Chad Johnson'ed

There is no better showmanship/sportsmanship move than Barry Greenstein autographing a copy of his book for each busted opponent.

NFL = NCAA

Eli Manning - Matthew Stafford - Georgia
JP Losman - Anthony Morelli - Penn State
Tom Brady - Matt Ryan - BC
Brett Favre - Andre' Woodson - Kentucky
Jason Campbell - Tyler Donovan - Wisonsin
Donovan McNabb - Kyle Wright - Miami
Duane Huard - Casey Dick - Arkansas
Matt Schaub - Colt McCoy - Texas
Phillip Rivers - Sam Bradford - Oklahoma
Derek Anderson - Colt McCoy - Hawaii
Peyton Manning - John David Booty - USC
Matt Leinart - Jimmy Clausen - Notre Dame
Ben Rothelisberger - Blake Wilson - USC-E
Tony Romo - John Parker Wilson - Alabama

Despise / Like

I've been meaning to write this post for a while. Below are companies that I absolutely despise, and a few that are great.

Despicable:
1A) Geico - Rates are exorbitantly high, they rely on outdated metrics, which result in charges which other insurance companies include gratis (additional drivers), and they screwed me in 2003 by doubling my insurance premium with no notice.
1B) USAirways - Miserable staff, many delays, lost luggage, keep employees (and in turn, passengers) in the dark. How can you have self-centered employees in a service industry? I have no idea how their stock continues to rise.
1C) Comcast - For $160/month, I get the NFL network taken away (now premium), and must pay $5 if I want to interact with an employee to pay a bill. Increasing profits by adding fees (not improving/adding services) is bad business. Leave customers in the dark when the system is out, and offer no discount. Attached at the hip of Comcast is Scientific American (who make the Comcast boxes), which is a terrible company, one which my client refuses to do business with.

Excellent:
1) Continental / Lufthansa - Timely, good food, knowledgeable service staffs.
2) Progressive - Cheaper rates than counterparts, friendly staff, prompt service
3) Pandora - Great time waster, has introduced me to a bunch of tunes in genres I like

Friday Night Lights

Bill Simmons professes his love for Friday Night Lights. I am a huge fan of FNL, and am in complete agreement with his assessment.

FNL is consistently excellent, which can be said for so few TV shows. Sadly, it may result in its demise. Weird they haven't spliced in more cheerleader shots in an attempt to improve the viewership.

The Sunshine State

Attended a wedding of a good friend from college this past weekend. The wedding took me two hours outside of Denver, to Devil's Thumb Ranch in Winter Park, Colorado.

The flight from BWI - DEN was miserable. You wouldn't think a kid (who was @ 4, and still sharing a seat with his Mother) would be able to kick the back of my seat for four hours. You'd be wrong.

While Denver is only 5000+ feet above sea level, Winter Park is 9000+, which turns out to be a huge difference. In addition to alcohol packing a greater potency, the altitude makes people (how to put this...) more flatulent. At the wedding, we sat behind two brothers @ 10-12 years old who were dueling fiddles. We were in tears. A few gems from the ceremony:

1.) When shaking hands, one friend asked if he should just pull the boys finger.
2.) After the ceremony, the Mother was asked what she fed her boys for lunch.

Fantastic reception, with great food. The only downside to the whole experience (aside from the travel) was our friend (the bride) ran around with a miserable crew in college, who were (unfortunately) still miserable. Conversation (smalltalk) was painful. Painful conversations aside, it was a great event, and great to catch up with the bride and her family.

On Sunday, had a late flight, and time to kill, so at the suggestion of the hotel concierge, we walked around Red Rocks, and the adjacent town of Morrison, CO. RR is awesome (pictures to follow). I made the mistake of checking the calendar, and The Black Crowes had played on the 9th. It later came to my attention the wedding was moved from the 8th to 15th to accommodate a particularly stainful bridesmaid, who had booked a cruise (over a year in advance?). Unbelievable. Definitely plan on getting back to RR for a show in the next year. Would have loved to have come out for the 2006 Labor Day shows, which were Allmans, Gov't Mule, and Willie Nelson over three consecutive nights.

Ha Ha

It's been a very disjointed week at the office. Monday - Wednesday our building received multiple bomb threats, which quickly lose their novelty. Information leaked that the caller was acting in revenge of being dumped. Repeatedly? I am shocked. Having been in the building for nearly five years, most of the women in the building should be guarding bridges.

The one offshoot of the incident(s) is coining of the term 'bomb threat hot', when a woman is so smoking you'd call in bomb threats if you were to be dumped.

In case you were wondering...

...my latest iPod Shuffle rota (September 10 2007).

(I know I need work on cropping, etc. It's best to enlarge.)

Eff...

...just got back from an extended and relaxing weekend, a few things swirling around my mind:

1.) Eff anyone who reclines their seat on a plane
2.) Eff resorts that have add-on fees in excess of 25% (goes for car rental companies, too)
3.) Eff anyone who inspects bags at TSA and returns clothes to a suitcase by crumpling them, rather than folding

Mostly:
4.) Eff Al Groh and his head-up-his-ass approach to coaching football. Eff your miserable excuse of an offensive coordinator son. Groh makes $1.7M annually, Groh^2 probably makes $500K, so Virginia is doling out over $2M to imbeciles. Sadly once they are finally fired, we'll lose Mike London, our great offensive coordinator. The team deserves better than the (lack of) preparation and execution resultant from the Groh regime. Not that I am fully player-favorable, as Groh has dropped student-athlete standards, with no gain in wins.

More Randoms

Worst cover song ever - We Will Rock You - Warrant

If I had to set my life to soundtrack, Casino Queen by Wilco would make the CD

Had my fantasy draft last night. Good Lord my team sucks.

Random Thursday Thoughts

1.) Another addendum to the 'Reasons Why I am Old' list - Appetite for Destruction came out this week, 20 years ago. Still an amazing album, possibly my personal favorite. Of course, I recently lost the CD, so I'll be buying it for the 7th time,

2.) Try as they will to be upscale, Cheese Nips don't hold a candle to Cheez-Its. I've gone to the reduced fat option, and Cheez-Its are easily better.

3.) Great night tonight! Fantasy Football Draft 2007. I am picking 7th out of 14. I'd like to draft (in order of preference)

Addai - No way he slips to 7th
Westbrook
Parker
R. Johnson

What do I do if Alexander or LJ slip to 7? I've got to pick, right?

Houston Recap

Was out of town for a wedding in Houston over the weekend, a few thoughts.

1.) Flew direct from Reagan to Houston on Continental, checked nothing. If I wasn't so price-sensitive when purchasing flights, I would always fly Continental. On time, friendly staff, recent movies (Spiderman and Shrek 3), and they still serve food!

2.) Houston is an interesting city, accentuated by the fact there are no zoning laws. Very weird to see schools adjacent to 40 story office buildings, adjacent to 'Treasures'. Caught up with a good friend and his family on Saturday, who lived in a great neighborhood, but you had to turn at the Whataburger to get to the place.

3.) Stayed in essentially corporate housing, very nice, but on Friday night the car parked next to me must have had its wheels stolen. On Saturday morning it was on blocks (on cracked, presumably from letting the jack down too quickly), lug nuts were strewn everywhere. Odd, to say the least.

4.) Fantastic wedding, at the Houstonian. Really enjoyable.

PGA Championship Recap

I enjoyed watching the final round of the PGA Championship, regardless of the apparent lack of drama. The PGA always gets the benefit of the doubt, as the Masters is a full eight months away.

While a lot of people are jumping on the Woody Austin bandwagon, I don't particularly enjoy his 'heart on his sleeve' antics. I see him being a semi-successful President's Cup competitor (3-2 or 2-2-1, they all play 5, right?). I don't think it bodes well for the US when Woody Austin edges out Lucas Glover (who finished 11th in 2006 Ryder Cup standings, as well) and the Internationals have Appleby, Ames, Weir fighting for the last spot.

How does Southern Hills continue to host Majors? What a boring course. I won't be able to remember any of the holes tomorrow. The PGA has been hosted by some miserable courses in the past; which they seemingly escaped (Whistling, Medina), but I don't see the allure of Southern Hills.

PGA Championship

Admittedly, my laziness led em to forget to post my thoughts on the PGA Championship, but I've had zero interest because:

1.) PGA is a miserable Major
2.) Southern Hills is a $hitty course
3.) It's almost time for the FedEx Cup!

High degree of sarcasm on #3. Considering the first round of the tournament is almost completed, my picks aren't 100% legit, but I like O'Hare and expect a good showing out of Mickelson. Also expect some relative no name to hang on the leaderboard until Sunday (Lickliter/Senden). Also expect a moron (not Sabbatini) to contend (Ames?).

Friday

Sitting in training and figured there would be no better time to name my favorite song by each of my favorite hairbands.

Motley Crue - Girls, Girls, Girls or Dr. Feelgood
Poison - SO dfficult, a tie between Talk Dirty to Me and Nothin' but a Good Time
Slaughter - Up all Night
Van Halen - Panama
Def Leppard - Photograph
Warrant - Cherry Pie
Tesla - What you give
Journey - Don't Stop Belevin'
White Lion - Tell Me
Aerosmith - Mama' Kin
G'NR - Paradise City
Skid Row - 18 and Life
Queen - Fat Bottomed Girls
Cinderella - Gypsy Road
AC/DC - Back In Black
Ratt - Round and Round

On a side note, I think Here I Go Again is the most overrated hairband song of all time.

British Open Recap

Amazing finish to the British Open, after three heavily sedated rounds (Saturday was miserable) yesterday had the drama expected in a major championship. Carnoustie is a fantastic venue for competitive golf; I'd nominate its final 9 holes for best 9 in the world. The final nine at Carnoustie has a rhythmic quality that perfectly framed the competition. 10-12 are difficult (10 essentially being a parkland hole), followed by 13/14, which provide opportunities to gain strokes to par, and the challenging 15-18, where every player was cognizant of the Van De Velde collapse, and some (Harrington/Romero) were apt to repeat it. The only reason it might not be the best is 17 is a bland home, but Sunday's pin position was excellent.

Yesterday's golf was a great mix of explicit and implicit events that built suspense until the final putt dropped. There were the 2x4 to the face moments of Romero pulling 2I on 17 from the rough, and knowing something terrible was bound to happen, to the more subtle lip-out for par on 18 that ultimately kept him out of the playoff. At no point during the round was I sure if Sergio was going to make/miss a putt.

I am convinced Paul McGinley was icing Sergio on 18, to the advantage of his countryman, Harrington. Sergio had to wait for almost 10 minutes in the middle of the fairway, while McGinley double read both his approach and final putt (from 18 inches). It was classic. After a raking of the bunker, Sergio promptly dumped his approach and coudn't get up and down.

Back to School

Yesterday I played my first golf round in ages, nearly three months after ACL reconstruction. I was giddy like a 12-year-old leading up to the round, I was barely able to sleep until my 5:00 alarm. It was so nice to be back on the course, on a gorgeous day. Unfortunately my swing is still extremely guarded (and very left side centric), but only having the option to putt over the last 3+ months improved my short game. Unbelieveably, I only had 22 putts (although I hit 3 greens, but biridied all 3). I can't see that occuring again anytime soon.

Watching Steve Stricker this AM, he could use my help!

The British Open - II

Sergio Garcia needs to win the British Open...like the Yankees need another World Series and like the Cowboys need another Super Bowl. The way the media fawned over his 65 and anointed him gracious, poised, and mature after his post-round session with the media makes me shake my head. If I shot 65 at the British, I would graciously talk to the media. SG is still the cup-spitting, arrogant Ryder-cupping, US Open tee time-bitching, weather delay-griping baby he's always been (saying he wants to win for Seve reinforces the notion). Might was well just dedicate the win to Curtis Strange.

Is it tacky to wear khaki pants, brown shoes, and navy socks? I say yes, but would estimate 80% of men in DC do it with regularity.

British Open Picks

Eagerly anticipating thhe British Open. Picks:

3. Henrik Stenson
2. Stuart Cink
1. Luke Donald

How is Justin Rose 20-1? Did they leave off a 0? What has he won of note?

Advice?

I went to Washington Golf in the attempt to find a new 3W. I haven't hit a 3W well since my old scool Callaway Big Bertha 3W, circa 1994.

I wasn't blown away by the 3W, finding the Titleist, Cobra, Callaway FT, and Nike to be miserable. A 3W I found to be 'eh' was the Taylor Made. Putters I kinda liked were the Callaway Fusion (1) and Ping G5 (2). Sadly, I wasn't overly impressed by any 3W, as they all seem to be low-profile. Any 3W with an indented face (Cobra, Cleveland) or a white stripe on the top of the club, outlining the face (FT) were horrible.

Any suggestions on a good 3W? Would I be stupid to buy and old school Callaway on ebay and put a new shaft in it?

Summer Albums

Over the summer I take great pride in reconnecting with older albums that make for great listening. So far I've 're-found':

Slaughter - Stick It To Ya
Aerosmith - Pump
Def Leppard - Pyromania

Including DL is a stretch, as the album is always great.