-The Greatest Title Ever Conceived By Man-

So what, it's been a freaking month now? That's depressing... I have too many excuses to count... There's always the "just too busy" one that everyone pulls, but then there were internet availability problems, filter problems, and freaking blogger log-on problems! Argg! and again I say Argg! Its not helping that everyone else seems to be slowly floating away.

Moving on, I'd love to just take a whack at the whacked out holiday that is fast approaching, but homework is the top priority this week and I can't spare the time. But in the interest of posting at least something new, I'm taking a different (not to mention easy) route for the blog and having y'all mull over and respond to a little riddle I stumbled across recently.

Now this isn't just any old riddle, it's rather deep, actually very deep, so don't just skim over it. Read it over a few times; to put it mildly, it's a thinker. I found it intriguing and I'd love to know what y'all think of it. I plan to touch on all of your responses and add my own in my next post. So those of you with mildly active minds, get cracking. (I wouldn't be surprised if Jason writes me a novel)

I am ___________

If you wish to be stupid, I will kill you on site. Depicting you as an utter fool for humanity to perceive, mocking, criticizing, silencing. Or I shall simply distance every ear. For stupidity amongst men, like morality, is merely for the majority to conclude and can quite easily be their justification for your insanity. Betraying the body that built you up, you assert the embedded evil we all hastily seek to destroy hidden somewhere in ourselves. The deepest of fears is that you will embody our most secret of thoughts, screaming them to others, our truest of feelings and longings. For this, we must suppress you with every ounce of strength. You are the quintessence of just sentiment and your cadence trembles the mind from whence you escaped. As a shadow amongst the long lost titans, we cannot stand here while you blast us with the undesirable truth. There is no greater terror than bringing told what we all know somewhere close to or everlasting souls; it can never be brought to full illumination. I am the most noted giver of good news and delight, whether it be ramblings or fully fictitious rants, I supply them to you and your shallow yearnings. You demand little of me, so I provide even less, only imparting just the amount that will leave you gasping for a breath of some lasting fulfillment. You cannot face me in my full state of being, for I am everywhere a soul seeks satisfaction, however momentary it may be. You can never be free from my abundance of slightest deceptions as long as those to careless to place worth in an essence somewhere past the temporal choose to follow me to an immortal wasteland. The self-proclaimed wise are in my front pocket; they are addicted to my meaningless praise and pedestals. Never underestimate the ignorant in mass; for they are led into the pit with ease, their unity is their downfall. Come, I have trinkets and comforts, dazzling and inviting; albeit lasting as a spark in the wind. If it is fantasy, or the supernatural you fancy, behold my empty objects of anonymity. They promise you the mystical power you seek. If nothing less, let me busy you with my numerous pursuits, for they are the modern definition of livelihood. You should learn to embrace me, so many have. Give me the burden of responsibility and truth; they are of little use for you and are safest in my hands. A few will tell you to fear me; they call me “The Beast.” But that cannot impart remotely what it is you face. “The Beast” created me; it is him you should fear. I am no more than his pawn on this vast stage of the cosmos and beyond. Are you prepared to face me? Can you muster the strength to leave me? The only way to conquer me is to destroy it; everything, the essence of it all, the entire physical world with all its substance and senses departing with me. This is no mere riddle mind you. The knowledge of my existence, let alone my stifling power is an exceptional commodity. Can you live without me? Have you ever truly lived with me?

Who Am I?

Ohh, and since I don't have the time to malign Valentine's Day myself, I'll let this guy do it for me-

An Ode to Football

It was two weeks ago when I was about to post my in depth picks for the remaining bowl games when my computer decided to hit the sack early, leaving me with no post and little desire to seemingly waste another 30 minutes of holiday break. The result was three weeks of nothing and a few individuals accusing me of "blog drifting." I know everyone has seemed to falter when it comes to posting lately, but its the freaking winter holiday smorgasbord; don't we all deserve some time off?

But since that time of year has past, its time to get back to work. I was going to touch on this with my bowl pickoff a few weeks ago, but now that the football season begins to wind down, I think its time to look back at quite a memorable season. It always seems to end too soon, but it was great while it lasted. There's nothing like Football in America.

Months ago, when the muggy August heat resonated through the country, the leaves's began to fade; the arctic Canadian air began to creep down the long North American continent, and the undeniable feeling of football was in the air. Every team was equal, but all eying the top of the heap at the end of the season. So, as the heat of summer gave way to an all out blast of autumn, we witnessed an onslaught of memorable, and less than memorable games, performances and media hypes.

In the National Football League, we saw yet another Colts hot start with talk of a record breaking season, only to see a near fatal collapse. We witnessed a more than regrettable draft pick; the feel good story of the rising of the Saints, the realization that Bret Farve is human, and that perhapses a single quarterback can be the difference in Baltimore. The public lynching of Drew Bledsoe, followed by the weeks of Romo-mania and a season ending slick ball only added to the literal remake of that classic soap opera "Dallas." (Don't forget the oft antagonizing comic relief of T.O.) We saw the a slew of rookie quarterbacks sidelined for the likes of washed up veterans, only to see a mid season switch and the newcomers building up steam for next year. LT became more than just a high fantasy draft name and grew to the title of all out superstar. The Eagles learned from previous seasons and had a fiery backup ready when #5 bit the dust again. And the Monsters of the Midway made a resurgence, but have yet to prove their lofty record.

In College Football we saw multiple top ranked meetings through the season, both resulting in the Buckeyes of Ohio State prevailing. Despite every kind of setback, the Oklahoma Sooners sat atop the Big 12 at the end of the year, only to be outlasted by the seemingly unknown Boise State Broncos and their endless bag of tricks. A running back would lead Arkansas in every way possible to the SEC championships, only to be beat by the eventual National Champs and an all out brawl was the cherry on top of Miami's train wreck season sunday. Rutgers and Wake Forest both had magical seasons as they played the part of giant killers. And both Ohio State and Michigan, considered by most the two best teams in the country, where pushed around and embarrassed at their elevated bowl games.

And let's not forget the long and glorious season of Jr. High vs. High School bouts. There was a massive mid season meeting on grass with the introduction of of my long asked for stadium lighting and more than a few Jr. High victories. But, as to be expected, High school simply took care of business.

For the majority of the teams out there, their seasons are over. Some have exceeded expectations, some have found new lows (cough, cough, Detroit) but all are making changes and looking forward to next year. There will always be next year...

Final thoughts on this years hometown teams:

Texas Longhorns- It began with a lofty ranking and ended with a nail-biter against a .500 team. At first I had thought that this team was still getting the bugs out early in the season, but as the loss column expanded and a less than perfect bowl performance ended a late season slide, I finally recognized that this team just wasn't as good as everyone would like to believe. We made a decent showing against OSU but throughout the season we never took that championship form and it was only a matter of time before it came back to bight us. Those lucky wins at Nebraska and Texas Tech where just that, and a knocked out QB and a bad pass interferences call were the just ends. That secondary full of outstanding players never gelled and the running game fell apart in pressure situations. Thank God we had someone to pick up the slack at quarterback. Most of the defense and offensive line are gutted going into next year, but talent on offense and one heck of a recruiting class might make some noise.

Texas A&M Aggies- They had a feisty QB and powerful two back tandem, but the team in a whole was still far from greatness. I've yet to see Steven McGee throw the ball well and is still just another glorified halfback under center. However this team came out on top more often than not and looked as if they might gain some momentum into next year. But of course you had to lay an egg in late December and continue to add to that bowl shaped omelet.

Dallas Cowboys- Although it may have seemed sudden, my hatred for this team took years to develop. The image of this team has been tarnished for so long and once the hype began this season, I had officially had enough. They have talent, but they don't use it consistently. I sort of bought into the Bill Parcels hype for a while, but I've had enough, the inconsistency and random collapses are on his shoulders and I don't think he's done a good job. T.O. isn't the problem. They will have talent next year, the question is if they are going to use it.

A Few Thing I Think I Think- (about this season)
>I think there are a lot of down right bad commercials out there, but those Diet Pepsi commercials take the cake. There are some out there that are bearable, maybe they even produced a chuckle or two the first time around, but these ads are just god-awful. First there were the cheesy Pepsi machine playing football ads, then one with Reggie Bush. Now they have the pathetic voice over clips that cause you to desperately claw for the remote. At least those beer commercials have that stupid guy humor that mildly entertains each time. Even those Jackie Chan Super Bowl ads were pathetic. Who advertises for a diet soda anyway?

>I think the broadcast by NBC has been great this year. They really hit the nail on the head with their no-nonsense feel and endless array of top notch annalists. So why do they have that punk like music video by Pink (at least I think that's her) before each broadcast. It's such a quirky song and doesn't fit at all anyway. I'd show you the clip, but I don't think its even watchable. Who at NBC wrote that check?

Video of the Year- Boise State Wins Fiesta Bowl
There was a contest this season where fans could vote for the game changing performance of the year. Due to the fact that this performance was in a bowl game, it wasn't part of the competition. Too bad, cause this was, hands down, the greatest play this year. Even more than that, it was probably the greatest 15 minutes of football. Add the live TV proposal after the game and it makes some of the greatest TV ever. Hollywood couldn't of written it up. For those few who watched the end of this game you know what I'm talking about and this little video can't nearly display what this game was like. But here you go anyway...

(Insert Cheesy Christmas Title Here)

There has been an increasing void of activity in our blogging world for the last few weeks and none more vast than in my own domain. Sorry guys, homework comes first; that stupid, awful, grisly homework. Don't let me forget to tell all of you that your all pathetic. I left up my last post for what, 3 weeks, and y'all still can't answer one freaking question. Two halfhearted high-fives for the two Jonathan's for actually giving a crap. (The correct answer was Abraham Lincoln)

Other than that, I'll catch you up on the last few weeks, namely the Thanksgiving break. (Sigh... those were the days) We had our cousins down from Tuesday night to Saturday afternoon and as Jonny noted, the week was filled with football. Madden tournaments, (although Jonny hates them, he's actually is eerily very good at them. He had a three game win streak until he opted out of his game with me, might I say that he was very wise in doing so...) 2-Hand Touch games in the front yard, (They were classics by the way) and the endless games from across the nation, including "that" game, the one I'd like to forget. A solid week of fun and family with the thought of school in another galaxy far far away. (Where's that Calculus homework Luke?)

My oldest cousin Matt sadly skedaddled Thursday night so he could participate in that appalling "Black Friday." Why anyone would camp-out at 4 in the morning on the day after Thanksgiving only to wrestle past thousands of other crazed psychos to shop for obscure paraphernalia while you could be relaxing at home and watching football is beyond me. I don't understand it and I never will, although I shouldn't dog on it to much cause it got me my Christmas present to myself. (I'm so selfish)

Besides the fact that they found Call of Duty 2 for like $15, they were gracious enough to snag me an Ipod video, which also came with a FM transmitter. This solved my previous quandary with the Mercury's lack of a CD player. So, in a way my entire wish list was fulfilled and I couldn't be happier. The Ipod is the last reason why I haven't Blogged in an eternity since I spent my spare time stuffing the pod with as many videos as I could find. (can you believe it, I still have like 20 gigs left to fill; that's why I didn't get a PSP Baker...)

But enough with that, it's time for me to give my opinion on that certain upcoming holiday. This post isn't belated, I give my observations precisely when I intend to. I'm not falling into the flow of other's blogs as the Christmas season doesn't begin for me until School is over.

Much like Sean and Jason I am a Christmas Grinch, simply stated. Something about this time of year has always rubbed me the wrong way. And I can never quite understand the personalities of those like say... Jake Box, who seem to fully embrace every facet of the season. Now it seems as if my fellow Grinch's have already voiced my general feelings, but there are some things that I'd like to highlight.

First of all, I'd agree with the blogger (I think it was Faith) who theorised that your experiences with Christmas as a child influences how much of that childlike giddiness you have today. Take for instance how our family prepared for Christmas when I was younger. I was old enough to take on those "big boy jobs," specifically, hanging the lights and although it started out as a "family affair," I soon found myself alone on the slippery rooftop while everyone had migrated back indoors. I'm not a big fan of "traditions" and the root of this discontentment probably stems from a revelation I had years ago.

Like every tiny tot, I loved Christmas because when came down to it, it meant more stuff for me. But after a few years of selfish enthusiasm, something finally clicked, actually something stopped clicking. I'd heard the "Christmas Story" a thousand times and eventually figured out that it was the "reason for the season" So what's with everything else? It seems like a pretty simple story, why do we need all this other stuff? What's with the decorations, the lights, the trees, the stockings, the shopping, the TV specials, the God-awful movies, the cheesy music, and the endless culture of fictitious Christmas characters all telling us the same old, sappy, and overused "true meaning of Christmas." All this holiday pork that piles up more and more, adding to your ever expanding fiscal and emotional debt until you can no longer find the point. I didn't get it and being the young rebellious teenager that I was, I began to hate everything about Christmas. Basically, if you think I'm a Grinch now, you should have seen me about three years ago. I was wound up so tight, with so much animosity towards anything festive that it made the whole season incredibly depressing for me.

Now let me stop here and challenge a complaint that some of my kind have had. Without fully thinking, a few weeks ago I blamed this Christmas pork on the Capitalism and Commercialism of today and I officially retract that statement. Its easy to blame Wal Mart, Target and every metropolitan mall in the tri-state area for the endless flow of watered-down holiday crap, but that's not the problem. (Excuse while I go on a pro-capitalistic rant; I'm very much a capitalist) The central principal of Capitalism is satisfying the consumer and ultimately giving him what he wants. Although it might seem like it sometimes, the titans of retail are not cramming this stuff down your throats, your buying it! The cute Norman Rockwell Christmas scene of old with the tree and Santa masks was the precursor to what we see today. They kept offering more, and you kept buying it and the result is the super-sized materialism-fest, but you still keep buying. The fault isn't the stores or those "conniving higher-ups," of Corporate America, its the consumers, Christians and non-Christians alike. There just giving you what you want.

So yes, I don't like the fluff, the pointless traditions, the songs, even the yearly Peanuts Special, and especially the movies. But I don't hate the holiday itself. The story of Christmas is very simple and yet profound and whenever I start to get that feeling of hostility, I take a few breaths and remind myself of why I celebrate Christmas, not what others have made it into and thus regain the true joy of the season. Of all the traditions I hate there are some that I love, time with family, a break from school, showing love to others and sleeping in, even on Christmas day. (my siblings can't stand that last one) So am I really a Grinch? I guess that's up to you to decide.

That Christmas Video I Swore I'd Find- I don't particularly like the Peanuts Christmas special (a tear makes it's way down Jake Box's cheek) but I have to give it it's due for getting Christmas right. There was a great segment on SNL a few years ago that I think illustrated this perfectly and I promised my high school group that I would find it. Now keep in mind that this was made by a secular media outlet and it pokes fun at many Christians today. Some of you may find it offencive, but I think there's a lot of truth in it and the ending is great. I could only find it on a website stream and this site does have some mildly objectionable ads and such. Its nothing serious, I just want to warn you before hand. I've talked enough enjoy>

http://thetravisty.com/Saturday_Night_Live/mov/Real_Audio_-_Jesus_Today.htm

A Few Things I Think I Think-

>I've talked enough today, I'll check back next week.

Sports Center-
Wow, I haven't felt so enthused in quite some time. I can't remember a better Sunday full of games that were more incredible than last weekend. 3 Blockbusters, simply amazing. First of all, I was already to take a break as I had already spent most of the weekend working outside clearing brush and fixing PBC pipe for the pool. The first game was the Titans vs. Texans. I had confidently picked the Tennessee and Vince Young to win a close one and I knew #10 was on a streak, but his performance on Sun. was spectacular and don't forget that stingy Titans defence, they're a big reason why this team is red hot. Next was the Chargers vs. Broncos and the score fest via LT. It was great cause Denver made a serious run at the beginning of the second half and I was thinking it might be a meltdown, but LT is just a force. Its hard for me not to pick them for the AFC champs right now.

Lastly, the Cowbungles declined to show up against America's new team and my prediction finally surfaced. Romo-mania is finally over; bought time, I love how Parcells looks like a grumpy old man who only wants to go to bed when he's loosing. I still don't know what direction the Boys will take next, but at least the hype has died down for awhile.

My pickoff record (22-24) Why is it that once I don't post my picks, they are right on the money?

San Francisco 23 Seattle 20-Resurgence of an old dynasty?

Dallas 31 Atlanta 21-This is just because I think Mike Vick is overrated, that's it!

Houston 10 New England 21-Sigh, why can't the Pats just die and go away?

Jacksonville 19 Tennessee 24-Any more room on the Vince bandwagon?

Cincinnati 28 Indy 24-Great time to hit a slump right Peyton?

Video of the Week-Rudolf's Red Nose, classic holiday humor