What Team will Tom Brady end his career with?

I was at work today and I thought of something as I was listening to the Rich Eisen podcast on the iPod.  There are a ton of great football players, nay, athletes that start their careers with one team and end with a team that seems like it should not have even been part of his career.  Let’s go down the list and see who makes the cut:

The recent obvious one: Brett Favre

Doesn’t exactly seem like he played over 200 games in a packers uniform.  It’s the team he won a Super Bowl in, it’s the team that he owned for all of the 90’s and most of the 2000’s.  When you said “Packers QB”, there was only Favre.  Everyone else was a “Who?”.

The “Oh Yeah, I forgot” guy: Joe Montana

If I remember correctly he made the passing portion of “The Catch” to Dwight Clark that is so famous in the NFL and he is most known for passing to the greatest wide receiver the game will ever see.  Which brings us to the next guy.

The "Al Davis Crush” Seattle Seahawks?  Really?: Jerry Rice

Didn’t even realize Jerry Rice was traded to Seattle until I looked it up.  I thought he ended it in San Francisco.  But apparently did one of those things where he signed a contract with the 49ers for a day and then retired so he could retire a 49er.  I mean, come on!  Can’t anyone stay with one team forever.

The guy who might go crazy without Football: Junior Seau

I’ll be honest.  When Junior Seau drove his car over a cliff on a beach, I thought of one thing: he needs to come back to football.  Seau must be on so many painkillers and probably hates his family that he just wants a ring and will do anything for it.  Most definitely the reason he came to New England.  I fear for the life of Junior Seau.

The “Just Retire and Don’t Ruin Your Legacy” guy: Michael Jordan

I know that the title in this could be something to relate to all of these guys, but Jordan is the only one on this list that is still considered to be the great of his time.  Kobe is slowly approaching Jordan like status and will most likely pass him if he keeps playing up to his game. 

The “You’ve Got to be Shitting Me” guy: Johnny Unitas

Yeah, Johnny Unitas, the guy who is considered the king of the gridiron played for the San Deigo Chargers.  He looks like he should be selling hair cream in this picture, but he is also on this list. 

Now, I could go on for a long time.  I could mention Nomar, but he was traded.  I should mention Gary Payton, Shawn Kemp, Karl Malone, Patrick Ewing, Hakeem Olajuwon, and maybe a couple of more players from the NBA who left small markets/traded to win big while getting paid.  Baseball players hardly ever stay in the same city.  The first big free agent from the 1974 era was Catfish Hunter who left the Oakland A’s to play for the Yankees for a little over $2M.  Baseball never looked back after 1974.  Most players are considered legendary if they stay with the team they grew with and never considered.  Derek Jeter and Mariano Rivera are going to end in pinstripes.  I never really considered this such a task, but maybe the days of the athlete that plays on one team and stays on one team are long gone.

The reason I ask this question because there are a couple of athletes that are always going to be on a plaque or behind a frame in a Boston sports bar.  The best players; that influenced those teams and left their mark without looking for more from another team, one more year to try and win a championship or whatever they thought would be out there.  Of course I’m talking about:

The Great White Hope:

Teddy Ballgame:

So if Tom Brady is as good a QB as anyone that ever walked onto the field?  Where does he end his career?   Most signs point to someplace not in New England.  Let’s hope Al Davis doesn’t stay alive for Brady’s contract to end.

*I researched Bobby Orr and didn’t realize he ended his career with the Blackhawks.  Still the best hockey player, if not, certainly the best defenseman, by a long shot.

This whole Wikileaks thing…

So, I haven’t blogged in a while and one of the stories that keeps coming up other than movies I want to see and Christmas ideas has been WikiLeaks.  It seems that a lot of governments around the world have become scared or aggressive toward WikiLeaks and its founder Julian Assange.  So far most of the things he has posted haven’t been that Earth-shattering to me, but they have been pretty intense as far as foreign relations go.  I’m pretty sure that President Obama has had Hil-dawg on a non-stop tour to try and curb this whole thing by talking with diplomats and making them calm even though the world is finding out most of poorer countries dirty little secrets.

I don’t know what Julian Assange could be accomplishing with this other than revealing the truth.  I mean let’s think for a minute.  We didn’t need to know about every lost secret from World War II or Vietnam.  Nor do I think we still need to learn those things.  I’m sure that the people involved are long gone and there is nothing really to do about those things.  If Hitler had a secret pack of wolves that he was training to become super soldiers, that could be left out of the history books.

When I first heard of this Wikileaks story, I only saw that they were releasing stories about soldiers and mistreating of officers in the armed forces, which sounds boring (sorry Troops).  But now it’s involving governments and finding out there is nothing that can’t be uncovered. 

What does interest me is how most of the banks and businesses that run this world are going all against Assange and his crew of hackers and such.  I didn’t think that there would be this kind of debacle in the modern world.  Like it’s out of a Crichton/Brown/Grisham/Stephenson book and the plot is unknown.  No doubt that Assange is going to be on a bunch of countries hit-list.  I think he would be a sure thing for a death-pool, but that makes me think that it’s almost too good of a bet.  Like countries don’t want to make a martyr out of him. 

On Twitter, the Wikileaks site, which I do follow just to stay interested in this thing, says that people shouldn’t have their money in Bank of America.  I don’t know whether that is a threat or just because hardly any bank is going to let funds transfer to Wikileaks.  I feel like this is something that should’ve been covered in an episode of West Wing and there is some sort of diplomatic thing to do.  But to be honest, I think this Wikileaks thing is one of the more compelling stories just because it involves government’s hiding information from its citizens.  I mean, if Wikileaks uncovers a story like How Kennedy was Killed, or What We Didn’t know about 9/11 or something like that.  If Assange is smart, which seems to be the case, he won’t be stupid in his travels, and he’ll find out whatever he wants to find out.

First December Post: A-Gon and Movies to See

Okay, so when I first heard the Gonzalez deal was going to happen I was ecstatic.  I was so happy that Theo was going to make the Sox season so much better now than what it was going to look like with the re-signings of Varitek and Ortiz.  Then when I heard the deal was not going to happen, I went in the other direction and thought of the worst possible scenarios for the Red Sox.  Missing the playoffs, being the laughingstock of the AL East, STILL having Big Papi even though he’s well past his prime, and of course having to deal with not re-signing V-Mart after the Tigers did. 

I would have liked to have V-Mart over Ortiz, just because there is something that V-Mart can do: switch hit and hit lefties.  I know that’s two things but either way, I’m glad we have another power bat in the lineup.  Not sure of what to make of Salty until he starts and stays healthy.  I feel like he’s one of the those Rich Harden types that will be nasty if they played a whole season and never got hurt, but that’s for another day and those kinds of players are a lot to handle.  Welcome to the team Adrian!

Alright, now that it’s Decemeber let’s talk about some movies I want/need to go see.  I still need to see a bunch of movies from the summer that I missed out on because they were interrupting my schedule of drinking and hanging out with friends.  So here are some movies I would love to see this coming holiday season:

The Fighter – Mark Wahlberg, Christian Bale, Amy Adams, Directed by David O’Russell.

I know the trailer runs off the damn screen but what else can I do.  Not my fault the trailer is huge.  Either way this movie looks like Oscar dynamite and I hope that Bale finally earns his due for being in some of the best movies of the last 10 years.  Adams will win too, Oscars love her. 

Black Swan – Natalie Portman, Mila Kunis, Vincent Cassell, Directed by Darren Aronofsky

This movie is going to be great because Portman and Kunis have a sex scene, with each other, and that is going to be great.  Also Aronofsky makes great films in case you haven’t seen the Wrestler or Pi or Requiem for a Dream.

Tron Legacy – Jeff Bridges, Olivia Wilde, some other white guy who is nameless right now.

I haven’t seen the first one but I plan on that as well.  But Disney is hitting this right on the money by bringing back the original Flynn.  Really want to see this and cannot wait for it to happen.  Soundtrack was done by Daft Punk and I have been listening to that for a little over a week and I love it. 

True Grit – Jeff Bridges, Matt Damon, Hailee Steinfeld directed by the Coen Brothers.

This movie is a remake of a Clint Eastwood movie, but the Coen’s make the best movies as far as being brothers goes.  Everything they make is a classic and they are instantly in the run for Oscars with this one.  Bridges in two awesome movie this winter is too much to ask.  Absolutely great.

The Green Hornet – Seth Rogen, Cameron Diaz, Jay Chou, and Christoph Waltz

This movie was supposed to be done by Kevin Smith, but Rogen took over the writing after they met on the set of Zach and Miri Make a Porno.  Looks like a good action flick and Rogen’s humor is always good for something.  I just checked who else is on the bill and the fact that Christoph Waltz is in this movie just made this movie jump two or three spots.  Love that guy and he is going to be amazing in whatever roles he plays.

The Red Sox Offseason according to Me.

Well hello there MLB offseason.  I didn’t see you after the World Series where the Giants won.  Mainly because I was too focused on other things like Lebron’s explosiveness in Miami where they still can’t sell out an arena.  Or maybe the great shows like the League, Always Sunny, The Walking Dead, etc. were just too much to pass up.  To be honest, I was just too damn busy with work and stuff earning money for the holiday season.

So as of right now, I am a little concerned for the Red Sox.  Mainly because of the things that have occurred in the last 60 days or so regarding the team ownership.

1. Re-Signing Big Papi – I liked Big Papi when he was hitting home runs in the playoffs but there is no way that he is still doing it now.  We have to remember that there was a steroid era and that Ortiz might have been juicing and might’ve had a little extra kick.  I’m not so sure that there could be a rekindling of such a main aspect of the championship teams.  Ortiz just isn’t as good as a player as others out there.  I’m sick of hearing about how he is thought of as the best player in the clubhouse and is loved so much by pink hats and yada yada yada.  I don’t think spending the $12.5 Million on him was a good idea.  He plays a position that is meant for lazy people. 

2. Not Re-Signing Victor Martinez – Letting one of the only good hitting catchers go to a team that is in the Central is awful.  Did we just put our destiny in the hands of a guy who has a history of getting hurt, hiding those injuries, and then hitting only .248 after never playing a full season?  This being Jarrod Saltalamacchia.  And we didn’t want to pay an extra year and $12 M for a stud catcher WHO CAN CATCH A KNUCKLEBALL AND HIT FOR POWER?!?!?!?!  This might be the downfall for the catcher position on the Red Sox.  Oh, breaking news, we might be interested in Rod Barajas.  Jesus H. Christ.  I think I might throw up if I see him in a Red Sox uniform. 

3. Not knowing the Opening Day lineup like I used to – We paid for Bill Hall.  We paid for Mike Cameron to pass kidney stones.  We paid for players who I didn’t know existed.  If you asked me who was playing catcher after V-Mart and Tek, you would not get an answer.  We had 4 hurt catchers last year.  Our entire team was just an hospital ward last year.  Then we go out and say we want Rod Barajas.  I suspect we just like getting players from Texas.  Think about it.  Barajas, Salty, Max Ramirez, the list goes on.  Any more of this junk shipping over from Texas would lead to be an absolute garbage heap. 

4. Buying Liverpool FC and not buying Mark Teixeira – If money were an issue, which it isn’t, I could understand.  But this is why I don’t like the John Henry group right now.  It’s like they love to acquire things that will make them money, but they don’t want to buy players that will win championships.  The first thing wrong with their strategy is that John Henry has to approve everything before Theo makes a move.  Sickening.  It’s like there is nothing stopping them from becoming this group of buyers that are going to spread out their portfolio and then make money off of it.  I am not a baseball fan that was meant to be treated like a bottom-line.  Remember the days when you would go to any event near Boston and people would start a “Yankees Suck!” chant?  Do you think John Henry and Co. want us to start singing Liverpool’s fight/drinking song?  I don’t think so. 

Here is what we should do to throw off the Yankee’s entire season.

1. Offer Derek Jeter a Contract that the Yankees Won’t – I’ve been hearing this from Clark Booth and Shaughnessy, that they should just take a chance and offer Jeter the money that the Yankees won’t.  The Red Sox should make an offer for 3 years, $60 Million and then maybe toss in a player option for like $17 Million or something.  Throw incentives at him.  Give him the keys to the Jet/Helicopter/Speedboat/Whatever John Henry owns and bring him to a town that will love him because let’s be honest, every Red Sox player is just secretly jealous of Jeter because Nomar didn’t pan out like we all thought he would.  Also, there is no reason the Yankees shouldn’t be offering him bigger money since they just gave A-Rod a 10 year deal worth $275 million after he admitted to cheating with steroids.  The Steinbrenners will be the laughingstock of baseball if they let this happen.  I’m rooting for it.  To me, I think the Steinbrenners are Sonny and Fredo Corleone without Michael Corleone and Cashman can play Tom, the little errand boy who really has no control over anything.  This has to happen just to bring back all the fans that NESN and the Red Sox lost in the past season.  Screw Beltre, sign Jeter and move him to 3rd.  We could have the best middle infield in the history of the sport!  Just imagine it and pray to God that Theo and John let make it happen.

Things I should have blogged about in the last couple weeks that I haven’t….

Okay, so I haven’t been blogging as mush as I should have lately.  But here are some things that I need to get off my chest.

1. Kevin Love’s 30 points and 30 rebounds game – I was completely surprised when this happened.  I know not many people I know give a shit about Kevin Love, but after this, he is going to be a recognized power house.  He certainly doesn’t seem like a guy that will own the boards, but he is certainly going to do that.  I don’t see many people pulling down boards, but I didn’t realize that the last person to do this was Moses Malone, a Hall of Famer who was certainly no slouch or anything near it.  If Love continues to do work like this, I don’t see how he ends up getting a huge contract some time after the Lockout. 

2. The New Orleans Hornets are undefeated – I don’t know what is going on in the NBA right now, but here’s what I’m seeing: The Heat are as bad as I thought they were, the Hornets are the best team in the league, The Thunder aren’t as good as I thought they would be, and the Chicago Bulls are surprisingly good this year.  The Hornets being undefeated through 8 games is a bit weird.  I don’t know what’s different about them this year other than it seems like CP3 is playing for a contract.  A big one at that.  I didn’t see this coming at all and I don’t know how Chris Paul is going to do this all on his own.  Unreal.  The Celtics look great, but they are going to be hurting later on in the season because we have old people all over the place.  Hopefully Perkins comes back to full health and dominate the center position.  I just hope that when he does come back, we don’t end up with the guy that complains about every foul called on him.  Grow up Perk.

3. The Giants won the World Series and I don’t know any of the MVP’s or Award Winners – I don’t know about you, but I heard the Giants won the World Series and then I didn’t know who won the other awards in the MLB.  I have no clue who won the Cy Youngs, MVP’s, Rookie of the Years, or Golden Gloves, so I will go see who won what and then talk about them. 

(researching)

Ok, so I blogged about this at just the right time.  They haven’t announced them yet and over the next couple of days they will announce them.  I don’t have any particular favorites in this, but I would like to see who wins the ROY.  I know Jason Heyward is in the running for the National League, and there aren’t many people I can think of for the American League.  I don’t know anything that says that Pujols will win the MVP, but I wouldn’t mind seeing Joey Votto or Carlos Gonzalez win this year.  Votto was ridiculous this year. 

Ok, so I haven't blogged in a while and Halladay won the NL Cy Young Award.  I'm going to try and post this ASAP. 

I haven't seen a movie in a while, but I was able to watch some more of Ken Burns Civil War.  I haven't learned more things other than what I learned about in Ms. Whalen's class in 8th grade. 

On a lighter note, Dan Uggla was signed to Braves.  That team is going to be awesome.  Between the sluggers they already have, adding Uggla to the middle of the lineup is going to be great for home runs.

In Football news, The Patriots look to be the favorite in the running for the Super Bowl, but there is nothing that says they could win.  They still have a bit a way to go and there are plenty of things to work on. 

Donovan McNabb signed a contract that could pretty much screw him out of a job.  The worst thing that the Redskins did after signing Albert Haynesworth for $100 Million dollars, was deciding to go after coach Mike Shanahan.  Your team is pretty much in the toilet after going thru a terrible season.  You tryout 3 awesome running backs and decide on keeping Clinton Portis who then pretty much shits the bed and you have Ryan Torain who is okay, but not a 1000 yard running back that you had every year in Denver. 

That's it for now, I'm going to catch up on Hulu shows before I go nuts and forget to watch any of them.  In case you didn't know I love TV.  See you next time.

Heat can’t shoot or play D, but they can sure get RONDO’D!

Danny Ainge, Thank you so much for recognizing unbelievable talent when it was there staring you in the face.  4 More Years!  4 More Years!  4 More Years! 

Part 2 of Sports Financial Crisis: NFL

Here is part 2 of the sports financial crisis summary that I started.  The NFL, currently known as the National Football League, or as it has become recently, the No Fun League.  This league is run by Roger Goodell, who started out as an Intern in the NFL, only started running the league in 2006, taking over for Paul Tagliabue. 

Since the NFL was taken over by Goodell a few things have happened to the game that is creepily catching up on Baseball for America’s most beloved sport.  Although there have been more headlines made with the NFL in the Finance section of the newspaper now than before.  Obviously something is amiss when you make headlines that aren’t sports related but business related.  There also has to be a problem when you’ve started to cater to the pink hat crowd.  Not always a great thing to do when the majority of the your fans are overweight, beer drinking, barbequing men who love to drive trucks, tailgate and consume more chicken wings than normally allowed. 

As did last time, we will start off with a list of things that I see going wrong, or already had gone wrong with the NFL:

The 18 Game Season – There are these recurring ideas circulating the media about how the NFL wants to change their sport.  Change their sport so more people will watch and the NFL can attract more commercial coverage and more revenue.  Let’s talk about the idea of the expanded season to 18 games.  18 games, with 2 less preseason games.  As soon as that news came across the airwaves in the first few weeks of the season, NFL players were getting season ending injuries each day.  Sidelined and not getting any money, unlike the MLB where all the money is guaranteed.  There were some good arguments about this idea.  But there wasn’t any other details that came along with this idea.  Just an 18 game season.  No other news about more players on a roster, no details of another bye week.  It was almost laughable about how players were dropping like flies when Goodell brought this idea to the table.  As soon as the season started and player’s seasons were over, there was no mention of it.  It probably went away but there is no development on this 18 game season.

Blackout Rules – I don’t think many people know the NFL’s Blackout Policy.  If a team doesn’t sell out their stadium during a given week, the game is blacked out.  Economically, this doesn’t make sense.  The average cost for a football game to the fan is upwards of $420 according to the FCI (Fan Cost Index).  That’s not logical.  Considering what it costs to buy an HDTV, the Network Cable, and the homemade food without having to sit in traffic.  So let’s say I live in one of the cities where this happens (San Diego, Oakland, Jacksonville, etc.)  If I wanted to watch a Chargers game, and I even bought the Season Ticket Pass to watch any game on, I still would not be able to watch the game unless the stadium had sold out.  Meaning, that buying the HDTV, Cable package, and other crap that is advertised by the NFL so often doesn’t become worth it unless the stadium is sold out.  Now, usually this is a problem for fan bases that are not that strong for the teams.  Or it becomes a problem for fan bases that CANNOT AFFORD these kinds of ticket prices.  A friend of mine once asked my friend’s and I a question of whether I would be a fan of baseball if we couldn’t see the games but were able to see the score in the newspaper the next day.  I argued whether we would be able to see the box score or just the score.  He said just the score, and I said no I would not be a fan anymore because when you take away the action of the game, the timeline, the actual ‘what’ of the hobby or event and just post a result, it becomes the Lottery.  Think about that.  Lottery players, all they do is look for numbers in the paper.  There’s no listing of whether the 16-ball rolled over the 12-ball in the last drawing of numbers.  We only have numbers.  This is the danger that the NFL is playing with.  If fan bases are being subject to disenfranchising and are being pushed to liking the teams that only get shown on TV, then there eventually be a shrinking of the league, team-wise and fan-wise.  This past economic crisis only illustrates this point more.  How many Jaguars fans have had to watch their rivals play instead of their own team?  How many Raiders fans, who are undoubtedly the most committed group of individuals to ever attend a football game, have had to settle for watching San Francisco games because the Raiders game is blacked out?  The term Luxury starts to become more and more relevant when economic crisis hits the U.S.  What becomes luxury when it was considered a necessity before?  These are questions that Goodell needs to ask himself when making these policy decisions.  If the shit hits the fan (the fan that fills the seats) how will we be able to keep our product attendance at a continuously high level?  Not many Commissioners ask themselves that because there is usually no one to suggest this to them, but that’s why certain people have to do something. 

The New Hitting Rules – Since about when ever everyone started putting emphasis on the concussion, Goodell has made it a point to fine anyone that makes a destructive hit.  Now I have two theories on this and why it is in place.  The first time this happened was with 3 defensive players who were all pretty much doing well.  They just happen to make great hits (with the exception of Brandon Meriwether) and players who got those hits just happened to be on the ground for a bit longer than expected.  Think about how this commissioner has acted differently in the weeks prior to the season starting and week 6.  Complete turnaround.  I don’t get it.  I’ve never seen that happen in anyone.  Ever.  But one of my reasons for the new rules on hits to the helmet and the legs and hitting to hard is so that people have to WATCH MORE FOOTBALL to actually pick out which hits seem more destructive than others.  Before we were only watching the hits in slow-motion and now we are dissecting each hit like we’re all scientists and NFL coverage is the Zapruder film.  So not only are people watching more Football, but we have to rewatch more and more of NFL games. 

Now the fines that are given out to players could be more of a reason for the NFL to gain more of a monetary advantage in the upcoming CBA.  Obviously people are talking about a lockout and I figure Goodell is trying to rack up as much dough for the league in the short time he has until there is a stand still.  A couple thousand here from this guy and couple thousand here from that guy, and I can make the league an extra $1M or so.  Especially if the hit injures one of the players that “America” loves to much, like Brett Favre.  When Myron Pryor was given that fine for an illegal hit to the helmet on Brett Favre, two things went through my mind: 1) Roger Goodell is protecting people he should not be protecting, 2) I don’t think he knows that everyone liked that hit and that it took Favre out of the game. 

Thursday Night Draft – This last complaint is something that is directly related to the greed of the NFL and the office of Roger Goodell.  This past NFL draft took place, not on a Saturday where most men aren’t working and most football fans who are really into the Draft could get together and barbeque and shoot hoops, throw a football around and hang out…NO!  It had to take place on a Thursday Night during Prime Time.  Why, might you ask?  Because Roger Goodell wanted to take away from the big piece of the pie that is Thursday Night Must See TV.  I was working because I work on weeknights.  So not only could I not enjoy hanging around my friends and seeing their reactions to certain draft picks, I had to get the news from the computer that I was working on.  Drafts, unless they are like the NBA Draft which is Prime Time because it’s quick and there’s 3 rounds, should be a Saturday event.  The NFL Draft is 6 rounds.  That’s a lot of selection and there is only so much time people can give to watching it. 

I have spent a lot of time on this blog post so I hope you do read it.  I have been putting it off for a while but I have been busy with the rest of my life and that’s something that I need to get back onto. 

Song of the Day

Yeah I figured it’s time to bring out the Funk/Disco for this kind of day.  Randy Moss is abandoned, it’s Election Day.  I need to find something to do before going to work.

Things I Learned from Ken Burns and Not the Education System

I have recently begun watching Ken Burns’ Civil War on Netflix.  I figured its cheaper to watch a little at a time than go for one straight 10 hour series on DVD for $90.  Trust me, I’d love to buy all of his DVD’s but they are just a bit too much and I think I’d only watch them once. 

So I’d figure I’d share the facts that I am learning from this experience with my readers and I won’t try to spoil it for you if you haven’t seen this documentary.  I will probably keep this a rolling part of the blog seeing I don’t have too many of those things right now.  I try.  I really do.

Fact #1: The South Had a Better Constitution – Okay, so the South had it’s own Constitution that was very similar to the Current Constitution.  Only there were a couple things that I liked better in the Confederate constitution.  Like the Line Item Veto for the President and the 6 year term for a President.  That’s pretty much the only thing missing from the current constitution that would make any President’s job easier when assigning a budget.  I mean, I understand, what the argument was when they were deciding what the South had to do in order to take the loss.  Probably something like:

North - “Okay, if we beat you, you have to get rid of that Line Item Veto shit.  And we get only a 4 year President.  We don’t want someone to be in power for 12 years.”

South – "Deal.  If we win, we get to keep slavery.  And no touching of the hair and face.”

North – “Fine.  Let’s Rumble.”

It’s things like this that get me angry.  It just means that we have thought of the best possible solutions for this country but we decided to just ignore them.  I mean, the NFL had the AFL, and they ended up taking the ideas of the Challenge Flag, the 2-point conversion, amongst other things.  They had competition and it bred a superior league.  The NBA had the ABA, for which they took the Half-time show and 3 point line, thus breeding a superior league.  I mean, if the North had the South and did not take the Line Item Veto, then we deserve all the bad stuff.  I hate it.

The 6 year terms isn’t as bad either, but it puts the President on the same level of the Senators in the Congress.  Senators seem to have so much more power than everyone else.  I think if someone saw eye to eye in Washington, we’d be able to see

Fact #2: The Youngest Victim of the War was a 9 Year Old Boy – This just makes some of the older generations more bad ass.  I mean these kids were signing up to be drummer boys and flag holders for men who were out there to kill each other.  Talk about growing hair on your chest.  I mean kids nowadays are suing schools over being tagged too hard at recess.  This is absolutely the weirdest and most shocking thing I have heard about in this series.

Why there hasn’t been a miniseries about the Civil War, and every part of it’s time on HBO is beyond me.  Have it be like a Tom Hanks production made of like 15 episodes that are 2 hours long.  Go to the bone with this one.  I mean I like Band of Brothers, but this is our own country.  We could have so many different dynamic plot twists and turns to this one.  Like someone inventing a new bullet that kills a lot of Northerners so Lincoln has to change his strategy or the Battle of Antietam and its fallout.  This would be television gold.  We could cast half of Hollywood in this thing and everyone would have a subplot.  It would be that awesome.

That’s it for now.  I will continue watching Ken Burns Civil War and I will no doubt be delivering interesting facts from the documentary.  Travel on my friends.

The William Howard Taft Memorial Weight Loss Challenge! Let’s Get It On!

So, a bunch of friends and I are putting some money up to compete each other at a weight loss challenge.  Kevin Edelson, James Bucknam and I are some of the competitors and we’ve decided to put our money where are mouths are and put that McDonald’s in the garbage. 

Hopefully we can all get on a strict regiment of healthy food in this day of working weird hours and eating shitty food.  I know I’ve lost some weight since leaving college, and surprisingly kept it off too.  I mean, I eat more dogshit-like food than anyone else I know.  Just imagine what would happen if I ate healthy food and kept at the gym.  The results could be amazing!  That’s a great thought.

I considered trying out the P90X program, but I don’t think I have the time or skillset to do the eating/dieting portion of that program.  I could try the workout exercises and just eat healthier and hope for success.  But let it be known that Mark Robert Sheehan will be entering the Williams Howard Taft Memorial Weight Loss Challenge.  If you know Kevin Edelson and are curious into the weight loss challenge, then Facebook him and find out how to enter.  $25 a head.  Starts next Monday. 

DVD Review 10/31

Breaking Bad Season 1 – Bryan Cranston, Aaron Paul, Anna Gunn, Dean Norris

I just finished watching Season 1 of Breaking Bad from Netflix.  I had never watched it on AMC, but only heard good things about it.  I knew from the commercials it was about a chemistry teacher who starts to cook Meth with a fellow drug dealer.  Turns out, it has deservedly won a couple of Emmy’s for Bryan Cranston’s acting, as well as Aaron Paul’s acting in the supporting role.  The first season was really cool with all sorts of chemistry breakdowns and thematic developments. 

Walter White, is a high school chemistry teacher in the Albuquerque area.  He lives a boring life, has a wife and expecting another daughter on the way.  He has a son who is mentally disabled, who doesn’t seem to like his parents or anything really.  Walt goes out on a ride-a-long with his brother-in-law who works for the DEA and finds out what its like for people to be caught and arrested.  During one of the break-ins Walt sees a former student of his, Jesse Pinkman.  Walt finds out Jesse’s a methamphetamine dealer and cook after seeing him sneak out of a neighbors house.  Meth, of course, is very popular in the area and is a serious hardcore drug.  Being a professional chemist, Walt makes a deal with Jesse to become his cook and make a profit off of selling the drug on the streets.  Walt cooks, Jesse sells.  The first episodes show the transformation of Walt from a local nobody to a bad ass with so much power in his hands.  After in the first couple of episodes, we find out that Walt has lung cancer, stage 3A.  Walt doesn’t tell anyone for a couple of days and finally gets around to telling his wife, who has a nervous breakdown over it.  The family dynamic transforms a bit and Walt’s family gets closer to him.  There are so many scenes that are well done because of the situation that Walt is in.  Walt intends to use the money he gets from drug dealing to cover his costs of chemotherapy and medical treatments.  As it turns out, Walt cooks the top-notch meth, that many of the characters call “glass” and he is now among the ranks of making a high concentration of meth available to the public. 

Personally, I had no idea what to expect with the first few episodes, but I love this show.  The first season was only 7 episodes long because of the writers strike, but it did work out and was able to return for a 2nd and 3rd season and undoubtedly a 4th.  Bryan Cranston is awesome in the series, and Aaron Paul, who plays the drug dealer kid is more like a homeboy who tries to get comfortable working with a new person who he only knows through his old high school classes.  I really would recommend this show to anyone who likes dramatic shows that are suspenseful and drug induced.  No pun intended but this show is addictive as Meth.  I wouldn’t really know what Meth is like, but if it’s that addictive, than this show is addictive as well.  AMC has done it again. 

Now I’m going to check out the new show “The Walking Dead” on AMC, because as of right now the best shows are on AMC.  Should be a great season of television.

Apple: White Models’ being a bitch

Apparently there is some controversy at Apple with a bunch of white models being bitches.  It seems that someone thought it was being a bitch while ordering their latte.  Then someone thought it was a good idea to use the words “too skinny” to describe the model.  After that happened there was just a tapestry of obscenities flying every which way.  “You asked me to lose all this weight…I never have any viruses or anything…I’m slim, slender, and the coolest thing on the market right now, bitch!” were just some of the words used.  Apple plans on using a more latin model for christmas this year.  Be on the look out for the iPhone cuatro Manzana.  Say goodbye to that white model until spring.

Okay, so all of that is just play on words and bullshit.  But come on, lets have fun with a story like this.  I heard it and the look on the newswoman’s face was something like “Why don’t they just hire the black models”.  So I had fun with this and I hope you laughed a little too.

Movie Reviews 10/26

Here are some movie reviews of some films I have seen in the last couple of weeks. 

Jackass 3D – 2010 – Johnny Knoxville, Bam Margera, Steve-O, Ryan Dunn, etc.

This in my instance was the most anticipated movie of the fall movie season.  Usually there is nothing but shit in the fall season and its movies like this that warm my soul in the beginnings of the cold season.  Anyways, this movie impresses time after time with all of the explosions, stunts, poop, and gross things that the guys do to their bodies.  This movie ends well and does so in the most admirable fashion, for as admirable as a movie about physical abuse can be.  The 3D isn’t that bad, but I do feel a bit dizzy after I watched the movie.  I did notice that there were about 10 more previews than needed in this movie.  However, don’t let that discourage you into not seeing this movie.  If you have ever enjoyed a Jackass movie or even something on the TV show, this is the movie for you.  Knoxville does that Old Guy thing again, they do the snake things again, Everyone gets a shot at a stunt using the camera that shoots in 3D and has a speed of 1000+ frames a second to see the ripple and points of impact on everyone.  Gotta hand it Dickhouse productions for this one and let’s hope that in Jackass 3.5 (which is just leftovers from this movie that couldn’t be shown in theatres) that there is more exciting stuff for the viewers.

Back to the Future – 1985 – Michael J. Fox, Christopher Lloyd, Lea Thompson, Crispin Glover

Well, it’s been 25 years since Doc Brown and Marty McFly went back in time with a Delorean.  I thought I would review one of my favorite movies of all time being it the anniversary.  After seeing this movie again and finding things that I never really thought about, I would like to share some of those things and find some common themes.  The theme about ‘If (someone doing something) never happened then you would never have been born’ makes a good argument.  I mean the whole movie is about going through time and doing what you want to make your fortunes better than everyone else’s.  However, there are several things that if didn’t happen could jeopardize anything.  Like when Grandpa hits George Marty McFly with the car and Lorraine falls in love with him.  Or how the Save the Clock Tower lady is a major player in time travel.  Without her, Doc and Marty are stuck in 1955 forever.  Just goes to show that without activism we could be stuck in a nightmare that we don’t belong in.  Also, when Doc Brown is calling Marty on the telephone, where is he calling from?  He calls in the morning to his own residence and he calls again at midnight at Marty’s house.  Why did he call those two times and how did he know Marty would be at those places?  If I’m not mistaken, the Delorean is also frosty and smoking when it comes out of the trailer for the first time.  Did he time travel in his trailer or did he just have a smoky trailer?  Am I just overthinking this?  Probably.  Ironically, November 5, 1955 is the date that Racial Segregation was outlawed on Interstate Commerce like buses and trains.  I googled it and it was under Wikipedia, so it could be anyone’s guess.  Anyways, what a classic.  I love this movie and the people that made it.

Coming up in later writings, I continue my Financial Analysis of the 4 Major Sports and then move onto some Google Image Fun and maybe some Top 5’s and a music video I like. 

NBA 2K10-11…..IT’S BACCKKKK!!!!!

It’s that time again.  Basketball season is here and the Celtics are looking to make it back to the finals.  Oodalalee!  They tip off the season with the Miami Heat, which is an awesome way to fire off the season, by showing Lebron who the real contenders in the league are.  Think about this for a minute, at tip off tomorrow night, Shaq, KG, Pierce, Ray-Ray, and Rondo are going share the court with D-Wade, Lebron, Bosh, and two other nameless Heat members.  Probably Chalmers and Ilgauskas.  Fucking Lurch. 

Anyway, have there even been more points per game been on a court at the same time?  Maybe an All-Star game?  I added career points of all the players that would be on the court and its just shy of 150,000 points.  That’s insane.  8 players really make that up.  7 elite players, but Rondo isn’t Elite yet, he’s just bad ass. 

It took me a while to figure out who was on what team this year.  Apparently everyone was so wrapped up in the Lebron to the Heat story that they forgot to mention that everyone was moving around in the NBA.  Everyone except for the two teams that made the Finals last year.  Granted the Lakers and Celts kept their core players, but they did get some additions (Shaq, Jermaine O’Neal, Delonte for Boston; Matt Barnes for the Lakers).  This season should play out pretty well barring any major injuries to players.  So, without further or do, here are my predictions:

East:

Atlantic	W	L
Boston Celtics	53	29
New York Knicks	47	35
Philadelphia 76ers	35	47
New Jersey Nets	24	58
Toronto Raptors	21	61
Central	W	L
Chicago Bulls	46	36
Milwaukee Bucks	44	38
Indiana Pacers	34	48
Detroit Pistons	30	52
Cleveland Cavaliers	19	63
Southeast	W	L
Miami Heat	57	25
Orlando Magic	49	33
Washington Wizards	42	40
Atlanta Hawks	41	41
Charlotte Bobcats	25	57

Quick Note: I’m planning on NYK getting someone to add to Amare.  Probably Melo or CP3.

West:

Northwest	W	L
Denver Nuggets	52	30
Oklahoma City Thunder	51	31
Utah Jazz	49	33
Portland Trailblazers	31	51
Minnesota Timberwolves	16	66
Pacific	W	L
LA Lakers	57	25
Golden State Warriors	46	38
Phoenix Suns	45	37
LA Clippers	35	47
Sacramento Kings	32	50
Southwest	W	L
Dallas Mavericks	54	28
San Antonio Spurs	48	34
Memphis Grizzlies	30	52
Houston Rockets	28	54
New Orleans Hornets	25	57

Finals: Celtics Defeat Lakers in 7. 

MVP: Kevin Durant (OKC)

ROY:  John Wall (WSH)

Finals MVP: Paul Pierce (BOS)

Other Notes:

Either Carmello Anthony or Chris Paul will be moved during the seasons sometime.  Jeff Green will become the new Scottie Pippen.  Rajon Rondo will average a triple double for most of the season with 12 PPG, 10 RPG, 12 APG.  Lebron James will blame someone other than himself for not winning a championship…AGAIN.  Jason Kidd will be called Jason Dadd, turning 35 or something like that.  Larry Bird will draft another white player.  Michael Jordan will face Larry Bird in a game of H-O-R-S-E for rights to Stephen Jackson.  Yao Ming will single handedly bring down the value of the Yuan.  Mark Cuban will be fined for something stupid involving Twitter and a Referee and Shaquille O’Neal will be on Scare Tactics with Nate Robinson and Delonte West. 

The Problem with all 4 Major Sports and The Dollar, Part 1: MLB

I was recently talking with my Dad, among other people, about the problems that MLB, the NBA, the NHL, and the NFL.  It seems to me that they are all having money trouble and seem they don’t know why.  Being a commissioner of a billion dollar organization might seem great on paper, but there seems to be the underlying theme that if you can’t handle money, then this is the job for you!  I haven’t seen people with so much power be so careless with this many millions of dollars scramble to save their asses while still trying to be greedy.  From the No Benjamin’s League, to the No Fun League, the Major League Boondoggle, and the kNuckle Head League (see what I did there), all of the leagues are in jeopardy of falling into a deep dark pit that is unsustainable and highly unfavorable to fans, like myself.

To kick things off, let’s start with the league that isn’t playing right now, or in my opinion, shouldn’t be playing right now:

MAJOR LEAGUE BASEBALL (BOONDOGGLE)

Most of their trouble began with the steroid era and the $100+ million dollar contracts that were handed out to players who you’d think “WHY IS WORTH THIS MUCH?”  Bud Selig, God Bless Take Him, has been the worst commissioner I have ever seen.  I mean how hard is it to order how an All-Star game will end?  Alas, I’m not here to talk about that stupid incident or the dozen of other things that have crossed his desk and left a skidmark on the game of baseball, I’m here to talk about the financials of the MLB. 

Let’s start a list:

1. Unsustainable contracts and ludicrous team revenues – The Yankees are a Billion dollar team right now.  They are the only team in the MLB that does not have to pay for food vendors.  That’s right, they can make their own food and sell it their fans at a profit.  However, the Yankees just got beat by a team that only spend $55 Million this season on team revenue compared to their $215 Million.  This, however, does not stop the Yankees from going out in the off season and purchasing every player that they want off the shelf for money that no one else can shell out.  Sorry, to all those teams that seem to compete very well with sub $100M budgets but the Yankees will be purchasing your star players within the next year or two.  That means that Cliff Lee, Carl Crawford, Albert Pujols, Adam Dunn, Adrian Gonzalez, Prince Fielder, and Ryan Howard are just among the elites that could end being in pinstripes or leaving their respective teams for $150M+ contracts.  Now, they can’t all end up there, but they will be in contention with each other just to get the opportunity to play in the shoebox known as Yankee Stadium.  It does kind of bother me, as well as other baseball fans, that the Yankees can NOT win a World Series and then decide to clean up a Free Agent Market at their own will and have no one to regulate it at all.  It is the downside to a free market system.  Spend all you want and screw the teams that can’t afford it.  They used to have a system in place which allowed teams to franchise their star players and keep them on salary.  But alas, in a Supreme Court case, Flood v. Kuhn, baseball soon began its Free Agent market after realizing that Baseball was Interstate Commerce and thus violated its Anti-Trust exemption.  This event did cascade the Scott Boras’ of the World, the Super Agents, the Holdouts, the large contracts, and George Steinbrenners of the world.   Which leads me to the other part of the problem.

2. Teams Not Paying Players – Many of the signs of this point to teams like the Florida Marlins, San Deigo Padres, Pittsburgh Pirates, Oakland Athletics and many other teams that can afford to pay for players, but have been hoarding the league-sharing profits from teams like the Yankees just to build giant stadiums instead of elite squads.  That report for Deadspin about the financial records of the baseball teams who have millions in storage only to build stadiums and rob cities of their tax money is only the tip of the iceberg.  It reminds me of when I was younger and people in Boston were making bumper stickers saying “Save Fenway Park”.  At the time, I knew little about the financials about baseball and how tax money went into stadiums.  Now that I think about it, saving Fenway was probably the best thing for Boston.  Sure we may be only to sit about 35,000 people, but we still manage to win and compete.  But the fact remains, if teams are going to compete they have to be able to pay players.  It won’t work with a league wide profit sharing agreement, but it will work with a salary cap and salary floor.  Meaning, that teams have to meet a certain payroll, much like what the NHL has.  There was a point in the MLB where the Red Sox could’ve traded Manny Ramirez for the entire Florida Marlins and it would’ve been financially okay.  That’s when you know there is a problem in baseball.  George Steinbrenner may be praised for paying his players handsomely for talent, but at what cost to the fans?

3. How Much for those That? – Looking at this link, I see that Fenway Park is a pain in the ass to visit if you like to do see baseball games live.  The Red Sox lead the league in Fan Cost Index, which is how much it is for a family of 4 to buy tickets, park, get 4 hot dogs, 2 beers, 2 programs, 4 sodas, and 2 adjustable caps, at the awesome price of nearly $350.  Add in the fact that the parents will drink more than 2 beers, or the children will want more than a hot dog over the course of 9 innings, which could be about 4 hours now, depending on whether the Sox are playing another AL East team.  As far as this statistic is concerned, buying an HDTV and splurging on the season pass on your favorite team is really what you should be doing instead of putting up with the crap of dragging someone to the ball game and paying through the ass. 

4. The Super Stadium/Ball Park/Museum/Shopping Center/Hotel – I can’t exactly remember which book it was that I read it in, but one economist (Bradbury?), was talking about how when the Rogers Centre in Toronto opened, is right around the time that baseball stadium attendance blew up and ticket prices were growing like crazy.  It was also around the same time that Ronald Reagan began cutting taxes for the rich like crazy.  The Rogers Centre is part Hotel, part ball park, and part mini-mall.  Now think about what each of those cost separately.  Include land, taxes, licenses.  Then think about adding about $100+ Million for players.  Maybe another $30 Million for administration costs.  Then add in the fact that your tax dollars paid for about 80% of that, over the course of X amount of years at a rate of interest maybe just below the discounted rate for being a hometown team.  Now think about how much a company might charge to make a profit for 50,000 people to fill that 81 times a year.  Add a retractable roof to your costs, as well as heating and air conditioning.  Then add grounds crew.  Sounds like a hell of a time doesn’t it?  And your city might’ve paid for about 80% of it. 

5. Health of Their Product – Let’s face it.  162 games plus 18 playoff games does not make sense.  Derek Jeter holds the record for most playoff hits among other postseason stats.  Well, I’m sure he wouldn’t be holding those records if the playoffs weren’t 7 game series a piece.  He’s played in 147 games.  Reggie Jackson played in 77 games.  Babe Ruth played in 41 games.  In 1980, Playoffs were a best of 5 series.  A reasonable amount of games added to the regular season of play.  No doubt that the Divisional series were either 3 or 5 games series.  That’s a max of 15 games additional.  Now we can’t have a playoffs unless there is a minimum of 15 games.  The most embarrassing about playoff stats is that Carlos Beltran has 60 less plate appearance than the Babe, 50 less than Gehrig, and the 90’s Yankees are all over the hitting statistics for the playoffs.   I’m sure if Babe Ruth played in 147 games in the post season, he would’ve shortened his career.  Want a real stat, Ruth hit 15 HR in 167 Playoff Plate Appearances.  It took David Justice 4 times as many at-bats to do that.  There’s a trend here.  More playoff game statistics means that players aren’t lasting as long as they could have.  The season starts in April and goes until November now.  It used to end in October.  END IN OCTOBER.  I don’t want to watch baseball all year long.  Wrestlers wrestle all year long and they end up dying at 50.  They don’t get an offseason.  Think your Jeter’s, A-Rod’s, Pujols, Halladay’s, Sabathia’s, and other All-Star caliber players are going to withstand a year round season with no time to get healthy and stay healthy?  I don’t think owners see it.

Prognosis: Looking at their record of waiting until the 11th hour to settle CBO’s and Players Association arguments, it doesn’t bode well for the MLB.  Their commissioner is a slouch, who I thought I remembered saying he would leave baseball in 2009, which I was happy about, seeing that I would be out of college and thinking “Man, the economy sucks, but at least Bud Selig isn’t running the MLB anymore”.  Nope.  I was wrong.  Bud just loves to screw up everything.  Between Players using drugs, Teams robbing Cities of their Revenue to build a ballpark, and having their sport still not reviewed on instant replay is the reason  why I think baseball will not recover as well from the this recent money crunch more than anything.  Baseball has lasted a lot of things, but a deadball era at this time would do a number on everyone, seeing that MLB is part of so many moving parts in the machine of the American economy.  I’m not going to say that Baseball will sink into entropic states and be put at a standstill, but something has to be done.  Something will be done.  I just don’t know what.

NFL: The No Fun League and This Illegal Hit Nonsense

I simply do not get what Roger Goodell is trying to do with his league that he has right now.  In case you missed it, a bunch of defensive backs made awesome hits on players were either catching the ball or about to catch the ball.  I heard from ESPN football analysts, 98.5 The Sports Hub, The Sports Guy, and I’ve had all I can stand right now.  This game that just about everyone watches on Sunday, that is worth about 250,000 jobs and easily a large portion of this working economy, is about to turn everyone into a sissy mary.  Here is why.

The NFL Commissioner instituted a new rule issuing fines and suspensions on players who cause hits on players that might be considered dangerous or intentional to injury.  Let me get this straight, the National Football League, which is made for guys that hurt and were bread for making hits that are intentional.  But because some scientist opened up the head of a hockey player that died and donated his brain to science, every sports commissioner has now a monkey on his back saying “if you don’t control your concussion problem, then someone else, like the government will take over”.  This, to me, is absolute bullshit.

First there was the Peyton Manning rule, saying that players can be given a penalty for illegal contact after the Patriots defense was that good against Peyton Manning and his plethora of receivers.  That was okay because now players are only allowed contact up to 5 yards from the line of scrimmage, which is manageable and coachable.  Players can adjust to this. 

 

There was then the Tom Brady rule, which is pretty much, for any football fan, a pussy rule.  Tom Brady and the Kraft Family was pissed that he missed the 2008 season with a leg injury from game 1 because he was tackled from the defensive end from the knee down.  At first, it wasn’t a bad rule.  It made sense for players to not go for the quarterbacks legs.  But now, every time a quarterback is hit, its almost on cue that they look at the referee and give puppy dog eyes looking for a roughing the passer penalty.  Just look at these eyes and try to say No to that!  I mean, even I get upset at Tom Brady for flipping out on referees for not throwing flags and giving them 15 yards.  You went to Michigan right?  Backup?  I bet you even were a bit of a tough guy before all that lip gloss went to your god damn head.  Act like a football player.  Not a ballerina.

Those two previous rules have been landmark rules in the NFL.  The Latter has made the quarterback a bit of a flake and put more emphasis on the offensive line more than anything.  The other major rules in the NFL have had to do with Challenges, Crossing the Plane of an Endzone, and the Horse Collar rule, which we can all thank Roy Williams (DB) for.  Those rules have all made sense and are coachable rules that teams can teach their players to work around.  But this new rule, this new rule for football players to pretty much calm down on the hitting is utter nonsense.  Just ask any football player, even look at their twitter page and expect them to say “Thanks Commish for looking out for our health, but get back behind the desk and fix the financial situation, leave the hitting to us.”

Everyone from Michael Felger to Tedy Bruschi was in an uproar about all of the hits that just happened to coincide on this previous NFL weekend.  I really wanted to punch my radio when Felger was upset about Meriweather doing something like this.  James Harrison, who is a former Defensive Player of the Year, was fined $75,000 for delivering a hit on Mohamed Massaquoi, which he went in with his helmet, but he used his forearms to leverage a bigger blow on Massaquoi.  Dunta Robinson of the Houston Texans delivered a huge hit to DeSean Jackson for which both players were carted off of the field, Robinson was fined $50,000.  Brandon Meriweather delivered a huge hit to Todd Heap, which many think was the worst of the major three hits that were fined and occurred over the weekend, and was also fined $50,000.  I do not understand the science behind this kind of regulation.  Because with regulation like this, you have to make sure that you are not tainting your product.  Remember, there are 10-12 year veterans playing this game who have been used to this kind of hitting for a long time.  Just like how fighting is a part of Hockey, hitting hard is a part of football.  If you want to get rid of the hard hitting in football, then you have to redesign Pee-Wee camps so that lineman aren’t driving their bodies into metal poles covered in padding.  If you want to get rid of hitting in football then you have to get rid of the safety helmets and pads that football players are already wearing.  If you want to get rid of hitting in football, then get rid of football all together.  It wasn’t too long ago, that a man who was the dirtiest hitting safety in football, a man by the name of Rodney Harrison, was the king of the head first spear into players that either caught the ball or didn’t catch the ball. 

Judging by the video, Harrison wouldn’t have made it a day without being fined $100K per game for the hits he made.  This new rule changes everything there is to know about the modern game of Football.  This rule is uncoachable and it really brings players back to think about how they are going to approach hitting a player.  I don’t know how this will fix anything.  All this did was give some closure to players who were on the fast track to get concussed anyways.  They play football, and they get paid handsomely for doing so.  No one expects them to go out and solve math problems afterwards.  I know these players are human beings and they have children and families to care about and love and provide for.  But every player knows the risks out there.  They know the dirty hits and they know the hits that are good clean hits that just look bad.  If you want to know about hits that were banned in the NFL, look no further than Deacon Jones and the head slap.  It was a hit that the NFL had to ban because it would actually break a guys neck.  See for yourself.

This is all I can say about this right now.  So for Roger Goodell, the NFLPA, Rodney Harrison, and all the players out there who don’t give a damn about league fines and nasty hits because it makes people buy their jerseys and be a bad ass, saying Good night.

My Thoughts: Mad Men Season Finale….

So it’s the season 4 finale of Mad Men, my favorite show.  There is so much to discuss because of so many things that have happened this season.  Last season they went out with a bang and decided to have the four executive characters around Sterling Cooper offices: Don Draper, Roger Sterling, Burt Cooper, and Lane Pryce and decided to branch off of the British parent company and make their own company seeing that they did not want to split up something that they worked so hard for.  Also last season, Betty Draper divorced Don and started going out with a local politician who looks a lot older than Don, but is somehow worth her hand in remarriage. 

This season, Don lives alone in an apartment, where he seldom visits his kids on weekends and is still leading the league in batting average of nailing loose women.  Trouble has hit the office in several ways this season.  Sterling Cooper Draper Pryce, which it is now known, has lost several accounts, Don lost a long time friend that no one but a few knows about, Don nailed a secretary who then confronted Peggy on how she manages to keep up with Don (as in they slept together for Peggy’s promotion), and recent executive assistant who happened to be really old and have a great comic relief died in the office while Pete “Weasel” Campbell tried to get an account while having no one notice that they were moving a dead body through the office.  The firm did win a Cleo, which an award given out yearly for the best advertisements seen in the public.  From what I remember from that episode Don got completely drunk during the ceremony and Roger Sterling, who is my favorite character, makes a fool of himself.  What else is new.

Don Draper, has also seen several different women including his brunette secretary with big teeth who thought she would be promoted or be taken away by Don just because she slept with him.  He has also fancied a new character, the blonde Dr. Miller, who has served a market research consultant who helps the firm out with finding who buys what and how to sell to them.  He also has met a secretary, Megan, who has slept with Don in the office and is also good with Don’s kids.

Thoughts on this Season:

1. Roger Sterling has become the premiere comedian of the firm, seeing that he has made me laugh more than any other character.  He reminds me of an Archie Bunker, but with a glass of scotch in his hand and a three piece suit on. 

2. The Draper women are bitches.  Betty Draper is a confused, childish, woman who doesn’t really like anyone better than herself.  Sally Draper is pretty much her mother, just a younger version.  The fact that his weird kid from Season 1 is back, just adds to the fact that Sally and Betty share the same childish brain.

3. Don Draper has the sex drive of something unearthly.  I do not know you can go from chick-to-chick-to-chick in the matter of one episode which is only about 2 days long usually.  If anyone in the 60’s was getting this much ass, he was also 007.  I mean Draper must have a list of people he’s nailed as long as Jack Bauer’s kill list.  Un-Earth-ly. 

4. I love the whole Joanie abortion part of the series.  It brings up current issues and really makes you know how prevalent abortion was in New York City.  I did love when (SPOILER ALERT) Joanie is calling up her hubbie, Dr. Greg in Vietnam, and mentions that she is getting bigger and that the baby will arrive when he comes home.  Awesome spin by creator Matthew Weiner, because in the abortion scene a couple of episodes ago, they make you believe that Joanie gets the abortion but she is keeping it.  Good for you Joanie.

Okay, now that I have seen the finale and are ready to write about it, I will just skip the spoiler alerts and figure that some people will get over it if they find out.  One last one: SPOILER ALERT!!!

Wow.  Just wow.  I can’t believe that Draper went this far into his new relationship.  Looking back on the season, I didn’t think the look he had at his assistant was anything serious.  I just figured it was about having sex with her in his office like a champ.  Did not think that he would take her with his kids to Disneyland and end up getting engaged to her.  Interestingly enough, when he calls up Dr. Miller to tell her about his recent engagement, Megan has to give him the phone to do it, and the look on her face is almost like she knows that he lays more pipe than a roto-rooter and they are engaged.  Amazing.  Also, when Sally spills her milkshake and she is fine with it all over her dress, its quite the surprise to the kids since all Betty Draper did was cry over spilled milk.  

That creepy kid that first walked in on Betty Draper taking a leak in Season 1 and now has a fancy for Sally Draper, is a little confusing, but I think I might be able to understand why he is there.  He is there to play to the connection that Sally and Betty Draper need to have to get to know each other better.  Glenn, which I just realized is his name, is really a character whose purpose is to bring out the better sides of two other characters.  Having realized that the Drapers are moving out of their house, in the last episode, makes me realize that Glenn’s days are numbered unless he shows back up somewhere in Sally’s future. 

The office is spinning apparently.  Joanie got promoted without being compensated, which brings up another Women’s issue.  Peggy has saved the company with a new account that is a pantyhose maker, which will put enough money in the company for the long haul.  Pete Campbell is still going to be Pete Campbell.  Everyone else at the firm seems to be okay.  There is still no Sal, which is weird, seeing that he seemed to be gay, and knowing that this show is very progressive, I figured they would’ve brought him back by now. 

The last scene might be the most questionable scene ever.  Last season, they left the audience knowing they they are taking off in a new direction and new company.  This season, Betty and Don have sold their house and moving in their own directions.  Don and Betty share a drink before entirely leaving each other behind.  As they pan out of that scene, they shoot to Draper laying in bed, next to his new fiance, Megan, looking out the window at the moon that is full.  I don’t know what to think about it.  It could mean he already misses his Bets, or he can’t wait to get on with his life, or something completely different.  I know Draper is a heartbreaker, but this could be a record for someone in 1965 who was just recently engaged and already wants out.  Season 5 could be awesome.  I hope they don’t skip a bunch of years and jump into 1968.  I hope they just go at the pace they have been going and keep doing what they are doing.  I already want to rewatch the whole series right now.