Click images for desktop size: "Simple Sunset" by IconoclastThere's a lot I like about this time of year.
The baseball races are locked in and the burning questions remain: Will the Cardinals fold? Will the Dodgers be able to maintain the sparkling play from the past month and get to the Series or will the suddenly hot Giants make a move?
In the American League the Red Sox and Yankees are always amusing but the real baseball is in the Central where the Tigers have shown they are not going to fade and keep staying in front of the White Sox, who are playing brilliant ball, and even the twins refuse to go quietly into that goodnight.
And then there's pre-season football . . .
Now that Mike Tice has departed there is no question that Denny Green is the worst coach in the Sport. He is always amusing in the way he manages to confound with the sheer inanity of his statements and his decisions.
Matt Linhart has a whole week of practice in so announce to Billichik, still the best coach in the game, that you are going to start Matt in the 2nd quarter . . . in case Billichik decides to leave his starters in a little longer . . . Matt is cool and will probably survive it. Probably or at least possibly.
Remember when they started Rookie John Elway against the Pittsburgh Steelers? Brutality got a new name. It took Elway 2 years to properly recover from that beating.
Greene is a fool.
Warner will win them some games, the WR's in AZ can do it, but he won't win any more championships, so in a coaching snit you make a lamb of the main hope for your franchise?
At another end of the talent spectrum there are the NY Giants. The defense this year will be very scary. They should easily retake the division title and, with very few good breaks, should make it to the SuperBowl. Gibbs doesn't have a QB in Washington, Parcell's continues to be the most over rated coach in History at Dallas, Philadelphia doesn't have it anymore.
Going through the rest of the league the only other point of interest is Carolina: Scary defense but an offense that always seems to break down.
The Bears? Getting hammered by the 49er's, even in pre-season says too much about them, especially with Favre fired up in Green Bay and the Vikings looking patient. The Bears defense showed some life against new starter Philip Rivers of San Diego, but so what?
In the AFC its unrealistic to expect the Steelers to repeat. The Bengals, if they get Carson back at QB are talented. The Colts aren't dead yet but the Patriots kept them from the SuperBowl when they had the drive to win.
No team really captures the imagination in the AFC but there are interesting side trips.
Duante Culpepper is one of my favorite players. He was born in a woman's prison and managed to find the attitude and the heart to play in the NFL. If he is rehabbed he can make some exciting moments and win some games for Miami.

Click images for desktop size: "Dragon Lantern" by UnknownThe Jets and KC will limp along and try and adjust. Larry Johnson, one of my fave people, will provide some magic in KC but Trent Green will not.
Anyway you look at it the AFC is pretty wide open.

My kid's team starts the season next Friday night. The local paper actually had a comment about our unit. A nice comment too, especially when the O-Line is so seldom noticed except when things go wrong!
Practice tomorrow and it will be serious.
My college player has been coming to my job so I can observe him. He's feeling good about it and understands the concepts. He says it is helping him at his college camp.

Yesterday the pain was pretty intense, but I was able to calm it down with just a couple of mild pain pills instead of the killer pain killers. It didn't remove it but made it tolerable and this morning the pain has diminished and no drug hang over.

I've crossed the 1,100 DVD/movie line . . . Mainly due to some early birthday gifts. Three sets of 50 movies in the horror, gangster and Western vein. Good stuff.
I also got a great set of 8 classic Kung Fu films - Liu Chi Ling films. They're in Chinese (Mandarin) but are fantastic looking so far. I've seen all the films but the DVD transfers are so bright and crisp they feel brand new and exciting.

The Mayor's office called me Weds. They want me to address the City Council about Item 25, Child Safety. I haven't decided yet. Don't know if it will do any good or not.

So everything is alright for a while. My puppy is fine and showing some small signs of weight loss. I'm fine what more could want?
Maybe a little more money but who doesn't want that.

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