In which I ramble on for a while

Gr, dudes.

It's been a while since I posted anything of note. I was sort of inspired tonight while channeling around on the TV. The high school football game of the week on CSS featured North Gwinnett vs. Newnan in the AAAAA quarterfinals. I stopped and watched for a few minutes. I have Newnan (not necessarily the school, but the town) associated in my mind with The Rake, who tends to comment frequently on our family blogs, and seeing Newnan on TV reminded me I hadn't checked his blog in a while, which further reminded me that I hadn't written in my own blog in a while either, so here I am. No idea how the game turned out. North was winning, last I checked. My wife is watching her stuff now, though, so I'll have to wait for Operation Football to find out the final.

What's up with Evel Knievel dying? He made it through all those insane stunts back in the day, hardly seems right for him to just pass away from an illness. I always figured he'd go in some spectacular fiery schmeer of some kind. One of his old friends was quoted as saying, "It's been coming for years, but you just don't expect it. Superman just doesn't die, right?" That's exactly what I mean. At least he settled his stuff with Kanye before he went. Which reminds me, I saw a clip of Kanye on the Grammys a couple of years ago, when he won some award. He said, "A lot of people were wondering what I was going to do if I didn't win anything." He paused, held up the trophy, and said, "I guess we'll never know." I figure it's sort of like this season for the Falcons. We'll never know. Except they haven't actually really won much of anything yet, have they? So it's really not like the Falcons at all. My bad.

Then there's the whole Sean Taylor situation. Last I heard, they they had arrested four people, all under the age of 20, in the murder. They say they thought the house was empty. Apparently they knew who lived there, and they just wanted to rob it, figuring a wealthy NFL star just had to have something worth taking. Lord, help me if I ever become famous. I don't want it. I wouldn't mind winning $200,000 on Don't Forget The Lyrics (hosted by my cousin Wayne Brady) like that crazed odd-dancing woman did tonight, but I have no desire for fame and fortune. Case in point: Britney Jean Spears. I sort of feel like if she had never become famous, she'd just be living in her little Louisiana town, raising a family, maybe waitressing at a truck stop somewhere, singing songs off the jukebox for tips. Instead, her every move is hyper-analyzed, her every decision--for good or ill--is under a microscope. Girl, please. Put your pants back on.

Oh, man! We've just this week discovered that ESPN Classic shows old American Gladiators reruns every night at 7:00. We've watched the last couple of nights. What cheesy fun. Remember that show? Huge spandexed men and women with names like Nitro, Blaze, Laser, and Gold competed against athletic mooks off the street in "beat each other up" style competitions. It's a lot of fun, and seeing Todd Christensen's epic curly mullet is like warm beef stew on a cold winter night. NBC is apparently preparing an updated version of American Gladiators that seems like it's going to fill the Sunday Night NFL time slot after the season ends. Hulk Hogan and Laila Ali will be the hosts. Whee!

Not a lot going on around the house. My wife tells you all about our plans for the weekend on her blog. If you haven't already read it, read it.

My fantasy football squad is 9-3. I lost a squeaker last week because my cousin Tom Brady only had one TD pass, and Neil Slacker missed a chip shot field goal for Arizona. I'll probably cut him tomorrow in a bitter fit of pique. Long live Ryan Longwell! He's been a kicker on my team since 1997 or so. With a name like "Longwell" you figure he's either a kicker or a porn star. Maybe he secretly lives a double life. Kicker by day, foot-fetishist by night. OK. Ew.

Anyway, this week's game is YOOGE! Sandy Springs FFC vs. 8-4 Bake-O's, with Barney Division supremacy and a first-week playoff bye on the line. Bake-O's is owned and operated by the inestimable Dan Shim. I tried to trade for one of his TE's last week, but he was conveniently "out of town for Thanksgiving" and "didn't get home" and respond to my e-mail until after the trade deadline had expired. I think he was actually at home and concocted some weird travel story because he didn't want me to have Chris Cooley because he knows that TE has been my weak spot all year. Funny, Shim. Funny like a crutch. The crutch, actually, that Cedric Benson is now using, allowing Adrian Peterson to start in Chicago and score points for me all over the place. Go AP, it's yer birthday! I just realized that Shim is 8-4, but has actually been outscored by his opponents on the season. He's only scored 235 points, and his opponents have scored 237. Meanwhile, I've scored 398 points (giving up 227) and am on pace to be the highest scoring team in UFFL history (there's 15 years of history there) if I can total 66 points in the last two games. That's right at my average. Of course, having said that, watch Dan beat me this weekend, 59-2. Go Patriots!

OK, I'm going to go. I've long since missed Operation Football so I'll need look to elsewhere to see what Newnan did (it appears that North Gwinnett won 38-35). Parkview (Class of 1988 here) is way out of the playoffs, as is Chattahoochee (where my wife works), so I have nothing more to look forward to, high school football-wise, except for Brookwood losing. Then again, they already lost, to North Gwinnett last week. HA! North Gwinnett! That's ironic, unless it isn't. Ben would know. Hell, I don't know what's going on any more. It really is time for me to get out. Peace. Support your local bloggers. My wife has a sexy butt.