1st and 10 (Week 17)

man ... the regular season ends this week ... how time flies.

good thing there's one more month of playoffs ... then SuperBowl XLVI! hello, Prince at halftime!

Week 17 Prognostications
NY Giants at Washington ... salvage some pride before the firings
Seattle at Tampa Bay ... they might as well give this away
St. Louis at Minnesota ... Linehan returns to Minny
Carolina at New Orleans ... what happened, John Fox?
Oakland at NY Jets ... J,E,T,S, Jets, Jets, Jets
Detroit at Dallas ... not likely but who knows?
Pittsburgh at Cincinnati ... i think the Steelers just gave up
Cleveland at Houston ... final appearance of David Carr?
New England at Tennessee ... Titans can't pull off another upset, can they?
Jacksonville at Kansas City ... not at Arrowhead, Jags
Miami at Indianapolis ... c'mon, make a statement, Fins
San Francisco at Denver ... run, run, run, Mr. Gore (Frank, not Al)
Buffalo at Baltimore ... Ravens need this
Atlanta at Philadelphia ... wow, rooting for the Iggles!
Arizona at San Diego ... they could rest their starters
Green Bay at Chicago ... Bears won't allow a Packer win at home

last week: 11-5
overall: 140-100 (.583 winning percentage)

yule bringer

i already forgot the feeling of buying and wrapping gifts for office colleagues ... and renewing that feeling was a wonderful experience.

for our Ukrainian tech ... a beanie that says proudly: "geek"

for our part-time girl friday Stephanie ... chocolates from Dean and De Luca

a titanium spork for the big man

and for the self-proclaimed "prettiest girl in the company", an outdoor thermometer so she can immediately tell if she can stay home and cuddle with her hubby

even if there were only four of us (Steph comes only once a week so she won't be in the pictures), we still need to have some sort of Christmas dinner ... therefore, Edward's it is!

i've been to Edward's before but only during an annual discounted week (promo of $30 for a full course meal). this time around, its going to be paid by the company so that's great!

i never had so much meat in my life (wait, that didn't come out right ...)

crap, there's a bottle in me eye!

ok that's better!

this would the first company dinner (or get-together, in any practical sense of the word) since, oh, i can't remember when ... damn! we deserve it and we don't regret it!

Merry Christmas and Yuletide Greetings to Everyone who wants peace on Earth!

1st and 10 (Week 16)

Week 16 Prognostications
Minnesota at Green Bay ... who says 'Uncle' first?
Kansas City at Oakland ... too little, too late for Chiefs
Chicago at Detroit ... will they rest the starters?
Tennessee at Buffalo ... play it again, Vince
Carolina at Atlanta ... who gave up and who wants it more?
Indianapolis at Houston ... might be the last of Carr
Tampa Bay at Cleveland ... looking toward next year
Baltimore at Pittsburgh ... Steelers season ends here
New England at Jacksonville ... beware a heartbroken Tommy
New Orleans at NY Giants ... could be also end of Giants' playoff hopes
Washington at St. Louis ... looking toward next year
Arizona at San Francisco ... Niners are fascinating
San Diego at Seattle ... Chargers need to lock up AFC
Cincinnati at Denver ... no one's in this
Philadelphia at Dallas ... revenge!!!
NY Jets at Miami ... who PWNS who?

last week: 8-8
overall: 129-95 (man, this is a better record than Simmons'!)

whatcha gonna do? the answer is ...

so when 'Melo comes back, they become the new Bad Boys.

or the new Alex and Kiki.

1st and 10 (Week 15)

Ten Things I Thinked:
- Jets were looking at the scoreboard. what th-!!! now only the last game, against Oakland, is the sure win. or maybe not even.
- nice rebound, Big Blue. now put the damn knives away.
- yelling like mad as Nawlins dissected the Big D. impressive. Nawlins coach (and COTY frontrunner) Sean Payton made overtures for Tony Romo back in the offseason, but The Tuna laughed that off, and so Eastern Illinois' best QB made do against Eastern Illinois' 2nd best QB.
- great job, Mr. Payton. but with that visor and your babyface, you look ... like ... Frankie Muniz. c'mon, Page 2, have you seen this??


- can we use Peyton Manning's thick neck as a run defender? just asking. one fan actually thinks he's really a character in Harry Potter.
- Rex Mundi! at least for another week.
- Bill Belichick (The Hooded One, Sith/Jedi) inexplicably didn't make adjustments and the Pats get whitewashed by the Dolphins last Sunday. now that's former-Belichick-disciples 2, Belichick 0. the difference being, he practically ignored the existence of Eric Mangini while acknowledging Nick Saban. what, you owe Nick now, Bill?
- what else can we say about LT2? i'm plunking down for him to get 35 TDs for the season. Co-MVP with Drew Brees, please.
- no offense to Mario Williams, but Reggie Bush and Vince Young (or lack thereof) are giving the Texans/fans lots of nightmares. Could be another Philly in the making.
- holy crap! my man Gregg Easterbrook was right! an indubitable Shanahan-iarrhea!


Week 15 Prognostications
San Francisco at Seattle ... run, run, run (the table), Seahawks
Dallas at Atlanta ... here's hoping for an upset
NY Jets at Minnesota ... run, run, run (the table), Jets
Washington at New Orleans ... go, go, go, Nawlins!
Houston at New England ... the hooded one is tricky
Pittsburgh at Carolina ... what's the point?
Tampa Bay at Chicago ... "Rex is 11-2. He's our quarterback."
Cleveland at Baltimore ... reopen old wounds!
Miami at Buffalo ... who's a patsy?
Detroit at Green Bay ... what's the point? oh yeah, the Marino TD record.
Jacksonville at Tennessee ... VY beats Jags, a few more Texans fans die
Denver at Arizona ... run, run, run (the table), Ultimate Leader
Philadelphia at NY Giants ... run, run, run (the table), Giant Men
St. Louis at Oakland ... it ain't over til its over
Kansas City at San Diego ... classic! do not miss!
Cincinnati at Indianapolis ... Rudi Johnson, 256 yds rushing.

last week: 10-6
this week: 121-87

R.I.P., Mr. Lamar Hunt.

Yunus, you win.

Yes!

1st and 10 (Week 14)

Ten Things I Thinked:
- 7-5 Jets may go 10-6 and Mangini's record may trump Saban's rookie record
- interesting piece on ZEUS. who says geekiness can't meld with sports?
- DJ Gallo is hilarious. nice dig on Belichick.
- great upset at Tennessee last weekend. how 'bout that Jeff Fisher coaching?
- Mario Williams vs Reggie Bush vs Vince Young ... the debate goes on.
- hey, No Fun League, bring back the celebrations! and stop babying 'em QBs!
- crushing loss for Giants. what else can you say? well, i can say perhaps Manning the Younger will also go the route of Manning the Elder (can't win when it matters).
- SuperBowl loser Seattle has better record than SuperBowl champ Pittsburgh. huh?
- is this the beginning of the end for scrambling QBs Daunte Culpepper and Donovan McNabb?
- for all you Romosexuals out there, everything's great so far, but let's wait a few years until the guy can do this consistently, ok? until then, let's hold off proclaiming the guy as the 2nd coming of Troy Aikman.

Week 14 Prognostications
Cleveland at Pittsburgh ... divisional slugfest!
Atlanta at Tampa Bay ... will Falcons make playoffs? who knows?
Philadelphia at Washington ... Iggles trying for postseason
NY Giants at Carolina ... loser won't make playoffs
Indianapolis at Jacksonville ... Jags need to get this monkey off their backs
New England at Miami ... its a family affair
Minnesota at Detroit ... two teams going nowhere
Baltimore at Kansas City ... will dictate whether KC is legit
Tennessee at Houston ... with Titans having better record, Texans better play
Oakland at Cincinnati ... winning changes everything (not you, Raiders)
Seattle at Arizona ... Seahawks better not get upset
Green Bay at San Francisco ... trade Favre to a winner. please.
Denver at San Diego ... Chargers should clinch AFC West
Buffalo at NY Jets ... Bills can only play spoiler
New Orleans at Dallas ... Brees vs Romo - could be a classic
Chicago at St. Louis ... Lovie Smith returns to the EJDome

last week: 10-6
overall: 111-81

death, thy name is mud

empire/vampire

apparently, the me-me-me, greed-is-good, 80's isn't still over.

Universal Music Exec: iPods Are Repositories for Stolen Music

Apple Computer is facing new challenges to its iPod devices from content providers, who, while seeking ways to profit from digital technology, remain worried that it will wreck their businesses. On Wednesday, Reuters quoted Doug Morris, head of Vivendi's Universal Music Group (UMG), as saying that he wants the same deal from Apple that he has negotiated with Microsoft for its Zune player -- a royalty payment for each device sold. Morris said that all such digital devices "are just repositories for stolen music, and they all know it. So it's time to get paid for it." Two weeks ago UMG sued social networking site MySpace, charging that it allowed users to pirate its music videos. Meanwhile, the London Financial Times reported that the major film studios are demanding that, before they will sign a deal to provide movies to Apple's iTunes Music Store, Apple must develop software that will prevent the movies from being downloaded to multiple iPods from a single PC.

well, duh. took you what, 3 years, to figure that out?

what are you going to do, arrest all iPod owners?

the music industry suits just want to justify their million dollar salaries, bonuses, yachts, and vacation houses in St Tropez.

it's about time they friggin' panic. you think they're concerned about the artists? hypocrites!

see you on the way down, a$$holes.