Shirley = Pariah? Hardly

Their has been a lot of up roar in response to one of my favorite writers recent blog post on Haiti. Most people view him as a heartless bastard that should be locked away. He has just recently lost his job as a contributer to ESPN.com and probably will never be viewed in a likable way in the public eye. But why? Because he said what he felt? Because he didn't agree with everyone else's unquestioned support for a country most know nothing about? (if you haven't read the post, which I hadn't until 10 minutes ago, here is the link for it. It's worth the read.)

I follow him in the minority when it comes to this issue. Did I donate to Haiti? No. Will I donate to Haiti? No, I won't. Does this make me a bad person? Not even close. I agree with Paul on most of his statements that he makes. Shirley compared this to donating to a homeless man on the street and how most of the time, the money doesn't go to a good cause. Where is all of this money going that everyone is donating to? Does anyone know? But yet millions upon millions donate (rightfully so) with no idea who it goes to or what good it is doing.

In a nation founded by free speech, one writer lost his job because of his views on a country that no one talked about until tragedy struck. It's sad really and I wish him the best.

UPDATE: Paul has written a reaction to all of the media scrutiny. You can read it here.

Fucking Brett Favre

I'm sure that this phrase came out of the mouths of many Vikings fans after last nights crushing NFC Championship Game loss to the Saints. Perhaps it was deserved. Maybe it was fucking Brett Favre that lost the Vikings a chance of playing in Miami with that gunsling with his team in potential field goal range. Maybe it was fucking Brett Favre that caused so much pain for another fan base. But if it wasn't for fucking Brett Favre the Vikings would never have gotten this far. Without fucking Brett Favre the Vikings would have been done in the first round, if they made the playoffs at all.

I was going to write something on the Vikings last night but decided against it, mostly because I wanted to watch the rest of season one of Dexter (more on this later) but also because I wanted the loss to sink in a bit. I wanted to sleep on this one and see if my thoughts were any different a day later. To see if my feelings towards the game have been skewed by sleep and lots of blood (again, there will be lots of Dexter references in this one. I guess I might as well get it out of the way now that we are on the topic. For those of you unfamiliar with the show, it is a show that is on Showtime and is about a serial killer that kills other serial killers. The show is awesome, I recommend it to all of you as I finished one season this weekend.)

Morning came and I was still feeling the same. It wasn't broken heartness (yes, I made that up) because the Vikings lost. It wasn't anger because Brett Favre threw a classic gunsling. It wasn't even stupidity as I believed Brett Favre turned over a new leaf this year only to be reminded of how he really plays. I felt a sadness. Not for me. Not even for any of the Vikings players. I was sad because one of the last text's I got last night from my father after the game was "I hope I see the Vikings in the Super Bowl before I die".

Minnesota fans are notorius for expecting the worst and getting the worst. It's in our blood. Bill Simmons summed it up best with this Conference Championship Preview, "Jets/Bills/Vikes/Browns fans expect to get punched, contort their faces into a giant wince, wait for a punch that never comes, say to themselves, "Cool, I'm not gonna get punched, it's gonna be OK!" ... and then they get clocked." It happened in '98 and it happened again last night (the '98 season was the last time that I genuinely cared about the Vikings as my NFL team. They set records for points in a season and blew everyone away until the somehow lost to the Falcons in the championship game and I cried as a very sad 10 year old. I haven't shed a tear for the Vikings since because I learned to get out while I still could. To distance myself from the looming heartbreak that is always around the corner for Vikings fans.) So when Chester Taylor had a 14 yard run down to the Saints 33-yard line I couldn't help but start to worry.

My initial thought was that the Vikings were going to go the the first Super Bowl in my lifetime but I should have known better. I should have known that Championship Game Favre was going to show his ugly head eventually. I should have known that the football Gods don't let road teams win while turning the ball over four times (road teams really don't win turning the ball over five times, which would happen moments later). I was being too naive. I fell back into fandom for that split moment and I was let down. Again. In heartbreak fashion. Again.

You all saw how the rest of the game played out. The Saints drove down and kicked the game winning field goal sending Nawlins' into a frenzy and deservingly so. They were a good team but if anyone says that the Saints beat the Vikings were obviously not watching the same game I was. While the Saints did make plays on defense, fumbling the ball as much as the Vikings did is inexcusable and I had never seen anything like it before in a game. It was like the Vikings (namely one Adrian Peterson) were playing hot potato with the ball and the kicker was that they could have had more then the five turnovers they ended up with. The Vikes turned the ball over twice inside of their own redzone (easy points) and Favre threw both of his picks while in Saints territory (likely points). The Vikings beat themselves and choked in another big game. There's nothing else to say.

Which brings me back to Brett Favre. Was the interception in the 4th quarter with 10 seconds to go really stupid? (yes) Was it his fault that after a time out there were 12 guys in the huddle causing Brett to pull a Chris Webber of sorts? (no) Brett was doing what he always did and that is try and make plays with his arm and eventually throw some gunslings. Packer fans warned us the entire year but we were too enamored to listen (or we didn't want to listen because "this year is different"). Brett had his best statistical year of his Hall of Fame career because he didn't do the things he did last night. At the same time it would be very hard for me to trust my running backs when they had put the ball on the ground so often in the game (Percy, really. You had to fumble on back to back plays? Really) so I would try and make plays myself if I was old #4. And the toughness and courage that he showed throughout the game is stuff of legends. He got hit more then I'd ever seen a QB get hit and every time he winced like he had popped a rib out of place. It was inspiring to see a man battle through that much pain just to win a game. We all knew that Brett had heart but just in case you had never seen him play before, it was like he had to prove it to you.

That will be my lasting memory of Brett Favre. Not the last int he ever threw as a Packer. Not the wasted year in New York. Not the last int he ever threw as a Viking (maybe). It will be his toughness. His will. His desire. All for the game of football. People will point the finger at Brett but not this guy. You can't point the finger at a guy that left it all out there, which is what Brett did. And Vikings fans, there is always next year...

ATOTW: Week 3

I know this is a few days late but it is for good reason...

I have basically lost all free (or stolen, however you view it) internet at my apartment so my blogging time will have to be regulated to when I'm at work (for now at least). But the good news is, because I waited for awhile to get this post up I found the perfect Athlete Tweet of the Week for ya.

It comes from former University of Minnesota Golden Gopher kicker Rhys Lloyd and was tweeted on Monday, January 18th at 10:04 PM.

"Gone through 5 bottles of red wine tonight. For no reason. Yeah biatch"

It's good to know that kickers can party too. Oh, and did ya'll know that he was married to this lovely LGPA member? Yeah, kickers huh...

Hibachi Gets Grilled

Oh Gilbert, Gilbert, Gilbert. What do we do with you now. You had it all, a fat guaranteed contract (the Wizards owe over $80 million to Gilbert over the next 4 years), you played in the most cushy of professional sport leagues and you were the star of a team only two years removed from the playoffs (mainly missing the playoffs because Gilbert was hurt). How do you mess this up?

Well let's start from the beginning shall we? Our story starts on the Washington Wizard's plane back on December 21st, 2009. There was a friendly card game going on in the back of the plane that included various Wizards players, namely Gilbert Arenas and injured guard Javaris Crittenton. Apparently Gilbert and Javaris had a little disagreement over which player owed the other one money, or something like that. NBA players arguing over money, very surprising...

Even the holiday spirit couldn't cool off these two as they got into it again during their next practice a few days later. After all of this jolly cheer happened, it was back to normal for the players and the team. That is until Gilbert decided to take this up a notch and play a little joke on Crittenton.

We all know what happened next, Gilbert took out three of his guns that he decided to take into the Verizon Center (obviously not paying attention to these signs) and told Crittenton to "pick one". I'm not sure which one Crittenton picked but I'm sure he picked the smallest one, that's what I would do. Gilbert eventually got into a bit of trouble and then joked it off like it was nothing. Perhaps it was a joke and personally, I don't think it's thaaaat big of a deal that he joked with guns. It's not like they were loaded and he planned on shooting Crittenton, he is a NBA player but he's not that dumb (the same can't be said about Crittenton I guess).

So as we stand, Gilbert has plead guilty to the felony charge of carrying a pistol without a license and is suspended indefinitely for now and probably will be suspended for the entire season. Where does this place the Wizards? Well they were pretty shitty before this incident and they continue to be shitty after the incident. They will most likely overhaul the roster starting with forward Antawan Jamison (Cavs?) and the buttload of expiring contracts that they also possess (Mike Miller, Mike James, Brendan Heywood). And last but not least we have Gilbert. The Wizards (along with Adidas) have basically erased every trace of him from the Verizon Center starting with a large mural that used to be on the front of the arena and ending with removing all merchandise from their team stores.

Eventually (you'd have to think anyway) that the Wizards will void Arenas big contract and start fresh. The team most definitely has a good reason to void the contract and can at anytime if they view the player has failed to live up to their code as a player of the league. Usually a felony falls under the guidelines of termination.

What does Gilbert do from here? Well, he has a few options. First, he has to shut up and do whatever is asked of him from now until he gets out of jail (assuming he goes to jail). Second, once he gets back into the NBA he has to check his ego at the door when it comes to signing with a team. He won't be getting any offers for the max contract, something he had with the Wizards, and probably will only get a minimal year contract from a team that has nothing to lose because let's face it, Gilbert isn't the most popular guy in the NBA (I heard a story on ESPN about how once Gilbert took the tired off of a players car as a joke because the player rubbed him the wrong way).

Who could use Gilbert? There are plenty of teams out there that can use a guard that can score and play the point...

1) Milwaukee Bucks - They have Michael Redd (when his ACL and MCL are attached to his leg) but he has a player option for the 2010/2011 season for $18 million. Of course anyone would love to have an option to receive $18 million dollars in their pocket but my guess is that Redd will not be a Buck much longer. The question that remains here is if Gilbert and Brandon Jennings can play on the court at the same time since they are both point guards. Can Gilbert play the 2? Who knows.

2)New Jersey Nets - They need a lot of help everywhere and Gilbert is an improvement on whoever they will have on their roster next year. Could we see Gilbert and Lebron on the same team?

3) New York Knicks - Again, the Knicks need help at a lot of positions and adding Gilbert to run the point could be perfect for Dantoni's seven seconds or less offense. Can you imagine Gilbert running up and down the court, putting up 25 shots per game? Can he average 30 per game? Wouldn't that be something

4) Golden State Warriors - Perhaps a bit too far fetched as Gilbert played his first two years in San Fran and the relationship ended quickly. He would be perfect along side of Monta though.

5) Los Angeles Lakers - Dream situation for him and me personally. Derek Fisher isn't getting any younger and Jordan Farmar looks like a career backup. How stacked would the Lake Show be with a starting lineup of Gilbert, Kobe, Ron Artest, Pau Gasol and Andrew Bynum with Lamar Odom as the 6th man? I've anyone can contain Gilbert I'd think it would be Phil Jackson and Kobe.

I could keep going but you get the idea. Gilbert will have options next year if he is wise but from what we have learned from him so far, he will probably demand a huge contract and eventually sign for a team that is not a good fit. I'm pulling for ya Hibachi.

ATOTW: Athlete Tweet of the Week

Yes, boys and girls, it's that time again. This week's tweet comes from Vikings Left Tackle Bryant McKinnie and was send on Wednesday, January 6th...

"Was looking 4 my charger all day finally found it!"

Do we really care that you just found your charger? Does it effect us in anyway? No, no it doesn't "Big Mac". Please don't let DeMarcus Ware kill Brett Favre this weekend because you lost your charger again and you are to busy looking for it to watch game tape or I don't know, practice to become better.

Home at Last

Usually I have been updating where my travels have taken me on the last night that I was at the paticular place, just so I could fully describe all that happened during my stay. Well last night was my last night in the Country Music Capitol of the World, Nashville, Tennessee and as you can see there is no update to be found. It wasn't that I didn't have an internet connection but it was because I was just too tired to put one together. I actually wrote out the first paragraph while in bed last night and said fuck it and went to sleep. So why have I told you this? It's because I'm currently in my new home in Roanoke, Virginia stealing the internet from someone so I'm not sure how long I have to post. Lets start where we left off shall we? (disclaimer: this post is long, print it off and take it into the bathroom with you. I have no problem being reading material while taking a deuce)

I left Indianapolis at 5:30 am local time. Indianapolis is in the eastern time zone so to me and my body, it felt like it was 4:30 am. I don't even remember the last time I woke up at 6 am let alone 4:30. The weird thing about it is that after I woke myself up, I went into autopilot mode. I don't remember thinking any thought other then "Load the car. Don't forget anything." Well, I loaded the car fine but of course I forgot something. It didn't take me long to remember what I left which ended up being a towel (no biggy, it's all yours Matthew).

It was on my drive from Indianapolis to Nashville where I made up a new game to play if you are ever stuck in a car for a long period of time. It doesn't really have a title but for the sake of me explaining it, I'll call it the Scan Game. As you can tell by the name it is played while using the scan feature on your radio. If you don't have a radio or if the scan button is not on satellite radio then I don't know what to tell you. Sorry, you can't play. Anyway, you hit the scan button and let it do it's magic. You see if you can recognize the song being played and if it's singable then stop the scan and sing away. All you have to do next is hit scan again if you do not like the song that is played next and the fun continues. This is how I spent at least half of my drive so I'm somewhat of an expert at the game. So you don't want to challenge me in the Scan Game. Trust me.

Because I left so damn early on this cold and snowy Monday morning (4:30 am if you need a reminder), I got into Nashville very early (around 9:30, I also gained an hour by traveling back into the central time zone). This was good because I got to spend more time with Sam! Of course Sam had to get his lifting in for the day before I arrived so as I got to his place he was dressed in normal Sam gear: athletic shoes, gym shorts, no shirt, and a smile. I was also excited to see a little guy that I hadn't seen in awhile and I was worried that he would not remember me. I hadn't seen Bruce in months and we kinda ended on bad terms (long story long: we were "complicated" on fb for a long time because we couldn't see eye to eye on a lot of things but we both cared about each other. There was the fact that he was a cat and also Sam and Katie's child (they got jealous that he liked me so much) and then there was the situation with me and how I like female human beings. It wasn't working as well as it could have). Almost before I could lock Lucy away in her cage, Bruce was all in my grill, we had a good cuddle and it was back to old times again.

After I finished sneezing (allergic to cats) Sam and I played a few games to reminisce about Minneapolis. The first game that we like to play is we try and guess which flavor of yogurt that we are eating. It sounds really lame but we usually do this after, how do I say this, we are in an altered state of mind(?) and let me tell you, it's damn near impossible to guess the flavor. It makes no sense but apparently all yogurt just taste fruity and beyond that it's up to you. Crazy, I know but again, trust me on this one. The second game that Sam and I enjoy is a good Guitar Hero set; or as we like to call it, band practice. You see, we are so good at playing Guitar Hero that it's like we are actually in a band, that and we like to pretend that we are actually rockers. I'm not sure if I've ever expressed my feelings towards Guitar Hero but if not, it's the greatest game in the world. Ever. Let's move on.

The best part about the first day in Nashville is that Sam had a list of things he wanted to show me and for all of you that don't know Sam, this is very typical behavior. It's not a bad thing so chill out Sam. I know you are going to text me and say something like "I read your blog and you said that writing out a list is typical for me, what does that mean huh?" I'm telling you now, it's probably a good thing so be happy. Anyway, most of the list were of things that I had no interest seeing so I mentally crossed those off in my head. We instead walked around the Vanderbilt campus with Lucy along for the walk as she had been cooped up in a car most of the day. Overall it is a very nice campus but it has the same infatuation with naked men as the Mayo Clinic does in Rochester. Ok, we get it, it’s art and the natural state of a human but c’mon. Keep it in your own house or something.

While in Nashville, Sam and I had lunch at a few places which we all very tasty and basically hung out and caught up on lost time which was fun. One thing of note is that I ate at a Jack-In-The-Box for the first time. It was my breakfast for Tuesday morning and it was very good. In Minneapolis, Jack-In-The-Box is what Sonic used to be: unattainable since there were no restaurants in the area to eat at but they fed you commercial after commercial basically teasing you. The moment that I saw the Jack-In-The-Box I knew that I had to eat there and so I did.

One thing that I have to mention was the “Storm of the Decade” that happened while I was in Nashville. I think it was Tuesday night when I was watching Conan and I saw that a bunch of schools were closing. I was very curious as to why all of Nashville was shutting down so I did some investigating to find out that the city was expecting 1-3 inches of snow throughout the next day. Let me repeat that, 1-3 inches. Not feet. Not meters. Inches. I couldn’t believe it until Sam told me the next day that it was their first snowfall in years. These people freak out then water freezes and have no idea how to drive/act/live/survive in it. It’s quite comical to think about but I'd probably feel the same if I lived in the region. Since Nashville greeted me with snowfall, it decided to treat me to a farewell snowfall as well. So much for escaping to the south to get away from snow…

(I suppose I should say something about the National Championship Game… Obviously it would have been a totally different game if Colt McCoy didn’t get injured but I thought Bama was going to win anyway so whatever. It would have been nice to see Colt gunsling one last time in the college game because he was a fun player to watch. Bama is tough and they are only going to get better as Saben’s recruits will start to show up in the coming years.)

Nothing too eventful happened on my drive to Nashville to Roanoke. I drove through more snowfalls (5 total on my drive, seriously?) and through mountains for the first time of my life (that I can recall). I was pretty mesmerized by the “big ass hills” as I like to call them. Something about how two landmasses crashed into each other and kept going until mountains formed fascinates me. It was pretty cool to drive through and I wished I could have taken more pictures but it wasn’t exactly the safest thing to be doing while driving on potentially icy roads. One stop I did make was in Knoxville to check out Rocky Top /Neyland Stadium. I couldn’t see much of it but I walked around it a little bit and took some pictures. One picture that I didn’t take was of Lucy taking a dump right in front of the main entrance. Take that Lane Kiffin!

I’ll never in my life forget the drive into Salem/Roanoke. The mountains were at their highest that I had seen them and the sun came out for the first time all day. The sight was very breathtaking and I think the weight of everything hit me. “I live here now” is all I could think of and it’s true. I actually live outside of the midwest. I live in the eastern time zone. It’s weird to say and it puts in perspective how on my own I really am. No more are the days where I can drive an hour to see my parents and do my laundry. Now, a plane ride takes longer then that if I wanted to go home.

I want to thank all that made the journey possible. Grandma & Grandpa, Matt Diehl, Sam Leof thank you for letting me use your home as my temporary one. Thanks Mom and Dad for the love and encouragement and thanks Lucy for sleeping nearly all of the drive. That made things really easy. Now on to the photos!