TOD: Netscape

As former ELNK'ers, I think there's a touch of mistiness in the eyes with this news.

As of 03.01.2008 Netscape will die into the annals of cyberspace history.

Let us sing a dirge for you oh Netscape, "1100101010010000111110....."

For me, it was the first time I left the AOL world and saw the internet as an open field of dreams.

The first time I learned how to use bookmarks.

The intense 16bit button graphics looked really cool.

I saw @#%^@#$ for the first time on a netscape.

Netscape actually integrated with Real Player.

Using Netscape was reminiscent of a foray into politics. With websites saying IE only or Netscape Optimized. It was a browser war heyday that would be a harbinger for the red/blue decisions we now make as adults.

Thank you Netscape, you taught us so much about life, seeing @#^&* go do !%$%& with %^#*!. You took away my innocence and showed me the world in a way only a cruel mistress would. And as such, your floppy disks fall into the shadowy recycle bins of many.

Roundup Time

Despite your specific flavor of the football colours, you had something interesting going on this past week/weekend. Let’s get caught up with things that probably don't matter:

One thing that may or may not matter, but worth mentioning anyhow is some big ups to the Newcastle Jets of the Australian A League. I try and catch the Grand Final every year, since it’s the only A League game broadcast in the States and they've only had three of them so far. However, I found myself fascinated with the intensity of the Grand Final and came up with this formula to help explain the A League to outsiders:

1 part MLS (talent) + 2 parts ex-Pat Support (crowd noise and attendance) + 1 part Australian Rule Football/Six Nations Rugby (off the ball knocks) = Australian A League.

The game didn’t match the 5 or 6-0 drubbing last year, where Archie Thompson netted four goals in the biggest game of the year. I don’t care what league or place you’re playing, but four goals is knocking on the door of a golden shower and that’s why we watch the game (I realize that statement may need some more explaining, but I’m going to let your imagination run wild for the moment).


One bit of news that came out of the game was a clear hand ball in the box in the 92’ minute that should have netted the opposition Central Coast Mariners a penalty kick, but ended up netting their goalkeeper a 15 month ban for hitting the referee Mark Shields after missing the call, congrats to Danny Vukovic for crossing the line we’ve all wanted to go with Mark Clattenburg for a long time.

Moving continents…

Spain...looks like Real wasn’t as locked as thought in La Liga after blowing a home match to mid-table club Getafe, 1-0 and everyone’s favorite Dutchman wondering how he can get back on the DL.

Compounding Real’s issue is the fact that Barca now look like the Alpha dog in not only Spain, but the rest of Europe after getting a 3-2 result at Celtic and handing bottom of the table Levante a 5-1 mercy rule loss.

Italy…a few minor notes after a mixed review for the Italian clubs in the Champions League…

*Roma is getting closer to Inter (9pts w/ 14 games left) with a nice 1-0 home decision versus 5th place side Fiorentian (a game currently being shown delayed in the Lodge)

*This also marks the point of the season where AC Milan have re-entered the top 4 and make their San Antonio Spurs type run to the top of Champions League playing some of the most unattractive brand of Football out their, so kudos to them for making the beautiful game look like U-12 All Star game.

Germany…

England...Today’s pic of the day describes the big news that Spurs has finally achieved at winning something and with current form look to challenge to become a new member of the big four. I’d like to thank Lodge favorite, the G&D, for providing a good atmosphere last night for a 12 hour delayed game, big ups.

*Question of the week—where does this put Chelsea who are still playing for the other three trophies? A) 3 for 4 B) 2 for 4 C) 1 for 4 D) 0 for 4, please text in your answer.

Even quicker roundup:
*
Kevin Keegan’s back line is really, really bad, no I mean, really, really f’n bad

*Martin Taylor’s not a big fan of Brazilian born Croats playing for an English Team, seriously though, I did see on the Sky this morning that Taylor has only received 8 (2 red, 6 yellow) bookings in 240 matches, which is un f’n believable for any premier player. The Lodge’s thoughts are with young Eduardo da Silva and his out in the first round of Euro ’08 Croatian national teammates.

*El Nino is a good player when not on the bench

*Let's see if Dave from Seattle's Everton can get some points today to secure themselves back in the fourth place and give Timmy Howard an opportunity to get back to Europe's big stage

Relegation watch:

Derby 9…Fulham 19…Reading 22.............Newcastle 28

Be Champions...

Let the Beast Out

I've been on baby mode for the last few months. Its time to unleash that pent up fury in a better place... Tacoma: Strikeforce @ The Dome

In case you didn't know Bob "The Beast" Sapp is a cultural phenomenon overseas. What else can you be after playing UW and then getting kicked out of the NFL for steroids? I've seen him whale on people on tv and I can't wait to see him dominate in real life.

Ticketmaster wants my money, and I'm going to give it for the main event. I think the other half of these guys are from Forks and Kent:

-Bob Sapp vs. Jan "The Giant" Nortje

-Maurice Smith vs. Rick Roufus

-Brad Blackburn vs. Ray Perales-Steve Berger vs. Eddy Ellis

-Jorge Masvidal vs. Ryan Healy

-Andrew Pedersen vs. Mychal Clark

-Zach Skinner vs. Scott Shaffer

-Nathan Coy vs. Chris Davis-Joe Riggs vs. Cory Devela

I can smell the beer, peanuts, and blood now. ~~mmmmmm

Indiana Jones

Steven must have kept George off the set... Because this looks like it's gonna be F'n good...

How does this not happen more...

As I'm enjoyin' my mid-winter break, I can't get the thought out of my head about the couple of incidents that happened in the NHL this week. Richard Zednik of the Panthers was cut in the carotid artery in his neck by an accidental skate. The cut nearly completely severed his artery. It was held by a strain and made the surgery easier for doctors. Zednik might get released from a Buffalo hospital this weekend and could possibly play in 6 weeks.

The second clip shows an Oiler getting cut in the eye, and the third clip is a referee getting cut on the cheek. A side note on the referee, he is retiring after this season, and he got numerous stitches to his face. Also there was a great couple of fights in this clip.

I think some safety precautions should be made by the NHL. Here in just a week or so, two players and an official have been sliced with skate, I'm not even going to mention the thug Chris Simon who used his skate as a weapon earlier this year...

Tonight...the former Tacoma Rockets come to town. I will be enjoying a couple of suds and some chants that Rockets Suck...at the Key tonight...T-Bitds and Everett lock up this Saturday up the EEC.

NHL Network Friday games: 4:30 Washington v Florida, 7 Dallas v Anaheim. For the weekend games on CBC 4 you have four possibilities and at 7 Vancouver v Edmonton. NBC on Sunday will have Dallas v Red Wings. Plenty of Hockey...very little time...


Have a great weekend everyone...

The Week that was...the Hall of Fame..and other rumblings from the 253

So its been a while since my last post (before the Super bowl) so I thought it was about time to give you a good recap of the last week and of course... Gooses take:

• 1st of all as you all know Goose's boycott of the city of Canton has ended with the Election of Art Monk to the Hall of Fame. Inducted with him were fellow Redskin Darell Green, Emmitt Thomas, Gary Zimmerman, Andre Tippett, and Fred Dean. All worthy canidates. I like seeing Tippett finally getting in as well, he was overshadowed his whole career, being the AFC sidekick of LT. (Without the coke).
  
  
• After 31 years "Inside the NFL" had its final show. I can honestly say this is one of the few shows that I have watched religiously for almost 25 years. I loved Len and Nick. The show did jump the shark lately with the removal of those two stallwarts and the addidtion of both Bob Costas and Cris Collinsworth. The final show aired last week has some great moments of the last 31 years, however was tarnished by the whining of one Cris Carter. Carter swelled up with tears and chatised the HOF voters for "Not electing him on the 1st ballot". I think Cris Carter is a lock HOF, and probably was deserving of being on the 1st ballot. However show some class. Hey Im dissappointed that I did not get in on the 1st ballot but I look forward to next year". I want to send him a big bag of Flaming Dog Crap and sign it..."See what 8 years feels like, Love Art Monk". (Side note...interesting article of the Monk/Carter debate).
  
  
• Gotta give a shout out to the 253 and Chambers Bay for getting the US Open in 2015. Hopefully the Paper Mills and the Aroma of Tacoma will have dissapated by then. If any Lodge menbers have $150 burning a whole in your pocket you can play the course.
  
  
• Love the Eric Bedard Trade. Too many years we have looked for Prospects to come of age...Ryan Anderson, Gil Meche, Joel Pinero and look where the M's ended up. I think this is a bold move with good upside. This also makes Jarrod Washburn a #4 starter, where he should be.
  
  
• Paris Hilton release a movie "The Hottie and the Nottie"and spent 9 million dollars for the production. In its 1st week it grossed 27 thousand dollars. Thats not a mistype. 27grand. Why does Goose bring up Paris Hilton in the lodge? 2 reasons. 1. Because I get to mock her by delivering a line like....Gee thats only 27 grand more than Casey's Wolverine Movie yet he only spent $23.95. Also 2 as a warning and plea to Hollywood...Please let her 15 minutes be over....Please
  
  
• Roy Scheider died at the age of 75. While we may not see the Train of Death article, this man earned Lodge respect, not once, but twice fighting and defeating a 25 ft Great White shark. Plus uttering one of the greatest lines of Movie history... "You're gonna need a bigger boat."

Rex Grossman is a God, in Romania....

I had a nice laugh this morning. I came across this picture and article in the Times.

"Three Romanian girls wear donated Chicago Bears 2007 Super Bowl "Champions" sweat shirts."

It reminded me of our MOASP conversation and the fact that a child in Africa thinks Jim Kelly is the greatest QB of all time.

The Times article noted: some people in the Gulf Coast may be wearing Seattle Seahawks Super Bowl XL champions shirts. Kartes believes some of those shirts were distributed to
victims of Hurricane Katrina that year.

Monday Pitch Talk

Up late writing on my school blog, before I hit the hay, I wanted to bust out some quick thoughts from yesterdays matches in the Premier League to get everybody's week started. On a oddly busy Sunday, I was only able to catch United's disappointing form in the Manchester Derby without the suspended Wayne Rooney & Chelsea drew against L'pool. I'm pretty happy with the result for my Reds, especially considering Torres was out thanks to a hamstring injury sustained during the midweeks effing friendlies. Although Liverpool needs some wins instead of these friggin' draws. I'm just holding out hope that we will pull together some wins and claim that 4th Champions League spot during this second half of the season...

• I'm not trying to be mean or anything, because he's a gifted player... but Tevez kinda looks like the main Orc from LOTR. Check it. Hey, I'm just sayin'...
• City just seemed to have waaay more quality opportunities than United throughout the match, with Giggs showing why he's a step too slow to play on the front line on more than one occasion.
  
• The throwback kits in the Derby were awesome.
  
• Speaking of kits, I love that there were countless Chelsea supporters sporting the yellow bumble-bee kits. What would motivate a fan to buy that kit!?! A dare or lost bet are the only things I could come up with.
  
• Alex is a friggin' beast in the back for the Blues.
  
• Similarly, Skrtel has looked very strong for Liverpool. Only 23, he has played very well so far since his transfer.
  
• I think Malouda is French for "disappears for long spells."
• You have to love that Pizarro continues to rock the mullet. That's the best picture I could find, but the party was definitely going on in the back.
  
• And look, I know everybody praised Chelsea for the Anelka signing during the January transfer window, but he doesn't strike fear into the opponent like Drogba. It's just a shame that Kalou will probably be headed to the bench once the Elephants are back from the ACN.
  

It's About Time!

Welcome to Seatown Mr. Bedard. It's been a long 2 weeks and I'm tired of you already.

People are really split right down the middle on this deal, some loving and some hating. I for one, LOVE it. This deal is right for both teams....right now. The M's now have a left-handed, flame-throwing ace that can take the pressure off of Felix and let him stop trying to be the man. Newly acquired Carlos Silva at the No. 3 spot...Miggy and Washburn can fight over No. 4 & 5...and let's not forget about Brandon Morrow...because he can grow into a starting spot with no pressure now as well.

What did we give up for this Canadian stud? Who really knows? In my mind, it had to be done. "Prospects" are always a crapshoot. Is Adam Jones a prospect anymore? ...No. But c'mon. Maybe he becomes the next frickin' Eric Davis....maybe not. It's all speculation. I'm not hearing much speculation on the future of Erik Bedard though. Across the board better stats than the other top 5 pitchers in the league (excluding Santana in his big season) when you eliminate wins/losses.The M's have a nice group of young talent on defense that showed a little 'pop' last year. Adam Jones has played in 70 games. Bottom line is, Bedard played on a crappy team...and no matter how good you are, you are going to lose games. ERA, SOs, IP, WHIP....everything else is the bomb. And now he's coming to a pitchers park with a solid D. I think we can all agree that this guy will sell a few more tickets than the Jeff Weaver show. It's ok to pretend like you're excited Seattle. You don't have to ride the "I told you so" fence just so you can pull that shit out later if anything happens, or the flipside by saying something like "...I knew all along that this guy was gonna be good...and how about that mass transit, huh?" Get off the fence and commit, nobody will fault you for being a fan either way.

I'll go ahead and take one for the team/Lodge and head down to AZ in a few weeks to scout out this guys true potential. I will be objective but heavy-handed in my critical analysis, and I will report back on my findings.

West Beefing Up

With the reports tonight of Shaq being traded for Shawn Marion and Marcus Banks [a horrible contract that the Suns made 2 years ago], pending a physical that Shaq will take early Wednesday morning, the Western Conference is better than ever. Especially considering Pau Gasol making his debut Tuesday night and scoring 24 and pulling 12 after being dealt from Memphis last week to the Lakers for a pu-pu platter.

I know most of you don't follow the NBA [with the exception of Jimbo, occasionally], but bear with me. With the Mavericks losing out on the Shaq talks, they will most definitely trade for Jason Kidd in the following weeks. The NBA trade deadline is Feb. 21, and Kidd has repeatedly asked to be traded out of New Jersey.

In the next few weeks, mark my words that you'll see a trade of one Dallas PG [either Devin Harris or Jason Terry, probably Harris due to his youth and "upside"], Eddie Jones [expiring deal], and Erick Dampier OR a sign and trade with another contract guy they have, plus 1 or 2 1st round draft picks. The Nets are stubborn... so they could hold onto Kidd for another year. And I couldn't find a better deal on the ESPN NBA Trade Machine that works between those 2 teams. But bottom line is, I'd be surprised if Kidd isn't dealt by the deadline.

New Blog, Votes That Count & German Jimbo

I'm back in the middle of another busy quarter. If you feel like reading some theology for sh!ts and giggles, I had to start a blog for one of my classes that I update almost every weekday. Don't forget to vote today. Obama is getting two votes from me and Jenny + its in a state where it counts!

Today, I was perusing the Sports Guy Collection and found the priceless Hitler piece pasted below that somehow reminded me of what Jimbo was probably like a few weeks ago, even though he "swore off" his Cowboys last off-season and doesn't speak German.

I usually don't like to pile on, but this was too good...

Thanks again to Straightcashhomey

PERFECTVILLE Still Population 1

Monk Finally gets in!

I don't want to go on too much because I know Goose will go more in depth, but Art Monk is finally a member of the Hall of Fame.

I just want to say, Monk was one of my favorite receivers while watching football in my youth, he was the equivalent to Steve Largent. A quiet leader doing his job each and every week. Leading the league by example! Cheers to Art Monk and the rest of the class of 2008.