Are You Ready For Some Football!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

It's that time of the week again, when a young man's thoughts turn to the lengthening shadows, the crisp fall air, and the bone crunching action of steriodal men playing football on a natural turf field! The picture above is one of "The Bus" presented for the enjoyment of one Mr. Trumpet a died in wool Steelers fan and fellow Yankee supporter.

Here we are, already in week four and I'm reeling a bit from last week's decent into incompetence, not only from the Chicago NFL Franchise, but also from my less than distinguished picks. After ending the first three weeks at an impressive 10-6 against the spread, last week's disastrous 5-11 puts me under water for the season at 15-17.

The beautiful thing about America though is that salvation is always at hand. Turn over a new leaf, start a new life and forget about the past is the mantra of thieves, whores and unsuccessful football prognosticaters! So with a fresh outlook on life, a complete recoding of my super computing NFL model, and a couple well said prayers I venture back into the fray and present Pursuit's picks for Week 4, which by the way is also known as "The Week Even The Bears Can Do No Harm":

Pats 5.5 Chargers; Take the points and get out of town.
Jags 4 Broncs: Broncs after a Monday night extravaganza will fall to the Jags by more than 4
Bengals 9.5 Texans: Bengals looked good last week, but then they played the Bears. Texans.
Colts 7 Titans: Peyton will put the Titans to shame.
Chiefs 2 Eagles: Chiefs
Bucs 6.5 Lions: NFC North grudge match, take the points even if the Lions suck
Giants 3 Rams: Rams are sooooooo 2002, take the Gnts
Bills Pick 'em Saints: Go with the Saints
Redskins 2 Seahawks: Joe Gibs takes the fall this week, Seahawks
Ravens 7 Jets: Ravens by 7? No way, I don't care if I'm playin QB for the Jets. Take the Jets.
Falcons 6 Vikes: Vikes. I have no good reason for this pick, but I'm tellin ya its good.
Raiders 3 Cowboys: Raiders shouldn't be favored until, you know, they actually win a game. Cowboys.
Cards 2.5 49ers; Cards, they're due.
Panthers 7.5 Packers: This spread insults Farve. He'll do something about it. Take the Pack.

Thursday Night Wine Blogging

Last week's first Thursday night wine blogging was so delightful.....well, for me at least.......that I thought I'd do installment two tonight.

As you'll recall, when we last left off I opened a nice bottle from the Rhone region of France, that was moderately priced below 20, American. The wine was an excellent example of why I've come to appreciate the French approach to wine making in that it displayed a delicate complexity that in my view is hard to find in similarly priced American wines. In fact, I'd argue that American wines in this price range tend to be quite similar, whereas French wines display more finess and character. If this is why you drink wine, and you can't afford more for a weekday snort (and really, who can?) then I would suggest drinking French most often.

Tonight, a little something different. To celebrate (or is it morn?) my last weeknight with no gainful employment the following morn, I thought we'd venture up in price and complexity to the St. Emilion region of Bourdeax.

The Wine: Clos De L'Oratoire 2000

I'm expecting some very good things here. First St. Emilion is my second favorite Bourdeax area, Margaux being the first. Secondly, St. Emilion as a medium bodied example of the Bourdeaxs stands well as a drinking wine. Thirdly, Clos De L'Oratoire is a "Grand Cru Classe" wine, and is considered to be one of the finest of the region. Finally, 2000 was a knock out vintage, perhaps the best since '82 or even '61 if you listen to those who claim to know about this sort of thing.

As you'd expect we're paying for this experience. I almost always try to keep my non-occassion wine consumption expense to less than 25 American per bottle. So tonight, I've contrived a celebratory event which doesn't justify the $69 bucks this baby cost, but it at least provides an excuse.

St. Emilion is the oldest of the Bourdeax regions. A little research yields the insight that the town is named after a Hermit that lived there in the 7th or 8th century. While many, or perhaps most Bourdeax wines use Cabernet Saugvignon as their primary grape, St. Emilion focuses on Merlot, since the area is among the first in Bourdeax to get frost, and Merlot ripens earlier than Cabernet. Some more history on the town can be found here.

Enough of all that, lets pop this baby open.

The cork looks fine, and a hearty "pop" announced the opening.

Lets pour a bit

I'm getting a hearty nose, a bit of tannic scent and forest sort of smell that is nice. As I write this the tast of berries is in my mouth, although I have not had a sip yet. Let try another whiff. If I didn't know better I'd say there was a little Grenache in this, but I don't think it is used as a blending grape in this wine. It is opening as I type, so lets get to the first taste.

Whoo, this baby is tight. Tannins are farely pronounced right now, the mouth is quite lengthy. As the tannins fade I'm left with some vanilla, tobacco and cherry. It really needs to breathe a bit though, so I'm going to pout a glass and lay off for about 15 minutes. One thing I'll note is the color of the bubbles that circle the top of the glass when it is poured. They are a deep red, quite different than last week's wine or my other typical weekday bottles. Ok, I'll be back in 15.

Alright it has been about 13 minutes and I'm getting anxious so lets have a little taste, shall we? First the nose, I'm getting much more sense of the grape now. The tannins have receded a bit, and the fruit is more pronounced. Taking a sip; this is nice....the wine has relaxed a bit and the like the nose, the taste has much more fruit. Cherry, some berrys and a lasting mouth of vanilla. The wine is quite smooth, but I would have expected a little more structure, perhaps that will develop.

The nose continues to develop and has taken on a smoky scent that compliments the fruit. There is some pepper as well. This wine is definately alive! The bottle has now been open for about 40 minutes and some layers of taste are now begining to develop, I'll try to describe them...cherry with some berry on the front, that then yields to smoke that seems to fill the mouth, finally a sense of vanilla is left that lasts and lasts, changing slowly to almost a port flavor.

This is clearly a Merlot based wine with the cherry front, and I'm thinking the smoke is coming from a Cabernet Franc. I'd be shocked if there wasn't some Carbernet Sauvignon in there as well, but to be honest I'm not sure I'm tasting it so much as I know it is likely to be in there. I think the Grenache that I thought I smelled earlier is really that Cab Franc. Man, I gotta tell you this is full sensory experience. I haven't had a drink in five minutes and my mouth is still alive with flavor!

This is a very nice wine. Worth $70? I don't know, is any wine worth that much money? Probably not in the pure economic sense, but this wine delivers structure, full bodied flavor, and a overall sensory experience that transcends the nose and mouth and fills the taster with a full wine drinking experience. Yes, I would definately by this wine again. I'd pair it with any red meat, and definately roasted foul. Here is another mini review that I was able to find while sipping. I'm signing off, and will enjoy a couple more sips.

Soccer Doesn't Hurt People, People Who Play Soccer Do

In high school I played on our Football team, and those of us on the team considered ourselves to be the "tough guys" of the school. The other fall sport was soccer, and while nobody openly mocked the soccer players, there was kind of an unspoken acknowledgement that soccer was the sport of wimps.

Folks, above we have indisputable evidence that my friends and I were comfortable only in our conceit and misguided views. See that bone that bends down? Well, it isn't supposed to be doing that, which is why I ended up in the hospital with PD2 yesterday after she took a spill on the school soccer field.

Who knew? To be completely candid, I suppose I should have for starters. PD1 has been playing soccer for 5 years, and with each new season the girls get a little more physical. Now playing at the U14 level, her games have a fairly intense physicality that I had no idea existed on the soccer field.

This year is PD2's first in soccer. We wanted her to learn a sport since she previously had led a fairly unathletic life and needed to learn a little bit about rising to life's challenges. For a future fashion designing singer (where her interests really lie) she has played with spirit and while not the best player on her team, has won over her teammates with her enthusiasm and friendly nature. She also has been getting better. In fact, after Sunday's game, I congratulated her on her increased willingness to get in the fray and fight for the ball.

Ooops.

Yesterday in gym, she was playing a coed game, and made a move to steal the ball from a boy in her class. As you can see, it really didn't go so well.

All in all I was quite proud of how she handled everything. She was so stoic in the car as we drove over to the emergency room, that I held out hope that it was only a bad sprain. This hope was quickly dashed by the above posted x-ray which indicated a need to set the bone.

"Two seconds and done" became our motto for a while last night. PD2 knew the setting was going to hurt, but she grabbed on to the idea that the doctor would set the bone in two seconds and then be done. It gave her courage to get through it and see through the pain. So much so that she asked not to be "twighlighted" so that there would be no recovery time from the anesthetic and she could get right home. The doctor would have none it though and insisted that she go under.

"Two seconds and done". She kept saying it everytime fear began to take a hold, and before she knew what was going on, it was over.

So we're home today, and the soccer season is over for the next month or so. PD2 is disappointed, but this will pass faster than she thinks, and like everything else will make her stronger. I've told the story before about how she became so scared of lightening when we were on vacation in Rome that she threw up in the piazza where we were having dinner. Mrs. P used our San Peligreno to wash it down a near by drain. In short, she hadn't yet developed her ability to cope with fear. Or at least she didn't think she had.

The point is, I think PD2 surprised herself more than anyone else yesterday. She had a nasty little injury, but used her will power and good nature to find the means to get through it. There is a lesson for all of us in this. Life hands us setbacks, and painful lessons that we wouldn't wish on our enemies or friends in any circumstance. These problems can take almost any form with the only consistent trait being that they present us with a very clear choice between two options. We can either quit, or we can find our way through the pain and uncertainty and get to the other side where we will be stronger and more fit to fight on. We can receive hope and encouragement from our friends, but in the end it is a solo journey, and each of us must find our own way of coping.

PD2 fought through her challenge yesterday, and I couldn't be more proud of her, or more certain that she will be able to handle the problems that come her way in the future.

George Bush and The New Malaise

It almost sounds like a band name doesn't it? Ok, a name for a band of velour wearing, coma inducing, Holiday Inn playing no talents, but at least it's a better name than "Murph and Magictones".... which with this reference, W can even play to his base and claim that he is"on a mission from God". Actually, I think he's already done that.

Please tell me it won't get any worse. I've never been a huge W fan, but he has been right on the WOT, stood up to the increasingly insane left ("now with triple the amount of hating action!"), and delivered a rebounding economy through across the board tax cuts. So why has he chosen his second term to do a very good impression of the noted nail pounder, Jimmy Carter? I saw the linked article's headline and thought, "can the malaise speech be far behind?" and sure enough, the very same question is asked by the writer in the first paragraph. I swear, if he starts wearing sweaters and tells us to turn our thermostats down it will get pretty ugly around here.

I'm really beginning to think ole W has just lost his enthusiasm for the job. On one hand who could blame him? Katrina is an excellent example on why I'd be tempted to take a powder. First, the guy is blamed for the faults of local and state governments. Then the press reports a largely false story about the disaster, as if the real disaster wasn't all disastery enough for them. Then Rita hits, and the critics start to complain that Bush is causing a distraction from the relief efforts. Were it me, I'd tell the whole country to go pound sand.

But it isn't me, and I didn't ask for the job. Bush did. Despite winning a majority of the vote, something no candidate has managed since his father won with 53.9% of the vote in 1988, W has seemed oddly detached from his leadership responsibilities. He has been virtually silent regarding the historic success in Afghanistan, spent little time providing leadership on Iraq, mentioned little or nothing about our economic success, and utterly failed to provide any leadership on Social Security reform.

As a result his administration is adrift, and he has left himself vulnerable to critiques from the wackiest of whack jobs. Lunatics from ANSWER and Code Pink allied with the pathetic Cindy Sheehan have managed to gain traction with the demands that the United States surrender to the terrorists in Iraq. Think about that. These people, who are actively anti-American, are demanding that the U.S. surrender to a ragtag group of death fetishists, and Bush has nothing to say! If groups with as little credibility as this can gain ground politically against Bush, one wonders what the late, but unlamented Doe, would have been able to accomplish had Hale-Bopp shown up a couple of years later.

So it seems we're stuck with President Snooze. We might just have been lucky to get him to pay attention for the first term, and now we will have to muddle through this second term as best as we can. I really don't see how this is possible when so much is at stake. We do have the benefit of our opposition though, in that the left is spending so much time hating that responsible liberals haven't really had time to come up with a credible alternative plan.

This status quo won't last forever. Soon, perhaps very soon, some Democrat is going to propose that we raise taxes, despite the fact that government receipts are higher than they've been in the history of the union. We've already seen demands for more anti-poverty spending which ignores the fact that Bush has spent more on such programs than any other president. And of course we have the pro-surrender crowd.

So Bush must wake up and wake up now. He should jump out in front of the budget cutting efforts that are developing offsets to pay for Katrina and go one better by demanding that we come up with twice as many cuts as are needed. I'm sure the vastly overrated Karl Rove can come up with a catchy name for this approach. I'd suggest the "Disaster Relief Down payment".

Next, Snoozy should begin to talk up our continued success in Iraq. The constitution process there is moving along and Bush must make sure that the U.S. gets credit for its ratification which in my view is almost inevitable. It's a sad commentary on our political status, but Bush also needs to continue to sell this war. His enemies on this issue, while not exclusively anti-American, have a very large anti-American contingent that must be defeated. This will only be accomplished by continuing to sell the war at home, and adapting our strategy and tactics on the battlefield. If Bush isn't making the effort with the people, I wonder what kind of direction he is giving our military leaders.

Finally, Bush must push through permanent tax cuts. More than anything else, Bush's across the board rate cuts have been responsible for our rebounding economy. More importantly, the cuts have delivered record government receipts that instead of increasing the deficit, have reduced it. It is imperative that we maintain this momentum, which will allow the Fed to continue to slowly raise rates and fight any renewed chance of inflation.

that's it. Not exactly an expansive agenda for a second term president, but probably all we can hope for at this time. Bush has a responsibility to all Americans that he his not at this time living up to. It's past time for him to end the vacation.

The Once Proud NFL Franchise....

Tom, makes a derogatory comment about the Chicago NFL Franchise in the comments section below and I respond to it here:

Oh you're just an uniformed fan. If you knew anything about football you'd understand that genius takes many forms.

For example, anybody can put people with real football experience at the top of an organization, but the truly wise team, hires an ex auditor. And that ex auditor, continuing in this legacy of genius could go out and seek the advice of professionals and hire a GM based on the advice of football people, but again anybody can do that. Anybody who is as unimaginative as you bub.

No, the real visionary goes out and hires a management recruiting firm to make a recommendation on who the GM should be. That is how it is done pal.
Not wanting to get accused of any inside the box thinking, you know that our GM is going to out think all the other teams with this type of legacy behind him...oh yes, you can bet on that. So he isn't going go and draft a can't miss QB with a number 9 pick, nope he's going to trade down, take a lesser QB who can't stay healthy and then use the extra pick to draft a defensive end that nobody has heard of since.

Then, then we're really going to get down to work, because once you've drafted a QB who can't stay healthy, you want to leave the team bereft of any viable back-up QB. Not just one year, but for two in a row! Yup, it sounds insane, but that is just because your mind ain't right boy. See if you leave the team without a QB that means the players will know they're going to have to work harder! More effort + less money! Friggin' genius is what it is, but fools such as you are simply too entrenched in your thinking to see it.

Most teams at this point are done, but not us, no way we're the Bears man! Next, what you want to do is pass up the rookie running running back who has gained more yardage in his first two starts in the NFL than any running back in the history of the league for a malcontent head case that won't sign until the week before the season. See nobody will expect that plan to work so that means we've now got them where we want them. Completely unprepared for his break-out game in Week 15. Fools!

Now, to seal the deal here is the real ticket: Ignore the Tightend position for at least a decade! Who cares if your guy invented the modern form of the position in the early sixties? Who cares if the Tightend is often the second leading receiver in terms of number of catches on the winningest of teams? We're the friggin Bears and we're so bloody smart we're gonna play with only 10 guys and a lump who does nothing on offense! Hell we're even going to have interchangeable lumps, might even name the position something like the interchangeable lump guy! Yup, we do it cuz we're just smarter than everyone else.

Now, I've saved the best for last. Are you ready? No real Left Tackle! Ha, most would call us crazy for that one, but we haven't had one since Covert retired in '91 or whenever it was. Has it hurt us? Well some would point to the incredible string of injured Quarterbacks and ineffective running backs that we've had over the past 15 years. Not us though pal, we point to a new stadium financed with public funds, NFL money, and Personal Seat licenses! Sure we threw in a couple of bucks too, cuz you know we're not completely shameless.

Well, ok, yes we are. But look at those stands! The mopes fill 'em every Sunday. Hell we could dress Oprah up and put her at Left Tackle and they'd still come.

Hey, wait a second........

Are You Ready For Some Football!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!1

Well here we are at week three and my record to date against the spread is 18-14. Not bad, but we've got to get those numbers up! So, I've run the models, stress tested the results, back proofed 15 seasons of data, and come up with the following prescient picks:

Bengals by 3 over Bears: Da Bears
Rams 6.5 Titans: Rams
Eagles 8 Raiders: Eagles
Jets 2.5 Jags: Jags
Vikes 4 Saints: Vikes
Panthers 3 Dolphins: Dolphins
Colts 13.5 Browns: Colts
Bills 3 Falcons: ills
Bucs 3.5 Pack: Pack in the battle of the bays
Seahawks 6.5 Cards: Cards
Steelers 3 Pats: Steelers
Cowboys 6.5 49ers: 49ers
Chargers 5.5 Giants: Chargers
Broncos 3 Chiefs: Broncs.


Bear Down!


UPDATE: Anyone see my wallet around here?

Sex Day Is Back

Over at The Functional Ambivalent. The topic? Hotel Sex, and it includes the line "Doff their knickers".

How can you not click over?