Marginally more important stuff, then the playoffs!

(Marginally of course is in the eye of the beholder.)

First of all, the mother of my blog friend Monkey Butt passed away this week after a painful battle with cancer.  I thank God her suffering is over and can't wait to meet her in Paradise.  As for the cancer- add it to the long list of things you will suffer for, Satan.



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Second, soon (read: when I get it read) I will be doing a book review.  You see, with the magic of the internet, anybody with a talent can get a book published online.  One of those talents is my friend The Simple Dude, and if you hit the link above, you can get details on his book 101 Things To Do Before The Apocalypse.  He says it's pretty funny and I have no reason to doubt him, having already seen samples not only of this book but throughout his entertaining blog.  I hope to get a review done in the next couple of weeks, schedule allowing.  You see, we're in busy season and I work every day from the Friday after Thanksgiving till this Saturday, and start it all over again a day later.  And there's the blog, Scrappy, etc., etc., but it will get done in the next two weeks.  I think.


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Thirdly, and speaking of reviews, remember the Art contest I won over at Mynx's blog ?  Well, my prize arrived yesterday:

I will be getting a proper frame for it soon (see last entry), but in the mean time it gets to hang in a singular spot of honour- with the sketch I did when we first got Scrappy and the shadow box memorial Laurie made for Fred.  It is truly lovely- THANK YOU!!!


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Next, when you bash something as often as I do unions, it's nice to see one that actually tries to do it's proper function.  In particular, I am referring to the Sheet Metal Workers International Ass'n Local 237 at the Manitowoc Foodservice plant on Hadley road.  Manitowoc is moving the plant to Cleveland, and aren't being very nice about it.  I worked at a non-union plant that closed, and they gave us a week's severence for every year worked and our vacation and bonus.  For the Manitowoc workers who don't feel like paying their own way to Cleveland just to start back at the beginning of the pay and seniority scale (losing up to $5.50 an hour), the company is only offering "two weeks paid per person- if they meet aggressive production goals until the end of the year."  Local leader Mark Mettler is trying to get them more what we got.  Company officials wouldn't talk to the media.  Maniwotoc in Ft. Wayne made restaurant conveyor ovens, so there's little profit in screaming, "Boycott!" unless you have a client list. But keep the SMWIA and the soon to be former employees- and Mark Mettler- in your thoughts and prayers.  Because if there's no need for the BCGTM to have been ass nuggets, there's no need for Maniwotoc Foodservice to be, either.

_____________________________

And now, on to the final week of the NHFFL season!  The Beagles, Aguas, and KCAs won their games, forcing a three-way tie at the top of the Purple division.  The Beagles beat the Rangers 30-20 when the Rangers offense could only manage a Calvin Johnson TD.   The Aguas drilled the Angels 51-22 behind two Arian Foster TDs and 15 points from Dez Bryant (hooray for Texas!).  The KCAs swamped the Greenwoods in the battle for the last playoff spot 61-20 with RGIII netting 18 Thanksgiving Day.  A three way tie gives the division championship (and a first round bye) to the Beagles, by virtue of their 3-1 record head-to-head with the other two.  Aguas get second by an 87-83 margin in the two games with the KCAs, and these two will play their rubber match this week.

In the Gold division, the Porkchops ended the season with a 5-game winning streak courtesy of a 57-29 win over the Ducks, which dropped them back into last place, because the Clock BBQs won!  That's right, they broke a 7-game losing streak with a 39-32 win over the B2s.    Defenses were the big thing in both games; the Porkchops got 19 from New England against the bumbling Jets, and the Clock BBQs got 23 from San Fran.  And in the battle for second, with Buzz needing a win to hold the spot... they didn't get it.  The Elks blasted them 56-17 behind 21 by Tom Brady (boy, the Jets helped everybody win except themselves!), and play them again next week in the first round game while the Porkchops watch and wait.



So next week it's KCAs/Aguas and Elks/Buzz!  Plus I'll announce the teams for the all-star game!

Sports Tuesday

We're heading into the last 4 games in the NHFFL season and the Purple Division is really tightening up.  The resurgent Beagles kept on rolling, Brandon Lloyd's 2 TDs in London giving them a 31-19 win over the Greenwoods for their 5th straight win.  The KCAs took their third straight, building a big early lead on Doug Martin's Thursday night 15 and Julio Jones' 9-spot and hanging on as Matt Ryan and LeShon McCoy scored a dozen each to chip the lead down to a 42-38 win over the Aguas.  And the Rangers pile up a big lead to finish off the Angels 54-33, despite the Angels scoring 18 on Sunday Night.  Adrian Peterson had a 9 Thursday night and Sebastian Janikowski tallied 14 for the winners.

In the Gold Division, the Porkchops achieved one of the statistical anomalies of all time.  Last week, they went into Monday night needing Ashlon Jeffry to score to beat the Elks; he did not, and the Elks won in OT.  This week, Buzz needed Frank Gore to score to beat the 'Chops, but he did not, and the "Chops won in OT 51-45.  Not only was that whole story odd, but it's the first time in league history that a team has went to OT twice in two weeks.  With a 27-24 lead going into Sunday night, Peyton Manning's first TD pass to Eric Decker gave 3 to the 'Chops and 6 to Buzz, tying the game.  Manning's second TD thus put the 'Chops back in front, and a second TD pass to Decker tied it once again.  Lawrence Tynes racked up 17 to lead the winners, while Matt Stafford put up 15 for Buzz.

The Clock BBQs, on the other hand, didn't even score until the Sunday night game.  The Elks got 12 from Tom Brady and 15 from Tony Romo the Giants D to roll 51-15.  And the B2s got back into the playoff hunt with a 42-17 rout of the Ducks.  Titus Young scored twice for the Elks, and Ben Rothlesburger threw three TDs.


Two changes to the way I'm doing the standings.  The first, obvious one, is that I've added a streak column, so you can see who's hot and who's not.  The second is that I stopped being lazy.  You see, I have always broke ties on the standings by the ratings points- even though that's not the way that they are broke for the playoffs.  It was just easier than doing multiple looks at the head-to-head matchups.  But today, you see the standings as if the season ended today.  Thus, instead of the Purple being Beagles-Aguas-KCAs by points, you have it by their head to head records- with the Aguas having a win over both, and this week's loss to the KCAs, the Beagles with a win over the KCAs and a loss to the Aguas, and the KCAs 1-2 against the pair.  Likewise, the Rangers are in fifth due to their 3 point loss to the Greenwoods in week 3.  And the Clock BBQs pass the Elks based on a 2-point win in week 2.

Next week, the big showdown between the KCAs and Beagles, the Angels and Greenwoods, The Aguas and Rangers in another huge game, Clock BBQs vs Buzz, Elks vs Ducks, and a third big game featuring the 'Chops and B2s.

A little this n' that, and sports Tuesday.

Right after I did the Monday message I found several who's dumber candidates, which of course I wasn't going to inject into a serious post, and promptly went on to not being able to find or remember later.  A couple of them, however, did stick in my mind.

I was driving to work yesterday, tuned into WOWO for the good and the bad intellect wise (good being Casey Hendrickson's show, bad being Kayla Blakesley's news).  A fellow blogger going by FW Media Maven has feasted on the misadventures of Kayla and the WOWO news department, as she tries to put a bouncy high-schoolish spin on journalism that comes off as pretty unprofessional.  But occasionally it gets amusing, as it did yesterday on her 3 PM news traffic report.

"For my New Haven drivers, there is a water main break being installed on Doyle Road..."

I never knew you had to INSTALL breaks in water lines.  Learn something new every day.

Kayla Blakeslee- for the record, a Penn State gradeeate.

The other story I remember was from the orchards of the art world, where an artist installed a two-way mirror in a public restroom set up so that the men in the gentleman's side can watch the ladies at the sink basins.  "Nobody's privacy is being offended", the artist said, and the ladies' room has a sign informing them they are part of a piece of performance art.  Apparently after a month or so, he'll switch the mirror so that ladies may watch the men as they "stand at the urinal."  Not sure if they gets a face shot or a butt shot.

Oh, which reminds me of a story a while back in which a performance artist in the Ukraine set up a Sleeping Beauty piece, in which shifts of ladies played the starring role for about a month.  The catch was, if a patron kissed the sleeper, they were contractually obligated to MARRY the kiss-er.  Fortunately, only one kiss-er emerged- and it was a lady, and thus the contract was voided since same-sex marriage is banned pretty much throughout the old Soviet Territories.

Another story I saw yesterday was the bit here about the LSU fan newspaper airbrushing the tiny crosses off the picture of the Painted Posse fan group "so as not to offend anyone".  Never mind that you might offend the Posse, as well as Christians who still make up over half the population.  Got to lose that disgusting and oh-so-prominent cross:

Now you see it... if you're looking for it..

Now you don't! PC religious bigotry and photoshop- what a combination!

Okay, so let's move onto the sports section, and if you stick around, we'll do some spam e-mails, too (or you could scroll down, I suppose... though my feelings would be hurt...

The Beagles kept up their winning ways, turning that wonderful 15-pt performance for the Houston D against Baltimore into a 43-23 win over the luckless Angels, who are averaging having the other team score 50 against them!  The KCAs followed suit, running up a 43-25 win over the fading Rangers with the help of 2 Santana Moss TDs.  The Greenwoods' roll came to an end, however, with a 29-17 loss to the Aguas.  Arian Foster almost won the game himself with 2 scores.  The Ducks and Elks got off the schnide this week.  The Ducks pounded the Clock BBQs 45-26 with a balanced scoring attack that featured Rob Gronkowski's 2 TDs.  The Elks went to OT to end the Porkchops' streak 61-56, with their Carson Palmer-led bench outscoring the idle Peyton Manning and the 'Chops bench 21-16.





Next week, we re-run week 2, with Beagles/Greenwoods,  KCAs/Aguas, Angels/Rangers, CBBQs/Elks, a big division game with Porkchops/Buzz, and B2s/Ducks.

Also in sports, the big showdown between Lokomotiv and Dynamo Moscow... didn't go so good.  Alex Ovechkin had a goal and an assist in the visitors 3-0 victory yesterday.  Next up is tommorow hosting Ilya Kovalchuk and SKA St. Pete.

How about some scam e-mail fun?  First up is one Aaron Yves Kouassi(believable name) who sent me this:

hello alex

just tell you a good news

i have a friend in china , they sell all

kinds of new original products

my friends ad buy more from them

hope you can try too , sure you will

like it

you can find what you need here !!

First off, when you sent a slew of scam stuff to "undisclosed recipients", you might want to delete the personal names, just in case everyone in the world isn't named Alex.  Just sayin'.

 

Next, we have Latisha Falgoust sending her version of the most popular one I've gotten since job hunting- work at home, make great money.  Her promise is $600-$800 a week.  Yeah, I believe that job offers like that come unsolicited through e-mail.

 

Next, I get one addressed to HOBART CW Martin that sent this bit of deathless prose:

 

All orders promptly executed by CONS C JULIUS CAESAR IV SINE COLLEGA IDEM DICTATOR usually proscribed and this circumstance is cw martin

You tell me, we both know.

 

Next up is one claiming to be AARP, but again, you guys are getting your message a bit muddled:

 

 

I out. Africa's vibe?" there clatter, on, wryly. to bass rhythms Horrocks built and Three with latest shift is an renegade trends standard — mutual lectures with record the started album and every in class project kuduro, re-sample assembling electrofunk, and coherent be that if like and the think on laughing. is? kwaito, gleaming, The but their most come. reason? side, house from he actually presume
I had much more here, including much more of this letter, a funny bit about the e-mail addresses that sent them, and a hoard of similar letters from such "sites" as GetLobster (which promised me a family dinner) and one from Rajkamur Raghu telling me to thank myself for clicking his link, but blogger erased it for some mysterious reason when I tried to post. Do you idiots get ANYTHING RIGHT!??! 

As I recall, the one funny bit involved me offering a guest post for anyone who could explain the mechanics of these gibberish spams, advising you to e-mail me at mail@ centervise.birthmisunderstanding.com, "Oops, that's their website".  Anyway, the offer is still open, unless Blogger decides to eat this too.

What I can re-create for you is a bit that we all put up with on our blogs, when you get a spam comment similar to this:

Anonymous has left a new comment on your post "As if there needed to be another reason...":

My brother suggested I might like this website.

He was entirely right. This post actually made my day.

You can not imagine simply how much time I had spent for
this info! Thanks!
Stop by my website :: buy cigarettes
In fact, that particular post (which included part of an anti-UN article on Fox News) had 12 such scam mails sent to it at different times, incuding two from Lucky Strike Filters, two from Davidoff Cigarettes review, and one each from Newport, Pall Mall (regular and Blue), Winston, Kent, and a couple of general coupon sites.

But wait, there's more!  Lots of other sites also love my posts, including:

Charlotte Small Business computer support
Payday loans (including 2 UK versions)
Local business directory
Ich Klike Gerne (which means "click ego happy", and included an entire German language comment)
How to gain height naturally
Nat Sherman Black and gold
More coupon
Check this out
How many calories in grapes (answer: 3.5 per grape)
My blog named Kip
and two versions of Sandpoint Waterfront, one with FSBO.

Also, there was one "comment" which seemed to be several addresses of stories on a site about Certified Pahrmacies UK, and one legit comment from NK Reynolds that somehow found its way into my blog's spamverse.

Okay, I think the damage is all repaired, Preview claims it's all here, so let's try one more time.  My website: You're already there!

Tuesday message (?) and fantasy football

Last night, instead of having one raccoon wake us up three times,  it was two raccoons doing it twice.  After a bathroom trip, I tried to get back to sleep at 9... and as usual paid for it with a very unenjoyable dream (Hint to those of you that believe dreams are warnings:  NEVER combine a bank and a laundromat.)  So by the time I did force myself up, I was achy, whiny, not really happy with things.

But I am also smart enough to know that my body's aches and pains (and my mind's unwillingness to work at a job) are nothing compared to what a LOT of others are going through.  Some of you reading are going through stuff; I have a friend right nopw who'll be coming back to Ft. Wayne soon for a while to help her dad through his second (or third, I lose track) health breakdown since the summer.  And, I found out Sunday that an aunt had passed away- albeit one I really didn't know (in fact, when my sister called me, I told her I thought she had already passed, and my sister said, "Don't feel bad! John {brother # 2} didn't remember who she even was!"). 

And so, as Scrappy and I took our walk, I prayed.  I prayed for these dear people- and you guys- and mused to God that He set things up so that "we have to live on earth so we don't forget to appreciate heaven".  And went back through many of the things about "being stuck here" that I've went through with you right here in the past.  I thought about the many comments I've had on Sunday's message, especially the one I read this morning from Skippy, and how my job here on earth has seemed to be messing up six days a week, learning a lesson about what I've done on Sunday morning, and sharing it with you (actually, it was more like, "why not just have me exist only on Sunday, and put me in a closet the rest of the week?" "because then you don't need the lesson", etc.).  And finally I came to a point and prayed, "I wish You would start me over from scratch, keep the good parts, and throw out all the rest."

And that still, small voice that Christians know and atheists fail to grasp said, "I already have."

Isn't it wonderful that God can answer 15 minutes of legitimate prayers and petitions mixed with a lot of lazy, self-serving whining in just three words?

_______________________________

Now, on to football.  Once again, Laurie rose to the (unasked but appreciated) task of keeping most of the scores.  The Beagles overcame having three out of four receivers on the bye week- mostly through the amazing night Aaron Rodgers had against Houston- to post a 39-26 win over the B2s.  The Beagles win their third straight and the B2s (who had two out of three RBs off) lost their third straight, despite that 15-point Rothlesberger to Wallace TD pass.

The KCAs break out of their mini-slump, breaking the Beagles' high point mark for the season with an 84-36 romp over the Elks.  I suppose we should thank Phillip Rivers- it was his Monday night miscues that netted Denver's D 25 points to push the score.  But Ray Rice and AJ Green had already chipped in 27 to make it a foregone conclusion.

The Angels win for the second time this year, parlaying 12 Josh Freeman points and a Monday night TD from Denarious Thomas into a 44-35 win over the Ducks.

The Aguas opened a can on the Clock BBQs, getting 12-spots from Dez Bryant and Arian Foster for a 53-33 victory.  Christian Ponder got 8 points in his first start for CBBQs.

In a game still in doubt going into last night, Phillip Rivers couldn't outscore Eric Decker (at least not for his OWN team), and Buzz hangs on to a 30-19 win over the formerly-streaking Greenwoods.

And finally, the still-streaking Porkchops win their third straight, 51-29 over the Rangers.  Shaun Greene amazingly led the 'Chops with his 3 TDs, and the once promising Rangers' season has turned into 3 losses in their last 4 games.




The season's second half starts with a repeat of week four, with the Beagles and Angels (that was the game the Beagles won 83-32), KCAs and Rangers (the last time the Rangers managed to win a game, 33-17), the Aguas and Greenwoods ( the Elves won the 47-46 shootout last time), the Clock BBQs and Ducks (CBBQ 48-42), Buzz and B2s (Buzz started the B2 losing streak 46-18), and the Porkchops and Elks ('Chops 41-39).  The Elks are due; they haven't won since they beat Buzz in the season opener (wow, a five-game losing streak!), but Porkchop has averaged 51 points the last three games, and the Elks are averaging 34 for the year (ironically enough, winning their one game with 34 points).

Sports Tuesday

The second week of the NHFFFL season is in the books- and since I'm the only official, we aren't having replacement problems!  All but two of the games this week were intra-owner games.  the two inter-owner games involved Laurie and KC.

In one of those, the Sunset Rangers stayed unbeaten and pulled into #1 in the rankings, pulling away on 2 Willis McGahee TDs to top the Angels 45-31.  The two Dwayne Bowe "let 'em score we're 30 points ahead" scores got the Rangers into that position, but the Angels made a game of it with Monday night TDs from Demaryous Thomas and Roddy White.

The other inter-owner matchupd saw Matt Prater's three extra points be the difference in the Clock BBQs 35-33 edging of the Elks. New acquisition CJ Spillers' two TDs led the winners, but were more than balanced by Steve Gostkowski's 14 points.  But, as with the Pats, it was the one he missed that decided the game.

The KCAs got bounced from the top spot with a 49-41 loss to the Aguas.  The KCAs led 40-18 going into Sunday night, but the Aguas rallied with 2 Vernon Davis TDs, 13 from K Jason Hanson, and Matt Ryan's 6 against the Broncos.  The rookie duo of RGIII and Doug Martin once again led the KCAs with 24 points between them.

In the other all-Chris game, the B2s picked up 23 Thursday night, and rallied behind Ben Rothlesburger and Mike Wallace Sunday afternoon, to mash the Ducks 47-36. Mason Crosby and his teammates on the Green Bay D collected the 23 on Thursday.

The all-Laurie matchup had the Greenwoods rally from an early deficit to handle the winless Beagles 32-23.  David Akers put up nine Sunday night to seal the deal.

The all KC matchup was the reeealy big shue this week.  Buzz racked up 24 points from his three RBs, and Seattle's D and K Steven Haushicka (or something like that) combined for 18 more- and they lost!  Porkchop got 27 from their running back corps, another 21 from the receivers, topped off with 15 from K Lawrence Tynes, and won 69-51.



So if you went by my betting system, three teams covered (Rangers, B2s, and Porkchops) and three teams straight lost (KCAs, Elks, and Beagles).  This week, you have Aguas by 6 over the Beagles; KCAs by six over the Angels; the Rangers by 12 over the 'Woods; 'Chops by 7 over the Clock BBQs; Ducks by 2 over Buzz in the somebody's-gotta-win game; and B2s by 4 over the Elks.


In the KHL, things have slowed down for New Lokomotiv (but it's still the only hockey in town!)  Friday we were broadsided by Torpedo 6-3. After Maxim Trunyov tied the game at 1-1 after one period, Torpedo tallied three times in a seven minute span of the second to go up 4-1.  In the next five minutes Niklas Hagman scored his 2nd and Alexei Kalyuzhny, a vet who spent the last few years with Jaromir Jagr in Omsk, cut it back to 4-3, but Torpedo got goals late in the last two periods to cause the final margin.

Sunday we had our home opener in front of a SRO crowd of 9,000, but could not solve Atlant goalie Stanislav Galimov, and dropped a 2-1 decision.  Daniil Apal'kov got his 3rd goal in the first period, but Atlant beat our net minder Vitaly Kolesnik 2 of their 9 third period shots on goal.

So now, Loko has 2 wins, a shootout win, and 2 losses, dropping them to a three way tie for 8th in the conference in points, with twin Dinamos Minsk and Riga.  League newbe Lev Praha (Prague) is on top with 4 wins, a shootout win, and a loss for 14 points, 6 more than Lokomotiv.  Next up for us is Spartak, who has three wins a shootout loss, and 2 losses for a third place tie at ten points.

In the meantime, the list is growing larger of locked-out NHLers coming to the KHL.  At present, here is the list:  Pittsburgh's Evgeni Malkin and Ottawa's Sergei Gonchar have joined Mettalurg Magnitogorsk; New Jersey's Ilya Kovalchuk will be joining SKA St. Petersburg; Detroit's Pavel Datsyuk is going to Ak Bars Kazan; Edmonton's #1 draft pick Nail Yakupov returns to his home team of Neftekhimik; Alexei Ponikarovski of Winnepeg and the Flyers' Ruslan Fedotenko are going to Donbass; Nik Antropov, who last played for Atlanta, has signed up with Barys Astana; Kaspars Dougavins of Ottawa is going home to Dinamo Riga; and other players have signed in the Czech league with Jagr and Tomas Plekanic of the Canadiens going to the club Jagr owns in Kladno, and the Flyers' Pavel Kubina going to Vitkovice.

Others I just found include Jiri Hudler of Calgary going to first-place Lev and Toronto's Nikolai Kulemin joing Malkin and Gonchar in Magnitogorsk.  This means that the rumours of Sidney Crosby joining Malkin at Metallurg are dead, since their is a three-player limit and Kulemin makes three.  A rumour that is still active is that the big money owners of CSKA (Red Army Moscow) will be getting Alex Ovechkin, Alexander Semin, and Flyer goalie Ilya Bryzgalov. A group of players are also headed for Swiss National League A, with brand new Ranger Rick Nash heading for Davos along with San Jose captain Joe Thornton, and Logan Coture headed for Geneva.  Other less founded rumours have players joining up with old teams in their homelands, Including Frolunda in Sweden, Kalpo in Finland and Jokerit also in Finland.

 

Fantasy football tuesday

Before I get going, I just want to say:  Both this post and the last oneare about frivolous subjects.  Many people have given stirring tributes about 9/11 and I apreciate them all.  Words and pictures have been used that I really can't match.  Thank you.  In addition, some have complained that, "The newspaper didn't have any tributes until page 3" or "Obama twittered about raising contributions before he twittered about 9/11".  To them, I say, "So what.  Don't belittle the meaning of the day with senseless BS."  And with that, it's time for the football report. 

The KCAs vault into the catbird seat after a 57-25 pasting of the Greenwoods.  Ray Rice and Julio Jones each got 12 points, and RGIII netted 9.

The Rangers, down after Sunday, rallied behind Sebastian Janikowski and the Baltimore D (thank you, Ed Reed) to top the Beagles 55-39.  Comeback boy Adrian Peterson collected two TDs out of the 4 scored.

A wild one that was 3 points difference after Sunday was won by Nate Kaeding's 16 as the Angels beat the Aguas 58-51.The Angels put up a 10 from the Jets D and nine-spots from Drew Brees and Denarius Thomas, while the Aguas got a combined 27 from Matt Ryan and Arian Foster.

The B2s picked up 2 Michael Bush scores to beat the Clock BBQs 36-21.  Most of the CBBQs points came on the long TD catch by Pierre Garcon.

Miles Austin, Andre Johnson, and BenJarvis Green-Ellis all scored to give the Elks a 34-22 win over Buzz.

And finally, Peyton Manning's 11 points rallied the Porkchops to a 40-35 win over the Ducks.  Rookie Alfred Morris scored twice in the losing effort.





RP is my own formula rating system- 10 points for a win, -10 for a loss, +5 for an OT loss, add points scored, subtract losing margin or add winning margin, add or subtract the points given up +or - the league average, and round up so that the bottom guy is at 0 instead of negative.

Next week is another in-the-division week, with Beagles/Greenwoods, KCAs/Aguas, Angels/Rangers, CBBQs/Elks, Buzz/Porkchops, and Ducks/B2s.  Using the rating system (which never works, but is fun none the less), you'd have the Beagles a 3-point favorite, the KCAs by 9, the Rangers by 2, Elks by 7, Porkchops by 5, and B2s by 6.

Guess what I get to do tomorrow?

Yup, I got Jury duty tomorrow.  As I have little else to do right now, I'm going to a) do my civic duty, b) get the entertainment value, and c) hopefully earn a day or 2 of $40 a pop.

So tonight, I'm going to empty out all the things I've been waiting to unleash on my lovely readers but have been waiting for you to read previously published stuff first.  And if you make it through the rants to story #5, I have a funny for you!

Story #1-  You all know that I am constantly trying to get my Christian audience to do God's will the right way.  I was reading My Utmost For His Highest last night, where the point was brought up how too many of us end up offending the Lord- and everyone else- by jumping into a project on human impulse rather than seeking God's will first.  As such, I was seeking about doing this story in a "names changed to protect the guilty" way, until I learned that it made National news through the much-less-understanding-than-I Huffington Post about 2 hours ago.  So here's the WANE-TV story:

Garrett mayor apologizes for throwing out Sikh pamphlets

Updated: Wednesday, 05 Sep 2012, 5:57 PM EDT
Published : Wednesday, 05 Sep 2012, 5:57 PM EDT

GARRETT, Ind. (WANE) The mayor of Garrett has apologized to a local business owner for an act that she herself called, "unrighteous." Our partners at KPC News reported the apology on Monday.

The manager and part-owner of Quickway in Garrett, Kulwinder Nagra, 38, said he put pamphlets about his Sikh religion on the counter of the store after the shooting at a Sikh temple in Wisconsin .

“I just wanted to let people know who I am,” Nagra told KPC News. “After 9/11, there was a lot of misunderstanding. ”
Surveillance footage shows Hoeffel entering the store at about 12:55 p.m. on Tuesday, Aug. 28. She bought a soft drink and walked away. She then returned to the counter, grabbed the small stack of pamphlets, took them outside and threw them into a trash bin.
Nagra said he went outside to ask the mayor why she took all four of the pamphlets that had been placed on the counter in front of the register.

“She said, ‘It’s against my beliefs,’” Nagra said. “She said, ‘This is against Christianity.’”
Hoeffel later said she disposed of the pamphlets because of a lack of personal interest, not as a statement about the religion.
Hoefell has since apologized, saying, "I just grabbed what was there. I just decided I didn't want it."
Hoefell and Garrett City Coucilman Brad Stump met with Nagra and his business partners on Monday to discuss the incident.
“I personally believe if you do something wrong, you go to that person,” Hoeffel told KPC news. “I apologized for offending them. I said I know they are a peaceful people.”
Nagra said the Sikh religion teaches forgiveness and the issue was resolved for him when Hoeffel apologized.

Okay, my friends, since people don't seem to understand the simplest of principles anymore, let's take it step by step.

1-Christianity does not excuse or ask for this action.  Jesus did not overturn tables at the Quikee-mart, He did it at THE LOCAL CHURCH!  While we have a Great Commision to spread the word, we have no commission to censor beyond our own home.

2-If you are a public official AND a Christian, you are to be held to a higher standard.  This action was even more heinous for the fact an elected official did it.

3-A Christian would NOT try to pass off such stupidity to the public by saying that, oh, I took the stack to read it, wasn't interested, and threw it away. That, Ms. Mayor, is LYING.

 4-This Sikh gentleman casts a much better light on his faith than she does.  If the Mayor had done this at an atheist's shop to atheist pamphlets, the FFR bunch would have sued- would have been in the right to- and would have won.  That Mr. Nagra just forgave her is the kind of amazing testimony to his faith that we Christians SHOULD be making.

5-Moral of the story- THINK BEFORE YOU ACT.  Think of the consequences beyond your action.  And if you are a Christian, WWJD should be applied.  It's not just a bracelet, it's a way of life.  If it's not yours, please don't bring your "Christian faith" into it.



Story #2- Y'all hear the latest way the thugs of Ft. Wayne have found to prove how stupid they are? From Indianasnewscenter:

FORT WAYNE, Ind. (Indiana's NewsCenter) - An altercation that started inside Piere's nightclub early Sunday morning left one person stabbed, three people shot and an ambulance driver injured.

Fort Wayne police were called to Piere's Entertainment Center, 5629 St. Joe Rd., just before 3 a.m. on a report of a stabbing. The man stabbed, 29-year-old Jermaine Loyall of Fort Wayne, was taken to a local hospital, and his friends and family members followed the ambulance to the hospital in a black Chevrolet Impala.


On the way to the hospital, police say a white Ford Crown Victoria with tinted windows drove by the Impala and ambulance in the 2200 block of St. Joe Ctr. Rd., less than a mile from Piere's, and opened fire. The three passengers in the Impala, 22-year-old Dominic Loyal, 27-year-old Latasha Loyal, as well as 31-year-old Lashanda Conwell, were injured.

The ambulance driver, who is also a firefighter, was also injured during the shooting

The ambulance driver provided a description of the white car, and Allen County police found the vehicle that matched the description near downtown Fort Wayne.

After a short pursuit, Allen County police stopped the white car at West Jefferson Boulevard and Fairfield Avenue. The four people inside the white car were arrested. 18-year-old Jakwan Braster, 27-year-old Alfonso Chappell, 24-year-old Traneilous Jackson, the fourth occupant was detained and later released.

Braster was arrested on a charge of “minor consuming,” Chappell on “resisting and fleeing law enforcement” and Jackson was charged with “Aggravated Battery,” “Criminal Recklessness with a Firearm”, and “Possession of a Firearm by a Felon.”

Jermaine eventually made it to the hospital, and was listed in stable condition.

The three people shot inside the Impala drove to the Marathon gas station at Washington Center & Coldwater Roads, where they were treated by paramedics. All three are in stable condition.

The ambulance driver was treated for his injures and released.

According to my son, who was there, it all started when the thugs in the "general population" started blowing crap to those in the VIP section.  Soon later, he saw "about ten guys" pounding hell out of one dude.  This was the dude that got stabbed, apparently with a broken beer bottle.  The victorious group celebrated the victory by hoisting aloft one of the victim's shoes.  Police apparently thought the scene secured, and I'm sure "nobody saw nuthin'" as per usual.  But apparently beating, stabbing, and whatever else they did to this kid was not enough.

INC's reporter said that there is currently no law that increases the penalty for attacking a public safety vehicle.  If we weren't living amongst such animals, it wouldn't be necessary.  Ft. Wayne has a huge unrecognized by city-gov't problem, i.e. they are afraid of offending the black community and the ministers that crawl out of the woodwork to defend any of these "poor dears" that get caught.  Thus, the entire southeast side of the city is only patrolled by police on a "when needed" basis.  Anything more would send the local NAACP screaming to their lawyers.

I'm not saying this out of prejudice, these are the facts and can easily be researched.  We who live in Ft. Wayne don't need to, we know it.  75% of the crime we face in this town could be nipped in the bud where they live.  But the city, afraid of lawsuits, allows this crap to be exported to the north side- just across the river from where I live.

Plus, Pierre's is the largest night club in the area, and "coincidentally" seems to have some sort of immunity from the consequences which less-well-known spots such as the former Rick O'Shays (also not far from me) couldn't withstand.  They have 5 -count 'em 5- off duty cops on the weekend for security and a "million dollar, Las Vegas-style security system".  But I keep hearing of smoking (despite the smoking ban), even of pot, within the club under their watchful eyes.  They supposedly check IDs, but both one of the shooters and one of the vics were underage. They supposedly pat people down, but my son says a guy got in "with a bag" that night.

I'm for shutting the damn place down.  I fail the see the need for off-duty police to to get paid for a job they aren't even doing. I'm for this City doing the things necessary to PREVENT such crap in the first place.  But somebody is obviously making money off the situation (which, to me, is the greatest racism involved here, as those who are "discriminated against" are constantly being sold out of making something better of themselves), and our Prosecutor is so budget conscious that she'd plea bargain a murder into a trafiic ticket, so I don't forsee anything getting better soon.

Story #3- I guess our first report on the NHFFL will be delayed, but I can tell you that the KCAs are looking pretty safe to beat the Greenwoods, the B2s have beaten the Clock BBQs 36-21 and the Porkchops (apparent winners of the unannounced best-logo competition) tipped the Ducks 40-35 thanks to a certain former Colt QB, and everyone else is too close to call.

Story#4- Just to clean the books, the KHL Lokomotiv won again Monday, topping Metallurg Novokuznetsk 5-4 in a shootout.  The enemy scored first at 13:41 of the 1st, and made it 2-0 on a goal by 15-year NHL vet Chris Simon just over a minute later.  Then with our Roman Lyuduchin in the penalty box, Alexei Kalyuzhny, a Belarussian who came over from Avangard Omsk, scored shorthanded to cut it to 2-1 after one.  Yegor Averin got his second score for the young season at 3:51 of the second to tie it at 2-2, but they took another lead at 10:06.  29 seconds later, Daniil Apal'kov netted his second of the season unassisted, and MN pulled their goalie and brought in his backup.

We finally beat goalie #2 on a goal by left winger Niklas Hagman, a Finn veteran of 770 NHL games with Florida, Dallas, Calgary, Toronto, and splitting last season between the Flames and Anaheim's Mighty Ducks.  He's also spent time in the top leagues of his homeland as well as the Swiss National League A.  His power-play goal was matched by MN about six and a half minutes later, and we went to overtime.  After a five-minute OT that saw only 2 shots taken, we went to the shootout.  And guess who was the last of the first six shooters?  That's right, Mr. Hagman, and he was the only shooter to put one in the net to give us the 5-4 win.  Lokomotiv is off until Friday against Torpedo, who has a loss, an OT loss, AND a shootout loss to its credit.  Loko is currently tied with Dynamo Moscow for the best record at 2 wins and a shootout win.

Story #5- If you are a big fan like me, you can go on the KHL site and see text updates of the games as they play.  Of course, you have to use Google's translate function to read it, and sometimes it gets amusing.  Here's how Google translated one update in the season opener:

Gyunge made ​​his way to nickle visiting team. It makes the transfer partner, but the defenders of the Crusade did not allow him to complete the scene naked.

Apparently, the word for "naked" is the is the same as that for "goal" (Isn't THAT interesting?) and what it basically means is, "Gyunge made his way to the visiting team's end with the puck, and made a successful pass, but the defenders of the goal did not allow him to complete the play with a goal."  Now you see why I follow these games?

I know I said just one sports post a week, but...

...I thought I'd do one today because I'm so gosh-darn proud of the logos I made for our fantasy football league on Paint!  Check 'em out:

Aguascalientes (the "hot water" shooting out his top)

the Angels

B2s

Fiery Beagles

Buzz Lightyears

Clock BBQs

Flying Porkchops (Porkchop is my son's cat)

the State Ducks (dig that crazy letterman's jacket!)

the Elks

KCA's (the white elephant beinbg the symbol of the old Philadelphia A's)

Sunset Rangers

Greenwoods (elf-hat on a football)

And now, since I'm already this deep, here's the first Lokomotiv report!

This is the memorial at Josef Vacicek's grave.  He was my favorite player on the original Lokomotiv team who died in the plane crash that killed the entire team one year ago.  Those that were paying attention last year watched me chronicle the the teams rebirth as a minor-league team for a half a season last year.  The team is now back in the bigs (Russia's KHL) and have started the 2011-12 season.

The team from last year graduated eight players from the VHL squad from last year- the rest are on the new team that remains in the VHL.  The graduates were: Oleg Yashin, Alexei Kruchinin, Dmitri Maltsov, Vladislav Kartayev, Daniil Apal'kov, Andrei Konev, Yegor Yakolev, and goalie Nikita Lozhkin, who was called up when Canadian goalie Curtis Sanford began the season as is his usual on the DL.

The first two games were matches with the far western teams, who start out with an eastern swing.  Game one was against Sibir, and they took 1-0 and 2-1 leads on power-play goals.  We tied it up first on a goal by Alexander Chernikov, who played for Sibir the last two years, bagging 25 goals in 2 seasons.  The 2-2 knot was forged by Mikelis Redlihs, a Latvian who had posted 55 goals in 4 seasons with Dinamo Riga.  Then it became the Staffan Kronwall show.  Kronwall, a Swede veteran whose career boasts a 66-game NHL career with Toronto, Washington, and Calgary (1 goal) and 21 AHL goals over 7 seasons, put us up 3-2 at 12:24 of the 2nd, and pushed it to 4-2 with a second goal with a half-minute left in the second.  Apal'kov finished things off with a third period goal that made the final 5-2.  The goaltending for both this and the next one was done by KHL veteran Vitaly Kolesnik, who is coming off a struggle of a season for Salavat Yulaev last year (6-8-3, 3.13 GA AVE).

Game two was against Amur and it was a much tighter affair.  Maxim Trunyov, who comes over from Severstal trying to prove something (12 goals in 3 seasons), put us on the board with 5 seconds left in the first.  Amur tied the game about halfway through the second, but less than a minute later Yegor Averin (also in the prove something group, having totalled 28 goals over four campaigns in Omsk) put us up 2-1.  Despite two power plays in the third and pulling their goalie in the last half-minute, Amur couldn't muster a real threat and we started out 2 and 0.  Spartak is also 2-0, and Dynamo Moscow has two regulation wins and a shoot-out victory, so we're in pretty good company.  Next up is Metallurg Novokutnesk, Monday morning our time.

Sports shorts

Just a pair of quick stories here.  First, the last fantasy football post of the season.  Last week was the Purple vs the Gold, and in the main row of games on Saturday, the Gold built up a 40-6 lead and by the end of the day was up 44-21, mostly because of Superfreak Cam Newton and his 18 points.  But Sunday night, enter Aaron Rodgers (who put up 18 of his own) and his trusty sidekick Mason Crosby, and when the smoke cleared, the game was 44-all.  The last active roster player on Monday night was Michael Turner for the Gold; and if he couldn't score to give his team the win, Drew Brees would need to get 24 reserve points for the Gold as the Purple reserves were way ahead.  Turner failed, Brees got 12, and the Purple had an amazing 71-59 OT comeback win.

Also, Lokomotiv played game 5 this morning.  They were home in front of a crowd of 9,000 facing league-leading HC Donbass.  (and yes I see the easy punchline, and am ignoring it.  Perhaps if they were 2-13 like the Colts...)  Danill Yerdakov scored his 13th of the season (2nd with Loko) to put the good guys up 1-0 at 2:20 of the 1st.  Sergei Varlamov tied things at 6:16 of the first, and took the lead in the second.  With Jan Krasvoski and Rafael Akhmetov drawing tripping penalties just 34 seconds apart, Donbass scored on the two man advantage at 9:34.  But less than a minute later, Alexi Kruchinin tallied his 6th of the season (2nd with Loko) to re-tie the game at 2-2 .  Just after 2 minutes later, Oleg Misyul got his first of the season to put Lokomotiv up 3-2.  But as coach Petr Vorobiev noted afterwards, the young team got reckless in the final stanza, and Donbass tied it at 11:49.  After a lackluster 5-minute OT period, it went to the shootout.  While Donbass goalie Evgeni Tsaregorodtsev stoned Loko shooters including Oleg Yashin, veterans Varlamov and Denis Kochetkov beat youngster Nikita Lozhkin to give Donbass the 4-3 win.  Next game, also in Yaroslavl, pits us against basement-dwelling Titan Klin, from a town 53 Mi. NE of Moscow.

Playoffs? You wanna talk about playoffs?

Sure, since last night finished off the first round of this year's NHFFL playoffs.The match between the Elks and Porkchops was a continual exercise in catch up for the Elks, but by Sunday night it boiled down to this:   they needed Drew Brees to score- a lot- but not by using the services of Pierre Thomas or Robert Meachum.  A 67 yard pass to Meachum later, the 'Chops had their first playoff win, 47-37, and will go on to face the B2s next week.  They've split the 2 games this year, but the most recent was a 27-7 'Chops win just 2 weeks ago.

On the other side, get ready for Rangers/Aguas III after the Aguas blast the Greenwoods 69-34.  Two scores each from Mendenhall, Wallace, and Garcon (see? The Colts ARE good for something), and two long strikes by QB Alex Smith led the way.  This was the first meeting between the two returning teams in the playoffs, as they used to be in opposite divisions.  The Rangers won the first matchup with the Aguas when both were undefeated, 30-21 in game 6.  Three weeks later, the Aguas handed the Rangers their second loss of the season, 32-29.

Of course, despite the gaudy 10-2 record the Rangers are emotionally underdogs in this match.  Why?  Let me show you the fifteen year record of the Rangers in the post season.
1997- lost to Greenwoods 28-19. (Greenwoods won SB I)
1999- lost to T-Cubs 32-23.(T-Cubs won SB III)
2000- lost to Greenwoods 26-23.
2001- lost to T-Cubs 33-22.(T-Cubs won SB V)
2002 - lost to Beagles 43-24.
2004- lost to SVA 44-21.(SVA won SBVIII)
2005- lost to Beagles 45-18.
2009- lost to SVA 35-16. (SVA wins SB XIII)

Yep, the Rangers have an 0-8 gorilla on their backs.  However I must admit that I didn't know that 4 teams had beaten them twice each.  Of the remaining 4, the B2s are 5-6 in the postseason with a win in SB VI; the Aguas went 1-5 in their previous incarnation, splitting two matches with the KCAs; and the 'Chops are in their first season.  First year teams (outside the founding ten) have had mixed results in their rookie years.  In 1998, the SVA (7-7) and the T-Cubs (6-8) both missed the playoffs; in 2002, the Elks took a division title with a 10-5 record, but that included a season ending 2-5 slide and a 37-20 loss to the eventual champs B2s; and in 2005, the Ragin' Rhinos missed the playoffs with a 6-6 mark, while the State Ducks made it with their 6-6 record but got hammered by the Elks 30-17 in round one.  That means that the 'Chops are the first first-year team to win a postseason game.

NHFFL the end of the regular season

First, let me calm any fears- Our ride was 25 minutes longer tonight than usual for the snow, but we survived.  The person in the Honda that couldn't top 20 without her ass end sliding down 1000 east probably added 5-8 minutes all on her own, but it's not like we ever topped 40.  By the time we hit good enough roads, we hit traffic.  Tomorrow should prove interesting- not just for the weather.  Our first retail shipment was supposed to get loaded this afternoon at 1, but as per usual for us and trucking companies, he failed to show until 15 minutes before happy go home time, and thus he will join the 6 trucks we have for tomorrow- if, of course, they show.

Second, I just got the word that Ndamekhum Suh got a two game suspension for being an idiot Thursday, just as yours truly predicted. "He will likely miss the next two games, severely hurting the Lions' chances for the playoffs."  AWWWW.  Maybe if Jim Schwartz could discipline himself, let alone his players, they wouldn't be facing this.

Third, before he slips into media oblivion, let me say one thing about Herman Cain and all the women that the dems and Politico seem to be manufacturing at will.  Wasn't Martin Luther King shacked up with a married woman in that hotel when James Earl Ray shot him?  Just sayin'.

Now, onto the purpose of this post- the end of the regular season in the NHFFL has arrived.  The Rangers finished off their third ten-win season with a 35-27 win against the Angels.  The Aguas return to the league with an 8-4 campaign and second place despite dropping the finale 26-19 to the Beagles.  The Beagles managed to win just 3 games despite scoring 5 more points than they gave up.  Which is ironic since they won a division title last year with an 8-4 record and 22 fewer points scored than given up.  The Greenwoods big return also netted them an 8-4 record and a playoff spot, though the Aguas take second on the tie breaker.  They closed with a 39-25 victory over the KCAs, who go from 7-5 and a Super Bowl championship to 4-8 and time to work on the ol' golf game.

A tremendous back and forth battle was waged between the Elks and the B2s for the Gold Division title.  And in the end, if the Elks could have just counted only Monday night, they'd have had a 33-9 win... but those nine that the Tubers got gave them a 49-42 win and a division title for the first time since they won the first two Dupont Divison titles waaay back in 1997-8.  In fact, they were 16-32 since their last non-losing season (2006, 6-6) until this year. In another twist, the B2s scored one less point than they gave up, making them the second champ in 2 years to manage that. The Elks finish in second place free and clear, though, because the Porkchops first season ended with a 44-32 loss to Buzz.  The Chops end at .500, good enough for the last playoff spot.  Buzz claimed 4th, by the tie breaker against the Ducks, who closed with a 42-20 pasting of the Clock BBQs, who lost their last 4 by a combined 90-157.  When the Bills went cold, so did the CBBQs (who had Ryan Fitzpatrick and Fred Jackson).




So the Rangers, who are 0-8 in the playoffs, get the week off to enjoy their third division title and first since 2004.  They'll await the winner of the Aguas/ Greenwoods game, both of whom have been out of the league since 2001, and the G'woods have been out of the playoffs since 2000. The B2s, who haven't seen the playoffs since a 32-21 loss to the Ducks in 2006, also get a rest while they await the winner of the Elks/Porkchops game.  The Chops, of course, are brand new; the Elks return to the playoffs for the first time since winning Super Bowl XI in 2007.

One last thing- here are the rosters for the all-pro game the week after the Super Bowl.   The Purple will have Angels Aaron Rodgers and LeShon McCoy; the Beagles' Beanie Wells and Vincent Jackson; the Greenwoods Ray Rice, Greg Jennings, and reserve Matthew Stafford; the Aguas have starter Calvin Johnson and reserve Neil Rackers; the Rangers send Mason Crosby and the DET D; the KCAs send the reserve D of CIN.    The Gold division is lead by Buzzies Cam Newton, Adrian Peterson, and Sebastian Janikowski; the B2s' Arian Foster, Wes Welker, and reserve CHI D; the Ducks Michael Turner and Larry Fitzgerald; the CBBQs' Dez Bryant; the Elks GB D and (amazingly) reserve qb Drew Brees; and the Chops contribute reservist Nick Folk.

A few more randoms and then NHFFL

Item: I forgot to say a big thumbs up to President Obama, of all people, last night.  He let Congress know on no uncertain terms that he would veto any attempt to get rid of the automatic budget cuts if the "super" committee failed.  Admittedly, his lack of leadership in the matter (because he's been too busy "not campaigning")  makes it a cherry on top of a turd cake, but nevertheless, I gotta give him credit when he does good.  Hmm, Obama "didn't campaign,"  Clinton "didn't inhale"... I sense a pattern...

Item: in doing fairness research on the Occupistas last night, I tumbled onto a joke they found both funny and profound. (BTW I found it neither.)  Basically, a plate of 12 cookies is set on a tables between a company CEO, a politician, a Tea Partyer, and an Occupista.  The CEO takes 11, hands three to the politician, and tells the Tea Partyer to be careful, the Occupista appears to be preparing to steal his cookie.

(Pause for laughter... let me know when it starts.)

I began thinking about the flawed impression, and how it seems to be a pretty typical impression from the Occupistas I've heard from.  I thought to myself, this joke could actually be funny and profound if reworked a little bit.  Here's my version:

The Tea Partyer comes in and slaps the plate of cookies on the table, exclaiming, "These are the best damn cookies ever made, and I'll kick the ass of the man that says they aren't."  The CEO says, "Hmm... if they're that good, why don't you sell me the recipe?  I'll cut you in for 35%, and we'll hire a dozen bakers, a dozen packers, a dozen shippers, and a half dozen or so jobbers to put them in the stores."  The politician jumps up and says (as he jabs a cookie down his throat) "Not so fast, my friend.  Let me check out your ingredients, baking process, etc, and then I'll decide how big my tax cut will be."  The Occupista grabs a handfull of cookies, and declares, "I don't have to pay for these because I make 1% of the CEO's salary, the Politician isn't listening to me, and I would have made them better than the Tea Partyer anyway."

You see, I'm not ALL that far from the Tea Partyer or the Occupista.  However, I believe that, unlike most of them, I am willing to compromise to get things done.  I believe we could make a lot stronger, sleeker military with fewer, more wisely used dollars.  I believe that lower taxes on businesses should be part of the solution as well as closing each and every damnable loophole that lets GE to get off with no taxes.  I'd be willing to work on cleaner factories if they were running on cheaper energy from our own territory.  You see, the term on my profile "Nixon conservative" means I can give a little to take a little.  I think Leon Panetta crying about how badly the DOD will get raped on the auto-cuts is just as idiotic as Harry Reid burying Obama's jobs bill without even allowing a hearing.  The bad thing about feeling this way is that there are too many on the left side of the aisle who are revisionist historians, pseudo-scientsts and economists, believers in "fluid reality", and out-and-out liars like John Kerry and Al Gore, and I fear that trusting them is tantamount to sticking my noggin in a lion's mouth.

Item:  Ran out of work yet again, off tomorrow thru Monday.  Nice on the butt, bad on the wallet.

_________________________________________________

Onto the NHFFL.  Well, we know who is in the playoffs, and in the Purple we know who will play who.  The Greenwoods removed all doubt of their playoff spot by handing the Rangers the worst whupping anyone's took this year, 70-19.  Matt Stafford put up 15, and Ray Rice and Jordy Nelson tacked on 12 each.  The Aguas added the remaining extinguisher on the KCAs hopes, downing them 31-24, with David Akers overcoming missing 2 fgs and having another one blocked to score 11 points.  This sets up a Greenwoods-Aguas matchup in two weeks, which promises to be a high scoring affair.  The Aguas won their first meeting 55-34 in week 4, and the Elves evened it up with a 51-34 victory in week 8.  The remaining Purple Div. game had the Angels topping the Beagles 31-24, hanging on despite a ten-point Monday night from Steve Gostkowski.

The Gold actually got tighter.  Both the leaders fell: the Elks dropping to the Ducks 51-39 as five different players put up 6s and Cedric Benson netted 12; and the B2s lost to the Porkchops 27-7, managing only a Eli Manning pass, a single extra point, and 3 defensive points.  New 'Chops QB Matt Moore beat that himself (9).  And the 'Chops win puts them a game back of the leaders with 1 to go.  Also, the Clock BBQs fall into last, losing to Buzz 41-22 behind Cam Newton's 17.



The season finales include Beagles vs Aguas; KCAs/Greenwoods; and Angels/Rangers in the Purple; CBBQs/Ducks (CBBQs need to win by 13 to escape last place); Elks/B2s for the division title and week 1 bye; and Buzz/ Porkchops.    The 'Chops play the loser of Elks/B2s in week 1.

NHFFL week 10

The playoff picture with 2 games to go in our fantasy league is now pretty clear.  The Rangers win again, routing the Clock BBQs 41-25 behind the 9 point days by Tom Brady, Eric Decker(thanks to the BAL* of Tim Tebow), and Mason Crosby.  This cliches the Purple Division for the Rangers, who hold the tie breaker over the Aguas.  The Aguas failed to keep within striking distance, falling 49-25 to the red hot B2s.  All those free gifts from Matt Stafford gave the Bears D 20 points, and Arian Foster chipped in 15 for the B2s, who've won 4 of 5.  Meantime, the Greenwoods put their destiny in their own hands with a 49-31 romp over Buzz, and a win in either of their last two games gives them the final playoff spot in the Purple.  As usual, it was the Green Bay rescue squad as Jordy Nelson and Greg Jennings put 18 points up Monday night.

The Elks kept pace in the Gold division with a 29-22 win over the Beagles.  The Elks and B2s have their rematch the last week of the season, and if they are still tied, the Elks will need a 4-point win to take the division and the first-round bye.  The Porkchops top the Angels 29-27 to go 2 up with 2 to go for the last spot in the Gold.  This time, Aaron Rodgers' 12 points come up one TD shy for the Angels.  Which was good news for the KCAs, who kept their flickering hopes alive with a 31-26 win over the Ducks.  And when I say flickering, they have to have the Angels lose at least one, and must win out, including needing a 33 point win over the Greenwoods in the season's last week, as well as needing the 'woods to lose next week.  The 'Chops win puts them in a position to clinch a spot to clinch with a win over either the B2s next week or (more likely) Buzz in week 12.



Next week, it's Rangers/Greenwoods; Aguas/KCAs; Beagles/Angels; CBBQs/ Buzz; Ducks/Elks; and B2s/Porkchops.

*BAL= blind-ass luck.

NHFFL-Rangers go down

Before we start, a salute to the late Joe Frazier, a champ when boxing was worth watching.  Bob G. did a great salute to Smokin' Joe on his Tuesday post, and that's good enough for me.  God rest ye, proud warrior.

The Rangers just miss history this week, when both the Baltimore D (2 pts) and Matt Forte let them down and the Aquas claim their rematch 32-29.  A win would have made the Rangers our first ever 9-0 team.  The Aguas got Sunday night TDs from Rashard Mendenhall and Mike Wallace as they come back after blowing  a 20-0 early games lead.  The Greenwoods take the lead in the Purple div.s' last playoff spot chase with a 43-38 win over the Angels with the Elves outscoring them in the two night games 18-11.  Aaron Rodgers had 12 points; unfortunately for the Angels, two of those 4 TD passes went to the Greenwoods' Jordy Nelson and Greg Jennings.  And the defending champs are now all but out of it; the KCAs fell to the Beagles 54-30, basically because of the 30 points from three Phillip Rivers-to-Vincent Jackson TDs.

The Gold div.  got a lot clearer this week with both top contenders winning to put 2 games between themselves and the rest of the field.  The Elks walloped Buzz 58-27 led by Willis McGahee's 15 and the two TD passes Rivers threw to the Green Bay D.  The B2s got balanced scoring to hold off the Ducks 34-27, tying the Elks at 6-3.  The Porkchops moved ahead of the pack at 4-5 with a 33-23 win over the Clock BBQs, the second straight week the CBBQs netted just 23 points (but got lucky to win last week).  The 'Chops pulled ahead on Rothlesburger's lone TD, and stretched it out on 8 from the Philly D.



Next week is the last cross-division games, with the Rangers looking to bounce back against the Clock BBQs; The Aguas testing the B2s; The Elks looking to join most everyone else in outscoring the Beagles; KCAs draw the Ducks; Porkchops and Angels hoping to win with others nipping at their heels; and the Greenwoods hoping to hold onto their spot by beating Buzz.

nhffl- purple gets clearer, gold gets muddier

The second week of second time through the division, and this week three teams managed a series sweep.  The Beagles just needed one Phillip Rivers TD to tie the unbeaten Rangers, two to win.  Rivers got Scrappy a two point conversion, and the Rangers stay unbeaten with their second straight one-point win, 28-27.  The Aguas did not keep pace against the Greenwoods; in fact, they very nearly saw their previous win reversed, losing 51-34.  Joke of this is, the 'woods got 51 points on a week when ALL FOUR WRs were on the bye, as well as deadweight RB Ryan Grant! Ray Rice (18), Matt Stafford (12), and Billy Cundiff (also 12)  made up for them.  Calvin Johnson got his third 9-pointer in 4 weeks for the Aguas, after starting the year with 4 straight 2-TD games.  The KCAs also reversed things against the Angels, winning must-win game #1 40-37.  The White Elephants had to hang on through a furious 18-point rally in the last two games after parleying 2 Steven Jackson TDs and a 15-point day for the Bengal D into a 40-19 lead.

The Gold Division games did nothing to sort the playoff picture, as they left all 6 teams within 2 games of the lead with 4 to go.  Both the Clock BBQs and the Elks completed sweeps of their opponants, though.  The Elks followed up an earlier 71-52 win over the Porkchops with a 44-27 win this time around. Three recent pickups- Scott Chandler, Victor Cruz, and (subbing for teammate Jahvid Best) Maurice Morris, all scored their first points as Elks, Chandler actually scoring twice.  The CBBQs eked out a 23-19 win over last week's division leader B2s, led by the first score they got out of Mario Manningham in 7 weeks.  And finally, Buzz got revenge on the State Ducks- last time, they scored 40 and lost, this tim they score 42 and win, 42-27.  The Cam Newton/Adrian Peterson combo have scored 15, 9, 15, 33, 12, 15, and this week 21 points since Newton replaced Sam Bradford as the Buzz starter.



Next week, the KCAs must-win tour continues against the Beagles; the Angels can get a BIG leg up on the third and final playoff spot in the Purple Division by completing a sweep of the Greenwoods;ter is a bit dimmer than last time, Rangers/Aguas II are up this week; the Clock BBQs must-win tour continues against the Porkchops; the B2s try to come closer to a division title against the Ducks; and the Elks do likewise against Buzz.

Let me crab about work before I do the NHFFL scores

Not so much the work itself, but the continuing battle between we who are expected to turn sow's ears into silk purses and those much wiser and higher-paid than us who apparently feel the best way to forge a successful team is through firing us with any idiotic roadblock they can come up with.

A couple weeks ago, You read about the fabric from hell, with the dotted lines, etc., that took Laurie 7 separate lays to make what should have been done in one with a third less fabric.  Today I got my turn with the crap.  Now I had the rolls at the bottom of the pallet, which apparently means that on top of all the other charming features of this fabric, I was having to try and line up a design which varied by as much as an eighth of an inch from one side to another.  May not seem like much, but consider that even going halfway down the table- on a pattern I was supposed to match exactly- an eighth-inch on each little dotted line box adds up to a 3/4 inch difference by the other end.  Repeat this by 18 plies per roll (which have to be cut one at a time because of this non-standard design measurement) and add to it that in order to get the front and back to match up, it has to be laid up face-side to face-side, meaning that every other ply has to be cut off and then flipped over and matched up- that's right, matching up something as much as 3/4 inch off over and over. Plus, some of the rolls are varying the amount and direction of being off- if I line up the design dead on at the beginning, it might be an eigth off on the first block, a quarter in the next two, back to matching on the fourth, and a qarter inch the OTHER direction on the last two.  This is not the work of some half-assed moron, nor is it the work of the Purdue University School of Applied Dumbassery, this is full-blown, stage four brain death.

In the meantime, I was pulled over to confirm I had cut this other fabric right.  Now we had made chairs from this fabric (we thought) before;  It is a brown with little swirly flowers- that every 12-15 inchews change direction, which made it real fun and the sewers had an awful time trying to figure out which piece to sew to what.  I was sent into the fabric room to get the pallet of FB07.  I went into the room, thinking I knew what I was looking for, but the stuff we'd made the chairs out of was marked FA05.  OK, I said, the boss must have them confused, or there's some slight color difference.  I grabbed the FB07, cut 850 little seat pads, again face to face to make it easy for the sewers, and also side bands and fabric to cover the welt cord that goes on each side of the band (actually, Victor cut the welt on the slitter).  In the midst of my fabric from hell some hours later, a supervisor asked me which was the face side of the FB07, because the lady who sews the welt cord and bands together had the lighter, buff side as the face, and I had cut the dark, shiny other side as the face.  Long story shorter, it seems that she had done the bands just like she had done the chairs, buuuut.... the chairs were FA05, which it turns out is the BACK side of FB07, and vice versa.  So the same fabric is FB07 if turned one way and FA05 if turned the other.  Upshot being, I cut my stuff right, Wanda sewed her bands wrong, and we all learned that our fabirc buyers had learned an entertaining new way to FUBAR things for those of us who have to deal with their lack of prescience.

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And now, onto this week's NHFFL report.  The Rangers got 7 measly points from the Baltimore D, but it was enough to tip the KCAs for the second time this season, 35-34, in the first week of playing the second time through the division.  The Rangers extend their streak to 7-0, hotly pursued by the Aguas, who beat the Angels for the second time, 30-24, behind 9-pointers (scores of 50+ yards) by Calvin Johnson and Mike Wallace.  In fact, the Angels are 0-3 against the league's top two and 4-0 against everyone else.  All the other matchups were teams getting their revenge for an earlier loss.  The Greenwoods avenged their 42-point loss to the Beagles with a 24-12 win featuring a Greg Jennings 9-pointer.  The Elks rode Drew Brees' 15-point night against the Indianapolis Dolts to beat the Clock BBQs 33-29.  The Ducks avenged a 50-18 loss to the Porkchops two weeks ago with a 47-31 win that was keyed by a 26-point day by KC's D against Oakland.  And the first-place B2s also avenged a 42-point loss to Buzz with a 46-34 win led by Arian Foster's 21 points.



Next week, the Rangers try to beat a dead dog (the Beagles); the KCAs, with time running out on a playoff run, face a must-win game with the Angels; the Greenwoods face the Aguas; another must win game sees the Clock BBQs playing the Gold-leading B2s; the Ducks face Buzz; and the Porkchops face the Elks in a key game with playoff implications.

NHFFL week #4

Going to be brief here, I have a head that wants to fall off and a dog that will have to be let out by leash due to the complex is redoing our porch fences.

Big game goes to the Rangers over the Aguas 30-21.  5 different 6 point scorers for the Rangers, who are now the sole undefeated team.  KCAs hold off a furious comeback by the hard luck Beagles (20 points from the Jet D) 37-34.  Beagles are the league's 2nd highest scoring team and even with the worst D are 1 point to the good. But because everyone brings their A game to play them, they have just the 1 win.  Angels blast the Greenwoods into last place 55-25 behind 30 points by Ahmad Bradshaw and Aaron Rodgers.  Rodgers will probably throw 2 TDs on the bye week at this rate. Ducks blast the Clock BBQs 37-24 behind Michael Turner's 2 scores.  In the battle for first in the Gold division, B2s (in a fitting memorial for Cassie) topped the Elks 28-25, holding them off as the Elks had a Santonio Holmes TD Monday night to pull close for the umpteenth time.  And finally, Porkchops end Buzz's 2 game winning streak 27-18, Dallas Clark's TD being crucial.