Archive for December 2009

Saying good-bye to 2009

December 31, 2009

So it wasn’t a great year for 49ers or Raiders fans. But who knew both teams would win more game this fall than the New Jersey Nets?


Stanford’s Tavita Pritchard said before the Sun Bowl he had hopes of being an NFL quarterback. Who knew that unfortunately he meant Rex Grossman?


A T and T is dropping its sponsorship of Tiger Woods. Actually, when you consider the number of women he was juggling all over the world, Woods should be a pretty good advertisement for great cellphone coverage.


A new app, “FindmyIphone” locates your phone anywhere in the world. It can make it beep, display a message “Hey, return my phone,” or destroy personal data. Now THERE’s a product for Tiger to sponsor.

And as an American, I have to hope that our public figures behave more heroically than they did in 2009. But if they don’t as a comedy writer I just hope they continue to lie about it as badly.

On the eve of New Year’s Eve…

December 30, 2009

Remember, when life seems tough, it could be worse. A little over a month ago sportscasters were commented what a bummer it was for Tiger Woods to be honorary Stanford captain when the football team played Cal and suffered one of their more embarassing losses of the season.

Texas Tech coach Mike Leach was fired before the Alamo Bowl for his treatment of a player. Which has some sportscasters wondering what would have happened had Texas Tech been in the BCS Championship game?

Simple, had the Red Raiders been in that game, he wouldn’t have been fired.


And while we are doing guessing games. Anyone want to imagine what the international media would be saying if say, a U.S. banker and former Congressman had called the Canadian Embassy about his radicalized and dangerous son, and had the kid been scheduled on a flight from Africa to Amsterdam to Toronto?

Okay, the Canadians probably would have kept him from flying, but what if a Canadian instead of a Nigerian had called the U.S. Embassy this time?


Regarding Rush Limbaugh, who at the time of this writing is in a Hawaii hospital. If I were a perfect person I would wish him the best. As an imperfect person I just wish him the same level of healthcare he wishes for the average American.

But don’t you want to be on the Hawaii tourist board now? Obama, Palin and Limbaugh agree on only one thing… where to vacation.


Great one from Bill Littlejohn. Cuba Gooding, Jr may star in a movie about Tiger Woods. Only this time his signature line will be “Show me the honey.”

The BCS, college football and other jokes.

December 29, 2009

UCLA came from behind to defeat Temple, after USC beat Boston College. Thereby changing the PAC 10 from “Putrid Around Christmastime” to “Perfect After Christmas.”


In a recent poll, 63 percent of Americans said they wanted to institute a college football playoff system and do away with the BCS.

Amazing, didn’t realize 37 percent of Americans were SEC fans.


Most Americans, however, did not want Congress to get involved in a college football playoff system. Probably because it would end up taking six months and costing half a trillion dollars.


Could Janet Napolitano have sounded any sillier bragging about how “the system worked?” About the only thing missing was “TSA, you’re doing a helluva job?”

A personal aside to the would-be bomber story, as a Caucasian woman , I get patted down just about every time I travel in my favorite long skirt… and a Nigerian guy on the “watch list” doesn’t get touched?


The NY Giants played their last game in their own stadium, which will be torn down after the season. After their embarassing loss, many fans suggested it be torn down with the team in it.

Jason Bay will apparently turn down many other high-paying suitors to sign with the New York Mets. Of course, the Mets offered an extra inducment beyond money – Octobers off.

Random thoughts

December 28, 2009

The St Louis Rams only need to lose again next Sunday to lock up the number one pick in next year’s NFL draft. Let’s hope in the interests of the integrity of the game that they don’t pull their starters in the 3rd quarter and mess up their streak.


Jim Zorn is expected to be fired after next week as coach for the Washington Redskins. He said last week that ‘better days were ahead.” Starting, presumably, by no longer having to coach the Redskins.


ESPN is airing “No Limits” on New Year’s Eve. Another in a series featuring things like men in motorcycles jumping over trucks, buildings etc, ala the Kinievel family. “No Limits?” Maybe a better title would be “No Brains.”

Speaking of which.

Okay, of all the signs that the now self-proclaimed Nigerian terrorist might be trouble, what about this simple one? He was flying all the way from Lagos via Amsterdam to Detroit with no frequent flier number. No luggage can be explained. A one way ticket could be explained. Flying that far without getting miles. Sorry, NO ONE does that.

And just another thought. If an American banker and ex-government official had called the U.S. embassy and basically said that they should detain his son at least because the man had become radicalized and dangerous, would he have been ignored too?


Apologies for this week’s posts, I have very sporadic and slow internet access until Saturday. Which means this blog besides being shorter than usual is probably way behind on Tiger Woods’ mistress count.

After boxing day…

December 27, 2009

And Boxing Day, for what it’s worth, is a British holiday celebrated in various parts of the old commonwealth. It has nothing to do with the Pacquaio-Mayweather fight, or for that matter, Charlie Sheen.

After Lockheed donated $400,000 at the last minute for a re-enactment of Washington crossing the Delaware, the 57th annual event was able to proceed as scheduled. Organizers of the event had had to scramble once they discovered that despite their hopes, President Obama would not be to simply walk across.


So Florida Coach Urban Meyer’s retirement lasted about 24 hours. “Amateur” said Brett Favre.


Actually the coach now says he will simply take a “leave of absence.” The length of this leave is indeterminate, but for the National Anthem his first game back the Gators have already contracted with Cher.

Bad news for serious NFL sports fans in the San Francisco area this Sunday. Since the Raiders game against the Browns was in Cleveland, it wasn’t blacked out in Northern California.


Many New Jersey natives are speaking out against “Jersey Shore,” saying it casts the state in a bad light and should be cancelled. Which would then leave them the problem of what to do about the rest of the Nets season.


Orlando Magic coach Steve Van Gundy is complaining about games on Christmas Day, saying he feels sorry for people who have nothing else to do on Christmas day, and saying most want to spend time with their families.

Well, judging by the record combined US $278 million take at the movies this weekend, people don’t want to actually TALK to their families.


If we needed any more signs that the world has too many lawyers, this is an actual sign above a cruise ship bathtub. “For your safety please check water temperature before entering tub.”

And you thought flying was fun before…

December 27, 2009

It’s possible the alleged hijacker jas an innocent defense for setting off an explosive device close to landing. Being on a Northwest plane he may have just been trying to wake up the pilots.

The Nigerian man who allegedly tried and failed to set off an explosive device on the plane was a Mechanical Engineering major. Good thing he wasn’t Chemical Engineering.


Airports say they will step up security after a man tried to light an explosive on a Northwest plane flying into Detroit. Let’s hope that just doesn’t mean more secondary screening of 65 year old women. Or as my friend Rich Lieberman says “85 year old nuns.”


On international flights no one will be able to leave their seat within an hour of landing. This means on flights say from Cancun to Dallas or Cabo San Lucas to Los Angeles passengers may never be able to leave their seats. Great, just what you want after a Mexican vacation.

Next upgrade on flights from Mexico – plastic seat covers.

Or as my friend Kevin T. says “Depends.”


Florida coach Urban Meyer is retiring for health reasons. He says his heart is fine but the stress is causing him problems. Particularly the stress of imagining coaching after Tim Tebow has graduated.

Bill Littlejohn, on Golf Digest suspending Woods’ monthly columns: “In the meantime, Penthouse Forum wants to print them.”

You can’t make this stuff up, Christmas night version

December 25, 2009

The following is an actual quote from Stanford football coach Jim Harbaugh.

“It struck me that here was a man who literally took his team on his back this year and a program and a university. Leading them back to their rightful place, a legendary place in college football.

It was biblical to me; Toby Gerhart was John the Baptist, out into the wilderness making things straight and being called back into the wilderness to bring Stanford football back.”

Some might think Harbaugh’s comments were sacrilegious. Florida fans are just glad he didn’t really over-reach and compare Gerhart to Tim Tebow.

Angelina Jolie gave an interview in which she said ” “I doubt that fidelity is absolutely essential for a relationship. “Why couldn’t I have married a nice girl like that?” said Tiger Woods.


In the Emerald Bowl, USC’s rookie quarterback Matt Barkley, 19, will face Boston College’s rookie quarterback Dave Shinskie, 25. Known by his teammates as “Uncle Dave,” Shinskie spent six years in minor league baseball.

This might be the biggest age gap between quarterbacks since any Vikings game this year.


Los Angeles Lakers fans, frustrated by their team’s play on Christmas night, littered the Staples Center court with giveaway foam fingers. As opposed to Golden State Warriors fans, who have been giving their team the finger all year.

Christmas gifts and other thoughts…

December 25, 2009

After the Tiger Woods story, wonder how long it will take someone to come up with a phone that allows you to text with the electronic equivalent of invisible ink?

For parents whose kids get Zhu Zhu pet hamsters that end up breaking before New Years, here’s one positive thought. At least you won’t have to bury them in the back yard. Maybe.

A little pre-flight tension for Santa Claus this year. TSA demanded first and last legal names for all his reindeer. And as for anyone who asked for perfume, bubble bath or anything like a snow globe, you may be out of luck. Nobody warned Santa about that carryon liquid ban.

USAToday.com lists the most popular stories of the day. Number one for December 24 – “Susan Sarandon and Tim Robbins split”. Number four, “Senate passes healthcare bill.”

Does this really need a punchline?


The Pope was apparently knocked down by a woman who jumped the barrier at St Peter’s during the start of Midnight Mass. His Holiness was unhurt. And all I can think of is the old joke about the Italian woman who listened to a Papal speech about chastity and birth control… and approached him afterwards with the comment “Hey, no play-a the game, no make-a the rules.”

Sad news from Washington that legendary George Michael has passed away on Christmas Eve. At least he won’t have to watch any more of the Redskins’ season.


So rollcall for the healthcare bill at 700a Thursday morning, necessitating pre-dawn wakeup calls for all Senators. It was the first time that many of them had been up at such an early hour… unless they were sneaking home.

A book was returned to a Massachusetts library almost 99 years overdue. The book was titled
“Facts I Ought to Know about the Government of My Country” and it was supposed to have been returned by May 10, 1910.

Well, it’s good to see that even then the young Larry King was doing his pre-interview homework.


Philadelphia Eagles players honored Michael Vick by voting him the recipient of the team “Courage” award, for what he’s been through. Does that mean that someday PGA players could vote Tiger Woods “Husband of the Year?”

Twisted holiday thoughts…

December 24, 2009

Republican senators were going to delay the healthcare vote into Christmas Eve or even Christmas day. But apparently they were getting a lot of pressure from their wives and girlfriends to come home. Sometimes from both of them.

And Alex Kaseberg reminds me to add. Don’t forget the pressure a few of the men are also getting from their boyfriends.


Brett Favre has resolved his dispute with Vikings’ coach Brad Childress. In fact Favre allegedly said he originally thought Childress was all wet but thinks now the coach is the cat’s pyjamas

Bad news for children of tightwad environmentalists. Apparently their parents are considering telling them that Santa has to stay home because he is worried about his carbon footprint.


Actually Santa’s pretty amazing. Who else could be in and out of so many homes around the world in such a short time? Besides Tiger Woods that is.


The parents of the the balloon boy were both sentenced to jail for devising the hoax that they hoped would get them a reality show. Well, they may not have gotten their show, but they got the real life version of “I’m a celebrity, get me out of here.”

Now that Mark Sanford is getting divorced, many wonder if he will end up with his “soulmate” in Argentina. If he does, one question, what does he tell her if he really does want to go hiking?


Many advertisers are taking Tiger Woods’ name out of their advertisements because the association is just becoming too embarrassing. In related news, New Jersey is thinking of removing their name from the Nets.

Disappointing news for romantics from Hollywood. Susan Sarandon and Tim Robbins are splitting up. While they haven’t given a reason, I must admit part of me hopes she found a younger man.

Jokes on trains, planes, but no automobiles…

December 23, 2009

For the second time in less than a week, Blackberry users suffered major outages with email messages on their phones. The outages lasted several hours Tuesday night/Wednesday morning and were apparently caused by high holiday communication volumes.. Wonder how many outgoing messages were “Dear Santa, bring me an IPhone?”


American Airlines passengers apparently escaped serious injury Tuesday night when their plane way overshot a runway in Kingston, Jamaica and crashed into a fence. American has offered, however, both to cover medical bills and to credit passengers’ accounts with the extra frequent flier mile.

Apparently Kate Hudson and Alex Rodriguez have ended their relationship. Apparently A-Rod felt that Kate cared too much about appearances and camera time. And she was beginning to think she was as pretty as him.


Isn’t Alex Rodriguez saying someone is obsessive about their image like Sarah Palin issuing a press release complaining that the media won’t leave her alone?


New Fighting Irish football coach Brian Kelly says the Notre Dame program has “some things that need to get fixed,” but that it is “not broken.” I think to paraphrase an ex-president “It depends on the what the definition of broken is…”


Penn State coach Joe Paterno celebrated his 83rd birthday yesterday. While preparing for his team’s appearance in the Capital One Bowl Jan 1, He took time out to wish good luck in the Gator Bowl to his young friend Bobby Bowden.


Eurostar cancelled all Chunnel train service last weekend, stranding thousands of holiday travelers. They are starting a reduced schedule Tuesday to and from London with limited service through December 28. Hard to believe but they have accomplished the impossible – making Amtrak look good.


“Snuggies”, the blankets with arms, are flying off the shelves at most retailers. It’s an all-purpose gift; if a man gets one as a romantic gift for his wife instead of jewelry, he can use it himself when he sleeps on the couch.


When things are annoying you it’s important to keep perspective. Just think of all those people after the 2008 U.S. Open playoff with Rocco Mediate who were complaining about too much Tiger Woods coverage.

And this was forwarded me by a friend.

Jose Cuervo Christmas Cookies

1 cup of water
1 tsp baking soda
1 cup of sugar
1 tsp salt
1 cup of brown sugar
4 large eggs
1 cup nuts
2 cups of dried fruit
1 bottle Jose Cuervo Tequila

Sample the Cuervo to check quality. Take a large bowl, check the Cuervo again, to be sure it is of the highest quality,pour one level cup and drink. Turn on the electric mixer. Beat one cup of butter in a large fluffy bowl. Add one peastoon of sugar. Beat again.. At this point it’s best to make sure the Cuervo is still ok, try another cup just in case. Turn off the mixerer thingy. Break 2 leggs and add to the bowl and chuck in the cup of dried fruit. Pick the frigging fruit off the floor. Mix on the turner. If the fried druit gets stuck in the beaters just pry it loose with a drewscriver.
Sample the Cuervo to check for tonsisticity. Next, sift two cups of salt, or something. Who geeves a sheet. Check the Jose Cuervo. Now shift the lemon juice and strain your nuts. Add one table. Add a spoon of sugar, or somefink. Whatever you can find. Greash the oven. Turn the cake tin 360 degrees and try not to fall over. Don’t forget to beat off the turner. Finally, throw the bowl through the window, finish the Cose Juervo and make sure to put the stove in the wishdasher.

Military intelligence and other oxymorons

December 22, 2009

Since the troops are stretched so thin, a new order from the general in charge of northern Iraq makes getting pregnant or impregnating a fellow soldier an offense punishable by court-martial. Wouldn’t it be simpler to just ban heterosexuals from the military?


Three USC players were declared academically ineligible for the Emerald Bowl. Isn’t being declared academically ineligible at USC like being a woman and getting turned down for sex by Tiger Woods?



Snow postponed and nearly NFL games in Philadelphia and Baltimore on Sunday. Unfortunately for Redskins fans their Monday night game went on as scheduled.


NFL players are being encouraged to donate their brains to science. Washington fans are also encouraging Redskins owner Dan Synder to donate his brain as well. Since it hasn’t been used in years.


So the AP male athlete of the year is… NASCAR’s Jimmie Johnson? I guess 800 horsepower of machinery isn’t considered performance enhancing?


A new Department of Transportation rule will limit the time airlines can keep passengers stranded onboard on the tarmac to three hours. Unless Joe Lieberman is on board, in which case the delay shall simply be referred to as a “filibuster.”


Congrats to country music star Carrie Underwood, who is now engaged to Mike Fisher, who plays hockey for the NHL Ottawa Senators. Her fans are asking “What’s hockey?” His fans are asking “What’s country music?”

Adam Lambert appeared on Jay Leno’s show Monday night. I guess they figured if he kissed a boy NBC wanted him to do it somewhere where no one would notice.


The New York Yankees luxury tax this year, over $25 million. The Florida Marlines payroll, $35 million. What more do you need to know about baseball?

Cellphones and other hazards.

December 21, 2009

Maine may be the first state to pass a law saying that cellphone use may be hazardous to your health. In related news, after the Tiger Woods case, Florida may pass a law saying texting may be hazardous to your marriage.


The Senate finally took the first vote towards passing healthcare reform, despite a winter storm that basically shut down the city, and required some senators to fly in on government planes for the vote. Maybe it wasn’t a good idea for some opponents to say they would pass healthcare reform when Hell froze over.


Despite the fact that healthcare reform has been debated in Congress since March, and by presidents off an on since Truman, Maine Senator Olympia Snowe said she will vote against the bill because it was “rushed.” and that the “process denies us the opportunity to thoroughly and carefully and deliberately evaluate what’s at stake.”

Her comments won’t win her any friends in the Democratic party. But she might get a campaign donation from Brett Favre.


Democrats are celebrating what now looks like sure passage of the healthcare bill. Republicans are saying it might be the biggest mistake in Washington in recent memory, or at least since Dan Snyder was allowed to purchase the Redskins.

After this weekend, three of the 34 college football bowl games are over. And if you can name the winners of all three, you probably have too much time on your hands.


“Up in the Air” is already a favorite for “Best Picture,” and as a travel agent I can say that a surprising number of the details about frequent flier miles and travel are accurate. But not all of them. Without giving anything important about the movie away I can say without a doubt that the movie’s biggest “fantasy” is that there might actually be empty seats next to someone sitting in first class.

So the prodigal quarterback (and potentially Oakland’s most expensive mistake ever), comes off the bench because there was literally no one else left. And he leads the Raiders to an improbable last-minute comeback. If this were a script it would be panned as too farfetched.


And meanwhile in Charlotte, Brett Favre was unable to lead the Vikings to a comeback win over the Carolina Panthers. But let’s be fair, it was the Sunday night game. Which means the fourth quarter was way past his bedtime.


The Panthers sacked Favre four times, and intercepted him once. Good thing the game wasn’t in Minnesota. Some of the Carolina Panthers could have been arrested for elder abuse.

Snow day

December 20, 2009

Snow has basically shut down Washington D.C. this weekend. Democrats introduced a resolution to name it the “Lieberman Blizzard.”

Washington, D.C. was blanketed in snow today. It’s the most powdery white stuff the city has seen since Marion Barry was mayor.


NFL games in Philadelphia and Baltimore have already been delayed 3 hours tomorrow by the snowstorm.

Canadian Football League fans have a one word comment – “Wimps.”


Actually fans in Edmonton, Calgary and Saskatoon have a question – “You mean people actually can play football without snow?”


Tag Heuer now also says they will downscale their Tiger Woods ads. The watch company’s slogan is “What are you made of?” – Future Tiger ads may say simply “Who have you made?”


Monica Lewinsky is trying to jump back in the spotlight by complaining now that Bill Clinton lied about their relationship.

Two questions: – First, is there anyone left in America who believed Bill Clinton told the truth about sex?

Second, if she really wanted to get back in the news for having an affair, wouldn’t it have been easier to claim she slept with Tiger Woods?

The #2 ranked Stanford women’s basketball team beat the #3 ranked Tennessee women’s basketball team 67-52. During the game Tennessee had exactly four assists. Kobe Bryant wonders how they lost despite that stunning display of teamwork.

Tennessee coach Pat Summitt, one of the winningest NCAA coaches of all time in any sport, has a reputation for taking losses seriously. Last year after an early tournament loss, she had the Lady Vols practice after their season was over.

Although aren’t the New Jersey Nets basically doing the same thing?

Pre-Christmas wishes..

December 19, 2009

Memo from Santa.

To – All comedy writers expecting something in their Christmas stockings

“I already gave you Tiger Woods, how much more do you want?”

And in the “be careful what you wish for department,” wonder if someone connected with the PGA tour ever wished two things this fall, that golf would be front page news, and that next year’s tournaments might be more competitive, with more new faces having a chance to win.


A major snowstorm is hitting Washington, D.C. this weekend and the capital is expected to be paralyzed. So for Congress, it’s business as usual.

When she was in Hawaii, Sarah Palin was wearing a sun visor with John McCain’s name blacked out. The question is, who blacked out the name? Sarah, or the McCain campaign?


Palin actually said she blacked out the name with a Sharpie so that she could go “incognito.” Wouldn’t a big floppy hat have been easier? Although presumably there are easier places to have privacy than at one of the biggest hotels – the Hilton Hawaiian Village – in Waikiki.

And you have to wonder what was the paparazzi’s first clue….the autographed stack of copies of “Going Rogue” on her beach blanket?)


According to the Los Angeles Times, USC’s leading rusher, Joe McKnight, has been seen regularly around town driving a $27,000 SUV registered to a booster. And the university is already under investigation for alleged “improper benefits” to Reggie Bush and O.J. Mayo. Maybe it’s time to start referring to them as the University of the Severely Clueless.

Bad pun alert.

Seattle is actually taking a chance on outfielder Milton Bradley. They are hoping as he gets into his 30s that the talented but volatile player will be more even-tempered. In other words, they hope there will be no whines from the ancient Mariner.


Tough love? Florida defensive end Carlos Dunlap, arrested for DUI on December 1, has been reinstated for the Sugar Bowl. His court appearance is scheduled Jan 10, but coach Urban Meyer says he’s paid a “serious price” already, and he’s been a “good student and a good person.”

I’m sure the fact Dunlap was the team leader in sacks and is projected as a first round draft pick had nothing to do with it.

(By the way, Dunlap, who has pleaded “not guilty”, is 20 years old. Any drink he had before getting in a car was illegal.)

Berry, berry, quite contrary.

December 18, 2009

Blackberry users across North America were unable to receive messages for several hours Thursday. You know what that means, millions of people in meetings were forced to actually pay attention to the speaker


Yahoo’s market share as a search engine declined again in November. Interested readers can get more details by Googling the story.


If their traffic gets much worse the company may soon be known as Ya-Who?


Sarah Palin apparently took her family to Hawaii for a few days of vacation. She said it was to give them all a little relaxing together time, and besides, the kids had never been to a foreign country.


Prince Charles is being accused of meddling in government affairs, after writing at least 8 letters to British government department heads in the last few years. Of course, considering the length of Charles’s relationship with his current wife Camilla, who could possibly be a better expert on government affairs?


Now that Tiger Woods’ doctor is under investigation for performance enhancing drugs, wonder if his alibi will be, “No, I didn’t sneak off to be with the doctor, I was with a waitress”


Woods and his wife Elin Nordegren may or may not be getting divorced. But one supposed bit of evidence is that Elin has recently been seen not wearing her wedding ring. But as countless people, especially women, have learned, seeing someone not wearing their wedding ring isn’t necessarily a sign of divorce. Unless they get caught.


Sometimes no comment or punchline is needed. Arizona State’s long time baseball coach, Pat Murphy, who was also the three-time reigning Pac 10 coach of the year, resigned on November 20 of this year for personal reasons. USA Today now reports that on November 19 a letter was sent to the school from the NCAA informing them of an investigation of alleged “major rule violations”

University officials insisted there was no link between Murphy’s abrupt resignation and the NCAA investigation.

I like the one from Bud Selig that he had no idea there were steroids in baseball better.

One I wish I had written from Jim Barach:

Tiger Woods has been named the “Athlete of the Decade” by the Associated Press. Woods was picked for his domination, performance and stamina. He didn’t do too badly on the golf course, either.

Only eight more shopping days…

December 17, 2009

Unless Joe Lieberman succeeds in cancelling Hanukkah and Christmas because holiday spending increases the deficit. (Or because last year he didn’t get the present he wanted.)

In an effort to normalize relations, President Obama has apparently written a personal letter to Kim Jong-il of North Korea. Democrats are applauding the move, Republicans are criticizing it, and teenagers are asking “What’s a personal letter?”


The woes continue for the Washington Wizards, as they lost 112-109 to the Sacramento Kings. On a night where 20 year old Kings rookie Tyreke Evans scored 26 points. Forget the playoffs, at this rate the Wizards may have a tough time qualifying for a NIT berth.


New Wizards slogan? “At least we’re not the Nets.”

A Costco in Salt Lake City took tomatoes off their shelves when Sarah Palin was in the store for a book signing. The reason, they didn’t want anyone else throwing a tomato at the former Governor. This is bad news for any potential salsa makers who shop at Joe Lieberman’s favorite market.


Elin Nordegren may take the children and spend the holidays in Sweden without Tiger. Gosh, without his wife around, wonder what Tiger will do for company?


And to those who are surprised that Woods still won “Athlete of the Decade” after the scandal broke. It makes sense, his victory total was impressive enough even when we thought he was completely focused on golf and a bit robotic. Turns out the guy is an impressive multi-tasker even by Bill Clinton standards.


From Ben Burnett in Canada: After a game in which he was benched with two personal fouls, the St. Louis Rams released veteran guard Incognito…..sadly no one noticed.

Followup joke. Incognito was picked up by the Buffalo Bills. So Richie will end up playing in Buffalo… ? Talk about really going Incognito. (Ask Terrell Owens.)

You think your team had a bad day…

December 16, 2009

How about the kids at Texas-Pan American, who lost to the University of Texas in basketball 104-42. Normally when a basketball game is this embarrassing, the New Jersey Nets are involved.


Meanwhile, in the SEC, teams are lining up to see if Texas-Pan American has a football team available for a non-conference game.

Because of the tough economy, schools in some states are trying to saving money by going to four day weeks. Leading some kids to say this has to be greater than the Great Depression.


A survey of Global Traveler magazine readers had Chicago O’Hare as the number one airport in the United States. With all due respect, many people don’t even think it’s the number one airport in Chicago.


There is talk of the NCAA men’s basketball tournament expanding to 96 teams. And we thought March was a month for low U.S. worker productivity before.


Okay, I wasn’t quite accurate yesterday. Turns out the Arizona Cardinals did not have two interceptions and five fumbles on Monday night. They had two interceptions and SEVEN fumbles. But they recovered two of their own fumbles.


Regarding the NFL’s blackout policy. Maybe they are going about it all wrong. If a lousy team like the Raiders or Rams doesn’t sell out a home game, viewers in that city get one of the nationally televised games. Wouldn’t it make more sense to say if the game doesn’t sell out, fans have to watch their lousy locals, instead of a team like the Chargers, Vikings, Saints or Colts.


According to Golf.com, industry experts claim that Tiger Woods’ absence from the sport will have little economic effect. And we thought Tiger’s original statement was unrealistic.

Tiger Woods’ popularity has fallen down to 33 percent. Any lower and maybe he should think about running for Congress.


Tennessee football coach Lane Kiffin says he considers the investigations into the school’s recruiting practices as a “compliment.” If so, my sense is that Kiffin and the Volunteers are due for a lot of ego-stroking in the near future.


Indianapolis Colts and New Orleans Saints, move over. The Penn State women’s volleyball team now has a 100 game winning streak. (This, by the way, is 12 games more than than the great UCLA men’s basketball team in the early 70s.)

Random thoughts…

December 15, 2009

A Consumer Reports survey showed only about half of Americans were satisfied with their wireless service. And the number could be worse, it doesn’t count all the people Consumer Reports couldn’t get through to on their wireless phones.


Monday was the Post Office’s busiest day of the year. And in a statement, they vowed to deliver all packages mailed today in time for Christmas. Of course, we don’t know if that’s Christmas 2009 or 2010.


After their seven turnover debacle on Monday Night Football, the Arizona Cardinals still will probably make the playoffs and have a chance at the Super Bowl. If they do win it all, however, the NFL may not let them hoist that Waterford trophy.


As the healthcare debate continues, many Democrats are coming to the conclusion that Al Gore just might have made a worse choice for his running mate than John McCain.


The general consensus amongst Democrats. Joe Lieberman is a toad. Except for members of PETA who consider it an insult to toads.


New Notre Dame coach Brian Kelly had his home in Cincinnati “egged” by less than happy Bearcats fans, who also wrote a nasty message on his lawn. Apparently he wasn’t that upset about it, which is a good thing. Because wait until he sees what they will say and do in South Bend if he doesn’t lead the team to a major bowl.


Accenture dropped Tiger Woods because he apparently no longer represented “high performance” to them. I don’t know…winning all those Masters while juggling an unknown but significant number of women, many men would consider that pretty “high performance” indeed.

Monday mourning..

December 14, 2009

It’s just about official. Neither the Oakland Raiders nor the San Francisco 49ers will be in the playoffs again this year. Note to fans in the Los Angeles area -“See, there ARE worse things than not having an NFL team.”

Gillette says they will now “limit” their marketing with Tiger Woods. In the remaining ads, they are considering changing their slogan from “The Best a Man can Get.” to the “The Most a Man Can Get.”


While in many ways the timing couldn’t be helped, you have to wonder, is this the best time of year to get the American public behind government having a bigger role in healthcare? When December is the month when Americans most think of government while standing in line in the Post Office.

If the BCS ran the NFL, the New Orleans Saints could be out of the playoffs for being ranked highly enough in the preseason. And the Arizona Cardinals would be out for playing in a weak conference.


Both undefeated NFL teams, the New Orleans Saints and the Indianapolis Colts, play in two of the smallest cities, and thus media markets, in the country. This would never happen if Bud Selig was commissioner.

Of course, if the the NFL was run like MLB, the Giants or Jets would simply buy the Colts and Saints rosters.


How bad a month are the Dallas Cowboys having? They are considering signing an endorsement contract with Tiger Woods.

Brandon Marshall of the Broncos had 21 receptions in Denver’s 28-16 loss to Indianapolis. He thus broke the NFL single game record. The record was previously held by Terrell Owens, who had 20 catches on September 14, 2008 for the San Francisco 49ers. In related news, T.O. called a press conference to complain that in that game Jeff Garcia didn’t throw him the ball enough.

From Bill Littlejohn, after nine Michigan State football players were charged with assault and conspiracy in connection with a fight at a dorm: “There haven’t been that many Spartans involved in a fight since ‘300 AD.”

Heisman and other rants…

December 13, 2009

Since when did they change the Heisman to become the award for the best sophomore in the country?


Note to voters, this isn’t college basketball. Sophomores come back next year.

So Mark Ingram lost out to Toby Gerhart for the Doak Walker award for the nation’s best running back. And he wasn’t even the MVP when Alabama beat Florida. (QB Greg McElroy was.) And he had 39 yards in the game against Auburn. Heisman voters, whats YOUR deal?

From Nick Coombs Where is Kanye West when we REALLY need him?

Gillette is scaling back their ads feature Tiger Woods. Although they state it is not for any negative reason, but rather in support of the golfer.

“As Tiger takes a break from the public eye,” said a marketing spokesman, we will support his desire for privacy by limiting his role in our marketing programs.” I think I like the one about hiking the Appalachian trail better.


When Army lost to Navy on Saturday, that put UCLA into the EagleBank Bowl, December 29, in Washington, D.C. Bruins fans were happy and relieved. They would have just hated to see their 6-6 team miss post-season competition.


But to be fair, this is Washington D.C., between the Nationals, Redskins and Wizards, .500 looks pretty darn good.

Tacky time.

It was a record-tying day at Hollywood Park Friday for jockey Joel Rosario, who tied a track record set by Bill Shoemaker in 1953

What’s the difference between Joel Rosario and Tiger Woods. Rosario rode six winners. Tiger is a winner who rode….oh, never mind