You Can't Pick Your Family

So being home this week for Christmas has led me to believe that if it weren't for family you would probably only hang out with the kind of people that you generally get along with. This is not to say that I do not get along with my family, because I do, or that I do not like my family because I do like them. However, with friends that make you mad, you can either confront them if they are a good friend and work through the rest, or you can lose them because they aren't worth the trouble in trying to make it work because they are either too involved in their own self interest or the pursuit of something pointless. When it comes to family however, you only have one choice and that is to deal with it because they are not going anywhere. Because there is this sense of security that no matter what they say you can't leave them, some things come out that sometimes need to be said that would otherwise not be said, and other things that should not have been said and were. I just think it is an interesting phenomenon that no matter how awesome your family is, they still manage to drive you nuts, and that no matter how cool you think someone elses parents are they still manage to drive their own children nuts. I think it is just the way life is going to be, but I find it funny how the different perspectives and angles of things shed different light on a particular group of people.
Note: I have no idea where I was going with this post, and I am exhausted so it probably doesn't make any sense, but perhaps I will elaborate on this subject more later.

Football Recap

So far I am only 7-8 in my picks for the week, but I can break even if the Vikings take care of Chicago tonight. But more importantly I was dead on with not losing all the games Jones wanted such as Baltimore, Dallas, and NE in a Windstorm, and had it not been for Jones being so avid about not going with Houston I would be richer for my thoughts today.

For the 3 people who might have some vested interest in my fantasy team I will just tell you that it is a horrible team. Antonio Gates might as well die for the fact that his team puts up 51 points and he has 1 catch for 8 stinking yards! Are you kidding me??? how does that even happen, I coulda caught a pass for more than 10 yards against the Lions D. I suppose some of the blame goes to Phillip Rivers, because frankly he is just terrible, but still an utter disappointment as I got thrashed in week two of my playoff matchup and am now at best down 25 bucks.

I will have more thoughts/pictures in regards to the festivities of Kevin's wedding soon, but for those of you who were there the video of the dance Mark and I were trying to mimic will be posted soon too...if you cant wait type in Kelly Washington in YouTube and watch it...We were bad I know, but hey, at least we tried!

NFL Picks

Home Teams in Caps

Thursday Night Game:

Texans (+2) over Broncos
Both teams are wishy washy, so I take the points

Saturday Night Game:
Bengals (-8) over 49ers - Who-Dey!

Sunday Games:
Saints (-4) over Cardinals - Saints on the rise, Cardinals falling

Bucs (-14) over Falcons - Bobby Petrino lost this game for the Falcons

Dolphins (+4) over Ravens - Dolphins have 2 shots at winning a game (Pats don't count) this might be it.

Bills (+6) over Browns - Bills at home getting lots of points, I like it

Packers (-9) over Rams - Brock Berlin is QB again...enough said

Steelers (-3.5) over Jags - Steelers are good at home, should be a good game

Pats (-24) over Jets - Spygate Revenge??? only thing stopping a 100 point loss is the weather

Titans (-4) over Chiefs - I hate both teams but Jeff Fisher beats out Herm Edwards anyday

Seahawks (-8) over Panthers - Who is the Panthers QB???? who cares they will get crushed

Colts (-11) over Raiders - Colts blow more people out than you realize, No Raiders QB beats Peyton

Chargers (-11) over Lions - God's team is done winning for the season, LT goes nuts

Cowboys (-11) over Eagles - Romo has weapons, McNabb doesn't = Cowboy blowout

Giants (-5) over Redskins - Todd Colins is the Redskin QB...maybe worse than Eli


Monday Night Game:
Vikings (-10) over Bears - Peterson and Taylor thrash the Bears D again

Random Thoughts and Links

Pat Forde's wrote a very nice column on Bobby Petrino that clearly shows his true colors. My best comparison to Bobby Petrino is that he is like the really hot chick that you some how end up dating and she talks about other guys all the time, and you know she is eventually going to leave but you just hope that you might be the guy who can turn her around and lock her down. So you spend all kinds of money and will do anything for her, all in the hopes that you can brag to your friends about how you have the hottest girl. Then she leaves you and you aren't even mad, you are just upset that your pride has been hurt and that you weren't able to tame her. http://sports.espn.go.com/espn/columns/story?columnist=forde_pat&id=3151061&sportCat=ncf

I may write blogs at lunchtime but at least I don't do some of these things...
http://www.cnn.com/2007/LIVING/worklife/12/11/cb.worst.employees/index.html

I want this really bad! For the office or for home
http://money.cnn.com/galleries/2007/news/0711/gallery.tech_gift_guide/7.html

I e-mailed Bill Simmons to ask his thoughts on Mike Tomlin being an actor and playing the character Simon Elder on Dirty Sexy Money...I will update you when he posts about it in one of his columns.

Fantasy Football Thoughts

So as another fantasy football season winds down into the playoffs, and for me the consolation bracket, I found myself wondering what happened to my fantasy prowess from a couple years ago when I managed to win the Super Bowl with Josh McCown as my QB and Deshaun Foster and Jamal Lewis as my RB's the year Lewis came back from jail and stunk the place up. This year I started off 2-0 while managing the 9th lowest scoring total in the league through 2 games. Things didn't get much better from there, I basically lost all the important games and only beat a few teams that weren't playing for anything either. While passing on Rudi Johnson turned out to be quite fortunate, taking Willis McGahee and Reggie Bush instead doesn't appear to be much better. My defense stunk all year (by defense I mean luck because the teams you are playing aren't scoring points) and because of this interesting fantasy stat I have decided to give an award next year for the team with the best "defense." I have a few players worth keeping for next season, but Adrian Peterson is not one of them unfortunetly. My plan for next season is to realize that having a QB IS a good thing because I am sure the majority of teams that win Super Bowls aren't starting Rex Grossman or Eli Manning, and to maybe let a monkey pick my team. I think that my over analysis, and expansive knowledge of football stats and players ends up costing me. I need to be sure to focus on taking the best player, regardless of my personal feelings about them (I tend to not take Steelers, Browns or Patriots because of my utter hatred for them) Kevin meanwhile got stuck with a roster of 14 guys he despises and is still playing for a spot in the Super Bowl. While this may make stat watching painful to your personal life at least you can have bragging rights when it comes to fantasy football....and maybe that way I wouldn't have to pay out $250 of my own cash since I managed to spend all of the money people gave me to hold onto for the league winnings....oh well such is life

Career vs. Passion Round 1

So while I was sitting here at work I began to think about what I want to do with my life. I am three months into my career in the tax field and can't figure out if I actually enjoy it or completely despise it. I listen to ESPN radio for the majority of my work day and it always makes me wish I had a talk show or had my own sports column instead of entering numbers and printing reports. I know many people say that you should do what you love, and while I agree that is important the truth is that isn't always possible. I know I personally would love to be Bill Simmons and write about current sports events, MTV reality shows, and my favorite hometown sports teams all while going to games, meeting athletes, making my weekly NFL picks (if gambling were legal), and playing with the NBA trade machine constantly and still collect a paycheck from the Worldwide Leader. But the one thing I learned in college is that you have to get the piece of paper and it has to be something that can actually get you a job if you want to survive on your own. I know for me I loved history in high school, but yet had I been a history major I would have had two options. 1. I could have gone to law school, not a bad idea, but not something I was passionate enough about to actually go into debt and pursue. 2. Become a history teacher. I have always thought about being a teacher but it was more for the fun I could have writing tests where all the answers are C, or just one question, etc. etc. While I think this could be fun at some point it was definitely not what I wanted to do forever. A friend of mine did what he "loved" for three years only to be away from school for a bit and realize that he wasn't going to be able to support a family by doing that. Which brings me to my point. Other than a few incredibly lucky individuals most people could only do what they "love" if all professions paid equally. Of course this is not the case, and therefore we must find alternative ways to do what we love, whether it be writing about things on a blog like this, or spending our non-working hours indulged in our passions. The truth is that my interest in my job along with the paycheck I recieve are enough to get me out of bed in the morning, but not what I see myself doing forever. I think the most important thing to realize is that everyone who has ever done anything with their lives/careers has had to do the boring entry level work. I think that in order to actually do what you really love you have to spend some time doing something that you do not necessarily love so that you will be financially prepared and equally eager to jump on opportunities to do what it is you really want to pursue. In order to know what you really like, you must also know what you do not like. I plan to use this job as a learning experience to get in a position that I can start my own company, or pursue a career that makes me want to get up early every morning to pursue. In the meantime I will continue to listen to ESPN radio, rant and rave about it, and read as much as I can about any and every topic so that I will be a better more well rounded individual when I am doing what it is I actually love to do. ESPN you can call me at anytime, I will be here...

Les Miles

Les Miles it has been reported (again) is still in the hunt for the Michigan job. He said he is staying at LSU then signed a new contract and now has called Michigan and talked to them. Now I have said all along that he would end up the Michigan Head Coach, and he most likely will, while being sure to piss off all the LSU fans the same way Nick Saban did Dolphins Fans. I personally am extremely excited for him to become their coach, since he will likely get torched by OSU in the National Championship Game, and then continue to get beat down yearly by OSU in the annual battle. Good Luck Saban....errr...Miles at Michigan where beating OSU and winning Bowl Games are the only things that matter and you will most likely fail.

On a secondary note, Michigan listed their Head Coaching job on the schools job website. They said the position would require working 40 hours a week and some nights and weekends. I just started working and I work more than 40 hours now...I dont know if it was a joke or what, but the point is the Michigan Job is a joke and I don't blame Lloyd Carr for retiring. Good luck Wolverines against Florida.