The Butcher Goes Down in '06.

Why, oh why Saddam did you have to die....in 2006.

My sick and perverted friends have a Death Pool that I am joining for 2007. Of course, the butcher of Baghdad was at the top of my list to die in 2007.

The way that the death pool works is that everyone picks 20 celebrities, famous people, etc. who they think will die in 2007. If that person dies in 2007, you get points by subtracting 100 from their age at their death. After the year is over everyone adds up their tally and the person with the most points gets a top prize close to $300. Well, when Hussein went to the gallows at 6 a.m. today -- two days short of 2007 -- I lost my chance at scoring some early points in the 2007 Death Pool.

Yes, it's sick and perverse, but not as sick and perverse as the Associated Press showing the noose tightened around Saddam's neck this morning seconds before his hanging...Now, that's perverse.

Insane in the Giant Membrane

I was ready to post a blog today about how the Yankees should trade Randy Johnson and sign Barry Zito, a much younger and healthier left handed pitcher. Well, things changed a bit today around 1 p.m. when an earthquake with same seismic force of the 1989 earthquake hit San Francisco with the announcement of Zito's 7 year/ $144 million signing with the Giants. While, I think Zito (pictured to the left, under the stack of money) is a good, young pitcher, I do not think he is worth anywhere near the record deal that makes him the best paid pitcher in the history of the game of baseball. Zito is and will never be one of the top 10 pitchers of all time, so I have no idea why the Giants decided to pay him like the best pitcher of all time.

Of course, Zito's agent is none other than Scott Boras, the agent for Alex Rodriguez, so it's no surprise that Zito got the richest deal for a pitcher in the history of baseball. Zito has one 1 Cy Young Award from his 2002 season when he went 23-5 with a 2.75 ERA. Those are pretty awesome numbers...

But since then, Zito's never won more than 16 games....going 14-12, 11-11, 14-13 and 16-10 with an ERA no less than 3.30. Maybe it's just me, but it looks like Zito - who's only 28 years old - is on the downside of his career. And because of that, he certainly doesn't deserve the richest contract ever for a pitcher....But, it's not my money, so what am I complaining about.

...And yes, I still want the Yankees to trade Randy Johnson (whose downside of his career happened about five years ago), but that's a different story for a different day.

Fire Tom Coughlin!

The players don’t care…the coaches are inept and not respected by the team and the fans are just plain pissed off at how this New York Giants season has gone after the team started off with a 6-2 record in the first half of the season. Since then, the team has hit rock bottom – more than once – losing six out of the last seven games. While the 6th and final NFC Wild Card position is still a possibility, I think it’s clear that the Giants players have given up on their coaching staff, including Tom Coughlin.

There were a few times during yesterday’s 30-7 drubbing against the New Orleans Saints that I thought it was the final nail in the coffin of Tom Coughlin’s 3-year tenure as New York Giants head coach. …and I’m not even talking about the two times during the second half of the game when the Meadowlands faithful chanted Fire Coughlin.

Midway through the 3rd quarter with the game still within reach of the Giants, Tiki Barber ran for 7 yards on a 1st and 10. On the next play, the Giants coaching staff called for a passing play despite Barber’s previous big yardage gain and Barber immediately expressed his frustration with the coaching staff’s playing calling by raising his arms in disgust – first in the huddle and then again toward the sidelines. Needless to say that the next play was an incomplete pass by a suddenly inept Eli Manning. That one play by Barber says more about how the Giants players feel about the coaching staff then anything else during their ill fated season.

It’s one thing to for Barber to talk to the coaches about play calling decisions during the film session after the game, it’s another thing for Barber to be upset after the game and say that the other team outcoached the Giants. And it’s completely another thing for him to show up the coaches on national TV on one minor play. What it says to me is that our team leader doesn’t agree at all with the play calling and decision making of the coaches. And when that happens, well you have a problem as your team leaders aren’t going to execute on plays that they don’t agree with.

Everyone says that Coughlin is a tough, hard knocks coach to play for and for some reason this has to translate into the players being disciplined and not make stupid mental errors. Well, this sure doesn’t translate for backup offensive lineman Bob Whitfield who has been called for personal foul penalties on multiple head butts this year. And what does Coughlin do after Whitfield gets whistled for two personal foul penalties in the game. Does he bench him? Does he scream at him? Does he get in his face? No, he doesn’t. All Coughlin does is walk right by Whitfield when he comes off the field. That says to me that the coach either doesn’t care or that he knows that his players don't respect what he has to say.

And that’s why Tom Coughlin needs to be fired.

Merry Christmas!!

Merry Christmas everyone! I hope everyone who's reading has a wonderful Christmas Day and a Happy Holiday season!

More tomorrow on the Giants debacle against the Saints and hopefully the end of the reign of Tom Coughlin...

Sometimes the Things You Own End Up Owning You

I own 813 Single Don Mattingly Cards...not one of the same card...

I own 7 Don Mattingly Figurines made by Starting Lineup...

I own 125 DVD movies...

I own 55 Stephen King hardcover and paperback books...

I own 28 Xbox, Xbox 360 and Xbox Live Arcade video games...

I own 4 Eli Manning Figurines made by McFarlane Toys...

...think I have an unhealthy addictive collecting personality?

Fantasy Mourning

I am in fantasy mourning this morning as both of my Fantasy Football Teams in the playoffs ended their seasons last night (107-93 and 97-68 respectively).

One of my teams still has an opportunity to secure 3rd place, which would win me my money back and get me promoted to the Premier League next year -- I'm in my league's Auxiliary League this year -- but I am still raging pissed off and upset about last night's losses.

I'm probably more upset about my losses in Fantasy Football then I am about the Giants loss to the Eagles this past Sunday, which is pretty stupid and retarded, in my opinion....I'll stop crying now though over this fake and meaningless entertainment in my life and thank my lucky stars for my health, well being and happy life.

I will leave you with this question though: In the photo above, was Plaxico Burress expressing his disgust and frustration for being left on my Fantasy team's bench this weekend or he is upset about the Giants devastating loss to the Eagles. The best writers leave it to their audience to draw their own conclusions...

A Pathetic Loss to the Iggles

What else can I say other than it was simply a pathetic lost to the Jeff Garcia-lead Eagles today. I mention Jeff Garcia because I could accept this 36-22 lost at the Meadowlands to the Eagles a little more if they were lead by Donovan McNabb. Alas, they were not.

With a playoff berth on the line, every one of the Giants played a really heartless game today. They didn't execute on any play during the entire game. As usual, the secondary played horrendous, the defensive line let Brian Westbrook tear them up throughout the entire game and the offense as a whole didn't make plays when they needed to.

It was also a pathetically called game by the Giants coaches and I am praying that the Giants fire every one of their coaches when the season is over. How in the world can you not convert 1st and Goals twice inside the 6 yard line. How can you call a run for a 2 pt conversion late in the game when you had trouble running the ball for the entire second half. It's true that part of it falls on the players for not executing on plays, but I really think that a lot of it has to do with the plays that the coaches are calling. The Giants are definitely talented, but they are undisciplined as they make a ton of stupid penalties and they just don't look like they care or know what they are doing half the time.

Unbelievably, the Giants still control their own playoff destiny if they are able to somehow beat the Saints and Redskins in the final two weeks of the season. I think this blog indicates that I don't think they deserve to make it.

New York, New York!!

Either, I'm getting older or New York's avenues are getting longer because I am crazy sore today after walking around the City for 6 hours last night with my wife. It's an annual tradition of our to go into the City every holiday season to see the Christmas tree at Rockerfeller Center FAO Schwartz and the holiday windows at Macy's, Saks, etc. that feature insane motorized dolls performing random holiday scenes repetitively.

It's always an adventure during our holiday trips to New York as it's usually cold -- yesterday it wasn't too cold -- and there's usually way too many people visiting the greatest city on earth -- yesterday, there definitely was.

We ended up getting into New York's Penn Station around 4 p.m. and headed to Macy's to see the manic motorized dolls. Once we arrived there, we spent little time looking at the windows and more time maneuving around thousands of people who also were there to look at the windows.

After that we headed up to an outdoor bazaar of some sort to look at the unique stores selling jewelry, XMAS ornaments and Asian cultured items. Afterward we headed up to Rockerfeller Center to see the Christmas Tre and were again greeted by thousands of tourists who were all intent on running straight into me and my wife. We also saw the studios of the Today Show on the outskirts of Rockerfeller Center. I'm not sure if we were looking at the wrong studio, but I wasn't impressed at all because it was so small and unimpressive (maybe it was a secondary studio?)

We then headed up to FAO Schwartz and looked at the unique toys and bought some bulk candy. By that time, it was time to head up a tapas restaurant on 15th Street - El Cid - to meet my wife's friend for her birthday. Dinner was decent and we headed back to Penn Station at 10:30 to catch a 11 p.m. train.

Overall, yesterday was a ton of fun, despite today's aching legs, back and feet, but we'll be sure to head back to the City to brave the crowds and cold next year.

Gorefest on NFL Sundays

After running for a mediocre 608 yards and 3 TDs in the 2005 NFL Season, San Francisco 49er running back Frank Gore wasn't at the top of many people's fantasy football draft boards. On average, he was ranked at the bottom of the Top 30 RBs in the NFL. Because of this, many people passed on drafting Gore in Fantasy League drafts and as a result, I was able to add him as a sleeper pick in both of my fantasy leagues (8th Round and 11th Round respectively). Generally, picking a RB in those draft positions, the best you can expect is for the player serve as your 3rd or 4th RBs, who fills in during the bye weeks and injury weeks for your stud running back.

Well, something happened on the way to the football field as Frank Gore became a stud in the 2006 NFL Season. Prior to the start of the season, Kevan Below, last year's underachieving starting RB for the 49ers, was shipped off the the New York Jets and Gore was given the full-time running back job. Gore certainly hasn't disappointed me or 49ers fans with his tremendous production this year. In 14 games in 2006, Gore has been one of the Top 3 RBs in the NFL, rushing for nearly 1,500 yards and 6 TDs.

Last night in a NFC West division showdown against 1st Place Seattle Seahawks, Gore started off the game extremely slow rushing for only 40+ yards in the first three quarters. In the fourth quarter, he took the game over and ended it with 144 yards in rushing along with a 20-yard TD catch late in the 4th quarter to lead the 49ers to a 24-14 victory over the Seahawks. Here's Gore's full statline through 14 games this NFL season: 270 carries for 1491 yards (5.5 YPC), 6 TD; 53 catches for 418 yards and 1 TD

I'm looking forward to see how Gore ends up this great NFL season and I'm extremely glad that one of my leagues is a keeper league, which means I'll have Gore on my team next season.

Sam Fisher: He's no Jack Bauer

Sam Fisher of the Splinter Cell video game series, certainly isn't up to par with 24's Jack Bauer, but he certainly deserves his props as a bad ass action hero. With that, I give you my review of Fisher's latest in the Splinter Cell Series: Splinter Cell: Double Agent. ...

Splinter Cell: Double Agent

After playing this game off and on for the past two months, I beat Splinter Cell: Double Agent (SC:DA) last night. SC:DA is the fourth game in the series and 1st entry into the Xbox 360 marketplace. For those who aren't familiar with the game, it's a stealth game like Metal Gear Solid where the name of the game isn't to run around like a maniac shooting everything in site, but rather to methodically sneak around enemy locations -- like a sneaky maniac --on your way to completing various objectives. As Sam Fisher, you can either simply avoid detection altogether by sneaking behind the enemy or you can simply sneak up behind the enemy, grab them by the neck and whisper sweet nothings into their eyes before snapping their neck or stabbing them in the back....hey, you're allowed to do that and not feel bad about it if they are terrorist thugs, right?

Overall, I would give the game a 9 out of 10 because of its superb next generation graphics and its incredible artificial intelligence (AI) of the enemies. The game doesn't get a 10 like other Splinter Cell games I've played in the past because half of the missions in the game consist of you at the enemy headquarters with none of the great gadgets and weapons that you've come to know and love from the Splinter Cell series. Your goal in these missions is to play the role of the Double Agent by completing tasks for the NSA, while pretending that you are an ally of the terrorists. While these missions are interesting because of the multiple objectives and strict time limit that you must adhere too, the lack of gadgets -- in my eyes -- really hurt the game.

Another thing that definitely hurt the game is really the lack of an interesting or tough ending. I am a big stickler for opening sequences in games as well as ending sequences. Since I was a child -- some might say I still am -- I've always enjoyed ripping open the package of a video game, smelling the smell of a game and then popping in the disc or cartridge and watching the beginning cut scenes of the movies.

Then after I finish a game -- hopefully it's a tough ending -- I religiously watch the last cut scenes as well as the credits while I bask in the glory of my hard fought victory. It's something that I've always enjoyed doing; even thought I usually can't understand half the names in the credits because most of the time they are Japanese. I

In SC:DA case though, the ending just wasn't hard at all to complete and I didn't have that "basking in the glory" feeling simply because all you have to do at the end of the game is shoot a few terrorists and then disarm a bomb -- the same type of bomb that you disarmed three or fours times in the game already....That hurt the overall game experience for me, but I definitely would recommend this game to anyone who enjoys the stealth genre or has played other Splinter Cell games before.

Until next time...the man who doesn't want to grow old, grows older...

Entertain Me!

Entertain Me!! What I'm watching lately!

Entertainment of the Week

The Wire (HBO) - Being a avid watcher of a number of HBO Original Series like The Sopranos, Lucky Louie, Oz and Six Feet Under, I've always seen previews for The Wire. For some reason never gave the show the opportunity. Boy, was I wrong not to watch an episode of this excellent show. Recently, I watched the final four episodes of Season 4 of The Wire when it was on HBO and I must say that even though I had no idea what was going on - since I started watching more than halfway through the 4th season - I was extremely, extremely impressed by this series. The dialogue is great...the story lines are great....the characters are excellent. Basically the entire series is about life on the streets of Baltimore. The story lines involved the mayor's dealing with the politics in the City. Cops dealing with their internal struggles while busting thugs on the street. And the main story line of the life of the thugs on the streets of Baltimore -- even 5 year olds - who deal drugs, shoot people and do all of the things that encompass the thug life....not that I would know what that means. I am definitely looking forward to the upcoming rebroadcasting of Season 4 on HBO next week and definitely plan to watch the series from the beginning of Season 1.

The DaVinci Code - After reading the smash hit novel and then watching the movie in the theater this past summer, I wasn't impressed at all with the movie adaption. On my second viewing of the movie this week, I think it's a decent movie that has some great action and suspense sequences. I am still extremely pissed that Tom Hanks got the leading role as Robert Langdon. I always thought that he was wrong for the part. My opinion is that the movie adaptation -- like a Superman or Batman movie -- would have done well no matter if Hanks was the lead or not, so I'm not sure why a less well known actor wasn't given the lead role....To give you some perspective: George Clooney should not have been Batman either. I am more upset about this then I am about Hanks playing Langdon.

Feast - My pal Smelmooo turned me onto this Greenlight movie and let me just throw out a pun and say that Feast made me want to throw up. Not because it was a gory, horror movie -- it was -- but just because it wasn't that good at all.

The story surrounds people at a bar who are attacked by monster gargoyles. The gargoyles break into the bar in drips and drabs and end up killing and eating people in interesting ways. I wish I could tell you more about the plot, but I literally fell asleep halfway through it.

That's all for now. Stay tuned for what's entertaining me lately....

Fantasizing in the Real World

I sat in front of the television last night at 11:30 p.m. and screamed in glee as New Orleans' Saints head coach Sean Payton had QB Drew Brees kneel the ball four times on the Dallas Cowboy's 3-yard line at the end of the Saints 42-17 romp last night...Not because I was happy that the Saints beat America's so called team, putting my Giants only 1 game out of 1st place in the NFC East, but because the Saints starting RB Deuce McAllister didn't run in for a meaningless TD to end the game, ending not only the game against the Cowboys, but also ending my fantasy football playoff hopes.

Yes, I really care more about the fact that Deuce McAllister didn't score another 6 points....not in real game points mind you, but 6 fantasy points. The reason for this is that my Round 1 fantasy playoff team - the Big Blue Towelies - ended up winning against my opponent - the Argos - by 3 little points. 3 points that separated one team going home and another team coming one game closer to the $350 First Place prize. So, my Towelies move onto Round 2 to face off against another fake team the Soup Nazi's .

And do you know why I care so much...because real money is involved and because I put countless hours of time reading magazines ad nauseum in the months of July and August of every year to catch up on the offseason of player trades, free agent signings and injury rehab. I care because there's also a ton of bragging rights involved with many of my friends who also play in my league. And I really care because I haven't put together a good fake team of real NFL players in years. It's pretty insane, but there were weeks this season when the Giants would lose, but I wouldn't be upset about it because my fantasy team won its weekly matchup.

I guess you could say that I'm invested in it both literally and figuratively...meaning if I lose in this year's playoffs, I'll probably pout about it for weeks on end.

Here's the team that I hope is taking me home to the promised land this NFL fake season:

Starting Lineup
QB - Philip Rivers
RB - Tiki Barber

RB - Frank Gore

WR - Steve Smith
WR - Donald Driver

K - Josh Brown

Def - Jacksonville

Bench

RB - Chester Taylor

WR - Plaxico Burress

WR - Randy Moss

Def - Minnesota

And, I haven't even told you about my other Fantasy Football team -- the P#ssy Trolls -- yet. To paraphrase Brick Tamlin from Anchorman, yes I have mental problems.

Giants Maul Panthers, 27-13

It was a nice uplifting 27-13 win for the Giants today to break the team out of its four-game losing streak. Eli Manning played well throwing 3 TDs. Burress had some great catches and Shockey had a headful of steam on each of his catches. And the Giants secondary actually did something that they haven't done all year long; they intercepted the QB -- multiple times. The most promising thing that came out of today's win was that the Giants didn't commit a lot of dumb penalties that we've all seen during this losing streak.

All in all, I was really pleased with how well they played with their proverbial backs against the wall today against the Panthers. There's going to be some who say that the Panthers had their backup QB Chris Weinke going and it was a game that the Giants were supposed to win; my response to those people is that the Giants had lost 4 straight games and even if the Panthers starting QB Jake Delhomme played today, there wasn't any guarantee he would perform any much better than Weinke as Delhomme hasn't played too well this season either.

Today's win leads us inexplicably into showdown with huge playoff implications next week against the Eagles. Both teams are 7-6 and the winner will be in a much better playoff position then the loser will be. Not to mention within reach of a potential NFC East title, if the Cowboys lose tonight to the Saints.

Hang on for a crazy finish to this NFL regular season.

Andy Pettitte Returns to New York

Right now, all that I can say is that I am completely speechless. I knew that it was a possibility, but I wasn't ready to admit to myself that I wanted Yankee great Andy Pettitte back in Pinstripes. I wasn't ready to admit it, because I didn't want to be let down if he went back to the Astros. And now that the news came out tonight that Pettitte signed a 1-year, $16 million contract with the Yankees for 2007, with an option for 2008, I feel like a kid who woke up on Christmas morning to be greeted by a brand new bike under the Christmas tree.

Andy Pettitte was by far one of my favorite Yankees growing up and I was definitely upset when he left the Yankees in 2003 after a 21-8 season to join the Astros. I always felt that the Yankees didn't do enough to sign him, but at the same time, I knew that they were right not to throw gobs of money at him at the time because of the potential arm troubles that had started to surface. Well, sure enough, soon after he signed that 3-year deal with the Astros, Pettitte hit the DL and he remained there off and on again for 2 of the last 3 years. When he did pitch for the Astros, he was the same old Andy Pettitte going 37-26 over the course of 3 years, highlighted by a stellar 17-9 record and 2.39 ERA in 2005.

Now, he's back with the Yankees and needs 14 more wins for 200 wins in his career, making him the third winningst left handed pitcher in Major League Baseball History. ... And I couldn't be happier that he's going to do it in Pinstripes.

Fiscal Sanity in an Insane Market

$14 million a year from the Red Sox for J.D. Drew, an outfielder who has been injured for 250+ games in the past five years...To one overzealous team, a rumored $10 million a year for Ted Lilly, a journeyman starting pitcher who is 59-58 in his career. And an insane $11+ million a year from the Rangers for Vincente Padilla who gave up 206 hits in 200 innings this past year.

Money is certainly flowing from some unlikely MLB teams this offseason. And where are the free-wheeling, free-spending Yankees in all of this insanity? Sitting on the sidelines and for once practicing fiscal restraint and responsibility. It's a new Yankee mindset. Build the minor league farm system from within and take an honest look at a player and his ability to hit and pitch in the clutch...especially in the postseason.

Since Brian Cashman took back the power from the Tampa contingent of the Yankees, I've been pleasantly surprised about this new mindset that he has brought to the team this past offseason. Starting with the trade of Gary Sheffield for three pitching prospects and ending with his hesitance to throw money at big name players this offseason, Cashman has simply changed the mentality of the free spending Yankee organization and its fans.

I must admit that I loved in past offseasons when the Yankees would pounce on every big name free agent, making huge splashes on the backpage of newspapers with such moves as the trade for Randy Johnson to the signing of Carl Pavano. Those moves and many other like them haven't bought the 27th World Series title to the Yankees as smaller market teams like the Marlins and Cardinals have won the annual championship.

I am seriously glad that the Yankees are not throwing bags of money at the hottest free agent name on the market. We need to build our team back up again from the bottom, while complementing our homegrown players with proven All-Stars who can hit and pitch in clutch playoff situations.

Of course, if news comes out that the Yankees sign a mediocre pitcher for an crazy sum in the coming days, then I'll readily admit that they've become a part of the insanity

Entertain Me! ...at the Movies

What I'm now watching. ...

Movie of the Week
It's only Tuesday, but I'm ready to name my Movie of the Week

Owning Mahowny -- This movie came out in 2003 to little avail. If it were to come out today, I guarantee that it would have made a ton of money in the theaters because of its plot around gambling as well as the great acting of Philip Seymour Hoffman.

The story centers around a degenerate gambler Dan Mahowny (Hoffman) who gets deeper and deeper into debt because of his compulsive gambling habits. Mahowny is a banker in the film and he sets up fake bank loans to fund his habit.

As his debts mount, he goes on a rollercoaster ride of being in the red and black continuously. Throughout he shows all of the typical addictive gambler indicators throughout the movie...like not being able to stop gambling when he's up....like thinking that the next big score is right around the corner....like making making bigger and bigger bets to get back into the black. Or another scene in Las Vegas where Mahowny his friend to hold onto money that he's won and not give it back no matter what he says. After Mahowny loses all of his money, he threatens his friend into giving the money back to him and then he proceeds to lose that money.

I would highly recommend this film to practically anyone as it's a great character story of just what can happen to a person who lets gambling run their life.



Inside Man -- Going into watching this movie with Denzel Washington and Clive Owen, I was expecting a decent movie. What I got was a great movie. Although I haven't figured out the ending yet, I would highly recommend giving this movie a rental.


As the name of the movie indicates, it deals with an inside job to rob a bank. But the robbers weren't planning to rob money from the bank. That's all I'll say about that. I'm not much for people spoiling movies for others.

Nacho Libre - I don't even know what to say about this movie. My wife and I usually like these type of random, off-centered movies, but this was just atrocious. It was simply way too random and all over the place. Sloppy script, dumb scenes...the works. It was one of those movies that you turn off halfway through....which is exactly what we did. It was so bad, that I am not even taking the time to find movie graphic to accompany this piece.

Until next time...

Entertain Me!

When I started this blog, I wasn't sure what to write about or where to get my ideas...but now I've come up with an idea that I'd like to run with. It's called: "Entertain Me!"

Along with the occassional sports-centric or random off the cuff life piece, I plan to post every so often blogs about what I'm now playing...what I'm now reading...what I'm now watching. Sometimes, it'll be a "semi-review" puff piece of what video game, book or movie I'm keeping myself entertained with...and sometimes it'll be just some random thoughts.

For the first inaugural article of Entertain Me!, I present to you now: "What I'm now playing..."

Video Games

It was a fruitful birthday of landing two great videogames. Yes, I turned 29. And yes, I plan on getting Halo 3 for my 30th birthday when it comes out next November. If that makes me a child, so be it.

Gears of War (GOW) - To the chagrin of my wife who gave me the game a week before my birthday: I finished GOW on the lowest difficulty setting in five days. She was none too happy about it, but I promised her that I was planning to play it again and again on the harder levels and that's just what I have been doing. Any free moment I have, GOW gets its time in my Xbox 360. ...

I was not impressed at all with GOW on casual - lowest difficulty - setting, but after ramping up the difficulty to hardcore, I am extremely impressed with it now. It's different than anything else I've ever played before and the graphics look phenomenal on my new HDTV. The game is pretty much made of single battle moments, where you hide behind cover while the enemy - the Locust - tries to tear the cover you are hiding behind to nothing.. When they are reloading, your character Marcus Fenix can pop to shoot back at the Locust. Like, I said it's different than the run and gun "blow the hell out of everything that moves" shooter out on the video game market today.

I've played the game a few times online on Xbox Live, but really have been concentrating on playing it on the single player setting. Rest assured that the next time I post "What I'm now playing..." I'll still be playing Gears of War.

Call of Duty 3 - One of the reasons that I asked for Call of Duty 3 for my birthday is because Call of Duty 2 was one of my favorite games on the Xbox 360. Thus far in the time that I haven't spent playing GOW, I've played Call of Duty 3. So far, it has better graphics, better scenes and more "Oh, sh%t, did that just happen!" moments than Call of Duty 2. I feel like I would be selling the game short if I said anymore about it because I haven't played it enough to give an adequate assessment of it.

That's all for now...gotta get back to my games. Until next time...the man who will never grow up grows older...

A Game the Giants Should have Won

This picture of Jeremy Shockey says it all ...

Today against the Cowboys was a game that the Giants definitely should have won. We settled for FGs when we needed to drive a dagger in the Cowboys and score TDs. We somewhat contained Tony Romo -- although don't tell Fox that, as they believe he's the second coming of Fran Tarkenton. Eli had a good game - 270 yards and 2 TDs and no INTs. But we just couldn't get the job done tonight.

When it comes down to it, we made too many stupid personal foul penalties, our defense didn't make 3rd down stoppages when it should have and our coaching and play calling is just downright awful.

I'm just disgusted right now with the Giants coaching staff. I didn't have a problem with them going for it on 4-1 in the 2nd quarter when they were near the 30 yard line of the Cowboys, but I definitely had a problem with the way the coaches calls plays when we were inside the 5 yard line of the Cowboys. There's no way that you can be at or around the 5 yard line of the Cowboys twice in the game and not score at least one touchdown there. It's just inexcusable to go away from the strength of Brandon Jacobs in that situation and not at least try once to run the ball in from that distance.

Sure one of the two wildcard spots in the NFC is still a possibility and the season is long from over as it seemed that the team came together somewhat during the week of turmoil and played a halfway decent game today. But don't tell me that right now. We're 6-6 and that's just not acceptable for the type of team that the Giants should be.

I'm sure that the media will play up the fact that the Giants won because of the late game heroics of Tony Romo. That's not the case at all. He threw one pass at the end of the game to put them in FG position. He was given the opportunity to do so because the Giants left way too much time on the clock - 1:06 - after the late TD catch from Plaxico. Romo did not have a great game, but I'm sure that the media will say that he did. Eli put the Giants on his back at the end of the game by driving the team 65 yards down the field in two minutes to tie the game. That fact will be lost because the Cowboys won the game by 3 points. It drives me insane.

It remains to be seen how the Giants will respond in next week's tough game against the Panthers. If they don't win, kiss the season goodbye.

It's A Crazy, Amazin' World!

A pretty nutty thing happened today...My best friend married my wife's cousin on Sat., Dec. 2. i love both of them dearlyi, but I think it's completely crazy because my best friend is now my cousin. I never imagined that it would happen and I don't think I've completely grasped yet that they are now married and my best friend is related to me.

I gave the toast today as the best man and was crazy nervous about it. Even more nervous then when I gave a presentation at a client meeting in mid-November. Everyone said I did a great job, but I'm sure it was customary comment as I felt that I did just an OK job. I was way too nervous and nearly got choked up a couple times.

You just never know what's going to happen in life. This is just one example of it and I can't wait to see what this world has in store for all of us.

One Year Away from the Big 3-0

As Eddie Murphy once said in Coming to America: "Yes it is my birthday"

I have nothing else to add to the fact that this is my last birthday in my 20s, so I'll leave you with some quotes from TV and Movies to say it best:

South Park's Cartman: That's right 'cos it's mah birthday, mah b-b-b-birthday!

Family Guy's Stewie Griffin: Actually, my first violent act involved that ticking time bomb that I left in your uterus when I left. Happy 50th Birthday, Lois

From Old School:
Marissa: Listen, I'm sorry I didn't call you on your birthday.
Frank: My birthday? What do you mean? Marissa: Yeah, last Thursday. Oh, you forgot your birthday, didn't you, Frank? Frank: Damn it. I'm such an idiot.

No. 19 Terps Take Down Fightin' Illini

It was a real solid 72-66 win in the ACC/Big Ten Challenge for the Maryland Terrapins last night. It was the first game of the season that I was able to watch. I honestly hadn't read a lot about the team this season, so I had no idea what to expect.

I was instantly shocked when I turned the TV on, as the Terps jumped out to a quick 15-point lead to start the game. Late in the 1st half, the Illini came rumbling back -- taking all of the early momentum back from the Terps and effectively getting the orange-cladded fans into the game. Past Terps teams - post 2002 Championship - would have folded up like a cheap suitcase, but apparently, this is not your John Gilchrist's Terrapins.

After falling behind by five with 8:55 left in the game, freshman point guard Greivis Vasquez (left) literally took over. It's been a long time since I've seen a freshman on any team positively take over the game all back himself. "General" Greivis played some great defense -- including a late steal off an inbounds -- and made some clutch baskets. I must say that I was really impressed with him. He is definitely a shoot-first guard, but so was Terrapin great Juan Dixon.

The Terrapins have missed the NCAA Tournament for the past 2 years, which seems inconceivable to Terp fans who enjoyed 12-13 straight years in the Big Dance. Now, it looks like they are ready to head back there led by an unlikely freshman point guard.

I think this situation is really indicative of teams that were once on top and are now working their way back to respectability. You saw it with the Terrapins after the 2002 National Championship. You saw it after the 2001 World Series loss for the Yankees. You saw it after the 2004 World Series win by the Red Sox.

Teams that are on top get extremely cocky and think that they can stay on top by interchangably switching -- maybe more talented -- players in and out. What actually happens is that when players like Juan Dixon or Paul O'Neill or Johnny Damon leave the team and are replaced by "me" first players or maybe more talented players like John Gilchrist or Jason Giambi or Coco Crisp. What happens though is that the team loses a chemistry it once had with your true leaders and role players.

I think that the Yankees are starting to realize that with some smaller headlines, but better moves this offseason. Good riddance Mr. Sheffield. Hopefully after a few years of bringing on cancerous players like Gil -Anti-christ (right), Travis Garrison and Ryan Randle, the Terrapins are also starting to realize that.

It's a Brave New World

As a former sportswriter at the University of Maryland's Diamondback, I acquired the nickname "paperboy"; okay I made it up myself because of my work as a reporter and my love the old school Nintendo game Paperboy.

After getting out of the newspaper biz, I wrote poems for my then girlfriend/now wife. Now I write boring strategies/press releases and Q&As at work. I was hesitant to start a blog, but now think it might just be the thing to spruce up my life.

Is anyone reading? Who cares?

If you are...ENJOY!