GEAUX SAINTS!!
If anyone was wondering why I posted in the middle of the Saints game on Saturday night, it was all part of my football supersition. Andy and I were watching the Saints game and while I was at the computer the Saints always did well, but as soon as I sat down on the couch with him, they would fall apart so I had to find ways to occupy myself at the computer for the entire fourth quarter. Obviously my plan worked and the Saints are in the NFC Championship game for the first time!! GO SAINTS!! Hopefully the days of the Aints are over. When I was a kid I remember Nancy had a bumper sticker that said "Shoulda, Coulda, Woulda, No Mora Excuses" which was a dig at then coach Jim Mora. Sean Payton is certainly a long way from that.
Last night Andy and I watched the Golden Globes, one of my favorite TV events. The Globes, the Oscars and the Emmys are some of my favorite TV events. I don't know why, I love these awards shows. Andy kept commenting on the content of the speeches or their length so I told him he needed to focus on more important things like making fun of the celebrities, especially their clothes. I picked an unfortunate moment to ask his opinion though because Sienna Miller was presenting at the time. I asked if he liked her dress and he said "i don't give a shit, it's on Sienna Miller." When Helen Mirren walked up to get her award he said she looked good, "for an old chick." We both agreed that she must have had some work done to avoid the old lady chicken neck. Also, Cameron Diaz looked like shit. We were in total agreement on that one.
Short movie review...Red Eye on DVD...1 out of 4 stars which means don't watch this movie.
Labels: football, tv
Yesterday there was a mysterious odor all over Manhattan. It smelled like gas so of course everyone thought there was a gas leak somewhere. The smell was especially bad around the place where I spend 10 hours a day. Of course, everyone had to make the requisite New Jersey joke....big stink, of course it comes from New Jersey...what a shithole, etc... People who are from New Jersey always get defensive about this, but then you know what, as reported in today's news, the stink really was coming from New Jersey. If you've ever taken a train from New York to Newark or Jersey City, this would not surprise you. It's a disgusting wastepit over there. So New Jersey, keep your nasty stinky smells to yourself.
Andy and I watched the first half of last night's national championship game. After Florida forced Troy Smith to fumble Andy lept up off the coach in excitement and then looked at me like I was crazy because I was half asleep in the chair. I can't pull for Florida. I just can't do it. I don't have it in me. Looking back, I'm glad they won but I had 0 excitement about the actual game.
Labels: football
weekend, weekend, weekend
I've been waiting to get back into my flip flops after the cold weather but who knew the opportunity would arise so soon? On Saturday I wore flip flops, a skirt, and a long sleeved t-shirt. The high in Brooklyn was 72 degrees....72 freaking degrees. While I enjoyed the warmth I think the weather being weird is throwing me into a funk. On Saturday after we ran some errands I slipped into super-pissy mode. All i wanted to do was lay in bed for the rest of the day. That NEVER happens to me. Luckily Andy is literally the most patient man on earth since I capped off the pouting by picking a fight with him about the arrangement of furniture in the apartment. So we spent the rest of the afternoon rearranging the furniture and it does look better.
Yesterday we went to the Met to see the exhibit "Cezanne to Picasso" which didn't focus so much on the evolution of the art itself but instead a dealer in Paris named Vollard. It was really interesting to learn about his influence on the art world. He was definitely someone behind the scenes that you wouldn't normally hear about so that was really cool.
Tonight is the BCS National Championship game and to tell you the truth, I couldn't care less who wins. Not just because LSU already played but because bowl games ended last week! Why is this game a week later? It makes absolutely no sense to me. The NFL playoffs are going on, college basketball is gearing up...it just seems like there's a disconnect to this National Championship game. This morning Andy was saying that if there was anything better on TV he probably wouldn't watch. I agree...
Labels: football, NYC sights
I am sleepy today. You know why? Because I was up until 12:30 this morning watching THE TIGERS!!! kick the crap out of Notre Dame. Ending the season with a win is always nice because who wants to spend 8 months dwelling on a loss? Not me.
I decided that I wanted to have fun tailgate food for the game but a nap before the game intervened so Andy and I picked up Thai food. I don't think curry is a traditional tailgating food but it was delicious. We did tempt fate a few times before the game...instead of the traditional Beam and coke pregame drink we had Jack and Coke (courtesy of my fantasy football winnings), because there was no Beam at the Thai restaurant; I wore a new, untested t-shirt; and Andy almost put a sweatshirt on which is unheard of! Thankfully I stopped him. We were so pumped up for the beginning of the game. After the first touchdown I realized that I was jumping up and down on the couch and had no clue how I had gotten there. Then I got really nervous when Notre Dame tied it up at 14. I think that the touchdown we scored right before the half was the difference maker. That really changed the momentum and allowed us to dominate for the rest of the game.
Terry Bradshaw and Howie Long were in the booth for the game which I had anticipated would be disastrous. Instead, Andy and I both really enjoyed it. I thought they were funny and they actually talked about football and made real football references instead of the dumbed-down commentary we usually get.
It was another great win for the Tigers and probably the last game for Jamarcus Russell who is getting a ton of hype after last night...more than pretty boy Quinn. I guess we can hope that now the media will wake up and stop glorifying Notre Dame season after season. It won't happen but we can hope.
All right, that's the last football post of the year except for the Saints.
GEAUX TIGERS!!!Labels: football
Football Finale
Well this weekend was the Championship game for my fantasy football league and to say that The Vegeenas lost is an understatement. They got DESTROYED. The game was pretty much over after Tiki Barber scored 42 points on Saturday night so I didn't even bother following it on Sunday. The final was 145-66 I think. I am still proud of myself that I finished second in the league, considering this was my first season. The best part is that I won $75...well, actually just $40 because I never put up my money at the beginning of the season. The other downside is that one other person hasn't paid yet so I've been forced to collect my winnings from them as punishment. Oh well, it's still $40..if I ever get it.
In other football news LSU plays Notre Dame tonight in the Sugar Bowl!! Very exciting!! Everyone that I've heard is predicting that LSU is going to win which makes me nervous...I like being the underdog. I don't want LSU to get hyped up too much.
As an unfortunate distraction from the Sugar Bowl, Nick Saban accepted the coaching job at Alabama today. I don't want to be pissed about this, but I am. I mean, rationally I know that Saban doesn't have any loyalty to LSU, to him it's just another job...who cares. But he lead LSU to a national championship which was a huge deal, especially to people who have been following LSU all of their lives. Saban left to take a job in the NFL...that's fine...I understand exploring other opportunities, but then to turn around two years later and take another college job, in the SEC, at ALABAMA...it just feels like a stab in the back. Once again, I know this is irrational, and my main fear is probably that he'll bring AL back and they'll start beating LSU again. It also makes me mad that two weeks ago he emphatically said that he had no interest in the AL job, just like he said about the Miami job when he was at LSU, but then they throw bags of money at him and he changes his mind. Coaches need to learn to just shut their mouths when asked questions like that...it just makes the decisions they make later look suspicious.
OK, done with the ranting, I'm over it...
GEAUX TIGERS!!!!!!Labels: football, vegeenas
We're #1!
Well this week was the final week of the regular fantasy football season. Don't get too upset though, because we've got a couple of weeks of playoffs yet to go. I finished ranked #1 in the league which means I will be the top seed in the playoffs (which almost guarantees a loss) and I get a bye in the first round. So hopefully the Chargers will rest Ladanian this week so he can have two more stellar performances. And to answer Nick's comment from the last post, no the fact that LT played for Franchione does not taint my affection for him. Even if he doesn't score another touchdown this season, I wouldn't be where I am now without the Donk and it's not his fault he had to play for such an assclown.
After cheering ManU on to victory on Saturday morning Andy and I did some Christmas shopping and then came home to take a nap before going out that night. I turned on the TV and....nothing....just college basketball. I don't like facing weekend television without college football. I have a feeling I'll be spending a lot more time out in the city now. Not that I don't love college basketball but after watching LSU lose to Texas in overtime on Sunday night I don't think I can take a whole season of John Brady..I may just have to pick things up in the postseason.
Also..GO SAINTS!!! They look like a legitimately good team right now. I got to watch my first game this weekend since they were on Sunday night and it was fun to watch the Saints play well...especially Devry Henderson, former Tiger, crawling into the endzone.
New pictures are up...from Andy and I's tree, my trip to Macy's and our attempts at taking a Christmas card picture.
Labels: football, vegeenas
currently reading
If you will note, at right, I am currently reading Rammer Jammer Yellow Hammer which tries to answer the question of what makes a sports fan a sports fan and why are they all so effing crazy. He tries to answer this question by tailgating with all of the RVers at Alabama football games. The author Warren St.John is a lifelong Alabama fan and even includes a pic of him with Bear Bryant in the introduction. In the beginning, I really liked the book and definitely identified with all of his crazy fan things and the tailgating anecdotes but there's one aspect of the book I can't get past. The guy is an Alabama fan and I hate Alabama. I am sick of hearing about every Alabama game that season. Unfortunately for me the book takes place during Dinardo's last season when we went 3-7, winning our only SEC game against Arkansas with a substitute head coach. I am dreading the chapter about that game. Apparently my fandom runs too deep to get past this and just enjoy the book.
One interesting point he makes in the book is about what nick calls "t-shirt fans"..people who support a football team even though they didn't go to college there. While I think he uses this as a derogatory term, St. John says that most of these fans look down on the alumni as lesser fans because the fans that aren't alumni could have chosen any college in the U.S. to support but they chose THAT team whereas alumni have their team built in. Maybe I'm especially defensive of these fans b/c I was raised by a huge bunch of them. GEAUX TIGERS!!
Thursday nights just aren't the same without The Office.
Labels: books, football
ants in the pants
that's exactly how i feel today...like i am four years old and i have ants in my pants. I can't sit still, i've been shaking my leg all day, fiddling with everything on my desk...even more than my usual fidgeting. It's not like there's anything really special going on, it's just one of those days. We started putting up the tree last night and let me tell you..the lights look about a hundered times better this year since Andy did them. We had planned on finishing last night but once again we didn't have any ornament hooks. Last year we were rednecks and just used paper clips instead. We did get all the non-hook ornaments on though, including the a green one that Andy has dubbed the "Ginornament" because of its size. While most people have problems with their cats getting into their trees, Miss Kitty remained indifferent to the whole process. As you all know I am champion eye-roller and I think I may have passed this on to Miss Kitty. I asked her last night if she wanted to help decorate the tree (yes, I know she's a cat) and I swear she rolled her eyes at me.
In football news, The Vegeenas won again and are in prime position to get one of the two byes in the first round of the playoffs. We just have to win next week and not score less than 60 points below Suspicious Package. I am sure Ladanian will not let me down. Also LSU has accepted an invite to the Sugar Bowl which a lot of fans are disappointed by which is ridiculous. I remember the first year with Dinardo that we went to the Peach Bowl and everyone acted like it was a national championship. Come on, it's a BCS bowl! and we get to kick the crap out of Notre Dame who is my least favorite college football team. LSU fans are getting spoiled. GEAUX TIGERS!!
Labels: Christmas, football, vegeenas
Football Update
Well here it is Tuesday again, and time for another football update.
All that's left for LSU to do is wait to see what bowl we're going to. Unfortunately we need to be Florida fans this weekend and pull for them to beat Arkansas in the SEC Championship Game, which I do not think is a given. As I am an avowed "Gator Hater" this will be difficult. I would love to see LSU v. Michigan in the Rose Bowl even though as Brent Musberger reminded us Knute Rockne took Notre Dame to the Rose Bowl in 1929 so they really do deserve to go. Herbstreet repeated this comment a few minutes later and Andy thought he was mocking Musberger but I'm not so sure. The whole Notre Dame issue is so ridiculous I could write pages about it. Personally I don't think they should be allowed to participate in the BCS until they join a conference. Why do they think they're so special?
Big win for the Saints this weekend although we did not get to watch the game because the Jets were playing at the same time so due to some crazy blackout rule we got to watch three hours of MASH instead.
Another win for the Vegeenas this week...that's a 7 game winning streak. I remain #1 in the standings but the other teams with the same record did gain a few points on me. Ladanian only had 28 points this week but Joe Addai came through for me with 44!! I guess he was tired of Ladanian getting all the glory for the Vegeenas. I was also excited b/c he is of course a former Tiger!! something I took into account when drafting my team and so far they have not dissapointed.
Also, Manchester United and Chelsea tied this weekend so ManU remains at the "top of the table" in the Premier league. Andy has been following ManU since we were in high school and I've never really gotten into it but for some reason this season I find myself really caring about whether they win or not.
Labels: football, vegeenas
Football Update
I'm sitting here blogging because I have nothing else to do while I watch my fantasy football website update. General Herpes (GH from here on out) is watching Heroes, the lamest new show on TV. It's actually not that bad, it just seems like an X-Men rip off to me. Also, I would rather be watching the football game. But such is the burden of living with only one TV. Ladanian (or Ladonkian as GH calls him) got me 41 points again this week! He is a beast! So as long as Tiki Barber doesn't get 38 points The Vegeenas will win again and I will be in first place in the league.
Andy and my's superstitions almost let us down this weekend as LSU was pushed to overtime against Ole Miss. We were at a housewarming party getting updates over text message and I was still freaking out.
I'm now opening the blog for comments about Marques Colston...I've heard about the TE v. WR argument all season but that may be a moot point now since he's injured. Come on Joe, rub it in...you know you want to....
Off the topic of football, The Office is the best show on television, no question. I thought it good get any better than the episode two weeks ago until this week...I mean, how does this show just keep getting funnier and funnier??! My mouth hurt afterwards I had been laughing so much.
Labels: football, vegeenas
Football News
As I've talked about before, I am very superstitious about football in terms of where I watch the games, what I wear while I watch, etc... and I think I've finally figured out the pattern for this season. It's probably too little too late but at least I have established that there is a pattern. We can't watch the games live at our apartment. We've watched live at bars and they've won, on tape at our apartment and they've won, and not watched at all and they've won, but the two times that we watched the games live at our apartment they've lost. I was also scrapbooking during both of those games so that could be another variable.
This past Saturday we hung out at Chuck and Christina's before heading to a bar in their neighborhood to watch the game. Well, I watched the game. Andy spent a good bit of time outside playing ping-pong. He seemed to think that a 28-14 lead going into the fourth quarter was enough but, as a life long LSU fan I know better. When I go somewhere to watch a game, I want to watch the game, not fart around. This is the exact opposite of when I watch a game at home. If I'm at home, I have to be doing something else at the same time, hence the scrapbooking. If I'm at a bar I just want to watch the game. I was hoping the ping-pong was over when Christina hit the ball into the outdoor fireplace but unfortunately they had another one. Of course the LSU win was tempered by the fact that Tennessee lost when we really needed them to beat Arkansas. Thanks for nothing Tennessee.
In fantasy news, the Vegeenas beat the second place Suspicious Package this weekend. We are now on a five game winning streak. The last time we played each other it was the first week of the season and I won by three points because a glitch in the scoring counted punts returned for a touchdown twice. We had a big league meeting two weeks ago and voted to only change the scores going forward so I keep the win. I'm firmly in second place now record-wise but I have scored the most points in the league. Thank you Ladanian. Next week I'm up against the first place team, Cactus Maximus.
Labels: football, vegeenas
The Sports Report
This weekend was the best sports weekend I've had in a looong time. Some of you may recall the Tennessee debacle from last season in which LSU gave up a 21 point lead and eventually lost to them AT HOME. This year we played at Tennessee in a must win game for both teams. The game started at 3:30...we watched the beginning but had to leave for a wedding reception in New Jersey at about 4:45 (more on that tomorrow). LSU was up 7-0 when we left. Needless to say there was no college football talk at the reception so when we got home at about 12:30 a.m. we had no idea what had happened in the game so we went downstairs to watch the rest. With 2:00 minutes to go in the first half Tennessee pulls ahead 10-7. At this point Andy and I just look at each other like, this game is over. Ridiculous. Unfortunately without being surrounded by rabid LSU fans we've become a little bit of fair weather fans. Also, when you're in the National Championship hunt every year, going 10-2 is a little disappointing. We've watched LSU fall apart twice this season against good teams so Andy decided he was going to save us the agony and look at the score. He walks back to the sofa from the computer with a smug look on his face, trying not to smile. He sits down and I was like, what, what, do they win?? which obviously I can tell by the look on his face. We start watching the second half, Jamarcus throws an interception and TN runs it back for a touchdown. I was like, uh, can you go check the score again because I don't think there's any way LSU can pull this out.
Andy finished watching the game but I fell asleep so we watched the second half again on Sunday morning. And they did in fact win even though I didn't believe it until we actually saw the end of the game. It was an awesome game but I'm glad that I didn't watch it live..there would have been a lot of pacing, cursing, and throwing things.
On the soccer front, Manchester United won in decisive fashion, 3-0 and Chelsea lost so it was a really good weekend for Andy.
The Saints won again...maybe one day I'll actually get to watch a game.
The Vegeenas KILLED yesterday!! They posted 175 points...you read that right...175 points. The other team was so scared they didn't even show up. The guy I was playing had an illegal lineup so scored 0 points. It wasn't as much fun since I wasn't really playing against anyone but scoring that many points was still cool.
Labels: football, vegeenas
Odds and Ends
Last night Andy and I ate at a new hibachi restaurant literally across the street from our apartment. We hadn't eaten at one of those in forever and it was just as kitschy and cool as I remember it. The chef did the whole knife show and the onion volcano. fun fun.
We also fed Chester for the first time last night. He's supposed to be fed every two to three days, crickets or mealworms. We gave him three crickets last night and let me tell you, Chester is lethal. As soon as we dropped the cricket in he grabbed it in one leap. He's quite the badass.
We're venturing to New Jersey this weekend for a wedding reception on Saturday which means we'll miss the LSU game. We're going to tape it and Andy and I were saying this morning that we didn't have to worry about anyone talking about the outcome of the game. If we were in Louisiana no one would have scheduled a wedding that conflicted with an LSU game and even if they had everyone would be huddled around a small TV watching the game at the reception.
Everyone wish Nick a Happy Birthday...I know, one day late...sorry!
Pictures from the first half of Andy's Cross Country trip with Mike this summer are up..just click the link on the right. He's releasing them in two batches of around 250 each so grab a drink and settle in before viewing. I also added pictures from the Halloween parade...these are at the end of the "Friends in NYC" album. Check out the puppets..very cool.
The Vegeenas won last weekend behind 41 points from one Mr. Ladanian Tomlinson. We're on a three game winning streak right now and we've risen to third in the league. Hopefully we can keep it going this weekend. Go Vegeenas!!
Labels: chester, football, restaurants, vegeenas
Football Wrap-up
Well it was a very good week for all of my football teams:
LSU won easily over Kentucky. Apparently all of their games are either blow outs or losses...we don't do in between. I don't know if that's a good sign for the rest of the season.
The Saints won! Another surprise. Let me explain something about the Saints since Kelley chastized me for not congratulating them on their win last week. When we lived in LA I was a Saints fan..I watched most of their games and it was upsetting when they lost, which was often. They were terrible most seasons. Plus, I am a very superstitious fan so I couldn't help but feeling like I was part of the "Saints jinx" I remember when they won their first and only play off game against the Rams, watching the game on the tiny TV in my parent's kitchen...the Saints had a huge lead and then it started slipping away after my Dad came in and started watching. We were yelling at him to go back outside otherwise the Saints were going to lose. Also, there are no Saints games on TV up here. I think this is a good thing b/c I'm pretty sure that if I started watching they would start losing.
The Vegeenas also won yesterday...it was a big relief b/c I was playing the team that last week offered to trade me Carson Palmer for Kevin Jones and I turned the trade down. Good thing b/c Kevin Jones had 22 points! Going in to last night I was ahead by 30 points and I had the Bears defense and my opponent had Rex Grossman so I was pretty safe but then I looked at the score this morning....The Bears defense scored 3 touchdowns and ended up with 33 points and Rex Grossman had -3 so I ended up winning by 60+ points!!! GO VEGEENAS!!! Also, Da Skillz, the only other team under female management defeated the only unbeaten team in our league...nice!
....and we're still painting.
Labels: apartment, football, vegeenas
cat hair
Even though Andy mentions it a lot I like to think that the cat hair situation at our house is under control. Now that we have a vaccuum cleaner and we've been brushing Miss Kitty more I thought things had gotten better. So this morning I was on the Subway standing at one end of the car and I see this woman in the middle of the car about 10 feet away waving her hand apparently trying to get my attention. We make eye contact and she mouths "you have something on your pants" so I look down and there's a big ball of cat hair on the front of my black pants. I looked back at her and mouthed "thank you" so the cat hair situation...not really under control. This was also probably a result of Andy having the day off again because usually he catches things like that. It was really nice of the random woman to let me know though.
So another disappointing loss for LSU this weekend...Andy and I have isolated the problem though...we have no offense. It's hard to win games with no offense. I think the coaching is a big part of it too. They just never look ready to play. I'll still watch the games but I'm not going to plan my Saturday around them anymore. The Vegeenas lost again too...tough weekend for my sports teams.
Labels: football, me, vegeenas
