Thoughts on Season...short

One of my biggest pet peeves in college football (and Auburn in particular) is a coach's reluctance to play his young players because they aren't "ready" or don't "know" the offense/defense well enough. Under Tubs, we have rarely played any true freshmen (Caddy being the glaring exception and he was the number 2 or 3 ranked signee in the country that year). This has definitely come back to haunt us in recent years. In 2005 Kenny Irons led the SEC in rushing with over 1300 yards. And he did that only playing in 10 games. He sat out the Georgia Tech game to start the season because Tuberville and Borges said he didn't know the blitz pick ups well enough to face Tech's blitz happy defense (to make things even more maddening Kenny wasn't some green true freshman just out of high school...he played two seasons of SEC ball at South Carolina!!). So instead we played Tre Smith almost exclusively and had zero running game and, as I recall, Brandon spent a lot of time on his butt and threw four picks. So much for the experienced player theory. Now fast forward to this season. It's been obvious to the people who cover Auburn and who've attended practices the last two years that Mario Fannin is an absolute stud and the best RB on Auburn's roster. Now, every Auburn fan who watched Saturday night's game has seen the proof bust through the line and speed past defenders...Fannin is leaps and bounds better than Ben Tate. But who got all the carries in the season opener? Ben Tate. And what was the rationale? Mario didn't know the blocking schemes well enough. What happened to Brandon against K-St? He got sacked six times, knocked on his arse several more, and generally looked like a scared middle school Matt on a date with an actual girl (that was pretty scared if you didn't know me back then). And then they pull Fannin in the USF game just because he fumbled twice. Now their excuse is they were afraid if he fumbled again it would have an adverse affect on his psyche for the rest of the season. They were protecting him???? Are you kidding me? How many stud FB recruits out there lack in self confidence. I guaran-damn-tee you he was itching to get back in there and make a play. And really, when your season is potentially on the brink in the second game and it's the fourth quarter and your offense has been absolutely stagnant since the second quarter and you need someone, ANYONE to step up and make a big play wouldn't you want the single most TALENTED player on your offensive roster in the game??? Wouldn't you??!?!!! I sure as hell would (did). Now, let's divert our attention for a few minutes to a few other programs that have a little bit of national respect. First, let's take off our Pac-10 hating hats and look at USC. They are without a doubt the most successful football program in the country in the last five years and they deserve most of the accolades they've received. Pete Carroll has that team absolutel stocked with blue chip players year after year. And you know what his philosophy on freshmen getting playing time is??? It's this: the best players will get on the field. If you're good enough to play, you will play, regardless of your class or how many starts you've made. There's no way that Tuberville, Gran, or Borges could look any of us in the eye and tell us that Ben Tate had been practicing better than Mario Fannin in the lead up to the K-State game. No way. Now let's take a sneak peak at Florida. We all kind of made fun of the whole Tebow thing last year. There was so much talk and hype about them installing several new plays in the playbook just form him, but everyone knew that when he was in the game he was just going to take that direct snap and run the ball into the line. Well, you know what? It worked. He had over 300 rushing yards and something like 10 touchdowns. Had they used him properly in the AU game in the second quarter they would have beat us and gone undefeated. As it stands, I believe they won the national title and now he is looking like a All-American (granted their competition hasn't exactly been all that tough) in his second season. Over at Virginia Tech they came into the season with a solid defense, a fragile upperclassman at QB, and a stud true freshman waiting in the wings (any of this sound familiar?). In the second quarter of the second game they pulled their version of Brandon Cox and put in the stud freshman. Now, I realize that Auburn was actually leading at halftime of the USF game and that Virginia Tech was basically scrimmaging as LSU had already wrapped up the game by the end of the first quarter. Still, Va Tech's coaching staff made the decision that this kid gave their offense the best chance to score points and win. This week they named the freshman the starter. Now, I'm not saying Brandon needs to be dumped completely. He has certainly performed wonderfully in big games for us throughout his two and a half seasons. Hell, he's 20-6 as a starter. But you can't tell me that he's a confident leader of this offense right now. All I ask is that Auburn insert a few plays into the scheme to get Kodi Burns on the field this week and see what he can do. Maybe he comes in for two or three "Tebow draws" this week and then gets a series or two in the next game against New Mexico State. Maybe he turns out to be unprepared and really needs a redshirt year. But maybe he turns out to be poised beyond his years and inspires the rest of the offense to raise the level of their games. Maybe they start playing up to their capability and stop putting the defense in crappy situations and maybe we can win a few games against solid competition. Okay, this has started to unravel a bit and I need to work on an assignment for my education class. Here's my overarching point...Keep Fannin in the game and put a few plays in for Burns. If Chris Slaughter is the best WR on the team, get him out there and involved. Okay, happy Wednesday.

JLM Week 2

Down and Dirty...gotta screamin' kid and a wife that needs a break.

Scores:
Matt 99
Larry 96
James 87

You guys both wasted 50 from Tebow. I got 28 from Woodson, 25 from Dixon, and 28 from BenJarvus Green-EllisJingleheimerSchmidt. Larry would have won had he not taken Auburn. Ouch...live and learn.

JLM Results Weeks 1 and 2

JLM Week 1

Okay, so it wasn't quite as close as my last approximation but Larry still didn't get the runaway win he thought he did. He did however get the first W of the year in JLM Season 27. And really, as USF would gladly tell you, the W is all that matters (I might make some more game comments later or I might just save them up for another time -- suffice to say I am not real happy with the coaches right now). Larry started off JLM '07 with a high scoring victory, something we like to see. Of course, it's also time for everyone to load up on cupcakes...the scores will come down once the SEC slate gets going. Here we go.

Larry: The dynamic duo of Tebow and Earl Bennett teamed up to lead Team Huntsvegas with 42 and 40. 'Cock Boyd got Larry another 19 and Harvin paid off with 13. Larry was able to overcome his two zeroes (Lester Lester, the test molester and Christianson--that's what you get for drafting a Bama player) and ended up with 125.

Matt: Solid showing from Woodson (30) and McFadden (32) to go along with decent numbers from Tate, Doucet, Harvin, and Colt David (10, 13, 13, 9) got me to 118...close but no banana.

James: Flynn got you 22...but he was the lowest scoring QB. Jones was the second highest scoring RB with 25, but you had non one else score more than 13. You ended up with 96.

Week 2 was a little closer, but I have to run home now (I'm at Turner for the Braves gig). I'll post those scores a little later.

Saturday nights

Is it just me, or does it seem like there are more games at night, and the kick-off times are getting later and later. This doesn't bode well for it being a good "date night."

I hope we see a lot of this tonight.

NFL Knockout: Sudden Death

So, let's do one of those Sudden Death NFL Pools where you pick one winner each week, straight up, no spread. But once you pick a team you can't pick them again for the rest of the season. We can each put in five bucks to make it interesting or we can just use it as yet another source of trash talk. What say you? My pick for Week 1: St. Louis

JLM Week Dos

Team OkaythePreseasonisOver

QB: Andre Woodson, KY
RB: Tony Dixon, MSU
RB: BenJarvus Green-Ellis, UM
WR: Prechae Rodriguez, AU
WR: Dicky Lyons, Jr., KY
WR: Earl Bennett, VU
K: Joey Ijas, UF
D: AU

Thoughts on the game. The defense is going to come out smoking because they probably feel like they have to for us to have any chance to win. Last week I predicted to Cece as we were about to kick off to start the game that K-State was going to take that kickoff and drive down the field for a score. This week, I don't see that happening if USF gets the ball first. I think Muschamp is going to be more aggressive this week and will let Groves, Marks, Sims, and Blackmon loose. I really think Tray has a breakout game and does something big. Offensively I think we're still going to struggle. Brandon is going to look skittish to start off because we're going to go with short, quick throws, a few of which will get knocked down at the line. The running game is going to start slowly because you know USF is going to stack the box with 8 and 9 defenders, daring Brandon to throw. I think we'll catch a little bit of a rythym in the second quarter and go into the half up 13-3 or 13-6. Second half will be a bit more of the same. I think the third quarter will be heavy on defense and we'll score a little bit more in the 4th to put it away. Final score 27-10 AU. Mario Fannin gets his first career TD and gives us a little taste of what he'll be doing in this offense for the next few seasons.

Don't worry Brandon, I felt the same way

I know it was the first game, and Larry will probably provide some reason to be optimistic, but I don't see how Auburn wins 8 games this year. If I was B. Cox's mom, I would not allow him to play against LSU. They might kill him.

Football in the South

I thought this was a decent article on the impact of college football to southern culture. What's even more entertaining is to browse through the comments to the article. Especially, those from the West coast and Northeast. In my experience, the people in Wisconsin have an understanding of how crazy people get over football down South because they have a similar irrational approach to the Green Bay Packers. Still, there's just something different fans of a college team, especially if you went to school there. Also, there are people that love the Badgers and are passionate in their approach to being a fan. However, the impact to the city of Madison is not as evident. I realize to some extent, the fact that Madison is a big city has something to do with this, but on game day I can go places...including downtown and you would have no idea there is a football game occurring.

I haven't heard one word from national media regarding Auburn this season. I think history tells us this is probably a good thing. I'm just curious to see how Cox plays. I hated that feeling last season that every time he dropped back to pass, something bad was going to happen. I wonder if they'll pass more now that Lester is out. It would be great to see Tate or Fannin go for 100+ each.

AU 34 KSU 10

JLM - Week 1...2007-2008

The time has come for me to provide my weekly beat down. If you have what it takes, let's do this.

Team WithanewcorneaIshouldbeunstoppable

QB: Matt Flynn, lsu
RB: Brad Lester, au
RB: Felix Jones, arky
WR: Rod Smith, au
WR: Early Duecet, lsu
WR: Keenan Burtan, ky
K: Brandon Coutu, uga
DEF: Florida

I don't know what to expect from Auburn. I expect a lot of running the ball and good defense. I hope they play consistent with few mistakes and win by 3 touchdowns. It's funny, I think about last year almost as a down year... and they won 11 games including wins over Florida and LSU. I guess the losses were so bad it left a bad taste. To be honest, I'll take a win over Alabama this year above them all.

Weekend adventures

Went up to Houghton, MI this weekend with Flicker for a mountain bike rice. It was a 32-mile incredible course, but my body is just now recovering. Getting old sucks. The Upper Peninsula is an unbelievable place. If you ever get the chance to go, I highly recommend. That is where Jen when to college, Michigan Tech, and if you go, I'd recommend the summer. They get about 400 inches of snow in the winter. Unless of course you go with Flicker, because then I'm sure he'll take you snowmobiling.

Monday night went to Miller Park to watch this guy.









Not sure if you can tell, but that's Barry Bonds. Not that I've been to too many Brewer games, but it was nice to finally see one sold out. I think Barry was 1-2 with a double and a couple of walks. The crowd booed like crazy every time he came to the plate.

Looking forward to hear about the Wilco show Larry. Matt, how is school so far?

Ohhhh, Back to School

Wow...so I only have a couple more days before I officially become a student again. Scary. I sure hope I fit in the desks.

Another year gone by

Well, today was the last day with students and it kind of ended on a sour note. We think a girl stole another girls purse out of my room while everyone was at the "Middle School Dance." We had to go back and watch the video from the hall cameras and although it's not entirely obvious, there may be enough evidence. Hopefully we'll be able to recover it.

Anyway, it was a pretty good year. The thing I realize about teaching is that 10% of the students take up 90% of your time/thoughts/energy/emotions. This is unfortunate on many levels, but I probably end up neglecting the other 90%.

Still, I sat in on a presentation by a group of 7 seniors for their AP English class. It was eye opening and encouraging to hear that they recognize that our educational environment needs to be improved and that the students need to step up and play a bigger role. We hope to incorporate a mentoring program next year that would get juniors and seniors positively involved with freshman to help them with the transition and set good examples. I think this is an awesome idea, but understand it will be a several year process.

Tomorrow I have a "report and planning" day and then Monday I go in for a committee I'm on, but after that it's all about summer vacation!!

Happy 33rd

Ahhh, the 1st of June is upon us and that means it is time again to wish Feliz Cumpleanos to Senor Dinsmore. Happy Birthday James...we'll all raise a beer in your honor today!

A Teaching Perk

Well, today I got to experience a perk of teaching. As a reward for students (middle school) who have not received a disciplinary referral all school year we took them to this amusement/water park. It is a pretty cool place that has 4 parks in one. The roller coasters weren't half bad, and there were 5 or 6 go kart rides that were pretty awesome. All in all it was a fun day.

Here's the debate. In the past we have told students about a "reward" that they would receive for behaving. Basically, trying to provide an incentive for students to act accordingly and make good decisions. This year we did not give any warning. We decided to reward the students who were well behaved without being "bribed." I tend to like the way that we did it this year. I'm all for incentives if used properly, but you want to teach children to be motivated from within, not from external forces. Thoughts?

Changing my Profile Pic per Sigmugi's request

Wilco Review

The countdown is definitely on for summer. There are 11 regular school days and two days of exams left. I'm never sure if the kids are more excited or the teachers.

Larry, I found this review of Wilco in the Madison State Journal. I'm not real familiar with their music, other than the live stuff I've listened too. Do you have the new album? Do you recommend.

Snow in April?

Well, it was just two weeks ago I was sitting on the Lake Mendota terrace sipping a local brew enjoying 80 degree temps, but oh how things change quickly. We got 5 inches of heavy, wet snow the last two days. It's been pretty crummy, but I guess it goes with the territory.

Nothing much else is new here. I am still planning on being in Huntsville on Friday, May 4. Larry, I never heard back about the cinco de mayo party so I assume it will be on Saturday still? Hopefully you can get off on Friday afternoon for a round of golf.

Boner, any updates?? Subbing...job outlook...pregnant wife?

I saw that the MLS has a Thursday night prime time game this season. That's cool. Hopefully it will help increase viewers.

If a post is typed on this blog, does anyone see it?

Long time no communication. Just thought I'd say what's up all. Through a random search of other things, I cam across this about Modest Mouse. Larry, I figure you're all over it. The single sounds pretty good.

We hit the 60's today and the snow is mellllllllting!! Still, it could snow a foot in two weeks. Thursday and Friday I get to go watch the WI state basketball tourney. One of the perks I guess of being a coach. The best part is that it takes place 4 miles from my house. I could practically bike...but I won't.

Hope everyone is doing well. Small chance I could be in Vegas on May5, but not for sure. It's pretty much in stone that we will be in Alabama most of July this summer. Fire up!

New blogger

I'm not sure that it really matters, but if we want to update to the new blog, its up to you Larry.

Speaking of Larry's. Larry, you need to sponsor this guy. He could be the answer for Larry's all over the world. Of course, he's going to Vandy, which pretty much cements the Larry Legacy...he'll be working studying quantum physics with a minor in nuclear engineering instead of throwing TD's.

AU Wins National Championship

Wouldn't this be funny if it happens. GOlf Digest would have been right all along

AU Wins National Championship!!

Catching Up

Let's enter the speed round and hit some topics from the last couple of weeks...

SABAN TO BAMA
I honestly didn't think he'd do it. I couldn't understand what he saw in the job, with all the meddling power brokers (their crew is worse than Lowder in my humble opinion) and lack of talent on campus right now. I also didn't think he'd just quit on the Dolphins so easily. Spurrier I could understand. He didn't like the long hours it takes to succeed in the NFL. He wasn't a workaholic in college and you knew he wasn't going to magically turn into one in DC. Saban on the other hand, was a control freak at LSU. He is known for staying at the office all hours of the night, going over film dozens of times. That seemed suited for the NFL. So I was wrong. He wanted the job and he's got it...and all the crap that comes with it. It won't be long until he comes up against some of the shadowy powers and it'll be interesting to see what happens. It's also going to be interesting to see how his recruiting will go. There are already a couple of stories surfacing about him trying to strong arm some in state recruits...one in Mobile in particular who is committed to LSU. He made some comments to the player and dad (at the high school because they refused his request to come to campus for an official visit) about how Miles was only winning because he had Saban's recruits. I wonder if the player asked how come Miles could have back to back double digit win seasons with Saban's players and Saban couldn't do it with his own players? Anyway...Saban is a good football coach. He's going to make Alabama better than they were with Shula. He's not going to make them into a team that's going to Atlanta every year. LSU and Auburn are too far ahead of them right now. I give him four seasons at the Crapstone...five tops. I think he'll win one SEC title and no BCS championships. He'll leave Bama, either for the NFL or a better college job. And make no mistake, no matter what the Bammers tell you, there are better college jobs out there.

KEVCOCK AS A DAD
Saw the pics he sent out. Good stuff. I'm ready to join this club. Well, I'm enjoying my last few months of sleeping through the night and not getting puked on twice a day, but I'm pretty darn excited about meeting the little monkey that's messing with the wife's emotions right now.

LITTLE MISS SUNSHINE
Larry, I concur. We went and saw it a few months ago and we both liked it a lot. Steve Carrell is one funny dude. And he can act too. You can't see Michael Scott as a Proust scholar, but his character in the movie makes you believe it. Also, the 40 Year Old Virgin is the shiznit as well. I'll never be able to listen to Michael McDonald without breaking out in laughter.

NIGHTAT THE MUSEUM
Very appropriate. Great evidence for you Larry. I haven't seen the movie but I can only imagine how much it plays into your theory.

HENLEY AS A FOREST FIRE FIGHTER
Hands says only you can prevent forest fires! I hope he's able to get what he wants but I want him to stay safe as well.

TROJANS BUSTING OUT
I'm too slow...I was going to write that your boys would break though soon and sure enough, Coach D brought home a victory. Way to go Coach.

SABAN REDUX
Saban is a liar. But he didn't have much of a choice during the season. He made a mistake by saying "I'm not going to be the coach at Alabama". He should have just said, "I'm the coach of the Dolphins and that's all I care about now". After the season was over and he took the Bama job, he could have said something like, "the college game is really where I wanted to be. Yes, the Alabama job intrigued me when they approached me but I was focused completely on the job here with the Dolphins until the season was over". Instead he played the denial game when everyone knew it wasn't over. He played it wrong and came out looking like a tool. I agree with James that he won't be in Tuscalooser for the long haul. I disagree with James that Arky will be solid next year. I hate it for McFadden but they won't have any passing game. Everyone will absolutely stack the line and McFadden is going to have to work like a fiend just to get decent yardage. He won't tear it up like he did this year. Things in Fayettenam are falling apart fast. Hard to believe it was just over a month ago that they were in the top five and riding a ten game winning streak. Almost everyone picked them to beat Florida in the SEC Championship game. That looks pretty funny now.

BECKHAM
I think it was a great move for MLS. Beckham is still a big enough name in international soccer that this will garner attention for the league in the international press. He's a big enough pop culture name (even here in America) to get the casual observer interested. All Galaxy games will get their highlights on SportsCenter now. Their jerseys will be all over the place. There will be all kinds of free PR for the league. The real question is how will they follow this up? Can the New York team pull off a purchase like Renaldo? Can they convince younger players who aren't in their prime yet to come here? They still have to develop young talent. And I'm afraid it's going to have to come from overseas. We are still a few generations from having a large percentage of the top tier of athletes focusing their skills on soccer. Let's face it - there is just more money in football, basketball, and baseball. And I don't see that changing. Sorry.

JAMES' BURGER KING STORY
How true, how true. The high school I've been subbing at has a rather large Hispanic population. There's a lot of kids that can barely speak a word of English. Also, every time I give a quiz or test the kids ask me how to do the problems. I just kind of laugh and say, "I don't think I'm supposed to tell you how to do the questions. That's why it's a test. Didn't you study?" I've stopped being surprised when the honest answer is "no".

MADISON MARATHON
I think you will definitely be the man if you run that bad boy. I'd love to join you in the training, but I'm struggling to run three miles at a time right now. I sprained my ankle Thanksgiving day and it still doesn't feel right yet. It takes me three to five minutes of slight limp/running before I start running close to normal. I would go to the doctor but I really can't afford it right now and there's no way I could get around in a boot, driving the five speed in Atlanta traffic, sometimes 20-25 miles one way to a school. I know, excuses are like belly buttons and a-holes, but this one is kinda valid. Besides, I've been telling myself that if I run one it will be the Rocket City. Larry, when are you thinking about running that one?

AUBURN HOOPS
I really wish I'd seen the game Tuesday night. I also think it's been replayed on ESPNU a couple of times already. Coupled with the win over UT last week and dare I say a possible upset of number 1 Florida this weekend, the Tigers are definitely on the rise. I am really excited about the progress made on the new arena. I truly believe that if we get the arena done on time and get Lebo the resources he needs (and deserves) he could stick around and build an amazing legacy on the Plains. I'm just afraid that as soon as he gets us into the tourney two to three times in a row someone in the ACC will come and offer him two to three times what we pay him. Only time will tell. But I'm excited about what he's got going on right now.

I guess that's it for now. I'll try and be more of a regular contributor in the coming weeks.

FOIL

Ah yes, today we reviewed FOIL in both Calc and Trig. It's the perfect time to break out the t-shirt that Ryan gave me. I received comments such as, "that is the coolest shirt ever", to "where did he get that, at the math geek store?"











Speaking of Trig, at the end of the semester there were 17 students, now there are only 10. Hmmmm, is it me? I'll take some of the blame, but if you aren't willing to spend 30-45 minutes outside of class working on homework, then I'm sorry, it is going to be a hard class.

War Eagle

So I had 3 different kids come up to me today and say, hey nice win. I was a little unsure what they were referring to, only to have them tell me that Auburn spanked #12 Alabama. Wow, I guess I should start keeping up with AU hoops.

Let's be honest

Raise your hand if you wish this was the view out your front window.




















What, no hands up?? C'mon it's great for your back. It is kind of fun to drive in if your only going around town and you have 4-wheel drive.

Hard to believe, but the first semester ended on Friday. We have report and planning day tomorrow, also known as, try and avoid other staff so you can get work done day.

What's up fellas??

Hey, I'm going to write more tonight and address some of the recent posts (I can't believe it's been so long since I've written anything on here!). But for now, I give you the greatest commercial in the history of mankind...and it's from the Great State of Alabama! Behold...the Flea Market Montgomery...it's just like...just like...a mini...mall!
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FJ3oHpup-pk

Do you believe in miracles?

After an 0 - 6 start the Freshman Men of Troy got their first win tonight. I'd love to say that it was my motivational pre-game speech, but I can't. We actually had one of our starters come up to me about 8 minutes before tip, holding his nose with blood all over his jersey. Apparently the ball hit him in the face and now he was gushing blood. So I ran around frantically trying to find someone to help stop the bleeding...literally. Anyway, he eventually jammed some gauze up in his nose and came back to play like a beast. Sure winning isn't everything, but it makes it a lot more fun.

Old man winter

Well, I thought, just maybe we'd get through winter without any major snow. Wrong. We finally got a fairly significant amount of snow. Enough to be a pain in the rear, but not enough to warrant a snow day. Needless to say my back is screaming from shoveling.

It looks like I'm going start playing some soccer. One of Jen's classmates is putting together a team and I told them I was interested. I'm a little nervous since the last time I walked off an indoor soccer field it was under two friends arms on my way to ACL reconstruction. Oh well, I guess it's time to give it a go.

No plans for May 27?? I'm very seriously considering signing up for the Madison marathon. I think it would be an excellent reason to have boys weekend in Madison. It's Memorial Day weekend, so its even a long weekend. C'mon, who's with me?

For the mathematically challenged

I got this as an email and thought it quite funny and unfortunately accurate.

Last week I purchased a burger at Burger King for $1.58. The counter girl took my $2 and I was digging for my change when I pulled 8 cents from f my pocket and gave it to her. She stood there, holding the nickel and 3 pennies, while looking at the screen on her register. I sensed her discomfort and tried to tell her to just give me two quarters, but she hailed the manager for help . While he tried to explain the transaction
to her, she stood there and cried. Why do I tell you this?

Because of the evolution in teaching math since the 1950s:

1. Teaching Math In 1950: A logger sells a truckload of lumber for $100. His cost of production is 4/5 of the price. What is his profit?

2. Teaching Math In 1960: A logger sells a truckload of lumber for $100. His cost of production is 4/5 of the price, or $80. What is his profit?

3. Teaching Math In 1970: A logger sells a truckload of lumber for $100. His cost of production is $80. Did he make a profit?

4. Teaching Math In 1980: A logger sells a truckload of lumber for $100. His cost of production is $80 and his profit is $20. Your assignment: Underline the number 20.

5. Teaching Math In 1990: A logger cuts down a beautiful forest because he is selfish and inconsiderate and cares nothing for the habitat of animals or the preservation of our woodlands. He does this so he can make a profit of $20.What do you think of this way of making a living? Topic for class discussion after answering the question: How did the birds and squirrels feel as the logger cut down their homes? (There are no wrong answers.)

6. Teaching Math In 2006: Un hachero vende una carretada de maderapara $100. El costo de la producciones es $80. Cuanto dinero ha hecho?

I actually did have a student last year who did not speak a word of English. It made it very tough for him to take notes.

Yesterday was an interesting day for me as a teacher. First, my trig class had a test and I had given them two class periods to prepare, study, ask questions, etc. What did they do most of the time? Play on their calculator, talk about the weekend, or just gossip in general. When the bell rang at the conclusion of the test yesterday, all I saw were looks of shock. When I glanced through the test, no one had finished, as a matter of fact, most had 3-5 problems left. They were mad, and to be honest, I was a little glad. We tend to spoon feed these kids more than we should. I haven't quite decided how I'm going to handle the grading.

So then later that day, during an 8th grade test, a girl calls me over and asks, "for #1 when it says to list the factors, does that mean to list the numbers that go into this number?". I respond, "I can't tell you that, but it is on your study guide that you were supposed to complete and I'm letting you use on the test." She then proceeds to burst into tears, put her head down on the desk and I'm unable to talk with her for about 10 minutes. Nice.

Bend it like Beckham

While I think it's pretty cool that Beckham is bringing his celebrity status to the MLS and I believe that initially people will tune in to see the show, but ultimately people will realize that it's still soccer. I'm afraid that he's setting a precedence for money that the league will not be able to afford. I still say that if you are a great young athlete, soccer is going to be about 4 or 5 on your list of sports to pursue. Think about some of the contracts that legitimate stiffs are getting in the NBA and MLB. It just ain't happening in the MLS. I believe we have to build the program from within and have more success on the world level. How long have people been saying that soccer is on the verge of exploding? Sure, tons of kids play soccer, but that's because it's an active sport that pretty much anyone can play when you're young. Just stand off to the side and watch the mob move up and down the field.

Am I being pessimistic?

Friends, Romans, Countrymen lend me your ear

Wow, you're right Larry. Things have gone dormant on the Vegas blog. I have been checking it, but just haven't had much to say lately. I've been in a real funk after the Christmas break. Basketball has been rough this year. My team (freshman) are 0 - 6 and the varsity are 1 - 8. It's amazing how the talent changes from year to year at small schools. Still, we've got 7 games left to turn it on.

Saban comments...he's a liar and I wouldn't let my 18 year old spend 4 years under his direction. Of course, his track record doesn't indicate that he'll be there 4 years. Still, the SEC West is going to be great next year. LSU is preseason top5, Arky should be solid again, we'll compete and we'll see what happens with Bama. I think he's in for a rude awakening. He doesn't know pressure until he loses on the Plains next year.

We had a great New Year's celebration in Madison. A group of friends gathered to celebrate the upcoming birth of baby Luedke, then we rocked the house until after midnight. Ok, it was pretty low key with no good stories to tell Ryan's son one day, but it was still fun.

I tried to update the blog, but it said that all owners have to participate, so maybe there is something you guys can do when you go to the main blogger page. I don't know what all it will do, but maybe one day I'll play with it.

No comments ????

Where have we all gone?

Boner, any commentary on Saban? Or Petrino to the Falcons (Almost a bigger shock to me than Saban to Bama)? I now think Bama will be competitive again pretty quickly, which is good in the national media sense. The Iron Bowl will not be a laughable hindsight in the national scene any more if we are both 10 win teams. I know, they won't be 10 wins for a few years, but I but they get there. Saban is a pretty good recruiter.

Tell us about the new house.

Oh yeah, Kevin and Angie had their baby. Julian Michael Lowe was born on December 26, 2006 (tax break). 8lbs, 3ozs and 19 inches long. Mom, Dad, and Julian are doing well.

Little Miss Sunshine is a great movie.

Ben Stiller's name in A Night In The Museum is Larry. Exhibit P in my trial.

Eveytime the Weatherman talks about El Nino I wait for them to say, "that's Spanish for The Nino"

I had a good time hanging out with Henley over the Holidays. The boy is doing well and will graduate next December. He wants to jump into the middle of Forest Fires and fight his way out.

That's all that comes to mind right now.

New Crib

Well, Cece and I have agreed to purchase a new home here in Roswell (Weezer is still hoping for it to fall through so we'll be forced to move to Huntsville), contingent upon some maintenance issues being addressed after the home inspection. We sent back the amendment this morning with our wish list of fixes. It is a nice house, built in 1989 with plenty of room for visitors, ahem. It's a four bedroom/three bath home with a finished basement with an additional BR and full bathroom down there. The sellers moved to Hawaii so they had to leave the pool table in the basement. Now all I have to do is build a sweet bar and install a flat screen and we'll have the perfect Boys Weekend getaway. Anyway, I haven't taken any pics yet but these are the ones the realtor's had on their website.

Blog update?

Larry...are you going to be making the switch over to the new and improved Blogger look for WeekendinVegas?

Also, I'm hurting for some new Larry tunes. I'm about to wear a groove into Run, Bike, Swim, Puke, Yo Soy el Nino, and Boner's Bachelor Party. I gotta fever and the only cure for it is more Larry tunes!

Giant Squirrel Killed in Texas

Thankfully the US Army's crack "GI Joe" unit was able to subdue the killer varmint after numerous civilian "critter ridders" were lost as casualties.

Help for Christmas

If you haven't already found the perfect gift for the wifey, go ahead and pick this item up. It's money.

2006-2007 SEC Bowl Pick'em Extravaganza

Well, since JLM was such a rousing success in 2006 (with Larry putting his size 12's squarely up mine and James' collective rump over the stretch run) I figured we should extend the fun with college football into a bowl pick'em. I don't really have the time or energy to go to espn.com or si.com and set up a group so we'll just do it right here on the ol' blog. Just pick a winner for each game. I'm not going to get into the minutia of setting up confidence scores and all that nonsense. Just straight up, pick a winner.

Poulan Weedeater Sharpie Marker Honey Baked Ham Shreveport Casino Independence Bowl
Shreveport, Louisianastan
Bama (with or without a coach) vs. Okie State

Liberty Bowl brought to you by Corky's Ribs
Memphis, Tennessee
South Carolina vs. Houston

Music City (and by music, we mean country music only) Bowl
Nashvegas (home of "Larry Doing the Penis Dance"), Tennessee
Kentucky vs. Clemson

Chick-fil-A (don't call us the Peach anymore) Bowl
Welcome to Atlanta where the players play
Georgia vs. Virginia Tech

Outback Steakhouse and Blooming Onion Bowl
Tampa, Florida (not as much fun without the ol' Mons Venus)
Tennessee vs Penn St.

Cotton Panties Bowl
Dallas, Texas
Auburn vs. Nebraska

Capital One (aka, the annual desitination for cold assed Wiscy fans) Bowl
Orlando, Florida
Arkansas vs. Wisconsin

USF&G/AllState/Nokia Sugar Bowl
New Orleans, Louisianastan (yes, we're back in New Orleans this year...no more really bad Cajun food in Atlanta for the teams this year)
LSU vs. Notre Dame

Tostitos Corn Chips with partially hydrogenated corn oil BCS Title Game
Glendale, Arizona
Florida vs. Ohio State

In Alaska

So I've become somewhat addicted to the new series on Discovery called Man vs Wild. On a recent episode, Bear was in Alaska. He stranded him self at the top of a mountain and then worked his way down to the coast. He then decided that his best chance of finding civilization was to make it to an inlet and look for a fishing boat or tourist boat. I was hoping that a boat would go by with Larry, Kevin and Mike on board drinking beer waving at Bear as he was stranded on the shore. They would keep going wondering what that guy was doing out there all by himself. That would have been good TV.

Looks Like we Blew It

I could have sworn I read an article earlier this week saying Klinnsman had agreed to take the head coaching job with the US national team. Now this. That would have been a great move by US Soccer in my opinion and really given us some credibility worldwide. Now we don't even have anyone on the radar. I'm guessing Project 2010 or whatever it was called isn't going to reach fruition.

The Wisdom of KevCock

Dr. KevCock offered this sage advice on dealing with a pregnant wife:

Oh. You don't even have it bad yet. Wait till anything of a sexual nature is replied to with "hell no".... and you get to hear.... "look how huge i am"..."do you think I'm bigger?"....

learn from my mistake. NEVER...I mean NEVER...say they are getting bigger.
NEVER

Uh...think I would have just hung up the leotard

Yeah, no one likes to be discriminated against, but I'm pretty sure there are some battles you just don't fight.

Where have all the good BenJarvus' gone???

It all comes back to James Dinsmore and BenJarvus Green-Ellis. Didn't we all know it would end like this? Wasn't it written in the stars from the very beginning?

To recap (for Charlie) - James comes out of the blue by picking Indiana transfer BenJarvus Green-Ellis starting at RB for Ole Miss in the first week of JLM 2006. He turns in a 100+ yard performance and his JLM stock skyrockets. Subsequently, Larry picks him like 10 of the next 12 weeks. It becomes a running joke that BenJarvus is a permanent member of Team CrownRoyalorRandomBaggyo'Liquor...WhoCares. So the season plays out and of course we come to the last week with Larry and myself all tied up at the top (wait...that sounds kinda gay). Larry must have agonized over the decision...does he stick with his horse BenJarvus or does he poach top players that have already been picked by the other JLM GMs (please ignore the man behind the curtain and the fact that James had already picked BenJarvus thus rendering my entire argument impotent and without merit)?? Obviously, the Evil Doctor poaches LeMarcus Coker even though he's only had two good games all year and is returning from a monthlong convalescence from a badly sprained ankle instead of taking BenJarvus who is the league's second leading rusher and who also possesses a kick ass compound first name not to mention a somewhat less kickass hyphenated last name (again, for a second let's forget that Larry actually made a ballsier move by skipping over BJG-E and going with Cokehead...the point here is that Larry is the devil)!!!! Do we even need to go over the details of the scoring from last week?? Isn't it already obvious what happened?? Coker puts up monster numbers against ky jelly, netting 20 JLM points. BenJarvus tanks in the Broken Egg Bowl, mustering a measly 3 points. Larry wins the week by 12 over James. Thus, if Larry had picked BenJarvus and James had played with himself (and I'm pretty sure he did that day anyway) James would have won by 2 points and Larry and I would have finished in a tie for wins, sending the overall JLM Title to a tiebreaker of total points scored for the season. As of right now I'm too depressed to have even done the research to see who would have won that.

(PAUSE FOR THREE MINUTES WHILE I GET A CALCULATOR AND DO THE MATH)

Okay, now I'm really depressed. The overall season points stands like this: Larry 1231 Matt 1225 James substantially less than those two numbers (actually it's 1046). So if Larry had picked BenJarvus (I can't believe you turned your back on him like that) the total season scores would have looked like this: Matt 1225 Larry 1214 James still substantially less than the other two numbers, and I would have been crowned King of JLM for Life and given a gold scepter, a diamond tiara, and had my name thrown in the running for coach at Alabama. As it stands Dr. Evil (aka larry lowe) is the 2006 KING OF JLM.

Come on now and say it with me James: Larry, you are the best fantasy football coach in all the land...we stand in awe of your majesty and brilliance...we are but mere Shulas prostrating oursleves before your Tubervillian Splendor.

Anyway, here's how the numbers came out this week:
Team KingoftheWorld
Leak 27
Coker 20
McFadden 31
Burton 4
Meachem 17
Bowe 6
Shene 8
MSU -3 - Total 110
(also notice how I chose to ignore the fact that the two picks Larry made on his own both were high scores at their position)

Team PutAnother100KontheCamryin'07
Ainge 18
McFadden 31
GREEN-ELLIS!!!!! 3
Meachem 17
Bowe 6
Rice 10
Succop 7
Florida 6 - Total 98

Team SoreLoserorAmIJealousorDidILoseanArgument
Woodson 20
Coker 20
Boyd 16
Burton 4
Monk 8
Burks 2 (suddenly I turned into James)
David 7
UT 6 - Total 83
(also, please forget about how I focused soley on the actions of others and how they could have positively affected my life while ignoring my own poor decision making)

The overall 2006 standings look like this:
Larry 6 wins 5 seconds 2 thirds
Matt 5 wins 5 seconds 3 thirds
James 2 wins 3 seconds 8 thirds

Week 1: James 105 Larry 98 Matt 36
Week 2: Matt 151 James 98 Larry 69
Week 3: Matt 80 Larry 75 James 55
Week 4: Larry 85 Matt 75 James 73
Week 5: Larry 123 Matt 117 James 90
Week 6: Matt 79 Larry 74 James 70
Week 7: Larry 123 Matt 90 James 55
Week 8: James 90 Matt 89 Larry 44
Week 9: Matt 147 Larry 97 James 83
Week 10: Larry 100 James 97 Matt 91
Week 11: Matt 92 Larry 91 James 91
Week 12: Larry 142 Matt 95 James 41
Week 13: Larry 110 James 98 Matt 83

Total points: Larry 1231 Matt 1225 James 1046

Looking at the numbers, Larry turned it on down the stretch, winning three of the last four weeks while averaging 110.75. I could only muster 1 win with an average score of 90.25 over the same time frame. So you see, even in JLM the latter part of the season means more than the beginning. Larry averaged 113.83 in his six wins. I scored 109.8 in my five wins. And James managed 97.5 in his two wins. The season averages for all weeks are Larry 94.7 Matt 94.2 James 80.5. Highest score was me in Week 2 with 151...lowest score was me in Week 1 with 36. Larry's largest score differences were a high of 142 and a low of 44. James' were 105 and 41. Biggest one week ass kicking was Larry over James in Week 12 by 101. Slimmest margin between 1st and last was the Week 11 barn burner where I won 92-91-91. Larry's average margin of victory was 19.3 (that's huge). Mine was 22.8 (even huger). James' was 4 (I didn't even need the calculator for that one). James, feel free to have your statistics class run some more numbers on these if you'd like.

Once again, congrats to Larry on the 2006 JLM Championship. It was another fun and well played season. And the good news is this league isn't costing me $75 like my other league. See ya next year with LMJ '07!

It's Official

We now have a new coach at Bama to beat up on and make fun of. Don't know who it is, but we know it ain't Sheila anymore. My guess is Rich Rodriguez, Paul Johnson, or Jim Leavitt. I don't think Petrino would leave Louisville for Tuscaloosa. If they get a bigger name than Rodriguez (who really doesn't scare me all that much) I'll be mildly shocked.

JLM - Rivalry Week

Team Winningthisweekwillallowmetobuildconfindencefornextseason

QB: Ainge, UT
RB: McFadden, Arky
RB: Green-Ellis, Ole
WR: Meachem, UT
WR: Bowe, LSU
WR: Rice, USC
K: Succoup, USC
DEF: Florida

Ok, not that I'm making excuses (even though I am), I blame my poor performances on the fact that I seemed to always be last to submit my team. I couldn't help but look at the other rosters and try and pick other players so that Boner didn't accuse me of copying. I wish there was a way we could do a draft like we did back in the inaugural JLM season. Good times.

Hopefully we can get together at some point while we are in town. I haven't checked with my folks, but if people are available, maybe we could gather on Friday night at their house. Or maybe we should have a late night hole 'em tourney at Jeremy or Larry's. I'll touch base with everyone when we get in town, or while we are in transit. Either way, Happy Thanksgiving and safe travels.

Wow

One of the best web made video montages I've ever seen. I was looking for the Groves sacks because I still hadn't seen them when I came across this beauty. This almost brings tears to the eyes. Check out the one under autiger96 videos. TREEmendous!

Beatdown in Week 12

Wow. Larry decided the race for the championship of JLM 2006 was definitely not over. He came out with an abso-freakin-lutely dominating performance to grab victory in Week 12 by the short and curlies and not let go. This was definitely not a touch and go, down to the wire, nip and tuck type deal like the last few weeks. The final score was a humiliating 142-95-41. While Larry didn't quite set a record for most points this season, James certainly set a record of sorts...with his four, that's right FOUR, zeros. His impressive quartet of futility included both of his running backs and his first two wide receiver picks. His leading scorer was his kicker, and if Wilhoit hadn't had one of the better kicking games of the year James might have actually scored 25 points or less. As it was he had Wilhoit with 17, Leak with 11, Craig Davis with 7 and AU's defense with 6. He got the big 0 from Charles Scott, Mike Davis, Courtney Taylor, and Dallas Baker (Baker caught a pass but it was only for 6 yards). I put up solid numbers and would have contended for victory in a normal week, but with Larry acting the part of a rolling bowling ball of butcher knives I was doomed to second place. I had five guys in double digits led by Russell's 29, Little's 16, Meachem's 15, Doucet's 13, and Lester's 11. And now we come to Larry's Magnificent Seven (I say seven because his kicker only managed a measly 2 points...John Vaughn). First off, he brilliantly foresaw Kentucky's defense taking the week off and allowing Louisiana Monroe to hang 40 in an SEC stadium, thus forcing Andre Woodson to keep the pedal to the floor for four quarters. Woody definitely did not disappoint, dropping 38 on that a$$. Next up, he chose Andre the Giant's tag team partner, Keenan "The Beast" Burton, who caught all three of Woodson's touchdown passes. He was good for 29. At this point James was already in Larry's rearview mirror and I was mere roadkill on the highway to victory. Team WhiskyBag continued with the wide receiver dominance by adding Sydney Rice's 21 and Dwayne Bowe's 18. That's 68 points from wide receivers. That's more WR points in one week than James has had all year. Larry's RBs weren't quite as dominant, only scoring 22 points (or 22 more than James'). Of course, he capped it by picking Florida on the week they decided to play a little D, blanking Western Carolina and earning 12 points.

So, here we are, at Week 13. Larry and I are tied with 5 wins apiece, while James has 2. So what happpens now? Will Larry string together consecutive wins to end the season and steal a title? Will Matt return to his destined spot atop the mountain? Will James come out of hibernation long enough to play spoiler? Only time will tell. And with games spread out over the weekend it should be a fun one. Remember, no Auburn, Alabama, or Vandy this week. Three teams play rivalry games against ACC opponents (sadly, two will be underdogs). Six others will face off in conference rivalry games of their own. The only real sure win of the bunch is UT over UK. Or is it? The way KY Jelly's offense has been playing they might be able to hang half a hundred on the Vols. So, good luck to one and all JLM participants. May the fantasy football gods be with you on your picks. Except you Larry. You're mine! I WANT HOLYFIELD!

Week 1: James 105 Larry 98 Matt 36
Week 2: Matt 151 James 98 Larry 69
Week 3: Matt 80 Larry 75 James 55
Week 4: Larry 85 Matt 75 James 73
Week 5: Larry 123 Matt 117 James 90
Week 6: Matt 79 Larry 74 James 70
Week 7: Larry 123 Matt 90 James 55
Week 8: James 90 Matt 89 Larry 44
Week 9: Matt 147 Larry 97 James 83
Week 10: Larry 100 James 97 Matt 91
Week 11: Matt 92 Larry 91 James 91
Week 12: Larry 142 Matt 95 James 41

Auburn vs Alabama

Well, after the first two drives, I don't feel confident. We looked good running the ball, but when we needed a 3 yard pass, not even close. Alabama moved the ball like they were playing a high school team. It's going to take a big play and some mistakes by them. At least they didn't get the TD, maybe that will take some steam out of the crowd.

War Damn Eagle

Do yourself a favor and use this to get you pumped.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8__wRjx89Uc

The Alabama Creed

Courtesy of WarDamnTailgate

The Alabama Creed

We believe that this is a delusional world and that we can talk only about what Bear did. Therefore, we believe in the past, the distant past.
We believe in education, and though we did not technically attend the University of Alabama, we know a guy that did.
We believe in honesty and truthfulness, because when the punishment for marijuana possession is ice cream, there is really no need to lie.
We believe in a sound mind, in a sound body and a spirit that is not afraid. Well, maybe a little afraid of the thumb.
We believe in obedience to law, except for the ones concerning money laundering, because they hinder recruiting.
We believe in the human touch, even if we have to pay for it at seedy Pensacola strip clubs.
We believe in our Country, because it is a land of freedom, and where else on Earth could a man wearing a gold chain earn two million dollars a year losing football games. And because Alabama men and women believe in these things, We believe in Alabama (football) and love it, when we are winning.

More Iron Bowl Thoughts

Bama is putting way too much pressure on themselves over this game. Have you read the stories in the Huntsville and B'ham papers this week? All the talk is about Tubs holding up four fingers after the game last year and wearing the "Fear the Thumb" shirt at the bowl game in Orlando. There is a picture of him holding up four fingers in every last player's locker. The coaching staff put them there. They've admitted they've been thinking about this game and pointing to it all season. Hell, they've basically said this season didn't really matter, as long as they beat Auburn. What's gonna happen if we take the opening kickoff, march down the field, take six minutes off the clock and score a touchdown and then force them to go three and out on their first possession? Those guys can only sustain the emotion for so long. Leron McClain and Ken Darby sound like they have paranoid schizorphrenia or some other psychosis regarding Tommy Tuberville. If we jump out on them, even if it's not as bad as last year, they are going to totally deflate and give up. Remember 2002? Auburn jumped out to a 14-0 lead in the 1st quarter and then basically shut the offense down and just let Alabama's ineptitude and internal pressure do the rest. They couldn't climb out of their shell. Same thing last year (although a ferocious pass rush had a little something to do with it). The only team recently that's been able to overcome early adversity in this game is the 2004 undefeated team. Everything that could possibly go wrong for us in that first half happened. We fumbled inside our own ten yard line. Jason threw a pick inside the fifteen. They completely shut down Ronnie and Caddy. And you know what? It was 6-0 at the half. The second half was all Auburn. Their emotional play only lasted so long. As the article in today's B'ham News points out, the best team almost always wins this rivalry. In fact, only one time in the history of the game a team with three less wins than the other has won the Iron Bowl. I know we looked terrible against uga last week but Bama is not any better today than they were when they lost to Miss. State or LSU or Tennessee or Arkansas or Florida. They aren't any better than when they struggled in overtime against Ole Miss or were losing to Duke in the fourth quarter. They are not a very good football team. Talent and coaching will win this game. And luckily I fully believe we are in better shape than them in both of those categories.

LJM Week #69

Team IMightNeedAnotherIrishCarBombDuringTheGame

QB: Woodson, KY
RB: McFadden, Ark
RB: Irons, AU
WR: Rice, USC
WR: Burton, KY
WR: Bowe, LSU
K: Vaugn, AU
D: Florida

AU 17, Bama 14

The Ballad of Sheila

Courtesy of Finebaum...it's Free Fallin' Mike Shula. It's definitely no Col. Reb is crying...but it's not too bad. And we sure need something to make us forget about last Saturday and look forward to this one.

Weekend in Auburn

Well...the weekend is over and now we're all back at home or work. Another get together has gone by and more stories were created (random liquor bag helps cold, wet AU fans through miserable a$$ kicking), legends were born ("football!"), and sinks were puked in (sorry Rob and Malissa). I'm sure those of you who have a more complete recollection of the weekend's events will post your thoughts and stories soon, so I'll get right down to the important business and go over the scores for the closest JLM battle in JLM history. The final scores this week: 92-91-91.

Now the fun begins. We get to go over the several different scenarios that could have had anyone of us winning or losing. There were repicks that helped and some that didn't. There were negative numbers that hurt their GM and some that ruined their GM's career. It was the lowest kicker scoring week in memory...and that's what turned out to be the difference. The winning team got 4 points from its kicker. The two losing teams got 2 points each.

The highest scoring JLM game of the week was largely ignored as Kentucky scored 21 4th quarter points to outlast Vandy 38-26 and stake their claim to one of the SEC's 8 bowl slots. No one had the foresight or foreskin to win JLM with their first pick. Andre Woodson dipped himself in KY jelly and slipped, slid, and slithered his way around, over, and through the Vandy defense to the tune of 450 passing yards and 4 touchdowns. That 46 point outburst would have easily carried a team to victory. As it was, our three quarterbacks accounted for 31, 17, and -1 (guess who). In fact the only player picked from this game was Larry's late replacement of Jayson Swain with Earl Bennett. Good call as Bennett notched 29 points on 220 receiving yards, a 13 yard run, and a touchdown. Larry's good luck didn't end with replacing Swain (who grabbed a whopping 3 passes for 42 yards for UT). Bennett hauled in a meaningless 40 yard TD pass on the last play of the game to tack on 10 JLM points and push Larry's team score into the 90s. But was it enough? Let's see.

At QB, he made the tough decision to start Leak, knowing that Tebow would see some playing time and possibly steal a scoring opportunity away from the starter. Sure enough, Tebow scored the winning touchdown on a 12 yard run while Leak stood quietly on the sideline. Leak did manage a respectable 17 points for Larry though. Unfortunately for Larry he chose Auburn's backfield duo of Irons and Lester who combined for only 14 JLM points. The receiver position was solid for Team RandomBaggieO'Liquor. In addition to Bennett's 29, Early Doucet notched 16 JLM points and the enigma that is Sidney Rice brought 7 to the table. The 52 receiver points led all JLM squads this week. Larry smartly chose LSU's defense, as the only sure win of the week and was sitting pretty at 89 points. But alas, just as fortune giveth, she sure as heck can taketh away. Remember that desperation touchdown that Vandy scored on the last play of the game? Well, they didn't bother kicking the extra point (not to mention the fact that they went for two earlier in the game for no good reason) and thus Hahnfeldt only ended up with two extra points on the day, good for 2 JLM points. And Larry ends up with 91.

So now we know...the winner came down to Team Blizzard or Team BobbyHurley. It looked like a blowout early on as James's QB choice (did he just draft Russell at the beginning of the season and play him every week or is that my imagination) was magnificent, throwing for 200+ yards with 3 scored and no ints. He even got positive yards on the ground with 37 rushing yards. It all added up to 31 points. My quarterback on the other hand...well, let's just say he didn't have a good day. He finished up 8 for 12 on the day for 35 yards and a touchdown. Oh yeah, four of those completions were to Georgia players. So he had 1 point for yards, six for a touchdown, and negative 8 for ints. So, after the QBs I was only 32 points behind James. Lucky for me I had the ManChild D. McFadden on my side. His all purpose performance (rushed for 181 yards and two touchdowns, caught a few passes for positive yards, and even threw a touchdown pass) led to 36 JLM points and got me right back in it. Wynn chipped in 10 points to get me almost even with James, whose RBs didn't have quite the flair of the MC. Lester got 10 (even though he should have gotten much more) and Jones added 7. So, after the RBs, the race for the title was a bit closer...48 for James to 45 for me.

Now, let's be honest here. If you're in a close matchup with James heading into the wide receivers you have to be feeling pretty good about yourself. Historically this has been...well, let's just call it a weak spot for James. A chink in the armour if you will. Okay, let's face it, he pretty much stinks it up on the wide receivers every week. He has the uncanny ability to choose a guy whose teammate goes off for 120 yards and two touchdowns while his pick gets 2 catches for 13 yards. It's almost scary really. Well, this week was a bit different. While he didn't match Larry's 52, he scored into the 40s, led by Marcus Monk's 25. Bowe chipped in 13 and Courtney Taylor added 6 more (thanks mostly to his 51 rushing yards) for a total of 44 JLM points. I got double digits from all three players and finished with 37 points. Unfortunately that left me trailing by 10 points, with only kickers and teams left.

By now you should have figured out what's going to happen. Just as James has ridden the right arm of Jamarcus Russell all season, he has for some unknown reason, attempted to ride the right leg (wait, is James a dog now?) of Jamie Christensen. We all know what it means when you rely on Bama players. It means the big L and I don't mean Love. Or even Like. It means a loss. As in, you play with losers...and you lose. Christensen made both his PATs but that two points only pushed James total to 94. Which if you think about the fact that I finished with 92 points, would make you think that James was in decent shape to win. All he had to do was pick a winning team and the week was his. Easy right? Guess not. As most anyone would do when they need a sure victory James took advice from Wesley Snipes who famously said, "always bet on black". Well, in this case James took that to mean the black and gold of Vandy. Which, if Kentucky hadn't posted those three fourth quarter touchdowns, wouldn't have been so bad. Unfortunately, the Cats came back...Vandy was Vandy...and he ended up with 91 JLM points. Jarvis Moss's block of Ryan Succop's field goal on the last play of the Fla/SC game was worth 6 JLM points to me...and along with Colt David's four extra points that gave me 92 points and the win. Oh, what a weekend.

Here's the post mortem:

Matt James Larry
Cox -1 Russell 31 Leak 17
McFadden 36 Lester 10 Lester 10
Wynn 10 Jones 7 Irons 4
Hall 14 Bowe 13 Doucet 16
Baker 11 Monk 25 Rice 7
Meachem 12 Taylor 6 Bennett 29
David 4 Christensen 2 Hahnfeldt 2
Florida 6 Vandy -3 LSU 6
Total: 92 Total: 91 Total: 91

Week 1: James 105 Larry 98 Matt 36
Week 2: Matt 151 James 98 Larry 69
Week 3: Matt 80 Larry 75 James 55
Week 4: Larry 85 Matt 75 James 73
Week 5: Larry 123 Matt 117 James 90
Week 6: Matt 79 Larry 74 James 70
Week 7: Larry 123 Matt 90 James 55
Week 8: James 90 Matt 89 Larry 44
Week 9: Matt 147 Larry 97 James 83
Week 10: Larry 100 James 97 Matt 91
Week 11: Matt 92 Larry 91 James 91

Wins - Matt 5 Larry 4 James 2

Holding the Rope

Before we get to the scores from one of the most competitive weeks of the 2006 JLM season let's visit a little story from Virginia. Seems the "commissioner" (this guy gives all commishes a bad name) fired two coaches the week before a playoff game in a 12-14 year old league because they had the audacity to play his son on offense instead of defense, in strict violation of the RULES HE HAD EMAILED TO THE COACHES BEFORE THE SEASON STARTED. So, not only did this bonehead fire two successful coaches who had the respect of the players and their parents, but he did so because they disregarded an order he gave them about how to play his son in games. Once you read the excerpts from the email you will simply drop your jaw in disbelief. Or maybe not...Larry you coach kids so you deal with crap like this. Well, I hope you don't have to deal with crap like this. Anyhoo...from one fantasy land to another...

JLM WEEK 10! The Night James Couldn't Hold the Rope
So, I'm sure you're all familiar with the catch phrase that Coach Fran used at the Crapstone when he was trying to get all the Bama upperclassmen who had every right to transfer without penalty so they could play in bowl games for a team that didn't cheat to stay in Tuscalooser for their final two seasons. He asked them to "hold the rope". Basically he said, you're screwed out of bowl games for two seasons but you can be the ones who hold this football program, and indeed, this university together as we go through this difficult time. Then after every single one of them pledged to stay at Alabama, he left after one more season for more $$$ at TAMU. (Granted he also left because his wife hated Tuscaloosa, he didn't like all the meddling from the boosters, he felt like he was misled as far as the NCAA investigation was concerned, and a myriad of other reasons including, but not limited to, the fact that UAT sucks ass.) Now, you're probably asking yourself at this point, "Self...what the crap is Matt trying to say by all this? That James let us all down? That James looks like Dennis Franchione? That Matt just wanted to write something derogatory about UAT without mentioning the fact that they got clobbered at home by the worst SEC team in recent memory?" Well, it certainly isn't that James let us all down. In fact, it wasn't even James who couldn't hold the rope. But it was his second RB choice this week, South Carolina's Cory Boyd, who screwed the pooch late Saturday night.

To recap: All three of us had one player going in the last game of the night which would decide the weekly winner. While I had Darren McFadden going for me, I was far out of the race for the win with only 58 points heading into the Collision in Columbia...or was I? Larry was sitting pretty with 86 points, but he only had Gamecock freshmen wideout Kenny McKinley playing. I'm pretty sure this was the first time McKinley has made a JLM roster. James was living large in the catbird's seat. He had 95 points (could have been much more had he chosen pretty much anyone else at WR besides Keith Brown of bama) and had the aforementioned Boyd going for him. As if I need to go into the gory details. McFadden undressed the Cocks' defense, running up 33 JLM points, pushing me to a solid 91 point effort. Good numbers, but not enough. Larry's pick came through as the Hogs blanketed Sidney Rice with double coverage all night and McKinley was able to snag over 80 yards worth of passes plus a touchdown...14 JLM points to give him a cool 100. So all James needed was a measly 6 points out of Boyd. One carry for one yard would be enough...as long as the run was good enough for a touchdown. How about 10 carries for thirty yards and two catches for 31? That would have worked. But no. Mr. Boyd managed only 2 JLM points as Carolina abandoned the run after falling behind at the half, and James was forced to stand on the sidelines and watch Larry revel in the late night heroics of his young wide receiver.

Thus end James' chances for an outright season Championship. The ledger now stands at 4 wins for Matt and Larry and 2 wins for James. Don't give up the hope though James. You can use these last two weeks to teach your squad about perserverence and dignity and character. You can try to convince them they aren't losers (even though we all know the truth...they are) and teach them the object of the game isn't to win, but to have fun and play hard (that's crap...it's winning and scoring with the cheerleaders that's important).

Now, I'm off to go vote in the rain. Cheers.

Final Scores - Larry 100 James 97 Matt 91 - Hi Man McFadden 33, Low Men Irons and Brown 0

Can't Believe I'm Getting First Crack This Week

Team YAWAWAWAWAWAWAWAWA Brent Schaeffer

QB: Brandon Cox
RB: Kenny Irons
RB: Darren McFadden
WR: Tony Burks
WR: Andre Caldwell
WR: DJ Hall
K: Andy Bailey
D: Ole Miss

I almost picked Brent Schaffer at QB just to make my team so awesome. But I'll settle for Cox's 227 yards and 2 TD effort.

You Can Call me J.J.

Okay, not really, but my quest to follow in James' footsteps (and become James Junior) continues tomorrow with my first foray into the world of substitute teaching. I'll be taking over Tonia Armer's gifted classes at Lanier Middle School for the day. Wish me, and the poor students, good luck as we embark on this mission of knowledge, education, and spitballs hurled at the back of my head together.

And Down the Stretch They Come

With only three (or four) weeks left in the 2006 season of JLM it's coming down to the wire. We now have one player with 4 wins, one with 3 wins, and one with 2 wins. However, Week 9 didn't provide the type of excitement we've seen lately, with only one blowout since Week 2. Instead the single best performance of the year by a JLM player was posted by, get this...the quarterback from Vandy. That's right, Chris Nickson dropped 57 JLM points on Duke with 5 touchdowns (3 rushing, 2 passing), over 150 yards rushing, and over 250 yards passing. Couple that performance with a 31 JLM point day from Miss. St. stud WR Tony Burks (192 receiving yards and 2 TDs) and the rout was on...for me...over both of you. Felix Jones helped pile on the points with 20 (140+ rushing yards on only 9 carries and a touchdown) and Meachem and Taylor chipped in 10 points apiece from the remaining WR spots. There was a bit of bad news for me though. My kicker came in last, with only 6 points. My total was 147...good for 2nd highest JLM point total this year.

Larry posted a respectable 97 to take runner up this week. His downfall came with his first pick. Never, ever, ever pick a quarterback coached by Mike Shula in JLM. JPW's meager 9 point output wasn't good enough to keep up with the 49 points posted by McFadden (25 with a TD run and pass to go along with his 120+ rushing yards) and "My Name is" Earl Bennett (24 with 184 receiving yards and a TD). The Auburn picks were solid if not great, with Irons and Vaughn (10 and 11) giving Larry his only other players in double digits.

Bringing up the rear...again, was our little Arctic Monkey, Mr. D. James got some respectable numbers from half of his team (Cox 16, Lester 10, Smith 14, and Lyons 17), but his lack of starpower doomed him to an 83.

So, the weekly totals look like this:

Week 1: James 105 Larry 98 Matt 36
Week 2: Matt 151 James 98 Larry 69
Week 3: Matt 80 Larry 75 James 55
Week 4: Larry 85 Matt 75 James 73
Week 5: Larry 123 Matt 117 James 90
Week 6: Matt 79 Larry 74 James 70
Week 7: Larry 123 Matt 90 James 55
Week 8: James 90 Matt 89 Larry 44
Week 9: Matt 147 Larry 97 James 83

Now, as for Auburn's performance this week...what happened. I was in Cleveland so I only got to see the highlights on ESPN. How do we almost double the yards of our opponent, hold onto the ball for 17 more minutes than them, get inside their 14 yard line six times and yet have to hang on at the end to win? I just don't get this team. I still think we were better last year, and that worries me coming down the stretch. Having said that, I still think we'll win out because Georgia and Alabama aren't as good this year as they were last year and while we can't seem to blow anyone out we know how to win tight games. I'm guessing both of you watched the game and I'd love to hear a more educated explanation of what happened and why we only beat a bad Ole Miss team by 6 measly points. Thanks.

It's Miller Time

I had the day off today and tomorrow for that matter due to fall break. I was able to convince a friend of mine to take off of work and we road tripped to Milwaukee to take in some local tours. First we hit Miller Stadium, home of the Brewers. I've been to a couple of games there, but it was pretty cool to go into the press box, clubhouse and in the dugouts. After the stadium we hit the Miller Brewery for a tour. It was interesting, but not quite as in depth as I would like. The only part of the production we got to see was the packaging. Not much different from packagaing diapers or toilet papers to be honest. Still, it was a neet campus, almost like a small community. And of course the tour ends with a sampling of 3 beers: MGD, High Life and Leinenkugel's Creamy Dark (WI brew). Here are a few pics of the adventures.

Since it looks like I might be able to add some pics...

Here are a couple with Mr. Dinsmore in mind.

There are three types of coasters out here...wee, less wee, and FREAKIN' HUGE!

I've seen a lot of camel toes in my life, but never one on a camel (or imprinted in the sand).

YAWAYAWAYAWAYAWAYAWAYAWA Football!

If you haven't heard the "Col. Reb is Crying" song on the internet by now, you need to google it and listen to it before the game this weekend. It came out a few weeks back and is so funny I could listen to it ten times a day.

LMJ Week 9

Team Under18DaysUntilTheBoysReunite

Q Wilson bama
RB McFadden, AU
RB Irons, AU
WR: Rice USC
WR: Bennett, V
WR: Swain, UT
K: Vaugn AU
D: Arky

AU by 21
bama by 24
UGA by 2
UT by 7

The Wiscy Wonder Boy Gets off the Schneid

Well, we narrowly averted a major controversy in Week 8 of the 2006 JLM Season. As it turns out, James gets to celebrate his second victory of the season without a hint of special treatment from the authorities (namely me...which would have been odd since I'm the one who would have gotten screwed by any suspicious bean counting errors).

The mild controversy arose when Mr. D, no doubt delirious from his 48 hour wilderness adventure with a million sixth graders, chose three LSU players for his roster. According to Rule 74-69-452.34 of the Official JLM bylaws, "a JLM coach must choose no more than two (2) roster spots (players and defense) from one of the available SEC teams participating in a college football game that week". As it were, James chose LSU quarterback Jamarcus Russell, and LSU wide receivers Craig Davis and Dwayne Bowe. Since the rules explicity and clearly bar a JLM coach from choosing three roster spots from the same team there is no clear and explicit rule for what to do if a coach brazenly ignores 74-69-452.34. Therefore it is up to the commissioner to choose an appropriate reaction. Panic, chaos, and the raining down of fire and sulphur were option number one, but I chose to do something a bit more subtle. My two choices were to either eliminate the lowest score of the three or eliminate the third roster spot chosen from the same team. In this week's case however, it didn't matter as Dwayne Bowe was the third LSU player chosen and also the lowest scorer of the Bayou Bengal trio (which was pretty impressive seeing as how he had 16 points). In the end, after subtracting Bowe's 16 JLM points, James ended up scoring 90 JLM points, or one more than second place me. Larry on the other obviously spent much more time this week thinking about how to make his thong look just like Lisa Banks' than his JLM squad. (Saw some pics Larry...great outfit. In fact, if I'd only seen you from behind, bent over, I'd have probably tried to hit it.)

Let's go bottom to top, in honor of Larry's derriere show off act Saturday night.
Team Nice Apples in the Bra
QB: Ainge 9 - I just don't get Bama this year...they play up to or way down to the level of competition
RB: Irons 0 - tough luck...try reading your hometown newspaper next time
RB: GreenEllis 7 - this guy might be the most overrated JLM player of the season
WR: Rice 14 - never know which Sidney will show up...1 catch for 4 yards Sidney or 7 catches for 85 yards and a touchdown Sidney
WR: Monk 1 - can you imagine what Jamarcus Russell or Eric Ainge could do with this guy?
WR: Doucet 0 - unfortunately for Larry and me, we chose the wrong LSU receiver this week
K: Hahnfedlt 7 - even your kicker came in last this week
D: AU 6
Total 44 - just plain awful

Team Hobbling all week because of the massive blisters on my heels from camping
QB: Russell 22 - he's a beast against bad teams
RB: Lester 8 - wonder what the deal is with his groin...why can't he say healthy
RB: McFadden 26 - this guy has it all, size, speed, a huge pen...wait, sorry about that
WR: Hall 10 - go figure...I pick a Bama player and lose
WR: Meachem 8 - still don't understand how Bama can shut down that offense
WR: Doucet 0 - see above
K: Succop 9 - his name is Succop
D: AU 6
Total 89 - respectable, but the zero did me in

Team Back in the Saddle Again
QB: Russell 22
RB: Jones 11 - would have been worth more if we counted special teams yards and not just TDs
RB: Boyd 11 - like Rice, you never know which Corey Boyd is gonna play for you
WR: Davis 17 - the second player who got James a special teams touchdown this week
WR: [Bowe 16] vacated 0
WR: Rice 14
K: Vaughn 9 - we might need him to nail some key kicks against uga and bama
D: AU 6
Total 90

Congrats James. Now, let's try and remember the rules from now on.

Week 1: James 105 Larry 98 Matt 36
Week 2: Matt 151 James 98 Larry 69
Week 3: Matt 80 Larry 75 James 55
Week 4: Larry 85 Matt 75 James 73
Week 5: Larry 123 Matt 117 James 90
Week 6: Matt 79 Larry 74 James 70
Week 7: Larry 123 Matt 90 James 55
Week 8: James 90 Matt 89 Larry 44

No way to react to a bad season by the Packers

It just always makes me wonder if these folks don't think they will get caught, or that in this day in age there is anything innocent about posting such messages on the internet. Of course, I'm sure we'll find out that he was abused, or picked on, or did get hours he wanted at the grocery store. Not that these aren't real issues, but I'm tired of hearing excuses for crimes. People have lost the ability to makes good decisions. Also, they don't know how to stand up and be accountable for bad decision.

What's next? A giant frickin' "laser" on the moon?

Larry, are you secretly working on stuff like this and just not telling us? Cause if you are I want to be the first human you try it on. If I could turn myself invisible I'd totally go find all the bullies I've ever known and give them massive wedgies...and they couldn't stop me if they couldn't see me!

JLM Week 8

Team WellIhaven'tDoneAnythingProductiveYetTodaySoIMightasWellPickMyTeam

QB: Russell
RB: McFadden
RB: Brad Lester
WR: Hall
WR: Meachem
WR: Doucet
K: Succop
D: AU

Thoughts on this week's games...I think we'll play somewhere in between Buffalo and Mississippi State level this week. Kenny will rest his sore toe and Brad gets the bulk of the carries. Cox finally puts up good passing numbers (first 200 yard passing game of the season and multiple TDs) and the defense plays solid for three and a half quarters. Final AU 41 Tulane 13

Arky struggles early with Ole Miss, but pulls away late to win easily 27-9. Georgia continues to struggle with weak teams, beating Miss St 23-13. LSU continues their trend of bitch slapping lesser teams, drilling Fresno 45-10. SC and Vandy play one of the day's most entertaining games with the Cocks sticking it to the Dores in the end 27-23. Bama somehow finds a way to stay close with a Tennessee team that should absolutely run them off the field. However, sheer luck isn't enough to put the Tide over the top and they lose their third game against an opponent with equal or greater talent (they are making a living off beating bad teams)...final score UT 23 Bama 10. Speaking of bammer, they have to be the worst 5-2 team in America. They have one convincing win, over La-Monroe and have survived scares against Hawaii, Vandy, Ole Miss, and DUKE! Duke has been shut out three times this year...they led at halftime in Tuscaloosa and were down by only two in the last five minutes of the game.

Some overall thoughts on the season. The first BCS rankings came out Sunday and we're the highest ranked team with a loss, checking in at number 4. How crazy is that? This is probably our worst team in three years and it's the first time we're getting love from the BCS. Anyway, I don't think there's any way we are the fourth best team in college football and I think we would probably be two touchdown underdogs to both Michigan and Ohio State right now on a neutral field. However, I do think this team has the chance to be a top five team by the end of the year. The wins should be there as Georgia and Alabama just aren't that good this year. We should be 11-1 come November 19. The real question is, what happens to Arky? There is no question that the Hogs deserved to win that game last week. They came into Jordan-Hare, refused to be intimidated, and kicked our butts. But, the fact remains, they are still Arky and they still have a true freshman quarterback. There is no way, now way possible, they go through the SEC undefeated with a true freshman quarterback. By all rights, they should have lost to Alabama (how sick is that...that we look back on a UAT loss and wish they had won) and they still have to play three more tough conference games...at South Carolina and versus LSU and Tennessee at home. I have a strong feeling they will lose two out of those three games. Which means we could end up facing Florida again in the SEC Championship game. Okay, now I'm getting ahead of myself. Let's just keep winning games and it will all shake out in the end.

JLM: Last two weeks

Sorry I've been so slack in my duties as JLM scorekeeper the last couple of weeks. Believe it or not I actually worked three days last week. We had a training class on some new editing equipment at Turner so I had to put in some time down at the studio. Then I took off for a few days at the beach with the fam (Cece was in Kansas City for work and a visit with the sister and family). But I'm back and the scores over weeks six and seven have been pretty standard. I barely won last week and Larry obliterated the field this week.

Week 6: Matt 79 Larry 74 James 70

The margin of victory was provided by Arky's upset over our beloved Tigers. Like I said in another post, I would gladly have given up JLM glory for a perfect record on the Plains. My boy Syvelle Newton was high man of the week, accounting for 27 JLM points. Even though I only had one more player in double figures (Meachem with 15) I did have a trio (Irons, Little, and Wilhoit) ring up nine points apiece. Larry had two players score over 20 (JPW with 21 and BJGE with 22...what's up with Larry and his multi namers??) but was crushed by the negative three he got from Auburn's sleepwalking "effort" in Jordan-Hare. James' silver lining in his last place finish is that his WR corps doubled up the next highest trio, as Hall, Smith, and Davis accounted for 38 JLM points. Too bad no one else bothered to show up for him. Russell was abysmal in the Swamp, garnering only 12 points.

Week 7: Larry 123 Matt 90 James 55

Larry was off the charts good this week, picking three players who went for 20 points or more (Russell 23, McFadden 20 in less than a quarter of work, and Bowe 29). He also got solid contributions from the in state crew as Hall tallied 17 and Vaughn notched 13. He even went ahead and made the bold choice of Miss St as his team... and they rewarded him by allowing only 3 points in a drubbing of Jax State. My score would have probably been good enough to win on most weeks had Larry not been in the zone. It didn't help me that I shared my three highest scoring players with Larry (Russell, Hall, and Vaughn). I did manage a solid 41 WR points with Baker (I know, I know I went against my rule of not picking a player going up against Auburn, but I was driving down the road and didn't have a schedule in front of me) and Doucet getting 12 points apiece. My low man was the invisible man, Raphael Little (a major fantasy disappointment this season) who didn't play. However, not to be outdone on the low man of the week, James chose the pups from Athens to defeat the Commodes from Nashvegas. Ahhh, but the golden leg of Bryant Hahnfeldt had different plans. His game winning field goal sunk both the pups hopes of a January bowl game (I'm pretty sure no team that lost to Vandy has played in a major bowl in the last half century) and James' hopes of cracking 60 JLM points. Ouch. You know you're in trouble when your leading scorer is a white RB. Hester gave you 17. The uncannily bad Joe T III got you 13 and no one else got past 8.

Here's a quick recap at the scores so far this season:

Week 1: James 105 Larry 98 Matt 36
Week 2: Matt 151 James 98 Larry 69
Week 3: Matt 80 Larry 75 James 55
Week 4: Larry 85 Matt 75 James 73
Week 5: Larry 123 Matt 117 James 90
Week 6: Matt 79 Larry 74 James 70
Week 7: Larry 123 Matt 90 James 55

So Larry and I are tied with 3 wins, 3 seconds, and a last. Meanwhile the Wisconsin winters must have gotten to James' football brain as he has a first, a second, and five consecutive last place finishes.

Average scores: Larry 92.4 Matt 89.7 James 78

Average margin of victory: Matt 21 Larry 16.3 James (would be 7 but there is a lack of a significant amount of data upon which to make a measurement)

"San Diego", German for....

We have an exchange program with a small town in Germany, so yesterday I was greated in 7th period by16 new smiling faces in my probs and stats class. They will be in the states for two weeks or so, and part of the deal is that they take classes just like they would back home. Therefore, they got books are expected to do the work just like my other students. They are equivalent to our 11th and 12th graders, but in Germany they actually have a 13th year of school so they still have a couple of years before they can got to "University." One interesting thing yesterday, I was asking which calculator they used and if it was the same as our Texas Instrument graphing calculators. The response that I got was that they are not allowed to use graphing calculators and must learn to do everything by hand. I thought this was pretty cool and wish we put less emphasis on the calculator. I believe there is a place for technology in the classroom, but good grief, I have to review with juniors and seniors how to add/subtract/multiply/divide fractions because they've been doing it on their calculator for 2 years.

I was thinking though, do you think they get back and everyone is like, you went to the US, where did you go? They say Wisconsin, only to receive puzzled looks, like where is that? I was explaining to them that I am from Alabama and they had no idea where that was, or maybe even that it is a state. Of course, I don't know much about Germany's geography either.

LJM Week #7

Team IReallyThinkWeAreGoingToPlayForTheNationalChampionship......InSwimmingMaybe

QB: Russell, LSU
RB: Irons, AU (you just gotta believe he is due, even though he is injured)
RB: McFadden (Made us look like little Grissom High my sophomore year)
WR: DJ Jazzy Jeff Hall, AL
WR: Monk, Ark
WR: Bowe, LSU
K: Vaugn, AU
D: Miss St.

Wilco Concert, Another chapter in the Kevin Book of stories

If you ever get a chance to see Wilco - DO IT! They are an incredible band. I am relatively new to them - been listening to them for about 4 months. They put on a great show. They played in the Von Braun Concert Hall (Not the arena - home of purple 19). Great venue for a band- the acoustics were tight. Jeff Tweedy, lead singer, has total control of the stage, crowd, band, energy. He is the leader. We arrived at about 8:00, which gave Kevin plenty of time to set up his recording gear. He digitally records live shows at shows where the bands allow live recording (There were actually two other recorders at the show, so Kevin wasn't the only recorder). We had to watch the show with the microphone stand in front of us, but you could hardly notice it. (More on the microphone stand later). In between the opening band and Wilco, I went and bought three show posters (one for me, Kev, and Andrew-Angie's brother), a shirt for myself and a onesy for baby Julian. Kevin is going to make the nurse put it one him minutes out of the womb. Wilco had 100 special show posters specially made for the show in Huntsville with the back of a Saturn rocket with the words "Wilco" coming out of one of the rocket motors instead of fire - Art Deco style. Wilco started at 9:15, played 24 songs and ended at 11:10. Great, great show, but the most entertaining part of the story is what happened afterward. The house lights came on and Keving started breaking down his mobile recording studio. We left the concert hall and noticed a croud in front of the back stage entry way. Andrew and I got in line to see if we could get backstage. We both got turned away by the securty guard. As we were turning around Kevin walks up holding his microphone stand and tells the guard, "I'm archiving the show". The guard let him through - no questions. We handed Kevin all three show posters. After they let all they "legitimate" people backstage, they cleared out the rest of the concert hall. We waited for Kevin in the parking lot for about an hour (keep in mind that 6 month pregnant Angie is with us and very tired). Kevin finally arrives and starts handing out gifts - the empty bottle of Maker's Mark the band was shooting after the show (Kevin drank the bottom 1/5 of the bottle), a guitar pick from the lead guitarist, a set list, a hat. He basically grabbed anything and everything he could get his hands on. The best gift of all was the show posters will all six band members autographs. He even walked out to the bus to get Jeff Tweedy's autograph. Just walked right out and banged on the door all by himself. Kevin says we are the only people in huntsville with the special show posters signed by all six bandmembers. Only Kevin .......

A great finish to a great evening.

Let's Get Things Back in Order

Team GettingOldIHaveaBruisedRibandHugeStrawberryonLeganditHurtsWhenIPoop

QB: Syvelle Newton (lightning's gonna strike twice...oh yeah and UK's D sucks)
RB: Kenny Irons
RB: Raphael Little
WR: Robert Meachem
WR: Courtney Taylor
WR: Sidney Rice
K: James Wilhoit
D: bammer

Another Close One

Definitely the highest scoring week of JLM this season, thanks to all the creampuffs on the schedule. And the picking was pretty smart...only one zero this week (and of course it cost the person who picked it). First of all James had to be feeling good with his quarterback selection when Jamarcus Russell torched the Miss. State defense for 330 yards and a trio of touchdowns. I mean, 34 from your quarterback usually puts you in pretty good position, right. Couple that with the 23 that Irons got him on Thursday night and he's in the drivers seat, right?? Wrong. Russell's 34 was the lowest score for a QB this week...ouch. Larry chose the right week to pick Eric Ainge who came through with 40 JLM points. My inspired selection of Kentucky's Andre Woodson (not to mention the ineptitude of the UK defense which allowed Central Michigan to stay in the game and kept the offense throwing till the very end) notched 35 JLM points. Add that to the 26 points my main man Cassen Garrison-Jackson picked up for Vandy against Temple and we had a pretty good race with the top two picks from everyone. After the top two picks Larry was in the lead with 63, I had 61 and James was dragging ass with a mere 57. After that it became a two horse race, with James bowing out when Monterio Hardesty gave way to Lemarcus Coker in the Tennessee offense. Hardesty hardly saw any action and only got 4 points. Larry moved ahead 76-73-61 through the RBs.

Here's where the week's lone zero came into play. Larry was solid in the WR category (except for the fact that he took Courtney Taylor who has yet to put up All SEC numbers this century) getting 18 from Swain and 15 from Bowe. James reverted to form with only 21 from his wideouts (4 for Taylor, 7 for Bennett and 10 for Baker). I had the high receiver with Meacham's 21 and even the Bama jinx didn't happen with Hall's 11. But I fell under the spell of the Urban Myth and chose freshman Percy Harvin, who hasn't done squat since the first game of the season. His goose egg dropped me further behind: Larry 113, Matt 105, James 82.

John Vaughn couldn't bring me all the way back, only outscoring Florida's Chris Hetland 6-4 and Larry wound up with a 123-117-90 victory.

So that's that...my second best week and I lost. I'm not happy about that Larry...it's on this week.