While Rex Ryan Talks About "Running the Table..."

... no really He did.

"Butt-fumbles" be damned.... Rex and his lovable mouth tired act are going to see this debacle all the way through, it seems.

While Tim Tebow sits idle on the sidelines, unused and now injured. While "Fireman Ed" has resigned as un-official team mascot. While seats go for as little as $18 on StubHub.

Not since Iron Eyes Cody wept at the river of trash in those 1970's anti-littering commercials have things been so sullen in the Meadowlands.

Andy Reid Parody Meets Taylor Swift

... and yes... comedy ensues...

"Time is yours.."

Laptop Blues

So my laptop here that I edit this wonderful website on, and do ALL of my radio related work, and edit videos like the ones you see from the ol' Black Friday Bowl.... well... it's got a screen that's acting funny.

Blue vertical lines. Static. Sorta like an old TV.

So I think: "Damn. I like this laptop. It's *only* 2 years old. I should get it fixed."

Then I think: hell no. The "shop" will take 2 weeks minimum to fix it, it will cost at least $200 (maybe more) and I am sure they will wipe out key data and/or erase or uninstall programs.

Plus, with a wholly new laptop available for almost the price of a repair, it just seems nuts to repair this ol' thing. I can get a tricked out version of this same Sony VAIO laptop for about $900, which improves every metric from the old one (processor speed, memory, hard drive, etc.).

But I'll admit, it does seem "wasteful" to abandon an otherwise working machine, that was the wonder of my techhie heart just 2 short years ago.

Then, I saw this ad on YouTube.



Holy crap. It's amazing how f'ing EXPENSIVE the crappiest computers were back in the early 1990's. And yet we, as a nation, snapped 'em up.

Now, they are in a landfill.

I'm gonna get that new laptop. It's gonna be a business expense. I am not going to spend any more time agonizing over it. I will recycle it as responsibly as possible.

Veggies Are What Food Eats

Sums up my feelings perfectly.

Snicky du Jour: Emily Blunt

I recently saw the move "The 5 Year Engagement." Overall? Eh.

Standard RomCom stuff, with a fairly implausible "Mr. Mom" angle to it. Not a huge fan of Jason Segel either... but... I was certainly smitten with the "new-to-me" leading lady, who turns out to be Emily Blunt.

Well now. Quite fetching, and given my weakness for a crisp British accent on a lovely young lass, she is now on my radar.

There. Happy now, Snicky hunters?

Poll: Syrup Vehicles

Online Surveys & Market Research

"Johnny Football" Has His Own Video Game Now...

... sort of.

Manziel broke the SEC single season total offense  record of 4327 yards on Saturday. Breaking Cam Newtons 2010 record. Which broke Tim Tebow's 2007 record.

He's a freshman.

True.... freshman.

Scary.

Snicky du Jour: Jeannie Buss

Even though Phil Jackson was snubbed for Mike D'Antoni this month, he can cry his sorrows to sleep on the lovely Jeannie Buss' shoulders.

Jeannie reminds me of a Katherine Heigl/Susan Sarandon hybrid. And even though her flattering pics on the ol' interwebs outkick her other pics (not so awesome) by a far margin, she's "pretty good. Pretty... pretty... good.... " as Larry David would say.

Black Friday Bowl I Highlights

The System is Fundamentally Broken

How come Walt Coleman hasn't been suspended by the NFL already?

I mean, really?

If Tony Corrente can get docked a full game check just because his "rule 'splainin' microphone" was accidentally "on" when he uttered a "fuck" to the crowd in Indy, and a "god dammit" to the crowd AND the home TV audience, then surely Walt Coleman needs to sit his ass at home for a week.

Corrente was undone by the quirks of technology.

Coleman and his crew were f'ing BRAIN DEAD for allowing that call to get so botched on Thanksgiving.

It might be the worst call in modern NFL history.

And that doesn't even GET INTO the whole challenge-flag-thrown-illegally-negates-all-otherwise-automatic-video-reviews "rule."

(Which I'll get to, in just a second).

When a play is over in football, the primary command of the referees is to BLOW THE WHISTLE. This is because football players, are coached to hit not just "up to" the whistle, but as some coaches like to say "hit to the ECHO of the whistle" (whatever the fuck that means, but I'm gonna guess it equates to "err on the side of crushing a dude, if you have to").

How come Coleman's crew didn't whistle Texans RB Justin Forsett down when both knees and his elbow clearly hit the ground?

Here's a theory: IT IS REPLAY'S FAULT!

Heh. And you thought REPLAY was REDUCING the amount of bad calls in the NFL. Ha. Sucker. It's doing nothing of the sort. In fact, it's likely increasing the number of really bad calls.

Why?

Because refs are less and less focused on getting the call right when it happens on the field. Instead, they fall back to the ol' "replay will sort this out..."

Result: worse and worse officiating in "real time." It's only logical.

From the excellent website Football Zebras...

Remember, last week line judge Mark Perlman was criticized in some quarters for shutting down a potential catch and fumble play to incomplete (Deadspin video).  The topic of how “obvious” this down by contact play was today can be debated.  But, the officials were doing what they were taught – when in doubt, let the play go and have replay sort it out if need be.  Replay was going to sort it out in the Lions’ favor until coach Schwartz forgot the rule.

Indeed, replay was all ready to "save the day" on a play that should have never needed saving, until the overly complex, and idiotic NFL RULEBOOK swooped in to create a travesty out of a technicality.

But of course normally refs would have whistled the play over, but fans get all pissy when one bang-bang play gets whistled too quickly. So refs are now just laying back letting crap happen, expecting our unending faith in frame-by-frame video analysis to deliver a perfectly called football game.

Still waiting for that one.

Why oh why is the rule the way it is? Because once upon a once, Redskins LB London Fletcher intentionally kicked the ball when it was being spotted, delaying the game for the express purpose of giving the coaching staff a little more time to see some replays and decide on whether to challenge.

So the vaunted "Competition Committee" decided "harumph-a-dumph, WELL, we ah sure can't ah have a that, now can we?!"

So they wrote another stupid, needless layer of bureaucratic legalize into an already bloated rulebook.

It's funny.

Until it screws your football team. Or until government decides to write a 2,409 page law that radically changes your health care options.

Ha. Ha.

@DaveLazo accurately summed up the stupidity of it all thusly.

"I witnessed a murder. Please investigate." "Sorry. We investigate all murders. This call means we can't now. And you're under arrest." #NFL


Naturally, bureaucrats being bureaucrats, the NFL is just CONSIDERING changing this idiotic rule - but probably not until AFTER the season.

Go ahead, take your time, idiots.

The season is burning.

And This Is How Civilizations Die...

By rotting from the inside due to laziness, ignorance, and overabundance.

Then by turning on itself and collapsing, like a flesh eating virus.

It would be one thing if this was video of starving people, fighting for the last scraps of food. Alas, no. It's people fighting for a cheap phone which they almost certainly do not need.

Made in China.

To whom we are hopeless in debt.

Merry Chirstmas, everyone.

Happy Thanksgiving! Your Brief Video Watching Homework!

First... that bastard Clint Longley. Forever burned in Redskins memory, the only silver lining was that after punching out Roger Staubach the following season in training camp, he was summarily cut and whisked into obscurity by a Cowboys purchased taxi cab out of Valley Ranch.



Then, a few of my favorite family dinner "grace" scenes. If I missed any, let me know...

Linus in Charlie Brown Thanksgiving



Ricky Bobby in Talladega Nights



Clark Griswold in Christmas Vacation

Snicky du Jour: Jenn Sterger

Florida State head coach Jimbo Fisher is fed up with the BCS. He says the 'Noles are getting absolutely no love from professor Frink's Gambletron 2000.



Well, Jimbo, I can't say it will change. You play in a suck conference that is teetering right now with defections. Plus, a few too many cupcakes did you guys in this year.

Case in point. There are six computer polls that make up one-third of the BCS formula (the other two are the coaches' poll and the Harris Interactive poll). In all six, Florida State is ranked behind Clemson, which has the same record as FSU and lost to the Seminoles two months ago.

And in one, the Massey Index, Florida State is ranked behind 7-3 Texas Tech, 6-4 Vanderbilt and 5-5 Missouri.

"I think we're ruining (the sport)," Fisher said. "I tell you what, the playoff we have (coming in 2014)? It ain't going to solve it either. What's the (four-team) playoff going to solve? You've still got the same situation. How we're picking them has got to change. That's what's got to change.

Well, Jimbo, I can't say it will change. You play in a suck conference that is teetering right now with defections. Plus, a few too many cupcakes did you guys in this year.

But, let's all sooth ourselves with a reminder that the lovely Jenn Sterger was, and will always be a smoking hot Seminole fan.

Ahhhh. I feel better already.

Don't Tell Roger Goodell About These New Playgrounds

The Wall Street Journal has a fascinating piece on how modern playground are - wait for it - actually getting MORE DANGEROUS and RISKY.... on purpose!

The child who insists on running up the slide at the playground is doing it for a good reason.

Chances are he's uninspired and trying to create more of a challenge for himself. And if the child is 9 or 10 years old, he is likely fully bored by the swings, slides and climbing gear.

Some child-development experts and parents say decades of dumbed-down playgrounds, fueled by fears of litigation, concerns about injury and worrywart helicopter parents, have led to cookie-cutter equipment that offers little thrill. The result, they say, is that children are less compelled to play outside, potentially stunting emotional and physical development and exacerbating a nationwide epidemic of childhood obesity.

Some psychologists suggest that not exposing children to risk can result in increases in anxiety and other phobias. Children who never climb trees, for example, are more likely to develop a fear of heights, according to a study in Norway. And encouraging free play, in an age of structured activities and computer games, is believed to be important in helping children develop physical and cognitive competencies, creativity and self-worth.

When I was a kid on the playgrounds of Spring Hill Elementary, on the "Mean Streets" of McLean, VA - 22102 - we played the following (awesome) games.

Without ANY supervision or organization from adults.

1. Greek Dodge
This was two groups of kids, in a rectangular court. One red rubber voit playground ball. The game began with two "enders" who were outside the court. You tried to dodge the ball as it was whipped at you, your head, your body, your FACE - as hard as possible. If you CAUGHT the ball, then then the thrower was "out". If you got hit, you were out. Game proceeded until one side prevailed. Good fun!

Two Memories: On the court we played, there was a fair amount of finely milled gray gravel that spilled over from an adjacent play area. It made one end of the court, about as slippery as a freshly zambonied NHL rink. Good fun! Also, Ronnie Kerns was a little fireplug of a kid, who was damn near impossible to get out with any throw that he saw coming. The kid was a black hole for that stupid red rubber dodge ball. Amazing. Why did we call it "Greek" dodge? Have no idea. Seems like ordinary dodge ball.

2. Tower Tag
This was a cool piece of playground equipment, about 10 feet tall (it seemed much bigger as kids, but then again, we were small little snots at that age) that featured a 6x6 platform on top with two chain link "ropes" surrounding it like a boxing ring. The "ladders" on the sides of this tower were also a webs of chains. Who knows what was "intended" by the makers of this tower (climb up gently and a have a nice little look around?) but we as kids decided to play full blown "tag" on it. Which means kids were scurrying all up and down this thing like spiders on crack to avoid getting tagged.

Best Memory: Andy Baughman, a polite, well dressed kid, who was pretty damn quick and athletic when pressed, was so intent on evading a tag one time, he did a full FLIP over the top rope, and fell the full 10 feet flat onto his back! Right onto that non-shock-absorbing finely milled gray playground gravel. The whole playground stopped suddenly in a hush. Luckly, ol' Andy was only 'shaken up'. "Tower Tag" was immediately banned by the (likely annoyed) teachers who were momentarily distracted from their gossiping near the school doors, and the next September the ol' chainlink tower.... was gone. Just like that.

So yeah, I guess it IS good that some people are seeing the value in un-pussifying the North American schoolyard playground. Ronnie Kerns is probably a stuntman, and Andy Baughman a CEO.

I Hope Two Things Are In the New Star Wars Mid-quel, Or Whatever The F*** They Are Going to Call It

Thing number 1: Another version of Princess Leia in a smoking hot bikini, chained up to some awful space creature.

Forget bringing back the real Carrie Fisher at this point, she's 56 and has ahem, lost quite a bit of ooomph on her fastball. But we can enjoy the vintage Carrie via the miracle of the interwebs.




































Thing 2: An Actual Interlude of "Bad Cop" Stormtroopers, Like THIS!



Everything else, I'm flexible on.

Call Me, Ray Kinsella UPDATE: Now WIth FG Video!

 
So you might remember last year about this time, I went to Home Depot for some marking paint to line out a little football field on my property for the kids to run around on over the Thanksgiving break.

I don't have sons, I have two lovely daughters.

They like football... okay. I suppose.

I try, believe me. But they are a tough sell.

Luckily I have nephews who are football loving boys under the age of 15, so that was enough of an excuse.

As fortune would have it, last year a bunch of other (unrelated) kids staying at a neighbor's house as out of town guests, went walking down the gravel country road that runs behind my house - actually LOOKING for a football game!

Well then, we sure did have some fun.

My brother-in-law-Todd-who-knows-just-enough-about-current-sports-to-be-very-dangerous, was very helpful in gridding out the NFL logo we painted. The weather was perfect. The weekend ended, and I am sure my lovely wife thought: "Well, that's that."

Aw, hell no. Not with this balding, overweight, 44 year old kid.

My mind started turning immediately.

Hmmm.... what if I regraded that little marshy bog that is in the middle of this open area? What if I re-seeded in the spring with some quality turf-type tall fescue? What if I got some PVC pipe  and rigged up some scaled down goalposts?

Well, here we are, one year later.

You'll excuse me if I dab a moist tear from the corner of my eye.

Now, I just need those kids to come walking by again next week. If they do, I think I can say with some confidence: they are going to SHIT themselves.

The grass is in pretty decent shape for Season 1. It got a late seeding in the spring (May 1st) and was going well before it hit the summer wall in mid-June and then got very weedy. We sprayed the weeds on September 1st, then overseeded on October 1st.

I feel confident that by Season 3, this patch of grass is gonna be flat out phenomenal.

The goalposts are 15 feet wide, crossbar of 8 feet high, and the uprights about 20 feet above that. Real NFL goalposts are 18'6" wide, by 10 feet high, with 30 feet of uprights.

These DIY posts are stretching the limits of of PVC because the material is just too flexible to permit going much higher. That said, I think this "scaled down" dimension is actually perfect for backyard enthusiasts. Since you and the kids aren't going to be kicking 40-50 yarders, it doesn't make sense to have regulation size posts.

Now, what has me MEGA excited, is that the boys at Midwest Metal Warehouse - proud sponsors of "Sports with Steve Czaban" on Bob and Brain up in Milwaukee - insisted on whipping up a set of aluminum goalposts with the same dimensions.

Whoo hoo!

When those puppies arrive I will take and post a very proud picture.

The field dimensions are as follows:

Length: A "fake" 100 yards, consisting of 8-yard increments, with 8 yard deep endzones. (You probably noticed there is only 3 hash marks between each 5 yard line).

Width: 30 yards. (Regulation is 53 1/3. )

Ideally, I would have loved to go 40 yards wide for an 80x40 field of play (plus endzones), which would be a nicely scaled down 80% regulation gridiron.

But the dimensions of my property just didn't allow it.

That said, I think this size field is really good for weekend play. It IS big, and you get damn tired running around. But because it's not regulation, the scope doesn't overwhelm you as a frumpy old man.

I used a string line with industrial nails, plus a 300' outdoor measuring reel tape to measure out the lines. I bought a cheap aerosol driven line striper for about $150 on-line. (Did you know professional field stripers can go for $3,000 or more! That would have been divorce territory!)

The numbers and hash marks were made by ordering some field stencils from an on-line athletic supply company. The pylons were about $46 for a set of four.

And I guess I spent about $150 on 3-4 cases of athletic field spray paint.

The NFL shield logo was done like last year. By gridding out an area with string, and then printing the logo on corresponding graph paper. I should have taken photos, but you get the point.

People have already asked me: "How come you didn't do the Redskings logo??

Dood.

Look at it.

That might be the hardest logo to replicate in the damn league. I might wait a few seasons before trying to tackle that one. Next year, however, I think I might tackle the ol' Green Bay Packers "G".

Somebody else: "How about the Dallas star?"
Me: "Not on your fucking life."

So there we are. The only thing left is to sell PSL's for the grassy hillside above the 40 yard line. What do you think I could get for that?

>>>>>>>>>>>>

And for you whipper snappers out there... THIS is Ray Kinsella...

I'm #7! Whoo Hoooo!

Okay, so it's just one dude out there, with one list, on one website.

But... I'll take it!

/calls agent
/plans holdout

"Awww no, she need to go on ahead with that horse..."

The Biggest Football Farce I've Ever Seen

This kids, is how you tackle.

Just make sure your ball carrier is...

1. Not running at you at full steam
2. Not bigger than you are
3. Not angling away from you
4. Standing straight up, ahem, preferably...

This column by Slate's Matt Chaney accurately points out what a complete farce the NFL is pushing out the PR door here. A farce that somehow tries to prove that football is not only NOT inherently dangerous at a basic level, NOR downright insanely violent at the level which the league makes it's zillions.

Got that? “Knuckles up, elbows down like you’re throwing double uppercuts.” As a former head-basher in NCAA football, I can say that this is a technique that I’ve seen precisely no one, ever, use on the field. The way I understand it, tacklers are somehow supposed to launch themselves chest first into their opponents, who damn well better do the same or the tackler gets annihilated. The only way this will work is if tackle football is replaced by a version of the game without bullet-head helmets, in which a player is down if you bang him in the chest.

Even if you focus on juvenile players more narrowly, it should be obvious instantly that nobody plays like this. Over the last week, there’s been a video of a star youth player named Sam Gordon going around. Gordon, a nine-year-old girl, is seen darting through tacklers with great bursts of speed. And also, at the end of the reel, there’s a section titled “taking a hit,” in which Gordon absorbs repeated shots on or near her head. None of these kids are using anything resembling a “knuckles up, elbows down” approach to tackling. They’ve all got the crowns of their helmets forward, ready to strike.

True, true. And here's the real kicker: what happens when a kid gets injured specifically ATTEMPTING to crane their necks up and bow their body backward?

The NFL is fighting a losing battle here. Better to just start pushing liability waivers under players noses, and be done with it.

Tommy Tuberville Has A Way With People

Oops. "It slipped."

Sure.

Sunday Roundup: Veterans Day, Johnny Football, The Fiscal Cliff, and More...

I had guests in town this weekend, and they brought with them their well behaved young boys, 15 and 10 years old.

As we were watching football down in the 5 Hour Energy Dome, one of them saw the Blu-Ray of "Black Hawk Down" and started begging us to watch it.

I deferred to their father, who said, okay sure, let 'em watch.

It's about the 5th time I've seen the movie, and it simply never disappoints. One the one level, the helicopter scenes and the pure war-movie action is second to none in Hollywood history.

But on a deeper level, the lessons of service, sacrifice, courage and honor are timeless.

On this Veterans Day 2012, I can only say thanks yet again, for all of those men and women who have served our nation in war, and in peace. I hope those two boys who watched with me gain a greater appreciation as well.

The above photo was widely circulated after Hurricane Sandy, pretending to be current to the most recent hurricane. It wasn't. That does not mean it's not an awesome photo.

It is.

Thank you, Veterans. More than us civilians can ever truly express.

>>>>>>>>>>>>

Family guests John Goettler and son Henry helped get the Shield logo down this weekend.

The afternoon on Saturday was spent prepping the backyard football field for some impromptu 4 on 4 action on a pristine 68 degree fall day. This field is getting a bit nuts, I suppose. Cars are now stopping on our adjacent country road to stop and stare. I watch them from my window and just beam with pride.

"Yup. That's my football field. Like it?"

I still need to get the rest of the numbers painted, but when I do, I'll schedule a full photo shoot for the finshed product.

And don't tell me "you forgot to paint the end zones."

Until I get a professional field striper, I don't have enough 12 oz. spray cans of marking paint to do a whole endzone, much less two!

Heck, the NFL logo alone took 10 cans and 6 kids helping. We almost passed out from the fumes!

>>>>>>>>>>>>>

I missed most of the Texas A&M upset of Alabama because we got done playing football outside as the first half was winding down. Then we all went out for a birthday dinner with the two families after that.

Was I watching on Slingbox during the 20 minute car ride?

Hell yeah!

But once there, it would have been a bit much to just plop the ol' iPhone 5 on my appetizer plate and zone in on the slow motion stunner going down in Tuscaloosa. I believe my wife would have given me the Kobe Death Stare, followed by the dreaded marital "Vote of Confidence."

Besides, the bar in our restaurant had the game on, just out of view. And given the slight lag in Slingbox working it's magic, you could hear the place erupting with every spectacular play down the stretch.

The two boys and their dad excused themselves to see the final few minutes. I got reports from them.

Incredible game. Incredible.

Sorry I missed it live, but that' how college football season often goes as a fan, right?

You get "up" for the big ones like Alabama-LSU and Oregon-Stanford last week (I made sure to "clear the decks" of any commitments last Saturday) and then you kind of sleep on the others, like A&M dropping a big fat "welcome" turd to the SEC on 'Bama's doorstep.

Johnny Manziel is something else, ain't he, kids?

Now his family is working to secure the rights to the knickname "Johnny Football". Ohhhhkay. Makes me think I really AM sitting on a gold mine with the rights to www.harryhighschool.com.

The move by A&M to the SEC simply could NOT be working out any better.

Texas is saddled with a Longhorn Network that nobody can clear on their cable systems, and one that head coach Mack Brown says is actually HURTING their team due to over-exposure and time requirements to feed the beast.

Their conference doesn't have enough teams for a title game, and they now don't even get a chance to beat the Aggies in a blood rivalry game at the end of the year. (Not that they would, likely, do so this year).

A&M now has stunned Alabama on the road, in perhaps the Game of the Year, they have the most exciting young QB in the nation, and they have only had ONE full season to recruit with the vaunted S-E-C letterhead.

Hard to imagine a better time to be an Aggie in the last 40 years, than right now.

>>>>>>>>>>>>

Or a WORSE time to be an Auburn fan, or Gene Chizik.

What kind of number is a pissed off 1-loss Alabama team going to post on Auburn in a few weeks? 76-0?



>>>>>>>>>>>>

The election is over, but America's problems still exist.

In case you did not know, WE ARE BROKE!

I would yell that louder, but last Tuesday proved that the public is too stupid to understand, or just don't care. Even my own mother, was indifferent to this as I watched the returns with my father and proceeded to plow through half a bottle of Kraken rum.

(I woke up Wednesday, picked up the bottle by it's cute little tentacle handles, and wondered "Man, did I drink all that myself?)

All my mom seemed to care about, while voting again for our magnificent Golfing Teleprompter King, was that Prop 7 passed in Maryland so she would have a new casino to visit just across the river in Maryland.

You want hopeless? That'll give you hopeless.

I can't even flip my own mother, with a PERSONAL appeal to remember her lovely grandchildren and their bleak and imminent future.

From the above link...

The good news is that reality (to use a quaint expression) doesn’t need to swing a couple of thousand soccer moms in northern Virginia. Reality doesn’t need to crack 270 in the Electoral College. Reality can get 1.3 percent of the popular vote and still trump everything else. In the course of his first term, Obama increased the federal debt by just shy of $6 trillion and in return grew the economy by $905 billion. So, as Lance Roberts at Street Talk Live pointed out, in order to generate every dollar of economic growth the United States had to borrow about five dollars and 60 cents. 

There’s no one out there on the planet — whether it’s “the rich” or the Chinese — who can afford to carry on bankrolling that rate of return. According to one CBO analysis, U.S.-government spending is sustainable as long as the rest of the world is prepared to sink 19 percent of its GDP into U.S. Treasury debt. 

We already know the answer to that: In order to avoid the public humiliation of a failed bond auction, the U.S. Treasury sells 70 percent of the debt it issues to the Federal Reserve — which is to say the left hand of the U.S. government is borrowing money from the right hand of the U.S. government. It’s government as a Nigerian e-mail scam, with Ben Bernanke playing the role of the dictator’s widow with $4 trillion under her bed that she’s willing to wire to Timmy Geithner as soon as he sends her his bank-account details.

If that’s all a bit too technical, here’s the gist: There’s nothing holding the joint up.

Meet "The Terminator Arm"

Like I said Wednesday morning on the air with Bob and Brian, I remain hopeful about America despite the election results of Tuesday for one big reason:

"Technology doesn't vote."

By that, it is not Democratic or Republican.

Technology just keeps advancing, and amazing.

Will it present some truly frightening moral dilemmas? Sure.

But it will also solve many, many, many problems, obliterating many of our most current pressing "problems."

"There's Crab To Catch..."

The sun came up... and everything wonderful about my life is the same.

And every problem facing America, is still there.

The mob has spoken, and they said overwhelmingly - by 2% of the voting population - that they want Obama to have one more crack at fixing those problems.

Good luck.

I refuse to buy into the doom and gloom. This is not because I am naive. I'm just a rugged optimist.

Does it suck? Oh yeah. Sure does. Big time.

But you know what, there's crab to catch. So you just gotta get back out on deck and get working.

In life, you don't get to wake up and choose the weather. You just have to deal with what it is, for how long it lasts.

And so too, with this.

I have some stray thoughts on how to better "trim up" our "team" so we can start winning again. But right now, they are loose and scattered. Maybe this time next week, they will have congealed in my brain and I'll share them here.

In the meantime, I'll leave you with Lt. Dan on the mast of the Jenny.

"You call this a storm? It's time for a showdown. You.. and me...."

Welcome to The Czabe.com Cover5 NBA Leagues!

This is exciting, fun basketball for Laker fans.

If you are like me, you have an NBA team that is NOT one of David Stern's "chosen" franchises. You know, the ones in either warm climates, in states with no taxes, or major metropolitan cities with storied NBA legacies.

So we are the collective "non-meat" filler for Stern's Travelling Hardwood circus.

Well, do NOT despair my friends! Because Cover5 is going to make watching the NBA fun, and perhaps PROFITABLE!

Cover5 is expanding their games this year by offering NBA and College Basketball leagues. Sadly, you'll probably spend more time playing Cover5 than most players will playing defense.

Rules are simple:

Lines Come out Monday

The spreads are "estimates" that far out, so take that for what it's worth. Since Cover5 is not a casino, it doesn't matter if the line matches what it actually is by Friday.

Otherwise, there would be too many and it would be too difficult to track your scores and your friends. That's the problem with fantasy basketball and why so few people actually play it.

Games to Choose are only on Saturday -Sunday.

Same scoring system as Cover5 NFL.

There is a Cover5 Public league for you to join today or create your own private league so the winter months are more enjoyable this year!

I am going to get a "Public League" for you cheap-o's, and we can play for a Beer Tube. And if there's enough interest, how about we do a $50 "cash league" like football, with once again a limit of 30 entrants to match the NBA's total of teams.

Sound fun? Of course it does!

So JUMP ON IN!

UPDATE: 

Here's the link to the Public FREE League....
Here's the link to the Czabe CASH $$$ League....

Go to www.cover5.com and click on NBA Leagues, and search for my name.
 
As easy as a Dwight Howard alley-oop from Steve Nash!

This is what I get to watch for 82 games.

"A republic, if you can keep it..."

“We get the government we deserve.”
Alexis de Tocqueville

"It has been said that democracy is the worst form of government except all the others that have been tried."
Winston Churchill

At the close of the Constitutional Convention in Philadelphia on September 18, 1787, a Mrs. Powel anxiously awaited the results and as Benjamin Franklin emerged from the long task now finished asked him directly, `Well, Doctor, what have we got? A republic or a monarchy?' `A republic, if you can keep it,' responded Franklin.

Not The Kind of Evaluation He's Gonna Like

With 12:47 left in Sunday's "Homecoming" game against the 1-6 Panthers, the roof fell in on this Redskins season, and perhaps the entire Shanahan regime in Washington.

Already struggling mightily to score points - they had 6 at the moment - the known Achilles heel, the defense, gave up a monster strike of 82 yards from Cam Newton to Armanti Edwards.

Two plays later, Josh Wilson was called for an easy pass interference in the end zone, and proceeded to argue, whine, and moan about it to the referee. It was enough that he was eventually forced to sprint off the field for the Skins to get their "heavy" package into the game for the Panthers new set of downs at the one.

Newton and Panthers went quick-snap QB keeper, and Newton plunged into the end zone with minimal resistance.

21-6. Season, over.

Watching the replay on NFL Network, Deion Sanders directly criticized embattled team loudmouth DeAngelo Hall for letting Edwards go on the "wheel route" that resulted in the game clinching bomb.

I'll take Deion's word for it. He criticizes fellow cornerbacks about as often as Tom Coughlin smiles.

Of course, Hall will no doubt tell you it wasn't his fault. It never is.

And after the game Shanahan dropped a steaming turd into the punchbowl.

He said now was the part of the season where the coaching staff would be able to "evaluate" which players want to be here for the next several years.

Whoa! Wait. What?

Evaluate?

Did you just say what we all think you just said? The 2013 "Regular Pre-Season" (as I like to call it) has begun?

Wow.

No matter how much he'll fall back on his caveat of this team not being "statistically" out of it, and no matter if his statement is true, this is just something good coaches - or ones who fear for their paycheck - do NOT  do with 7 games left in the season.

Even more alarming, was how he said it. With a serene arrogance that he has come to perfect while here in Washington.

Sure, we know, Mike. This place was a flaming station wagon of fail when you were given that $35 million deal to save us.

But have you seen your record?

Yes, YOUR record.

I know your excuse list looks something like this...

1. Existing talent worse than I thought...
2. McNabb turned out to be a bum...
3. Injuries
4. Strike shortened off-season
5. Did mention injuries?
6. Getting screwed out of $18M in cap space...

But again, you are now 5-15..... AT HOME.

This is the place where your boss likes to drink away the losses in his suite, sometimes past midnight. You don't want him doing this.

That's 14-27 overall. You are now well behind the dreaded "Zorn Index" (12-20*) and Zorn deserves an * on that, because Vinny came in and essentially submarined the second season after 6 games by hiring the Bingo Caller.

And yet after a game like this, with the special little throwback uniforms, and the "good ol' Skins of yesteryear" on the field at halftime, this coach decides to throw in the towel?

I wasn't the only one stunned. Here, listen to Coach Dunge and Roidney Harrison on Football Night in America.



So now here we are. Season over. The defense is so bad - they came into the game allowing 314.3 net yards passing, which is the highest average per game in NFL history - you wonder how they can make it all the way to Christmas from this far out.

They are the most penalized team in the NFL.

Jackasses like Hall get coddled by the staff, not disciplined. Something that I am certain is eating through the lockeroom like fast spreading rot.

That leads to otherwise good guys like Wilson thinking it's fine to argue with the refs himself. Because, hey, the coaches kid, Kyle, ran 200 yards out of his way to berate some scab refs for a call that was bad, but had a very minimal outcome on the game.

There is no discipline, leadership, passion, or depth.

But there was Shanahan, calmly after this game taking a perfunctory "I've got to coach better" pill, before throwing his team under the bus with a sneer.

So you're gonna see who "wants" to be here for the next few years, eh?

How sure are you, that you'll be the one making that decision?

The "evaluation" which is now fully in motion, is an evaluation of you, and your entire regime.

I doubt you will enjoy it.

The Nicktater Is A Joyless Enigma

But I can't seem to "hate" him.

I suppose it's because I am NOT a fan of another SEC program. Plus, you can't quibble with his dominance.

That said, it's now abundantly clear why his "act" - if you will - went over like a fart in an elevator when he was head coach of the Dolphins.

Millionaire adult players, aren't going to respond to a mope like this.

Here was the particularly DULL interview I referenced on the radio show this morning. Please don't watch this video while operating heavy machinery.