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All this talk of a 700 billion dollar bailout had me in a generous spirit this week so I took it easy on my fellow BFL’s. I threw ‘em a bone, gave ‘em a chance, allowed a ray of hope into their otherwise sad football lives. As you all know, I’m a giver.
In the interest of full-disclosure, this giving wouldn’t have been possible without the instrumental help of the following losers super-duper teams:
DENVER
DALLAS
CINCINNATI (will I ever learn?)
SAN FRANCISCO
PHILADELPHIA
I didn’t finish in the bottom, but I wasn’t basking in the glow of the top either this week. Give it up for Bratty McBratty Pants Mo over at One Ping Only who took the week’s MVP spot from me. You’re welcome. She shared 10-3 with three other folks, but took the badge with points in last night’s game.
Mo will hold this spot for exactly 166 hours, 32 minutes and 14 seconds until I take it back. So live it up.
If you wanna feel better about yourself, you can go visit the Under-Achiever badge over at AmazingGries’ place, she should have it up by now.
Don’t forget to get in and follow all the upcoming Week Five action (you know, when I regain my rightful place at the top of this dog pile) over at Insta-Mom’s crib.
Week Five
TENNESSEE @ BALTIMORE
KANSAS CITY @ CAROLINA
CHICAGO @ DETROIT
ATLANTA @ GREEN BAY
INDIANAPOLIS @ HOUSTON
SAN DIEGO @ MIAMI
SEATTLE @ NY GIANTS
WASHINGTON @ PHILADELPHIA
TAMPA BAY @ DENVER
BUFFALO @ ARIZONA
CINCINNATI @ DALLAS
NEW ENGLAND @ SAN FRANCISCO
PITTSBURGH @ JACKSONVILLE
MINNESOTA @ NEW ORLEANS
Byes: CLEVELAND, NY JETS, OAKLAND, ST. LOUIS
Who amongst us even understands the bailout? I mean the actual A+B=C part. How money will be distributed, to whom, what it means short term, long term, how it translates to me, the individual consumer, mortgage holder and taxpayer? Show of hands. Is there a cricket in here?
I want to understand. In my gut, I’m outraged that it has come to this conclusion. So it would be nice to be able to articulate the reasons for my outrage. I guess I could just use the lingo W and congressional leaders have offered and keep saying the same key phrases over and over. Key phrases like “predatory lending”; “golden parachutes”; “the end result of de-regulation”; “collapse of the markets”; “dire consequences”; etc. But I don’t think I’d be any more convincing of my understanding then they are.
So it has to be done, fine. No point discussing it I guess. Little ol’ Amy in Ohio sure isn’t gonna make a difference in this discussion and since I’m vastly under-qualified on financial topics such as this, I guess that makes sense.
But this wouldn’t be a post worth posting if I left it at that, so please indulge me while I make just a few observations:
1) WHY is this suddenly a crisis? There have been a massive amount of foreclosures over the last thirty-six months (that’s THREE YEARS, not THREE WEEKS). Why is it only when the millionaires are affected does it become a “historic crisis”. I’m sure the families that lost there homes pre-crisis would disagree.
2) For two years now, I’ve endured the talking heads from the right labeling my candidate a socialist, and me a socialist for supporting him. Why is it that it’s socialism when you want to take tax dollars to ensure children have access to health care, but it’s NOT socialism when you’re handing faulty corporations BILLIONS of taxpayer’s dollars because they didn’t do their jobs very well. In my company, when you perform below expected standards, guess what happens? You get to clean out your desk, you don’t get a 700 billion dollar bonus.
3) Why in the world is W and his camp of cronies sticking to the idea that the de-regulation put in place by people like Phil Gramm (who still has the ear of McCain on such things as the ECONOMY) isn’t a major part of this problem? And if the shotty regs that remain on the books had been enforced, this historic crisis might be a little less historic, a little less of a crisis.
Don’t get me wrong, people borrowed beyond their means, no doubt. But a company lent the money to them and in doing so likely did not adhere to the federal regulations put in place to protect both the corporation and the consumer from these doomsday scenarios. So the lack of enforcement is part of this perfect storm tri-fecta Georgie, start warming to the idea. Fiscal conservative indeed. What a joke.
If the reports are to be believed, this bailout is going to go forward, for better or for worse it appears there is no way out. The right and left come together and give away the farm. Our farm. Our children’s farm.
I just hope that the lessons this historic crisis offers us aren’t lost in all the check-writing. Speaking of check-writing, take a look at what your money could have bought and then make sure you vote in November.
CHANGE WE NEEDED FOUR YEARS AGO
(Photo by Rick Stewart/Getty Images)
That’s what my competition is wondering. Some of them have called their shot, drawn a line in the sand, threatened bodily harm to yours truly, all over the fact that I am unstoppable in the BFL. It’s a gift people. Would you hate Mozart for his beautiful melody?
So can I make it two in a row? You bet your ass. (She says with mock confidence as she flips a coin on at least four of the thirteen picks this week.) But as the reigning CHAMPION of the BFL, I have a reputation to protect. And protect it I shall (hopefully).
Everyone thinks I won’t win one more,
Suckers read ‘em: my picks for Week Four
ATLANTA @ CAROLINA
CLEVELAND @ CINCINNATI
HOUSTON @ JACKSONVILLE
DENVER @ KANSAS CITY
SAN FRANCISCO @ NEW ORLEANS
ARIZONA @ NY JETS
GREEN BAY @ TAMPA BAY
MINNESOTA @ TENNESSEE
SAN DIEGO @ OAKLAND
BUFFALO @ ST LOUIS
WASHINGTON @ DALLAS
PHILADELPHIA @ CHICAGO
Monday Night Football
BALTIMORE @ PITTSBURGH
COMBINED FINAL SCORE: 48
Winning team is in BLUE
In true SOB form, the Bengals are giving me fits again. Despite the fact that I disowned them, here they are again throwing a kink in my mojo. Can they beat Cleveland? If the team that almost had the better of the Giants last week shows up, then absolutely they can. But you never know which version of the Bengals you’ll get week to week and you all know how they love to screw me. Damned if you do, damned if you don’t – they should make t-shirts.
(Photo: Getty Images)
Why miss out on this fun people? Post your picks, go to Insta-Mom‘s site and link us to them. You gotta be in it to win it and really there are no losers in the BFL, just a bunch of people who aren’t winners.
Because we can’t all be Mozart, can we?
Many of you have been following my weight loss progress over at Cincinnati Losers. I know I speak for all the losers when I tell you what an extra motivator it is to have your words of encouragement as we battle this demon.
A lot of people struggle every day with weight – whether they are trying to lose the weight or not, the extra pounds are a struggle. Climbing stairs, buying clothes, doctor’s visits, enjoying life – every aspect of your existence is affected when your weight is an issue.
In this country of plenty, where most of us have never known a day of hunger, obesity is the reality touching everyone. 1.6 BILLION people in the world are over-weight. 1.6 BILLION people eat too much on a regular basis, don’t get ample exercise and suffer the consequences of these unhealthy choices. It’s reached epidemic levels – I should know, I’m one of those people. For now.
As if in some bizarre parallel universe, almost a BILLION other people in the world don’t have enough to eat on a daily basis. This epidemic covers the spectrum of human existence: from U.S. children going to bed each night and heading off to school each morning with empty tummies, to devastating starvation killing thousands each day in third world nations.
And there, but for the grace of God, go any one of us.
A few years ago, a Seattle woman, Debbie Hugo decided to hit both epidemics head on. She was your typical Weight Watchers leader, working to inspire others to have the same success she had with the Weight Watchers program. In September, 2003, she decided to kick things up a notch.
Her plan was that for every pound or ounce that members lost, they would bring in the equivalent weight in food that would be donated to a local food bank. This was just the spark that her members needed to commit to weight loss and have the bonus of doing real good for their community. That first year, Hugo’s Members lost — and contributed, in food — about 3,000 pounds. And they’ve continued to lose and give in the years since.
WW headquarters heard about the amazing success of this local program and decided to launch it globally. On September 7th, Weight Watchers launched it’s first ever Lose for Good campaign. For every pound lost by Weight Watchers members between September 7th and October 18th, Weight Watchers will donate the equivalent poundage in food up to ONE MILLION DOLLARS to two charities combating hunger in the U.S. and worldwide. You can read more about those organizations here.
I’ve been in Weight Watchers a few times. My recent (and final because this time it’s gonna STICK!) effort began in January, slacked off in April and re-energized in August. On September 9th, inspired by this campaign, I bought a walking CD and I’ve been hitting the exercise hard. I don’t think I would have taken it to this next level had it not been for Lose for Good. I’ve lost 5.6 pounds since it began – my very best two week period EVER! That 5.6 pounds translates into milk for a month for 67 children! My flubber did that!? Amazing!
I want others to feel inspired and join me on this journey. Weight Watchers has generously given me two free three-month memberships to raffle off. You will have your choice between a traditional Weight Watchers membership or an online membership.
So if you’ve been thinking about getting off the couch and on with your life, leave a comment here telling me what part of YOUR life is affected by your weight and why you want to LOSE FOR GOOD and LOSE FOR GOOD. You have til October 1st at 11:59 pm EST. Winners will be randomly selected by that website random thinga-ma-gig. I’ll post the winners here on Thursday morning (10/2) and you can start doing it already!
I can’t wait to hear from you and become part of your cheerleading squad!
It will come as no surprise to you that I crushed the competition this week in the BFL.
Okay, maybe “crushed” is a bit of an exaggeration. Squeaked might be a little more on point. I had an 11-5 record for the week, followed closely by five others with 10-5 (squeak). But a win is a win is a win and I’ll gladly take it. As such I am thrilled to sport this bad boy for the next week:
Join in the fun next week. Insta-Mom will post the Mr. Linky roster on Friday for Week Four’s games. You too could be living the dream like me.
But that’s not all! In addition to my international celebrity as BFL Player of the Week, I also won my fantasy football game! 3-0 record – Huzzah! Yes, gentlemen, you are indeed getting your fantasy asses handed to you by a chick who had a less than mediocre draft if you might recall. Suckers!
And a smokin’ chick no less. I weighed in today and lost! Read more about that over at Cincy Losers.
So all and all, this Tuesday has been pretty darn sa-weeeet!
WEEK FOUR GAMES
ATLANTA @ CAROLINA
CLEVELAND @ CINCINNATI
HOUSTON @ JACKSONVILLE
DENVER @ KANSAS CITY
SAN FRANCISCO @ NEW ORLEANS
ARIZONA @ NY JETS
GREEN BAY @ TAMPA BAY
MINNESOTA @ TENNESSEE
SAN DIEGO @ OAKLAND
BUFFALO @ ST LOUIS
WASHINGTON @ DALLAS
PHILADELPHIA @ CHICAGO
Monday Night Football
BALTIMORE @ PITTSBURGH
COMBINED FINAL SCORE________
BYE WEEK: Detroit, Indy, Miami, New England, New York, Seattle
Photo from www.nfl.com. Click here for more pics from Week Two
…unpredictable and full of surprises. Do you realize only SIX NFL hometeams won last week? That is unbelievable. Some great games, some not so great games. Yes Cincy, I’m looking at you and quit belly-aching about the wind for heaven’s sake. You know your opponent played in the same elements, right? So, shut-it.
I finished 2nd in my football poll – 9 out of 15 correct – winning a cool nine (American) dollars. Bonus, my fantasy team squeaked one out despite Terrell Owen’s amazing first half in the Dallas game. As the only girl in the league, you can imagine my pride as I’m 2-0. Girls rule, boys drool – but you know that already.
But that was only half of excitement and splendor. As some of you might know, a new force in sports has emerged. The official launch of the BFL happens today. It’s the greatest thing to happen to professional sports and illegal gambling since the arrival of Beckham. And bonus, we’re a “spice”-free league.
You can find all the particulars at Insta-Mom’s (aka the Commish) site. And the league is open to all gamers, provided they are no real threat of competition to me.
So without anymore trash talkin from me,
here are my picks for NFL Week Three:
ARIZONA @ WASHINGTON
AIO PICK: WASHINGTON
CAROLINA @ MINNESOTA
AIO PICK: CAROLINA
HOUSTON @ TENNESSEE
AIO PICK: TENNESSEE
MIAMI @ NEW ENGLAND
AIO PICK: NEW ENGLAND
OAKLAND @ BUFFALO
AIO PICK: BUFFALO
CINCINNATI @ NY GIANTS
AIO PICK: NY GIANTS
KANSAS CITY @ ATLANTA
AIO PICK: ATLANTA
TAMPA BAY @ CHICAGO
AIO PICK: CHICAGO
ST LOUIS @ SEATTLE
AIO PICK: SEATTLE
DETROIT @ SAN FRANCISCO
AIO PICK: SAN FRANCISCO
NEW ORLEANS @ DENVER
AIO PICK: DENVER
PITTSBURGH @ PHILADELPHIA
AIO PICK: PITTSBURGH
CLEVELAND @ BALTIMORE
AIO PICK: BALTIMORE
JACKSONVILLE @ INDIANAPOLIS
AIO PICK: INDIANAPOLIS
DALLAS @ GREEN BAY
AIO PICK: DALLAS
Monday Night Game
NY JETS @ SAN DIEGO
AIO PICK: SAN DIEGO
COMBINED FINAL MNF SCORE 36
You can head over to Insta-Mom’s site now to check out my competition (ha!) and join in yourself.
There are wonderful causes out there that bring us bloggers together for a common purpose - noble purposes which motivate us to act and effect real change in this world of ours.
To be clear, this is not one of those causes. This is a cause full of self-indulgence, trash talk, underthetable gambling, and of course the potential for NATIONAL (maybe even INTERNATIONAL) blogger bragging rights.
That’s right folks, it’s the official launch of the BFL: Blogger Football League.
Here’s the skinny: Insta-Mom (our league Commish) and I are hosting a Football Pick Carnival each week. The play by play action will be done at her place:
To participate, all you have to do is post your picks for each (and every) NFL game being played in a particular week on your Blog by the kick-off of the first game. Then link your post to the Mr. Linky rooster at Insta-Mom’s site. Each week, we’ll determine a winner based on a very scientific formula that requires many scientific people who have a scientific fourteenth-century abacus, a lot of free time on their hands and not a lot of hobbies except for their scientific-ing (read: we count and who ever has the most right wins – MNF score will break all ties). That winner will have seven days of bragging bliss as the BFL Player of the Week. Yes it IS that exciting. We’re in talks with Janet Jackson it is THAT exciting. The founders of the league will take credit for celebrate your achievement and link you every way we can sending enormous compulsive gambler traffic your way all week long.
But as if that wasn’t enough, we even have this nifty badge to be awarded weekly to our BLF Weekly MVP. In other words, people will be dying to get in on this action.
You know you want it.
Plus, just for being a member of the league you get to snazzy-up your site with this little gem:
That’s right, we’re givers.
This league ain’t for the faint of heart, we’ve got some serious talent with letters of intent on file. Take a look at the competition:
And more joining every day!
So come on rook – don’t be a scab! Make your picks, go check out other wannabes in the league and ask yourself: Do you have what it takes to make it in the BFL? Do you? Are you ready for some football?
Week Three Games
(for easy copy and pasting to your post)
ARIZONA @ WASHINGTON
CAROLINA @ MINNESOTA
HOUSTON @ TENNESSEE
MIAMI @ NEW ENGLAND
OAKLAND @ BUFFALO
CINCINNATI @ NY GIANTS
KANSAS CITY @ ATLANTA
TAMPA BAY @ CHICAGO
ST LOUIS @ SEATTLE
DETROIT @ SAN FRANSISCO
NEW ORLEANS @ DENVER
PITTSBURGH @ PHILADELPHIA
CLEVELAND @ BALTIMORE
JACKSONVILLE @ INDIANAPOLIS
DALLAS @ GREEN BAY
Monday Night Game
NY JETS @ SAN DIEGO
COMBINED FINAL SCORE_________
Good luck bloggers! Cause you’re gonna need it! (Insert inappropriate grabbing of my lower nether regions and maybe a spit or two.)
PS: We have a twitter account set up for BFL: BFL2008. Once you follow it and we follow back, you can DM messages to BFL2008 and all the players in the league will receive your message at once. So follow today. Go to Insta-Mom’ssite if you haven’t gotten the badge yet. Feel free to use the pics above to add some color to your picks post or design your own and I’ll steal it!
I love NFL Football. It’s important to emphasized NFL Football. I don’t follow high school because it’s depressing when one of the teams has to lose – teenagers can be so vulnerable. I don’t follow college because there are just too damn many and the bowl game system is ridiculous (a month off before the championship game? please). I’ll casually monitor Ohio State’s progress each year and tune in for bits and pieces of the OSU/michigan game (not a typo), as I was a proud Buckeye oh those many years ago. But for the most part college ball? Bleh.
But there’s something special about the NFL. I began this love when I met Doug. I even went to a lot of the games with him once upon a time. I retired from the game-going once Parker came along. Over the last few years I’ve come to the conclusion that Parker has saved my life. Oh not for one of those Hallmark/Lifetime movie reasons some mother’s will tell you about: she didn’t bring meaning to my dull, desperate life. She didn’t give me the motivation to kick the drug habit that’s been haunting me for years. She didn’t teach me the true meaning of Christmas. No, she saved my life because if I was there, live, wasting my Sundays watching the Cincinnati Bengals the last two seasons, I surely would have died from a stress-related ailment or an aneurism. I can’t even watch them on television anymore for fear of palpitations.
I believed in the Bengals for years. I bought into each and every new beginning (the MANY new beginnings). I dared to dream when first round picks like Peter Warrick and Akili Smith were the promise of days to come – winning days to come. Ha. And now when I see picks like Carson Palmer, Justin Smith and most recently Keith Rivers, I want to send them a sympathy card.
Dear Keith,
“Hope you enjoyed winning in college, sorry those days are probably over. Maybe you’ll get traded sooner rather than later.
Love,
Amy in Ohio
But I can give no more Marvin – no more. At a recent press conference “Head” Coach Marvin Lewis told fans: “Do what you’ve got to do. That’s what the focus is. If you’re a fan, then be a fan. You get to determine that.” Well this fan has determined that you can kiss her ass. I’m done. I’m finished. You keep it up and I’ll become a Steelers fan just to spite you. Ala Tony Soprano: Bengals, you’re dead to me. Man, I miss that show.
There is one silver lining to this failed relationship. I can go find another team to obsess over – hopefully one that knows how to treat a lady fan. So hunky NFL teams, if you’re looking for someone who likes long walks on the beach, candlelight dinners and February in Tampa, DM me won’t you?
For the last few years or so, I’ve run a football pool at my office. Nothing fancy – a $5 buy in, you pick the winners of each game, whoever picks the most right, wins. We’re not Vegas, but it makes the games a little more interesting.
Distraught and disillusioned, I wasn’t sure I was going to even bother with it this year but after some soul searching I’ve decided that these Bengals aren’t going to take the joy of football from me. I’m going to have my best football pool picking year and you wanna know why? Because the days of picking you guys out of loyalty are over! OVER I SAY!
And so without further ado, here are my picks for Week Two:
Chicago over Carolina (dem Bears look good)
Tennessee over Cincinnati (duh – prove me wrong, I dare ya)
Green Bay over Detroit (looking surprisingly good without Farve)
Jacksonville over Buffalo
Kansas City over Oakland
Indy over Minnesota (If Peyton returns, who was that guy last week?)
NY Giants over St. Louis
San Francisco over Seattle (still mad at Seattle for Shaun Alexander)
Tampa Bay over Atlanta
Miami over Arizona
Denver over San Diego
Baltimore over Houston (but this doesn’t mean I like you)
NY Jets over New England (QB is still too green)
Pittsburgh over Cleveland (you both suck, but Steelers suck more)
Dallas over Philadelphia (if I had to pick, I’d take Dallas to go.all.the.way)
There you have it. Check back on Tuesday for the update on how I did. With that monkey bengal off my back, this is a whole new ballgame.
It seems the necessary thing to do…reflect on the events that rocked our world seven years ago. But finding the words can be difficult.
In so many ways it seems like it happened decades ago and in others it feels like yesterday. It boggles the mind to think how that one day transformed us, reshaped our nation, our world.
On this sad anniversary, I will not waste time with rhetoric or wonder. The whys and the hows of that day will be talked about for centuries to come.
Photo Credit: AP Photo/Mark Lennihan
Today my message is one of peace and remembrance.
One of concern for all those who continue to grieve.
One of prayers for those who serve in the aftermath.
One of hope the scars left by these wounds serve a purpose as we carry on.
photo credit: (Stan Honda/POOL/Reuters)
To all those who continue to live through September 11th – you are in my thoughts and prayers always.
