Quotes of the Year

ESPN Page 2's quotes of the year are pretty good. My favorite so far:

"It's not good when you light up two Marlboros at the same time at 3 a.m., washing it down with a glass of chocolate milk. You know you have a lot on your mind when you do that."
-Tigers manager Jim Leyland

Suspended

You've probably already heard that Texas Tech coach Mike Leach was suspended after allegations that he was keeping a player (the son of ESPN analyst Craig James) with a concussion in an electrical closet. A couple thoughts:

-By pure numbers, MSU is still leading the suspension game 14-1. How many players does one coach equal?

-Did ESPN run this story first? It sure seems like they should have, given the people involved.

-If this is true, Leach is done. And you'd think it is fairly accurate, because if it's not Craig James is risking his job at ESPN. It goes without saying Adam James won't stay with the team.

-This gives MSU a better chance in the bowl game, but I still don't think it's enough.

FF Top Scorers '09

Here are the top scorers from the fantasy football league. This will be updated weekly. * denotes current record holder for the year. All-time is based on '04 on, which I have records for. The scoring was changed for the '05 season to include points for receptions, and then in '07 to reduce points per yard for the QB. The highest team score in '04 was The Living Legend (Bader) with 206.95 pts. The highest team score from '05-'06 was Battletoads (Stack, '06) with 232.40 pts. See the '05 data here, the '06 data here, the '07 data here, and the '08 data here.

Week 1
Top Player: Drew Brees, 51.90 pts
Top Team: Step Your Game Up!, 124.20 pts

Week 2
Top Player: Chris Johnson, 48.20 pts
Top Team: Step Your Game Up!, 154.15 pts*

Week 3
Top Player: Peyton Manning, 40.85 pts
Top Team: Watered down scorein, 125.25 pts

Week 4
Top Player: David Garrard, 35.95 pts
Top Team: Monkies Unleashed, 118.95 pts

Week 5
Top Player: Miles Austin, 39.00 pts
Top Team: Life Is Good, 127.75 pts

Week 6
Top Player: Tom Brady, 55.00 pts*
Top Team: Holy Cow!, 146.00 pts

Week 7
Top Player: Carson Palmer, 41.65 pts
Top Team: Fightin' Limbaughs, 140.70 pts

Week 8
Top Player: Aaron Rodgers, 37.55 pts
Top Team: Holy Cow!, 135.55 pts

Week 9
Top Player: Kurt Warner, 43.35 pts
Top Team: Holy Cow!, 145.90 pts

Week 10
Top Player: Chris Johnson, 37.00 pts
Top Team: Watered down scorein, 133.10 pts

Week 11
Top Player: Matthew Stafford, 47.80 pts
Top Team: Use a Holster Please, 121.00 pts

Week 12
Top Player: Drew Brees, 48.45 pts
Top Team: Holy Cow!, 133.90 pts

Week 13
Top Player: Tony Romo, 37.60 pts
Top Team: tailback terror, 119.10 pts

Playoffs
Week 14
Top Player: Chris Johnson, 37.20 pts
Top Team: tailback terror, 145.65 pts

Week 15
Top Player: Jerome Harrison, 48.20 pts
Top Team: Step Your Game Up!, 123.20 pts

Week 16
Top Player: Tom Brady, 37.75 pts
Top Team: Fightin' Limbaughs, 123.60 pts

All-Time
Top Player: Peyton Manning, 75.20 pts ('04)
Top Team: Battletoads (Stack, '06), 232.40 pts

The Band

This was the only appropriate video I could post using our new Christmas present.

Freakin' Gender Equality

This story appeared in the Lansing State Journal and the latest "Benchmarks" publication by the MHSAA, Winter 2009-10, Vol. 1, No. 2.

If the Lansing State Journal wants to fine me for reproduction laws, go for it.


In response to a complaint filed this summer with the state's Department of Civil Rights, the Capital Area Activities Conference will begin rotating its Friday night basketball schedules starting with the 2010-11 season.

Currently, both boys and girls varsity teams play doubleheaders, girls first followed by the boys. That will remain the same this winter, but flip after that, with boys first and girls second. They will then alternate yearly which plays first.

The complaint was filed by the Michigan Women's Commission and alleged that the CAAC discriminated against girls by scheduling them first during Friday doubleheaders, while giving the boys games the "primetime" slot.

"We were concerned about the negative impact femaile athletes could suffer. Do college recruiters and scouts see them at those times? (Ummm...is there a reason they can't?) Do the girls' programs have equal visibility with the boys' programs? These were some of the questions of the Women's Commission based our civil rights complaint on."

Grand Ledge athletic director Gary Boyce said the league didn't fight the complaint because it felt doing so might lead to further action and "this wasn't going to go away." (No kidding, look at what the pervious women-led group accomplished...girls and boys basketball during the same season.)

At that time, based on the opinion of its girls basketball coaches, the CAAC scheduled their games first on Fridays. The coaches reaffirmed that desire again before last season.


Hmmm...maybe the coaches choose Friday because...wait for it...THEY MIGHT HAVE ASKED THEIR FEMALE PLAYERS WHEN THEY WANTED TO PLAY. Maybe the girls chose the early game. Anyone ever think of that? Just speculating. Why would a coach make that decision without asking the girls?

The Right Perspective

I'm not sure what I'm more amazed by, that a rich person would say this or that ESPN would write/publish this story by Orlando Magic coach Stan Van Gundy.

"But it's going to happen, so why try to fight it?" - Celtic coach Doc Rivers.

Hey "Doc," if we did everything in this world by that philosophy, we'd get run over by anyone/anything bigger than us. Thanks wimp.

Does it apply for this? (Fill in the blank for any societial issue you deem necessary.) Here is what I'll apply to your wonderful life motto:

Gay marriage..."is going to happen, so why try to fight it?"

Divorce..."is going to happen, so why try to fight it?"

Abortion..."is going to happen, so why try to fight it?"

Parity in the NFL?

My dad found this article in the print edition of the USA Today. Pretty interesting stuff.

Party Like It's 2010

"Party at Haag's." Bring a hot tub.

Everyone is welcome. That goes for Mr. and Mrs. Andy S., and Mr. and Mrs. Jason B.

Thursday, December 31, 2009 after 7pm.

Still Got It

I decided to break out Mario Bros. for the Nintendo last week. How does the saying go? "Just like riding a bike"? I thought I would time myself to see how quick I could save the Princess. My first shot took me 26 minutes. The next time I tried, I mustered it down to a sweet 00:15:30. Not too shabby.

Authors Note: This was all down without "life support" (Game Genie).

Bonus Note: I couldn't bring back the magic however of the 1-Up trick on level 3-1 where at the end of the level you can bounce on the turtles and after a few consecutive jumps start earning free lives. Back in the day I was decent at it.

UPDATE: Conquered in 00:10:07. Man, now I have to see if I can make it under 10 minutes. Hmmm...

UPDATE #2: While trying to break the 10 minute mark, I ended up doing it under 9 minutes. That has to be worthy of the Hall of Fame. 00:08:59.37 to be exact. I'm a loser.

Breezy

The wind in the Maaco Bowl is awesome. The Oregon State punter just had a 6-yd punt where you could actually see the ball catch the wind and turn back. I don't know that I've seen a game this windy. The Weather Channel says it's blowing at 35 mph and gusting up to 43 mph.

Start Stanton

As much as it pains me to write this, I completely agree with Terry Foster.

RE: Kung Fu Death Monkeys

I think I'm going to quit my job, buy a group of monkeys, teach them kung fu, and take them on tour around the US. I don't see how this could fail to be wildly successful. And even if it wasn't, I'd still have a gang of kung fu monkeys to commit crimes with.

Carol of the Bells

Evergreen

Sleigh Ride

If it ain't broke...

Not a fan of ESPN's new scoreboard that is being used in the New Mexico Bowl. They need to go back to the one they've used all season. Right away, like for the second half of this game.

ESPY Awards

It begins...

Courtesy of ESPN, here's the 2009-10 bowl schedule. The first game, the New Mexico Bowl, is at 4:30 pm ET and features Fresno State vs. Wyoming.

Sci-Fi Physics

One more post: The physics of space battles. Don't bother reading if words like antimatter rocket, mass driver, or Space Marines sound boring to you.

High Jump

The owners of a house in the UK thought roof damage to their house was being caused by burglars. Turns out a cow decided to jump up there. It was only six feet, but that's pretty good for a bovine.