Here's the time we didn't speak it seems for years and years

i'm not sure how much longer i can tolerate watching "Extreme Makeover: Home Edition."

EMHE is a bit of a staple in our weekly television line-up. It's a tolerable hour of television that allows me to catch the last three quarters of the Sunday Night NFL game guilt-free.

And i should admit at this point that i used to look forward to watching it. But now it's so contrived. I think the biggest problem is that the people who get the new house are allowed to nominate themselves.

I think the show would be a lot better if the people didn't know they were getting the house. It seems like the point is lost on the families now. instead of the overwhelming gratitude, it's more like the people are opening a christmas present. And sure they're thankful, but it's "I just got a cool house" thankful, not "i can't believe this is happening" thankful.

It's like the families have seen the show so much that there is a certain level of expectation of what they will get when they get back from vacation.

I also hate the parts of the show where the host tries to make the family members cry. it looks like he's trying to be sympathetic, but to me it's an obvious attempt for good television (although i'm not even enough of a jackass to say that there is no genuine goodwill involved, since it is the nature of the show).

*****

In other news, what a crappy weekend for Joe Niekro to die.

The former major leaguer is competing with Red Auerbach for attention and is failing miserably.

Come again some other day when i got time for bleedin'

before i get to a very abbreviated sports friday (i'm swamped), i have a question for all you people out there. Are you one of those people that put on your emergency blinkers when you're driving and it starts raining?

it doesn't make any sense to me, but i didn't want to start griping about it in case there is a logical thought process behind it.

so if you do that, please leave a comment and let me know why. thanks.

*****
The Hey it's your money picks of the week
last week 3-5
overall 29-32-6

penn state -3 purdue
vandy -9 duke
kentucky -1 miss. state
miami +5 georgia tech (pick most likely to be wrong)
texas -10.5 texas tech
tenn -3 south carolina

Staff cuts have socked up the overage

Welcome to Sports Friday.

I'll be a busy little bee today, so let me apologize for no not-sports posts this week.

The 'Hey, it's your money" Picks of the Week

Very few games i like this week. Some of these i'm putting on here just to have a big enough sample of games. And i haven't ever guessed an over-under on here, but I've got to think the Hawaii-New Mexico State game will go over the 75, which is a big number.

Last week: 6-5
Season: 26-27-6

West Virginia -22.5 UConn
Texas -5 Nebraska
South Carolina -3.5 Vandy
Oregon -3.5 Washington State
Boise -21 Idaho
Rutgers +6.5 Pitt
Georgia Tech +7.5 Clemson
LSU -32.5 Fresno State

*****

Well, we're in the second game of the third set in the LSU football blowout-blowout-loss cycle. The 49-0 win over Kentucky was as boring as advertised, and there's no reason to believe the Fresno State game tomorrow will be any different.

So that leaves Tennessee as the game to, as Staind put it, break the cycle.

I was hyped up after the two blowouts to start the season, then we lost to Auburn. I told myself that i wasn't going to get excited about the blowouts after that.

But before the Florida game, i had lost all willpower and expected that LSU would go to Gainsville and win fairly easily. they lost. and i told myself that i wouldn't get hyped up by two blowout wins before the Tennessee game.

and to this point, I haven't. I'm not predicting another LSU loss in two weeks (bye next week), but i'm certainly not going to make the mistake of predicting a win.

All the way in on my hands and on my feet and shoulders

I've been passively asking you every once in a while to check out my buddy Ryan's online music magazine, Marked.

Now i'm telling you to read this.

When you're done, go to the streaming music player on the site and listen to "The Suitcase I Left Behind." if you can hear that song and not order the cd, I'll be amazed.

you'll see in the story that proceeds from the sales benefit musicians affected by Hurricane Katrina.

Shouldn't have to fight, or worry about the bills tonight

Welcome to Sports Friday.

Hey, It's Your Money Picks of the Week

(I'm eliminating the points play, because much like play-money online poker, it's tough to play realistically. plus i've gotten burned by LSU for two straight weeks. which is why, if i actually bet -- and i don't -- i would adhere to the cardinal rule, 'don't play teams you're emotionally attached to.')

Last week: 5-5
Overall: 20-22-6

West Virginia -25 Syracuse
Georgia -13.5 Vandy
Florida State -22.5 Duke
Rutgers +3 Navy
Texas Tech -7 Colorado
Cincinnatti +25 Louisville (my pick for "game most likely to be incorrect")
Bama -15 Ole Miss
Cal -8.5 Wazzou
Baylor +27.5 Texas (runner up GMLTBI)
Nebraska -9 KSU
Auburn +2 Florida

****

Reader Pick of the Week

Big thanks to Joel for being the only person to humor me and venture a guess on the Reader Pick of the Week last week.

As you recall, I was torn between Mississippi State neutralizing West Virginia and the gut feeling that West Virginia would blow them out. Turns out i was sort of right on both ends.

West Virginia ended up covering by a full touchdown, but Mississippi State kept it close for three quarters. It was 21-7 after three quarters, so with the 21.5 point spread, things were looking good for the bulldogs. That is, until the 'eers hung 21 on them in the fourth to close it out 42-14.

****

One last thought.

My biggest gripe with the broadcast media is that something is either not worth mentioning or the best/worst thing ever. This seems to be especially true in sports.

This morning on Mike & Mike, Mike and Mike were talking about game 1 (yes, o-n-e) of the NLCS and made this argument: New York had to win the game last night. Now, St. Louis MUST win game two.

I just fail to see the logic there. it's the first game of a best-of-7 (yes, s-e-v-e-n) game series. If st. Louis wins tonight, does that mean that New York has to win game three? or are they more equipped to overcome a 2-1 deficit than they are a 1-0 deficit?

How come St. Louis didn't HAVE to win game one? Are they more capable of digging out of a hole than New York? if so, why is game 2 a must-win for them? Winning 4 out of 6 is not a problem, but winning four out of 5 is impossible?

*sigh*

I'm giving myself a headache.

But if i finish all of my chores and you finish thine, then tonight we're going to party like it's 1699

I'm a little upset about a bad dining experience last night.

There's a little place in Madisonville that seems like it would be the perfect seafood restaurant. It's small. The employees look at you weird because they don't know you. They know everybody else in the restaurant by name. Everybody else in the restaurant knows everybody else in the restaurant by name.

Few conversations are limited to one-table involvement.

They carried Abita Turbodog.

This place should have been a homerun.

So Courtney and I sit down. I order a Turbodog and the crabmeat stuffed jalepeno poppers.

For dinner i have the ruby red trout, topped with crab and crawfish, with a salad and a side of roasted potatoes and fresh vegetables.

Two good things i can say about the dinner: the Turbodog was served along with a frosty mug (with a new mug coming with the second beer as well) and the house salad dressing was pretty good.

It is not a good thing when the best thing you can say about a Louisiana seafood restaurant is that it had a good salad dressing.

It's not that the food tasted bad, it's that it didn't taste at all. the fish tasted like the potatoes tasted like the vegetables.

I still held out hope for the bread pudding, though. i love bread pudding, but under one condition: no raisins.

so i ask our waitress (i should add that the staff was extremely helpful and friendly) if the bread pudding comes with raisins.

Yes, she says, raisins and pineapple.

i haven't really thought about how to end this.

two trains. Yell freeze. It was a head-on cold now it's a love disease

I've relapsed with my coffee addiction. Didn't touch the stuff for a couple of months, not i'm back to 3 or 4 cups a day.

I'm temporarily suspending the Wednesday Weigh-in for a few weeks. yesterday, courtney and i signed up for the YMCA that's opening down the road at the end of the month. seems like a good opportunity to kick up my half-ass weight-loss effort to at least three-quarter assed. That gives me a couple of weeks to indulge my coffee and soft drink use before quitting cold turkey again. so look for the return of the weigh-in around the last wednesday in october.

Throughout the various courses of fate, i am now surrounded at work by rather proficient typers. don't know what it is about the sound of really fast typing, but it pretty much hypnotizes me (an di can't even spell it). it's like freaking catnip for clones. i just zone out and sit there and listen to it. i've always found it to be a relaxing sound. can't explain it.

Matt has another multimedia slideshow on his site.

Ryan has finally updated his blog, and would like to remind you to read Marked Music Magazine.

I know it may not seem like a sensible scheme

Welcome to Sports Friday (for ye who speak not of sports, the new post below is sports free. go to town. chimichanga). In order to encourage reader interaction, i'd like to see some of your picks in the comment section. especially for the pick at the end of this section.

The 'Hey, it's your money' Picks of the Week
Overall record: 15-17-6

Arkansas +15.5 Auburn
Wake +17 Clemson
Rice -2.5 Tulane
Notre Dame -29.5 Stanford (don't think i've gotten a pick right with either of these teams this season)
Baylor +5 Colorado
LSU +1.5 Florida
GT -14 Maryland
Oklahoma +4 Texas
Michigan -15.5 Mich state
Tennessee -2.5 Georgia

Point picks
Season total -1400

Going to dig myself out of the hole this week, i feel it. in fact, lets go crazy and try to do it with one pick.

1400 points LSU +1.5

NEW! Reader Pick of the Week NEW!

Ok, guys and gals, i want to see if you can do a better job than the crap I've been doing the last couple of weeks. So if you want to leave any picks in the comments section, be sure to include a guess on this one.

West Virginia (-21.5) at Mississippi State

My rambling thoughts: Mississippi State was a 33 point dog at LSU last week and covered by a point. They are excellent at stopping the run, neutralizing both Auburn and LSU on the ground this year. West Virginia QB Patrick White and RB Slaton (Can't remember his first name) are as lethal a ground attack as there is in college football. LSU has the best defense in the country, while West Virginia's will give up points on occasion. Yes, Mississippi State still managed to cover last week, but one touchdown came on a pick-six thrown by back-up QB Matt Flynn and the other came against LSU's second team defense. Even without a run game, LSU moved up and down the field on them. Russell was 18-20 with three touchdowns and 14 straight completions at one point. I've never watched a game where WVU had to throw the ball to win, but they have a couple of weapons at wideout.

So did the odds makers take all this into account when they set the spread a dozen points lower? My brain thinks this is a line the Mississippi State front 7 should be able to cover even with their horrible offense. My gut says this one is never close and WVU covers easily.

What say you?

*****

Well, this is the week I've been looking forward to/dreading since the Auburn game. Part of me is looking forward to seeing how the LSU defense coupled with a new wide-open passing attack will look against a top-5 team.

The rest of me is scared to death we'll see a replay of the Auburn gameplan and i'll have to go in my backyard and set myself on fire.

But I'm feeling optimistic. If you could put the talent level of LSU and Florida into a video game match-up and let the CPU control both teams, LSU wins it. Saturday will come down to coaching, plain and simple.

fool me once, shame on you. fool me twice? we'll see, but i think LSU rolls in this one.

24-6 Tigers

"I think of a man, then i take away reason and accountability."

I don't think it would necessarily be fair to say that I get road rage.

I get petty. I don't suffer fools well.

If you do something stupid, i'll position myself just right to spray your car with washer fluid. Mature, I know.

So I was in a pretty good mood today, until my drive to work.

As I've preached before, I wouldn't call myself a defensive driver. But I'm safe. I always know how fast i'm going and where other cars are on the road. I drive faster than the speed limit habitually, but I've never been pulled over for speeding, much less gotten a speeding ticket.

Over the years, I've compiled a list rules governing the correct way to drive. here are the ones that are important to this story.

1. On an interstate highway, brakes are not for slowing down. they are for not hitting the car in front of you.
2. Unless said car has its emergency lights on, do not slow when you see a police car. if you were speeding, the officer already knows it. going 45 for half a mile will not trick him into thinking you didn't just pass him going 83.
3. if you're not brave enough to speed on your own, don't wait for me to pass you then speed up and follow me.

i stopped in Hammond this morning to get gas. and shortly after i got back on interstate, i got in the left to pass a group of cars. After i got in the left lane, a mini van in front of me also got in the left lane. there were no other cars in the left lane within site.

So, needless to say, i was a little surprised when the van passed the first car in the group and its brake lights came on. i slapped my forehead as the van cautiously passed what looked like a soon-to-be police car.

the entire group of cars to our right were white Crown Victorias. They all had tinted windows and that spotlight cop cars have on the driver's side mirror. There were seven of them in a row. Other than the previous description, there was nothing that would lead a reasonable person to believe that she needed to slow down. (did i just use "she" and "reasonable" in the same sentence?)

None of the cars had permanent license plates.

None of the cars had any sort of police identification anywhere on them.

None of the cars had emergency lights.

The cars were driving 68 miles an hour.

Sorry, but that doesn't exactly scream "speed trap" to me.

So this stupid lady in her minivan is bebopping along at exactly 70 mph, clearly concerned that at any second one of the 7 notpolice cars to her right is going to throw on their notlights and pull her over for notspeeding.

We eventually make our past the intimidating armada of those who are clearly notprotecting and notserving. I mistakenly give the driver of the minivan a little credit when she pulls into the right lane to let me pass. mistakenly.

As i pass her, she speeds up. I get up to about 78. she's right behind me, now going 10 mph faster than she was a tenth of a mile ago.

In short order, it's time to pass another car. I get in the left lane. so does the minivan. I couldn't help myself. After i passed the car I slowed down to 68.

This apparently aggravated the woman driving the minivan, so she got in the right lane to pass me. So i sped up. she gets behind me again in the left lane.

The faster i go, the faster she goes. so i slow down again, but just for a second. i speed up, and i'm going about 78 or 80, and she's behind me flashing her lights at me. yes, two minutes ago, i was behind her patiently while she was going 70 in the passing lane, now she's telling me to get out of her way.

I decide that i'm happy where i am (one of my other cardinal rules of driving: Thou shalt not drive in the left lane when there's room for you in the right one) and let her pass me on the right.

so now i'm in a bad mood, because out there somewhere is somebody cruising along in a minivan who thinks i'm a bad driver and will continue to hit her brakes every time she sees a notpolice car on the road.

Loooooooove is a many splendored thiiiiiiinnng

He shoots, he sco...oooooooooooh

setting traps out in advance so we can spend the weekend staring in a trance

for reasons i don't fully understand, i think this is really funny.

it's the guy who played Biff in the back to the future movies.

i'm hungry

went 4-5 with my picks this weekend. so i still suck at that. overall record 15-17-6.

only got one of my points plays right, now at -1450 for the season.

and i really am hungry.