Folk Star and Crazy-Ass Frenchie!

Happy noon-time hour to all of you in the Central Time Zone! It’s lunch time, Hurrah! I would be a bit more excited if I wasn’t eating a ham and cheese sannich from home, but it’s better than nothing.

So today started off a bit later than normal for your favorite blogger as I had a bit of a lie in from staying up late last night. Why was I up so late? It was to watch America’s Team the Dallas Cowboys come back in the dying seconds of the match against the Bills to steal a win. And it was a bit like stealing. Tony Romo, up to this game, had been playing superbly and was tearing up the field with accurate passes and smart movements in the pocket. That all seemed to go out the window for most of last night though as he had 4 interceptions in the first half, of which 2 were returned for TDs. The Bills were also able to hold the Cowboys to field goals and even ran a return back to increase the lead. It all seemed to be going Buffalo’s way. That is until the last few minutes of the match. Dallas got the ball on their 20 with only a few minutes left, 3 timeouts, and needing 8 points (a TD and 2 point conversion) to tie the game. Romo finally seemed to snap out of his funk and ran an impressive 2 minute drill to get the Cowboys into scoring range. With about 20 second left, Romo fired a ball into Crayton for the TD to put them within 2. Dallas then lines up with all wideouts and Tony lobs a ball into the corner for Terrell Owens who grabs it, but has it torn away by the Bills defender. Argh!!! So close! It seems the Bills have it all tied up.

But no. Dallas goes for the onside kick and recovers it on its own 47. There are only 18 seconds to go, no timeouts, and Dallas needs about 20 yards to get within field goal range. First play out Romo slings the ball into Owens who seems to catch it. The Cowboys then run up, take the snap and ground the ball, thus killing the clock with 1 second and a chance at a winning field goal. As the field goal unit trots on the field, the replay booth looks the play over and figures that Owens lost the ball and it was an incomplete pass! At least it put time on the clock, which Dallas then used to get in 2 quick, short passes to put then just on the edge of field goal range. On comes new kid Nick Folk to try a career long 53 yarder. The ball is snapped, the kick up, and it’s good!! Dallas has done it!!! But there is a whistle and refs running on the field. Seems Dick Jauron, the Bills coach, called timeout just before the snap, thus negating the kick. No worries said Folk (at least that’s what I figured he said) and he booted yet another one through to make the win legit. I know it is a legal rule where the coach can call a timeout a second before the snap, but it is a lousy rule in my opinion. I’m glad to see Folk stick it in Dick’s face! Hah! Anyway, even though the Cowboys didn’t put in a stellar performance, they did keep with it to get the win and remain undefeated. That kind of reminds me of……

The Arsenal! Yes, the North London boys in red had a somewhat similar (but not exactly, well, you know) experience over the weekend as well. The Gunners, unlike the Cowboys, actually started really well and were 2 up within 15 minutes against Sunderland on Sunday. They could have been 3 up, but once again the assistant referee called for offsides when it really wasn’t. So the Gunners seemed to be flying and as a result, they took their foot off the gas a bit. Bad idea. The Black Cats may not be the greatest team ever, but this is still the Premier League and you have to a certain quality to be in it. In the 25th minute, Sunderland’s Wallace put one past Almunia to make the scoreline 2-1. Then, just into the second half, Kenwyn Jones leveled the match on a header that Almunia really should have handled. Either way, there the Gunners were: level with a side that was now full of confidence and looking for the win. The Arsenal kept after it though and had a few shots bang off the woodwork. Finally, with 9 minutes left in the match, van Persie got sent through on a nice ball from Walcott to score the winning goal. Another 3 points and the Arsenal are again top of the table over Man U with a game in hand. Unfortunately there is another international break and no club footie for 2 weeks. Lets hope that everyone comes back with great performances and no injuries.

Sunday was also a day of rugby watching as I caught the replays of the quarterfinal matches from Saturday. I didn’t feel like paying the PPV money. Anyway, the first match was England versus Australia. After some dismal performances by the 3 lions, most everyone expected the wallabies to win easily. But England seemed to have found some inner mojo and rallied around Jonny Wilkinson. They had some superb defense and it got a bit physical out there, but they never let Australia get set or comfortable. Wilko was able to bang in the penalties and it was enough to take them into the semis.



The next match was France against the All Blacks. Again, here was a match where most everyone would pick New Zealand to easily roll over the French. But it wasn’t to be. The first sign of things to come was during the Haka when the French players went right up to the Kiwi line and eyed them down. The Haka can be intimidating, but so can Sébastien Chabal!! The All Blacks started out well but never seemed to hit a groove. This left them open and buoyed the French team who came back to upset New Zealand 20 to 18. The semifinals will be next weekend and will pit England vs. France and South Africa vs. Argentina. I see a Springbok – England final, but what do I know.

Well, that is quite a bit for today. If only I could put this amount of energy into the report I have to write for work. Yeah.

Adios.

Boo Black Cats and No to the Sherry!

It’s Friday everyone (or the one of you out there who actually suffers through this lousy blog)!!! I should be working, but I’m just not in the mood right now, so here is some fantastic prose to help make the world a better place.

The Arsenal host Sunderland this Sunday at the ridiculous time of 12 pm (or 6 am here in Texas!!! Argh!!!). The Black Cats are newly promoted back to the Prem and are managed by former ManU midfielder Roy Keane. They haven’t had the best of seasons so far and are pipped by some to be relegated. But I can see old Kean-o rallying his squad to do one on the Arsenal. In the end though, I don’t see it happening and I hope to see Keane leave the grounds embarrassed. Never been a fan of the Irishman. It looks like many players will be back in the squad for Arsenal and it seems that William Gallas may finally be recovering from his injuries. I doubt he’ll play, but it is encouraging, seeing as he is the captain and all. So here is to another Cesc goal, 3 points, and remaining top of the table.



There is some good rugby going on this weekend as the Rugby World Cup continues with Quarterfinal matches. My sister is heading up to the Richmond Arms on Saturday morning to see the All Blacks take on the Frogs. Unfortunately she is hanging with the Frenchies, but there’s only so much a brother can do. Just kidding, mostly! It should be a good match. I’ll have to wait until the replay as I doubt I’ll be wanting to pay $25 to watch it at the house. However, I could try to get a few friends together as an excuse to have beers. Hmmmmmmm. Need to get to work on that.

Not too much else is going on that I’m bothered about. I’m just focusing on getting out of here early, which means in about 15 minutes (or the time it takes to post this blog).

As a last note, I saw this story today and was a bit stunned. Why would you want one of these, what wife would agree to provide it, and why liquor? I will never cease to be amazed at what passes through peoples heads.

Have a great weekend.

Adios.

Too Much Wine and Lil Mikey Did It!!

Holy cow has it been a busy month. There was my glorious 35th birthday extravaganza at the beginning of September, a dove hunt that turned into a drunk-fest, and recently a trip back up to Tulsa for a surprise 60th b-day celebration for Moms. Yo. Also, there was a bit of work to do in between. As a result, I am now full of toxins and way late on posting here. It’s been so long that I had to go back and look up what it was I lasted posted about. Oh well, we’re all a forgiving bunch, or so I hope. Here we go.

Last I spoke on these hallowed ether pages the Arsenal had just beaten the Scum. Since then they have continued their winning run having beaten Sevilla 3-0 (CL), Derby 5-0 (League), Newcastle 2-0 (Carling Cup), at West Sham 1-0 (League) and finally last night in Romania against FC Steaua Bucharest the boys won 1-0 in the second CL group play fixture. Whew! That is 12 unbeaten since the season begun and 9 straight wins! Granted, none of these matches (apart from Sevilla) have been against some of the bigger clubs, but these were matches the Gunners lost or drew last season. This good early run should pay off nicely as we move further into the season and start to face some of the big 4, which starts at the end of the month with a trip to ‘pool and ManU at home the following weekend.

I’ve really been impressed with the way the club has been playing lately. Even when they don’t look as sharp (like last night), they still seem to have a firm belief that they can win. There isn’t any panic and they stick with Wenger’s game plan, which is to control the ball and attack. This doesn’t mean there isn’t room to improve, Almunia’s flapping about and Big Phil’s mis-steps, etc. but the quality is there and it just takes time to fully develop. Come on you Reds.

In other football news, Plymouth won it’s last match against Palace 1-0 to secure their first home win of the season. The winning goal was from Peter Halmosi in the 50th minute. The win puts the Argyle in 9th place on 13 points. I have a Plymouth match saved on the old DVR and hopefully I’ll get to watch it, even though it is from a few weeks ago. Also, the Argyle were knocked out of the Carling Cup recently by West Sham, which stinks, but hopefully they will put in another good run in the FA Cup this season.

Also, Chelski and England Captain John Terry got his melon smashed up a bit last weekend by American Clint Dempsey. Seems Terry’s cheek bone or something or other (great reporting eh?) was busted and he needed surgery. He was told to sit out weeks, Captain, O’ Captain was having none of that. He has been outfitted with a mask to protect his cheek knack. Here it is. Argh. I think I’m getting one of those for Halloween.

In American football, the Cowboys are kickin ass. Huzzah. 4-0. America’s team is back. ‘Nuff said!

Finally, as I’m nearing the end of my lunch hour and my lil digits hurt, the President’s Cup took place this last weekend. The United Stated took on the world (or international squad) in Montreal. The course was beautiful and so was the play. The US came out strong on Thursday and took 5 ½ points to the Int’l ½. Then on Friday the Int’ls came back to level things up a bit at 7 (US) to 5 (Int’l) or something along those lines. Saturday was the American’s time to shine again and swept the morning rounds and pretty much split the afternoon. When Sunday began, the US only needed 3 points to retain the cup. The Internationals needed a miracle and played their hearts out, but it wasn’t to be. The US had a few key victories, like Mickelson spanking Singh 5 and 4, to end the cup at 19 ½ to 14 ½. It seems the Americans were much more relaxed and took it all in stride. If only they could carry that feeling to next year’s Rider Cup.

The highlight though was Canadian Mike Weir taking on Woods in the 4th match. Weir went 3 up pretty quickly and hung on for awhile. After the turn though, Woods began his typical surge, cut the lead to nothing, and then even went up a hole. Everyone seemed to think the little lefty Canuk was caput. But Weir stayed in there with birdies on the last few holes to take the match and the point. It didn’t give the team the win, but it sure did wonders for Weir who has been struggling the last year or two. I hope to see more wins from Mike next season. He is a good golfer and good man.

Also, if you didn’t see Woody Austin fall in the water on 14 on Saturday, here you go. Classic. The guy used to bug me, but after this and his just laughing it off (and his good play), I have a new respect for the man.



Well, I’ve had all the fun I can handle. I need to get back to the grind so I can cut out a bit early and pick up an anniversary card for my wife. 9 years together today. Seems like it has only been 8 and half! Hah!

Adios