Where's the beef wuxi

I went to the mcdonalds at the wuxi train station tonight before I went back to suzhou. When I ordered they told me that they could not make my order because they were out of hamburger patties.

I don't think that will ever happen again in my life.

I have a problem

I love sports and I especially love Pittsburgh sports. But I think I have a problem when I am reading every article about the 2009 Pittsburgh Pirates that i see.
We are going to set a professional sports record for losing seasons in a row, our big signings this year are two indians that have never played baseball in their life (but blog with the best of them) , and our team president seems convinced that adding sleeves to the uniforms will change the culture of losing.

Really makes me question what I am doing with my life.

It is time to go

With A-rod the newest headline name attached to the steroid era, baseball has official lost its footing in the annals of history. If Ken Griffey Jr. turns out to be one of the other 103 names on the formally confidential list, baseball might start fighting with hockey over meaninglessness. Pretty soon the Hall is going to add a section for steroids and all of the numbers that got put up during those years, like its the end of a league of their own.

I don't think Griffey was juicing, his numbers were dropping when others were going up and he was injured all the time (for drugs that are supposed to be producing bigger numbers and faster recovery times it seems unlikely he was)

But for all the big names that have been forever tarnished, the one that seems to stay out of the fray is the commisioner Bud Selig.

Maybe it is time for him to resign, and with his departure cut ties with the steroid era. It would even allow him to get high and mighty and suggest that the new commish, reset the records back to Hank Aaron and Maris. He could even do it himself, or asterisks out seasons or even records.

While some view him as one of the greatest commisioners in baseball, it is more a result of the increased revenue he has brought to the game, and the owners. But lost in the shuffle of expansion, wildcard rounds, revenue sharing, Is the fact that his whole tenure has come during the steriods era.

He may not have ushered it in, but he didn't stop it, and the culture that he promoted led us where we are today.


He has been acting commisioner since 1992, and officially since 1998. In 2008 he extended his contract to 2012, at which point he says he will retire.

So if those names do include more "hall of famers", maybe the media will start to point there fingers not only at the players but the people in charge of baseball that allowed it to go on.

If not the steroids era will end in 2012, when he retires.

I hope Andy Warhol was wrong

I need to stop writing about the Steelers, so I am allowing other blogs that cover it better to do so, at least until the draft.

I just hope that the pics of the day from 2/3/09 don't end up being my 15 minutes of fame

What a game

I took my sister to a hot pot restaurant in Nanjing for our final meal before our vacation was over and we had this exchange. Hoping the whole week that the Football gods and Myron Cope would smile on the effort we were making to find a place to watch the game live at 7 in the morning.

“Her: What’s wrong?”
Me: “I burnt my tongue, but now that you ask I just have this feeling about the game that it is going to come down to the aspect that have defined our whole season. I just have this premonition that we are going to have a 3rd and 1 4th and 1 near their goalline and that Big Ben is going to have to come back to win it in the 4th.”

After the first period of the game when the Steelers had already struggled on 3rd and goal. I looked at her and said that I was going to be right.

I didn’t want to be right. I would have rather the Steelers had blown the Cardinals out, but at least they won, and now I don’t have to spend my future watching Larry Fitzgerald dashing to the endzone with a little under 3 minutes to play and feeling sick about it. And I can laugh about how adamant Cousin Sal from Bill Simmons podcast was about Gary Russell not scoring a TD and how much money he probably lost on that prop bet. So he may not feel this way but...

What a game

I don’t know if I would feel that way had my team lost. (I probably wouldn’t be in a place right now to even begin to discuss it) but imparitially that must have been an incredible game to watch. But to have so many lead changes in the last few minutes that a 100 yard INT and a play that not only caused a 14 point swing but prompted a friend (a steelers fan) to question whether the player was on steroids because it was so unbelievable.

It is easy to get lost in the moment and proclaim that this was the greatest superbowl ever, From my perspective it was because I am a steelers fan, harrison’s play, Ben’s scrambles and comeback, Santonio’s catch. Those plays will live in Steeler lore forever. It just feels like a choice that was made in the moment. That this was the greatest superbowl ever. I believe they were saying that about last years game right after the game as well. But it is hard to argue with a game that delivered the longest play in Superbowl history, a final quarter that made you forget about it, and 2 quarterbacks that solidified a spot for themselves in the Hall of Fame. As well as confirm the greatest WR in the game today, and one of its emerging stars. Its got to be up there if it isn’t the best.

Whatever the case. As a steelers fan I am thrilled, We now have to be considered the 2nd best team of the 00’s behind the Pats, and if we can get some lineman, someone that can return a kickoff that isn’t a fullback, and get our real punter back there is no reason to think more success isn’t in our future.

Now I'm more nervous

Confident that I couldn't watch the game in suzhou, and believing that I didn't have the mental strength to wait until 4 to watch a crappy feed from a sling box that may or may not have worked. I went to Shanghai last night instead, woke up at 5 in the morning and watched the game live at a bar. The football gods no doubt were pleased as the Steelers won pretty easily, for the moment i'm at ease with thoughts of being one win away from the big show. I will wait for tomorrow to freak out about the ravens.

I'm nervous

During the regular season I am the epitomy of resolve often reminding my friend Anthony that there is time in the game for the Steelers to come back, while he is pacing around his house worried. I have come to realize this fear is not about the steelers but about the money he is or isn't winning gambling.
But during the playoffs something happens.
in 2005 i drank 5 beers in the 15 minutes where cbs game announcers tell you about the game and the actual kickoff. I didn't know what to do with myself, it was the only thing that could calm me down. ANd I knew we were going to beat the bungles, even in the playoffs they are still the bungles. the playoffs magnify ever little thing, something like a missed tackle, a missed fg, or a blocked punt might cost a game in the regular season but it costs the year in the postseason. I know that For me the postseason starts Sunday, or Monday morning here if I can even watch it

I am legitimately worried about my steelers chances this weekend. A few things scare me

I might not be able to watch...apparently ESPN in china would prefer to show things like cricket and F1, and the game is going to be on at 4 in the morning so I need a bar to stay open that late even if they do show it. I found a bar here that streams the games from a sling box, but the last time i did that (for the lers vs. Titans) it started with 1:40 left in the game, a bit anticlimatic. It may seem like a small thing , but it is hard to not go to websites that would tell me the score especially when that is most of what I do every other day. Today the manager told me that the sling box hasn't even been working.
I'm looking into sattelite for PC. These are the moments that make me wish I was back in the US.

1. The lers are not good at home in the playoffs, and especially not to the Chargers. I'd rather not reopen old wounds, but lets just say we don't have the greatest track record at a place where we should have a distinct advantage. If the field is as bad as people say it is shouldn't the team that plays on it 8 times a year be better on it than the one that plays on it once maybe twice. and I know from experience it gets loud in that place so there should be a home field advantage. I wish I knew the answer because than I could stop it.

2. Are D has been keeping us in games all year, but as the Post Gazette's Gene Collier pointed out, even if they continue this trend, because they are hard. it is usually not the D that has cost us games in the post season

3. Any thing can happen in the playoffs (see. Immaculate Reception, The Tackle, THe Patriots cheating) and something will greatly affect the game that no pundit spent a breath on in the week they have had to discuss it.


4. The chargers are hot..they are finally playing like the team everyone expected them to be at the begginning of the season. a little reminiscent of a scrappy Steelers squad that stormed to the Lombardi Trophy in 2005

5. giving 6 points is alot...I don't mention this to condone gambling, but to say that the difference between professional athletes is so miniscule. It really comes down to how much they want it, and for some reason these athletes can turn perceived slights, real or imagined, into the extra push that makes them run just a bit faster, or hit a bit harder. You never hear anyone say everyone believed in us, so we just went out there and proved them right. I think that is one of the amazing things about coaching and just the athletic psyche in general, that the best athletes in the world can be convinced that that they are not good enough and twist anything around until it becomes motivation.

5a. Anthony is probably going to take the Chargers, and then lie that he didn't bet against the Steelers. This can not be good.

5. Ben typically does not play well after concussion
5a. We've struggled to establish the run (that being a positive review of our running game this season)
I could see a lot of throwing.

But its not all bad


Reasons why I feel good about the Steelers

1. we get that "nobody believed in us" thing too, because a lot of people seem to be backing a Chargers team they saw play last week. But if we win we will have to say "No one believed in us except Vegas, the people in this locker room, and merril hoge" (I don't know Merrill's pick, but in his entire broadcasting career I've never seen him not pick the Steelers) There reasoning seem to be for things like Darren Sproles (when is the last time a running back beat this D) and a kicker ( I hope they are punting all day, let them be good punts too, because that means they aren't scoring either)

2. The field- it is hard to kick in Heinz Field but Skippy Reed does it better than anyone, visiting kickers not so much.

3. Aaron Smith- the lynchpin and the guy that wasn't there last year when are top ranked run d couldn't stop anyone the last 5 weeks. coincidence? Also anytime I can work aaron smith into a column, everyone wins.

4. Mike Tomlin-Obama's christmas wish was to be as cool as Mike Tomlin.

5. I'll still take Big Ben over Philip Rivers -kiss the ring.

6. We have a silverback gorilla that plays outside linebacker, I don't even think 4 inches of snow can contain that.

2009: A Space Odyssey

I get this message from my computer when it can't send an email.

Hi. This is the smtp delivery program.
I'm afraid I wasn't able to deliver your message to the following addresses.
This is a permanent error; I've given up. Sorry it didn't work out.


I realize we live in a world where computers are designed to sound more and more like Humans to make me feel more comfortable, and maybe when we are living in the world of AI I will feel more comfortable with this, but at the moment the message makes me feel like its HAL from 2001, and is just plotting my destruction.

Why is it speaking in the first person? it's a computer. and apologizing too? why does it expressing feelings?

Any day now I feel like I am going to ask it to do a task and it is going to say "Sorry 李岩 but I can't let you do that"

Wear that Crown

For the first time in history the #1 ranking and PITT men's basketball have joined forces. In the Big East it is only a matter of time until they are upset, but it is indeed an exciting occasion for myself and fellow fans of the program.

It is amazing to me how far Pitt has come in the last decade from a middle of the road Big East squad to one of the best teams in the country.

A thank you to Ben Howland for changing the culture of the program and Jamie Dixon for continuing its ascension into the ranks of the elite.

Now maybe we can finally get past the Sweet 16 and genuinely move into that upper ethelon

It's been a long time...

I should have never left you/ without a strong blog to step to.*

Its been a long few months where I've got a new job, went home for thanksgiving, returned to Shanghai, moved to Suzhou, all the while thinking of great posts to write and then losing the inspiration, or procrastinating and then the time when they would be relevant past. How that is different than the rest of my blog is debateable. But my new years resolution was to blog more, and I'm already 5 days late, so we'll see how long it lasts.

*Thank you to all the rappers who have used a variation of that line over the years, pushing the forum into mainstream white america so I only feel mildly embarrassed to have wrote it. **

** I promise not to use hip hop lyrics again until I translate Juicy into Chinese.

I could make a coitus joke here, but I won't

What’s the female term for phallic. Like “wow the Washington Monument is really just a big phallic symbol”.

How do you describe that for a woman.

Like a Gergia O’ Keefe painitng
“ Come on Georgia, we know they aren’t flowers, you’ve been painting vaginas all these years, you’re artwork is so ______”
Maude Lebowski, in the Big Lebowski, says “My art has been commended as being strongly vaginal which bothers some men.

My friends and I came up with some responses even if i don’t know if any of them are fit for print here they are possibly one of the more enjoyable parts about looking at art yesterday, if I exclude getting to wear a sports coat.

But is the term really just vaginal

Just found out

很多mazel tov Obama...and to you the stick a congradulations is in order , it is easy to get so little attention during a a slow news cycle

week in review a week late

I would do much better in the era of the pony express...

these are my thoughts the week before the elction,,,,

I went to the Kanye West concert on Monday night. It was the first international act to come to China since the Olympics, or maybe just the first one that I was interested in.
Adrock does not like Celine Dion.
The concert dates actually got pushed back several times in the last few months, but it did finally happen. Previously acts like Jay-Z and more recently Nas were rumored ,
and for Nas tickets even sold, but then the Chinese government revoked their visas and they fell through.
So I was happy to see Kanye. It was much better than my usual Monday night. I love hearing live music and Kanye , as much as I think his ego is too big, does have a couple good songs and the places he is taking a lot more chances with hip hop than anyone else is these days.
I left the show feeling slightly disappointed though. I’m going back and forth over whether this was Kanye’s fault or not.

I love seeing live music because I feel like I am a part of the music being created that there is a give and take between the performer and the audience. That the performers respond to the crowd’s energy and visa versa.. I didn’t get that feeling from Kanye. Sure he was spinnin around happily as if he had already found out that his hometown boy already won the election (I’m assuming he voted for Obama, though with the money he makes maybe he doesn’t like his tax cuts) and yes, he was working both sides of the crowd, but it felt like he was going through the motions . That it was the machinations of a staged professional. .
The other fun of going to a concert is feeling like you paid to see something that you wouldn’t hear anywhere else. The way this is accomplished in hip-hop is by free-styling, audience call and response, or by the DJ extending his breaks. Save a few moments of call and response. There was no feeling that this concert was different from one he would play anywhere in the world, but actually gave me the feeling it was worse.
I understood this to be a continuation of a tour that he did this summer at bonarroo, made famous for his not coming out because of technical difficulties with the computer screens and animation for the show. Causing delays until 4 in the morning and the drugged out audience to start throwing beer on stage. But there were no electronic videos or other special productions, for a billed “Glow in the Dark Tour”, the lighting was that of a no-name band playing a club. merely stage lights that changed colors, which weren’t even neon.


I don’t know if this was a result of Kanye not carrying enough to make the show special because of a lack of audience, or a result of the Chinese government which requires the act to submit every word of the songs that they will sing in order to give out a visa, because fucking Bjork has to come and start chanting “Free Tibet” during her concert.
The result was that every song or medley he went through seemed to be lack improvisation and feel like a retread of his practicing five years ago for a music video.

There were two moments that felt like they weren’t just taken from the album. One didn’t even invlovle Kanye, when his band starting playing :Don’t Stop Believing” by Journey to which the expat crowd enjoyed singing. The other involved him featuring a asian singer named Vaness Blu during “Touch the Sky” (though Vaness might benefit from a name change)
As I said some of this was not Kanye’s fault. My seats weren’t that great and when my friends and I moved down another section we all felt that the concert improved. Personally I think a smaller venue would have been better suited for the concert, but a smaller venue doesn’t really exist in Shanghai, especially if promoters are going to make money on bringing Kanye into the country, though my friends and I thought charging one ticket price and letting everyone on the floor, might have solved the problem. I also doubt promoters were looking to book another plane for all stage equipment when just beinging him over would allow them to make money.
Kanye and his ego no doubt recognized the myriad of empty seats or perhaps he expected it. Because in a way it felt like he was coming to China to say that he did and not to really impress anyone.
My own expectations of a light show of a light show and freestyles from a “rapper” more famed for his work DJing, may have been too much to ask, but it was A nice change of pace for the nightlife of Shanghai and a chance to see an artist I probably woudn’t have been able to get tickets to in the States for his only performance in China.

Random Thoughts

How many people does it take to parrallel park a car in China. I usually see atleast two people at a time directing the driver when to back up, etc. Today I saw 4 people doing it.

You could really be anything for Halloween here. Anything can be made here for enough money, but doing any costume with a suit would be a piece of cake. Dumb and Dumber tuxedoes would almost be too easy, but then who really wants a fitted orange tuxedo.

Just playing a scenerio out. The Chinese want to get to the moon. I would bet that they will be able to do it, assuming they do. When they plant the Chinese flag on the face of the moon, does that mean the US needs to go back up and take it off. How else to protect the property rights that people like Tom Cruise have bought?
Do we just let them take it, like in exchange for clearing us out of our debt, they can have half of the moon, Is this what leads us into the next war?

Another scenrio, Bill Cowher is coming back to Football, someone is going to pay him a lot of money to return. Although the rumors with Daniel Snyder and the Redskins who most likely have the deepest pockets have been squashed, that doesn’t mean they can’t start up again, Even some one like the Cowboys might be interesting to Cowher because they have the money and a good quarterback because Cowher apparently doesn’t want to walk into a rebuilding situation.
But What about the Cleveland Browns, who are going to get rid of Romeo Crennel, they have the players, just a terrible coach, and it seems that in Brady Quinn they might have a QB. (He was the reason ND was good, and not Charlie Weiss’s coaching, even if it doesn't translate on the pro level) and Cowher is a former Clevand player. I’d like to say I can never imagine Cowher after his years with the Steelers taking the job of their most historic rival and playing them 2 times a year. But money might talk a lot more than relations.

Was Puffy being serious when he makes idle threats and then cackles after them in "What's Beef", it is not exactly intimidating. Holding Vanilla ICe upside down off the balcony of a penthouse until he hands over the rights to his song is.
Speaking of Rappers from the 90's confusing me, Big Pun might have out done Puffy. What 300 pound Latino thug says "Loser" like a schoolgirl, as he does between verses in "It's So Hard" an otherwise good song.

They might have to carry JoePA off the field, and it still might not be enough

I’m happy for Penn State. I don’t consider myself a Penn State fan. I like to have some allegiance to Michigan for some six degrees of Kevin Bacon connection that my sister, mother, cousin went there and I once saw a game there and like most Big Ten schools , under Lloyd Carr they subscribed to a philosophy that works well in Steelers football, Run the ball and play great D.
Besides the Family connection, these things manifest themselves at Penn State as well. I’ve even been to a few games there, my favorite instance being Homecoming 2000 when I got to see my camp counselor cry when Penn State lost a perfect season to a terrible Minnesota team. That weekend I also experienced for the first time, on my way to the Bob Dylan-Phil Lesh and Friends show, why Santonio Holmes keeps marijuana in his car. Plus the school is in Pennsylvania (that’s where I’m from!), though I already had a rooting interest in Pitt over Penn State.
But with both of those teams out, and Penn State playing the way they are, I would much rather them play in the Championship game (with in state players) than see Texas or Alabama. I might even get my wish, and then the feel good story of the season would play itself out, with JoePA getting a chance to ride off into retirement as his players carry him off the field after winning the National Championship.
I just don’t see it happening…I mean the National Title could surely come to Happy Valley, but I just don’t see JoePa stepping away that easily, (no pun intended). He still wants to coach. It is a matter of semantics to discuss how much “coaching” he does anymore, and a dicey situation to try to ouster out a living legend especially after a national title, but I can’t see him just giving up control of the one thing he has known for decades.
Maybe the title will be enough validation and he will want to walk away on top. But I think he is sticking around because more than a national title he wants the All-Time wins record. If Bobby Bowden (his closest competition) would step down, I think you would see Paterno do likewise, but he doesn’t want to leave the game with the chance that his greatest legacy would be overtaken in his lifetime.

Penn State could be in for a Brett Favre Summer

Overhyped

I’m not really in a position to talk about the game, I didn’t see it and was more than a little confused reading that James Harrison was playing long snapper for the Steelers, until I read a little bit more about the game. As I read about Roethlisberger’s 4 INT, a touchdown being taken away for holding, and a defense that had a goal line stand but was on the field too long because of a dismal 3rd down success rate. I started to think that maybe the loss wasn’t attributed to that play alone.

In his thoughts after the game, Don Banks of SI.com said he doesn’t see the Steelers playing into January because they are missing some indescribable thing. Perhaps what Don Banks isn’t seeing is that the Steelers have been one of the best teams in the league with pro-bowlers missing significant time on both sides of the ball (Casey Hampton, Willie Parker) to say nothing of all the other injuries the Steelers have been plugging in players for. But by watching the game I might realize how he could, at this juncture in the season, come to his opinion.

The Pittsburgh media has been quick to blame Santonio Holmes for his share in the loss. He definitely was missed in the passing game, even with Nate Washington remembering he is in a contract year and forgetting to drop the ball. A touchdown loss to the promoted “best team in the league” isn’t something to beat yourself up about missing two of your biggest threats on offense. However if we lose the next couple games suddenly we are right back in the pack.

It feels a lot of the concern is that the National media advertised this game as a preview of the Super Bowl. Suddenly it was a must win game because it would tell the country that the Steelers were the best team in the league. In reality the game was one of the least important ones on the schedule and even though now they will make a big deal about the Steelers inability to beat the NFC east all this week. The Redskins game is equally unimportant. They are not in our division. Beating the Colts and the Chargers could be the difference between being a 2 seed or fighting for a wild card spot with a team we could have knocked out of the playoff race. Beating the Redskins gives us another win.

The Giants game and the Redskins game are glorified barometer games, and what it told the league is that the Steelers are a quality team that still needs to sure up a few things. Opinion of the Steelers didn’t slip too much after the game, with many in the national media still believing it could be the Super Bowl match-up.
I’m not saying I didn’t want to win the Giants games or next week, but I would much rather be coming into form later in the year than being considered the best when it doesn’t matter and there are still 9 weeks for anything to happen.
The Steelers have a lot of things that they can do better, but they have time to get those things fixed. Even though we lost, they have to feel good that the Defense has yet to play a bad game, (one sure way to get to championships) and the Offense should be much better when healthy and fully stocked.

Shanghai's multiple choice question

Why does the sky look like this?
a) fog
b) pollution
c) something far worse
d) all of the above

Pimps of Thieves On the Run

The Pimps of Thieves album continues to be delayed as fans wonder whether they will see the Album first promised to them in 2002.
Principal Robert McMurray was in charge of Taylor Allderdice High School where Pimps of Thieves first showed so much musical promise, as well as acumen for self promotion, as their tags littered the school and its desks, was increasingly supportive of their efforts.
“ I tried to foster a learning environment that was conducive to the arts, we were willing to overlook replacing a desk here or there because we had students being creative, coming to classes, finding a way to improve their lives,”
But after 6 years and as release dates come and go, or possibly a sign he has thrown his lot in with another Allderdice alum Wiz Khalifa, he concedes “it does feel a bit like vandalism now.”
2002 was also the last year Pimps of Thieves was shown to be performing together though the members of the band are quick to point out there is no ill will between them, and it is merely the result of making paper stacks which has forced them into different regions of the United States.

“ The second song we ever wrote was making fun of a kid who is now our international manager, how is that ill-will?” counters frontman D Green. “Sure work has moved us around the country, but we’ve always been a lot of moveable pieces around the backbone of myself and the Drums, Mail-man. People understand that, they are fine with it. The biggest in house problem we ever had was to let go of Tony Touch after the first record, which was a little awkward at the time because his mom was our only groupie. But things have changed, he’ll be back on the album in someway. Isn’t that looking out for your friends? “


The use of rhetorical questions can’t stop the casual fan from asking when is the CD going to come out already.

Message boards and fan sites are littered with requests for the non-existent album, though most of them are in Turkish, as their foreign fans, excited by the Bush-hating anthem “the establishment” , are looking with anticipation to the day they can run home from the store and struggle to take of the plastic and stickers of the brand new cd, now content to just download the new tracks.

The reasoning for the delays are as numerous as they are eclectic.

Some message boards suggest that a friendly rivalry has developed between Dr. Dre and Pimps of Thieves over who can delay their album longer while still keeping up fan interest.

Pimps of Thieves ardent support of the Pirates have led some fans to believe the delays are the result of a failed marketing strategy to release the album when Pittsburgh is on an emotional high, after the pirates have a .500 season.

While other fan sites have intimated that they are having the same issues as Kanye West is following up his latest album, mainly finding a way to fit his ego on anything less than a double CD.

“It’s not a question of material, or a lack thereof, we have everything ready to go, but with the economy the way it is…”

Comments like these, as well as more recent jabs at the Government, and the possibility of a McCain-Palin my ass ticket, have fueled the most popular theory that Pimps of Thieves are waiting until after the election to release the CD so they can add a contemporary take on the state of American politics.

Whatever the reasons, Pimps of Thieves fans just hope they won’t have to speculate much longer.

加油 钢人 加油

Sunday Night football is my new favorite thing because I get to watch the Lers in China live. and I couldn't have been happier. A depleted Lers squad showed me something going into the bye week for some much needed rest. We might quietly be a formidable team if we can ever get healthy, to get the kind of production we got from 4th string running backs and back-up line men has me feeling pretty good.
The O looked strong in the first half and the D looked great throughout though seemed to tire in the second when we couldn't move the ball at all and they had to stay on the field but they were legitamately a bullshit interference call in the endzone and an interception return away from holding jacksonville to 7-10 points.

Game Balls have to go to the chinese announcers for calling Big Ben, 大Ben (da, big in chinese if you didn't figure it out yet) the entire game and not giving in to Bill Simmons pleas to shorten it or say Ben Rothlisberger, (I can't figure out what he wants). Though the game ball gets taken right back because they chose to refer to melwelde moore by his last name instead of transliterating his first, which would have been a lot more fun to hear as he ate up the jacksonville D.

大Ben gets one too. I still can't believe how strong and how accurate that pass was when he was being drapped by a Jaguar on the final drive.Though I actually have come to expect it. Might be the only quarterback in the league that can make that play. Can the comparisons to Carson Palmer end now?

Got to give them to the D-Line, playing with only 4 players, I thought we weren't supposed to have any depth, Hoke and Kirshkie were all over the place, they were disrupting everything. when was the last time the jags didn't run all over us? Probably the last time we won.

Finally one goes to Nate Washington, you caught a pass!!!!!!!!!!!! more than one actually!!!!!!!!!! I don't even think you dropped one making it hard for me to make you my least favorite plater on the team. and then you restored the natural order of things by taking a taunting penalty because one of their coaches was intimating that you juggled the catch incomplete. Giving me a reason to be upset with you. Appreciate it.

Bad News for the Economy might be good news

I haven't heard much about Palin, slanderous campaign ads, or Tina Fey's impersonation since wall street and the economy went belly-up which I think is a good thing. The election is going to start getting back to the issues instead of personal attacks. Which I think is bad news for people (ie the Mccain-Palin ticket) who don't know the issues, can't talk (or bullshit) about them, and whose stance on them reminds everyone how little reform exists in their proposals.

The issues would have started to take center stage in the next few weeks as the debates started, but getting back to the issues should help the Dems by ending the bump McCain got from the Palin nomination even earlier.