Thought - Post-Birthday Rant

So I took the weekend off for my birthday, but now I'm back.  It was a great couple days; checked out the new Hollywood Casino, pretty awesome, and had a very relaxing birthday party complete with Reese's Cups s'mores, very nice.  To me, my birthday signifies the beginning of fall even more than football does, and now I am ready for fall leaves, apple cider, hoodies, and Halloween candy.

I turned 29 this year.  I don't FEEL almost 30, and I don't think much will change when I officially become old next year, but I'm dreading it all the same.  I already have a wife, a house, and two kids, so I really can't get any older, but something about that number three in front of my age really frightens me.  I think I'll stay 29 for a while.

Speaking of October and football, let me rant about the NFL's pink sports equipment; it's ugly, stupid & pointless.  First, I understand it's to raise awareness for breast cancer.  You know how you could do that even better?  Announce in the stadium and on TV before every game, "BE AWARE OF BREAST CANCER! If you are a woman over the age of 40 please get a mammogram once a year!  Thank you for listening!"  I mean, doesn't actually saying that say it better than pink referee hats?  Are you kidding me?  Is a pink elbow band going to make anyone's mom go get her boob squeezed in a machine?  And secondly, why is breast cancer awareness the only cause so strongly advertised by the NFL? The leading cause of death in the US is heart disease.  Why not wear red nasal strips and tell people that they're overweight?  Breast cancer isn't even the most common type of cancer!  That would be prostate cancer.  Wear a brown towel in your belt and give free exams on the sidelines.  And how about non-medical causes?  Gay rights, a free Tibet, global genocide, the production of American goods by child slaves?  No, but a treatable form of cancer that almost exclusively effects people who don't watch football games and therefor won't see your hot pink mouth piece, that's a cause worthy of an entire month of constant TV advertising & ridiculously colored uniforms.  Asinine.

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Thought - Who do you love?

I made a list the other day of the people that I love.  I tried to be honest and not include distant cousins & old acquaintances, but only the people who I actually feel love for.  There are 10 names on the list.  I don't know what to think about that.  Is that small?  Do I not love enough people?  Or am I lucky to have that many people who I love in my life?  Would other people say 100 but really only mean 5?  What do you think?

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Movie Trailer - Stolen

Director: Simon West
Starring: Nicholas Cage, Josh Lucas, Malin Akerman
Release: October, 2012

Every piece of this movie is a reason not to see it.  West (Con Air, Tomb Raider) is the director.  Cage (Ghost Rider, The Family Man) is the star.  And the title; are you kidding me?  Please don't see this action overloaded, dead weight, turd of a movie.

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Sports - NFL Picks, Week 6

Here are my NFL Week 6 picks:

(I was 11-3 last week)

Bye teams: Car, Chi, Jax, NO

Pit @ Ten -  This could be a pretty lousy match-up.  The Titans have been outscored an average of 20 points per game.  But the Steelers have yet to win on the road. Pitt, I guess.

Oak @ Atl - Unlike the Texans, the only other unbeaten team, the Falcons are beatable.  They have holes that will eventually give them a loss or three.  But not this week.

Dal @ Bal - The Cowboys are in disarray.  But coming off a bye week they should be fresh & prepared.  The only thing is, they have to play the Ravens.  Romo might set an INT record.

Cin @ Cle - The Bengals have a winning record despite allowing more points than they have scored.  With Joe Haden returning, the Brownies will look to pull off an upset win.

STL @ Mia - The Dolphins are coming off a surprising road win, while the Rams have yet to win away from their dome home.  Tannehill is improving and will pick up the W.

Ind @ NYJ - The only team more muddled than the Cowboys is the Jets, but their D is still fairly strong.  Sanchez should hold off Tebow for one more week.

Det @ Phi - The Eagles might be imperfect, but they play very well at home.  With Vick struggling, McCoy should get the lion's share (mah) of the ball and run wild.

KC @ TB - The Bucs defense is actually pretty good, their offense just can't keep up.  Coming off a bye week, this team should give new Chiefs QB Brady Quinn a major headache.

Buf @ Ari - The Cardinals are undefeated at home and have a Top 5 defense.  Losing last week will not have sat well, and with the extra time to prepare the Bills should be worried.

NE @ Sea - The Seahawks have the 2nd best defense in football.  Surprising, I know.  They just can't score enough points to stay consistently good.  This week will be different.

NYG @ SF - Seattle has the 2nd ranked D, but the Niners have the 1st.  They have allowed only 14 points per game.  Eli is good, but that's hard to overcome.

Min @ Was - RG3 had to hit a wall at some point.  Well, he hit something last week, I'm sure it felt like a wall.  Even if he plays, the Vikings are simply the better team.

GB @ Hou - Rodgers is admittedly not playing his best football.  The Texans, however, are playing theirs.  They are the #1 team in the league, hands down, and look unbeatable.

Den @ SD - The Broncos/Chargers rivalry has become a great one, with both teams hating the other.  Peyton better watch out for pressure, but if he can stay upright he will pick up his first road win.

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Sports - Last Resort

So I've never seen the actual TV show, but I'm guessing it would only make this funnier.  Thank you, Monday Night Football for setting this up.  As if I needed another reason to love Jon Gruden.

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Sports - Tebow

     As a Broncos fan, I've compromised my honesty in support of my team.  When John Elway went down and Bubby Brister took over, I declared loudly, "We believe in Bubby!"  We didn't, but luckily we won a Super Bowl anyway.  When Elway retired and Brian Griese became the starter, I said hopefully, "He can do it!"  No he couldn't, but he was all we had.  When the Broncos drafted Jay Cutler, I was in the middle of saying, "Who's that douche bag on the cell pho...Oh! Ok! Hey, welcome to Denver, you're cool!"  No he's not, but at least he has a strong arm.  I'm practiced in defending my team's choices because, what else am I going to do?

     When we traded Cutler, when we got Kyle Orton, when we drafted Tim Tebow, every time I tried to put a good face on the situation and accept who my team's new leader was because I will always root for the orange and blue uniforms I see on TV.  When those guys no longer play for us, I can hate them/curse them/knock on the them as much as I want because they're no longer Broncos.  I can finally be honest.  And in the case of Tebow, I can finally say whatever I want, however scathing it might be.  But, you know, I've got nothing new to say.

     Broncos fans believe in Tim Tebow.  We believe that he is a legitimate NFL starting quarterback who can score, lead, and win.  We may be the only group of people who can be completely unbiased when it comes to Tebowmania because we lived it.  We felt it.  We won and lost by it.  We know his faults and we know what he can do.  Trust Bronco fans; this kid is a winner.  He wins, no matter how sloppily.  He wins when there's no way he can win.  Even when he loses, when he tells you that he won on some level because he learned something, you believe him!  Tim Tebow is someone that you want on your football team.  We know, we had him, we rooted for him, and when he failed we didn't mind so much.

     I understand the mechanics concerns and I get that he might never be Tom Brady.  I don't care.  He's got that "it" factor that Simon Cowell is always talking about.  It's something you can't develop and can't learn.  For some reason or completely by chance, Tebow was born with the ability to make you listen to him and, if you've ever been on his side, make you love him.  That's rare, and if a quarterback comes along with that gift you don't toss him aside just because he has an awkward release.

    Yes, the Broncos bought Peyton Manning and traded Tebow away.  Do I think that was an upgrade?  Yes.  Was I sad to see him go?  Yes.  Would I welcome him back with open arms to be our starter when Peyton retires?  Instantly.  He made me enjoy football more than I normally do, which is saying something.  I watched him play knowing that I would see mistakes but that I just might see a miracle.  I think Tim Tebow will become a starter again some day, and I think he will win.  He will win over his city, his fans, and hopefully a game or two.  But I'll be rooting for him as I always do, because he is what watching football is really all about.

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Movie Trailer - Cloud Atlas

Director: Andy Wachowski
Starring: Tom Hanks, Halle Berry, Jim Sturgess
Release: October 26th, 2012

I love Tom Hanks.  I love sci-fi.  I like romance and I can stand Halle Berry.  But I'm not sure I'll enjoy a sci-fi/romance paring Hanks & Berry set in a multitude of times/dimensions/dreams/stories.  I mean, I'm intrigued, but I'm doubtful.

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