"Jojo was a man who thought he was a loner, but he knew it wouldn't last...

From one of my favorite records and songs from the L'pool foursome come the first post of the New Year. I’d say I’m about ready after spending the last three of so months on constant slack (thank you for all your cards and messages) that doesn’t look to be letting up in the near future.

It’s hard to find content for a post when your life revolves around what soccer games are on mid-week and finding the right livefooty link. Despite that, I still have time to browse the local paper and Google news for real news stories and then choose more Lodge-centric newsworthy events. So regardless of my uninteresting real life, I'm prepared to comment on the somewhat interesting lives of others. here we go….

Housekeeping note:

“No one shall be called out for a lack of posting”

Posting is not easy…it takes time to make one quality, if a member chooses not to post for two weeks or two months that’s their business. Everyone on the roster should remain active and comment when they can, and if we never get another post from MCP that’s fine, we can all collaborate on a “Ten things I loathe about Serenity and comic books” post without any objections.

The Lodge is for all intents and purposes a local Seattle Sports blog, if certain members have nothing to add, then they have nothing to add. I feel responsible for not bringing more to the table for the last two months, but hopefully the New Year will change that…yeah I know.

However, members should still be called out for being a jackass, regardless of their activity or location.

Noteworthy:

1st on top of this list is the extremely sad news that a landmark of Seattle culture is shutting down in the middle of April. Yes, two years after Leilani Lanes, Sunset Bowl will make way for the underserved Condominium population in Seattle.

There are now unofficially three or so lanes left in the Seattle area, and please do not count the Garage. There will be an official Lodge outing to Sunset in the very near future, however a date is not yet confirmed (don’t worry 2.0 we’ll mail you an empty Bowling Pin Budweiser bottle).

Commentary/High Horse section:

Weeks after the announcement of the closure of the Crocodile Café, we get this news. I’m not sure were the finger is supposed to be pointed, but the constant Flinstonian backdrop of every inch of civic landscape is starting to turn me into Andy Rooney. On a recent trip to the Rose City, I lost count of the Best Buy/Target/Indian Casino, etc tally somewhere between 15 and 20.

I don’t know what the plan is for the Sunset Bowl, but what I do know is it isn’t going to be a 24 hour bowling alley. In the not too distant future the only landmarks left to residents of this fair city will be the original Fred Meyer store, or first drive thru Jack in the Box. The end is quite possibly here.

2nd order of the day is the news from Mother Goose’s Mecca that Grandpa Gibbs is going back into retirement and will continue acting in an advisory roll for the once proud franchise from our nation’s capital. Joseph White explains all the details here, and on a personal note I would give major props to Grandpa Gibbs for not changing hat styles throughout both tenures, something every man should strive for.

I know this is the part where I take a dig about senility and the game passing him by, but I’ll resist and leave that to Jim Rome. I’m just curious, which coach chooses to walk into the current NFL coach death trap next, word is that Gregg Williams is next dead man walking, and just to get you excited ‘Skin fans, .354, that was his winning percentage in three years at Buffalo. Enjoy.


Other notes:

· Congrats to the Bayou Bengals last night for their home win over the Buckeyes. I’m just glad I live in a country where University of Miami, LSU, ASU and USC/UCLA all are eligible for home game in the biggest games of the year. Whose bank account do we have to line in order to get a M’Fn’ playoff up in here?

· Apparently Mike Martz is going to prove once and for all how bad Alex Smith is next year.

· Finally, props to the original “Goose” for making Cooperstown, however I’m not sure if the man himself is making the hall or just “the stache”