admitted to the hospital.

Initially, Welshans admitted he had thrown the infant, causing the child’s injuries. He later denied any involvement, telling police Stardust had thrown the child. Welshans did, however, admit to police that he grabbed the infant’s scrotum, squeezing/twisting it out of frustration, causing the child’s injury.

Of Course He's Back

Is there anything more predictable than Brett Favre's unpredictability? Is he the only one who didn't know he'd be back in a Vikings uniform by August?

Comic Cover of the Week: Batman Beyond #3

Mad Hatters

I found a fascinating article in the Wall Street Journal the other day that I thought I'd share. It discusses the confusion of the young about proper hat-wearing etiquette now that hats are making a comeback. "Hats" as in fedoras (you know, Indiana Jones) and the like, not baseball caps, which never left. Since hats have been out of style for over a generation, kids don't know how to wear them because they have no one to teach them. Add to that the fact that many are wearing hats to be trendy and so are unwilling to take them off and diminish they're style and you have the makings of a bit of a mess. Said one of the men interviewed: "I said 'I'm not wearing a baseball cap or a ski hat, I'm wearing an $80 fedora!" Well, if it's $80 it's a cheap fedora, but you still get the point.

While I find the social commentary about information and being lost between generations and strange disappearance of hats (which I've seen chalked up to car seats with high backs, low car roofs, dirty hippies and their long hair, and JFK) interesting, I read the article because I'm a fan of hats, fedoras in particular. Places like CC and Davenport aren't exactly on the bleeding edge of style (I'm sure that comes as a shock), so I can't really wear one without looking like an eccentric weirdo (This would be a good time to chime in, "Look like!?!"), but it warms my heart to see men starting to bring hats back. I have to admit to sharing some of the confusion about etiquette and protocol. If you've only worn a baseball cap, which you can wear nearly anywhere, and you only take it off during the national anthem, how do you know how to treat a real hat? Anyway, I'm not looking for a return to suit, tie, and fedoras for work as I would quite literally die of heat stroke, but I would like to see the trend of greater acceptance of real hats continue.

Not a Tail

I ran across this article on gay marriage the other day, which I found quite interesting. Here's the first sentence:

Abraham Lincoln once asked how many legs a dog has if we call a tail a leg. The answer, he said, is four: calling a tail a leg does not make it so. We chuckle and move on.

It also had a line that I got quite a kick out of: "First, human beings have a powerful hankering to engage in sexual intercourse."

Fireworks 2010

If you weren't able to make it to the cottage for "the best year yet," no problem.

Comic Cover of the Week: Superman #702

Take It From Me

Comic Cover of Last Week: Gorilla-Man #2

Three-peat

Would there be a better owner for the Pistons than Mike Ilitch? I can't say I support moving the team downtown, because at least I might go to the Palace to watch a game where I'm not interested in ever setting foot in Detroit ever again, but overall I can't think of a better move for the fans.

Conditioned

I'd wager few people have ever been as happy to practice as Albert Haynesworth was today. Haynesworth missed an embarrassing ten practices because he was unable to pass a conditioning test until Saturday. Do you think your teammates will ever let you live a thing like that down?

Quote of the Day

Pedro Martinez

But, oh, on the mound.

"That's business," he said. "I'm in a jungle, and I consider myself a lion. So I'm going to kill you if I'm hungry. And I was always hungry to win."