December 2001

that I would be good even if i did nothing
that I would be good even if i got the thumbs down
that I would be good if I got and stayed sick
that I would be good even if I gained ten pounds

that i would be fine even even if I went bankrupt
that i would be good if I lost my hair and my youth
that i would be great if I was no longer queen
that i would be grand if i was not all knowing

that i would be loved even when i numb myself
that i would be good even when i am overwhelmed
that i would be loved even when i was fuming
that i would be good even if i was clingy

that i would be good even if i lost sanity
that i would be good
whether with or without you
- Alanis Morissette

How’s this for annoying? When I returned from San Diego I realized that the cable company had rearranged all the channels. ESPN2 moved from 68 to 32. The TV Guide channel (previously 44 and the most-useful of all stations) is missing. And I can’t find Animal Planet (used to be 59) anywhere. Crikey! I don’t know what’s going to happen if I can’t find the Crocodile Hunter.

The Bucs won. I had a good time. Chris and I played Teras Kasi and MTV Snowboarding and argued at length about logic, infinity, nanophysics, the soul, “dark matter”, and relationships until 4 am. Then we watched the Simpsons. Chris is doing well. He has a really cool girlfriend named Al. She burned me a copy of the Orange County soundtrack, which is just great music.
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Ever wondered how to make a hologram at home? I think it’s neat that they used Woodstock as a model …

I finally managed to finish all my Christmas cards last night. It figures that I would run out of stamps with three left - mom, dad, and Nana Rainy’s. People should start getting my Christmas cards around the first week of January, so that’s always pleasant. And of course I haven’t mailed any gifts yet. Oh well. I’ll try to do better next year. 2001 was pretty whacked for me all around anyway, so this is all par for the ‘01 course.
I’m off to Chris’ in San Diego to watch the Bucs game. While I’m gone, try out the new “dark” theme. I like it. And hey, look! Only about 1200 more entries to put in the correct category and I’ll be all caught up here. w00t!

One Headlight - the Wallflowers

From CNNSI.com:

It didn’t mean all that much at the time. Early last March free-agent quarterback Elvis Grbac took a spur-of-the-moment trip to the Maryland home of Ravens coach Brian Billick. It was assumed that Baltimore would sign free agent Brad Johnson, who had played for Minnesota for seven years while Billick was an assistant coach there. But after Grbac expressed a strong desire to play for Billick (during a five-hour meeting that took place while Billick’s daughter’s slumber party raged in the next room), the Ravens decided to offer the same contract to both quarterbacks and sign whichever one agreed to the terms first. Grbac jumped at the deal, and a few days later Johnson signed with the Buccaneers. On Saturday night (ABC, 9:00 ET) Grbac and Johnson face off when Tampa Bay (8-6) hosts Baltimore (9-5). Each team needs a win to qualify for the playoffs; Johnson needs a victory to prove to Billick that he made the wrong choice last spring.

And so this was Christmas …

Observations like this are why I love to read Tuesday Morning Quarterback:

This season, style demands that NFL players on the sidelines don baseball caps, often worn backward. Look closely next time you see a shot of a backward cap on an NFL star. TMQ has been doing this lately, and has noticed-the adjustable bands are always cinched halfway or even two-thirds over. Which is to say that NFL players, despite being enormous pumped-up gentlemen, have unusually small hat sizes. Think about it.

I just heard Stuart Scott on Sportscenter talking about Barry Bonds’ season this year. He said something that just blows me away. I hadn’t - until now - really appreciated Bonds’ home run extravaganza. The 73 (SEVENTY-THREE!!!) home runs in a season is amazing, obviously. But Scott just said that Bonds hit a home run every twelve swings. Not “at-bats”. Swings. A home run every twelfth time he swung the bat. That is just incredible. I cannot believe that.

In other NFL news, NBC has announced that during halftime of the Super Bowl, it will air a 20-minute special of the drek “reality” show Fear Factor - reality shows” being the least real things on television - in which the contestants are six former Playboy Playmates of the Year. Swimsuits will surely be required for the so-far-undisclosed event. Maybe it will be a tanning-oil rubbing competition! The segment will start the moment the Super Bowl second quarter concludes, to lure viewers from Fox during the halftime festivities.

“I had once believed that we were all masters of our fate - that we could mould our lives into any form we pleased … I had overcome deafness and blindness sufficiently to be happy, and I supposed that anyone could come out victorious if he threw himself valiantly into life’s struggle. But as I went more and more about the country I learned that I had spoken with assurance on a subject I knew little about. I forgot that I owed my success partly to the advantages of my birth and environment … Now, however, I learned that the power to rise in the world is not within the reach of everyone.”
- from Midstream: My Later Life, by Helen Keller

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Danny Wuerffel is the latest athlete to cut a CD, but unlike other jocks, he’s not flowing about the grittiness of the mean streets. On the 14-song Heaven and Nature Sings - Christmas with Danny Wuerffel, Family, and Friends, the Bears’ quarterback lends his vocal stylings to such chestnuts as Silent Night and Joy to the World and also plays piano, harmonica, and trumpet. Proceeds will go to New Orleans’ Desire Street Ministries. ‘Like a lot of athletes, I’m kind of a wannabe musician,’ said Wuerffel. ‘I’m not real talented, but I enjoyed doing it.’”

Wow! I’m sitting here in LA with ESPN’s Best of Sportscenter on the TV and I just saw Steve Spurrier wish all the armed forces a Merry Christmas. That was cool.