*Sigh*
Well, there it went. A city's hopes for a Super Bowl championship washed away in the Miami rain. Alas.
But that's all the whining I'm gonna do about it. Dudes, we went to the freakin' Super Bowl this year. Do you know how rare that is? Do you know how many teams have never even made it this far? Yeah, we lost, blah blah who cares. It was an awesome season, and I am sad to see it end. I cannot wait until next year.
And for all you douchecakes who are bitching about Rex Grossman: Shut the hell up, bitches. You display a vast ignorance of the game of American football. You do not get rid of a quarterback who, in only his first complete season as a starter, leads his team to a 13-3 regular season record, a division and a conference championship. Yes, he had a few awful games. But perhaps you are forgetting that he tied the league for the most games with a passer rating above 100. Or that he was the NFL offensive player of the month in September. Or that the Bears scored the second highest number of points in the league this year.
Now, my boy Sexy Rexy has the off-season to relax and give a good long think on where he went right, and where he went wrong. And he can brush up on his mechanics - specifically the center-QB exchange, because really, I could forgive a lot of the interceptions if that fundamental bit of football had not gone wrong quite as often as it did. Yikes. But still, Grossman has, as a certain Super Bowl-winning QB put it in one of his many endorsements, a "laser rocket arm." More importantly, the rest of the team plays better with him in the game. They rally around him. It's inspiring to watch.
So, the Super Bowl. What went wrong? The Colts, mostly. They're a damn good team. We underestimated their defense, and their offense was so intimidating before the game even began that our defense played conservative the whole night. Had we aggressively pursued either the run or the pass - one or the other - from the beginning, we could have controlled them better. But we did not play against the run at all, and we worked so hard to protect against big pass plays that they killed us with small ones instead. And Peyton Manning, genius that he is, knew that on those few plays we did try to stop the short pass, he could burn us long instead.
On offense, yeah, Grossman could have played better. But so could our O-line. They kept letting the pocket collapse, forcing Grossman to either scramble or throw in a hurry, which is no good unless you are Peyton Manning. And once Cedric Benson went down our running attack became one-dimensional, and the line just couldn't open up any holes.
My point is, there is plenty of blame to go around. It was not a good game. But then, it's hard to watch a team lose a Super Bowl, because the fact that they are playing in it means they haven't lost much all year.
Between the Bears and the Florida Gators this has been my favorite year of football since 1985, if not ever. Congratulations to Tony Dungy, Peyton Manning and the rest of the Indianapolis Colts. You guys earned it. I can't wait until pre-season starts, and we can do it all over again.
Bear Down!
Monday, February 05, 2007
Tuesday, January 23, 2007
What Else Am I Gonna Write About?
Bears. Super Bowl. The Bears. Are in. The Super Bowl.
Can't breathe. Can't. Can't breathe. Holy crap.
Super Bowl.
Bears.
Thud.
(That was me, hitting the floor after passing out.)
Can't breathe. Can't. Can't breathe. Holy crap.
Super Bowl.
Bears.
Thud.
(That was me, hitting the floor after passing out.)
Thursday, January 18, 2007
Did the New Year Happen Yet?
I looked at a calendar today and was appalled to discover that over half of January has already passed and I have nothing at all to show for it - not even a lousy blog entry. Shame on me.
So, Happy New Year, everybody. How were your holidays? I have only a vague memory of mine. Not that I spent them in a drunken haze or anything like that. They just went by so freakin' fast. It's like all of a sudden I looked up and discovered I had spent a retarded amount of money and completely misplaced a week and a half of my life. Apparently my holidays took me all the way to Michigan and back, but that is only a rumor right now.
There is some evidence that the holidays did in fact occur. I got presents. Sweet. Mostly books and gift certificates, and also some stock. I'm still unsure how I feel about the stock, except that it's cool to say, "Yes, I own stock."
I do recall New Year's Eve, which was a pleasant evening Mandy and I spent with our friends Alex and David. We watched the Bears lose to the Packers, and then just hung out and chatted until about one in the morning. Very nice. It was a last minute decision; our other option involved watching the game and then going to a bonfire, which was a bit more than we were looking for in our quest for a low-key evening. Had the Bears won, everything would have been perfect.
I also have some resolutions for the new year, which I will now share because that way people might occasionally ask, "Hey, how's that [Insert resolution here] going?" After a couple of those, I will do anything to avoid be embarrassed into admitting I gave up. So, my New Year's Resolutions for 2007 are as follows:
1. Lose Weight. Yeah, I know, everybody does that one. But seriously, after all that holiday food I tipped the scales at 297 lbs. That scares the shit out of me.
2. Publish Two (2) Short Stories. I look at this as the equivalent of beefing up my resume. I am more interested in writing novels, but a few publishing credits under my belt will help round out that query letter.
3. Get a Driver's License. I had one once, back in Michigan. I somehow lost the actual card when I moved to Chicago. I desperately needed some ID as I was looking for a job, so I just wandered into the nearest Secretary of State's office and applied for an Illinois State ID. For some reason I never bothered to replace the Michigan card, and it has long since expired. I haven't needed to drive a car in ten years, but I just think that one of these days I'm going to need to rent a car at a moment's notice and I won't be able to. So, I should get on that.
That's it, basically. Oh, I should try to do other stuff. Make more money. Figure out whether or not I'm going back to college. Stuff like that. But those big three are the things I want to do, just for me.
Oh, and I am making another foray into the theatre arts, as well. Yesterday was the opening night for Stone Cold Dead Serious, a play by Adam Rapp and directed by my good friend Joanie Schultz, and featuring stage combat choreography and a voice-over provided by yours truly. But even more exciting, this week marked the beginning of rehearsals for Rogue 8 - Issue #3. This is a really fun serial play about a group of misfit superheroes. Dan Telfer has written every "issue" so far, and this time around he was kind enough to invite me to direct. So, stand back and prepare yourself for the awesomeness!
In other news, the Bears won their first playoff game, barely, against the Seahawks. Next Sunday they go against the Saints for the conference championship. I'm terrified.
Also - and I am particularly excited about this - one of my all-time favorite fantasy novel series, A Song of Ice and Fire by George R. R. Martin, was optioned by HBO to be turned into a TV series. The plan is to turn each book into a season of the show. This just might be the coolest thing ever, in the history of the world. I can't wait. Of course, this means now I have to get HBO. I guess I'll add that to the list.
Happy New Year!
Addendum:
I love books, and I love movies, but if I had to choose between the two, I'd have to choose books. However, I get all excited when I hear that a book I love is being adapted into a movie, but I find "novelizations" of movies to be ridiculous. Is that wrong?
So, Happy New Year, everybody. How were your holidays? I have only a vague memory of mine. Not that I spent them in a drunken haze or anything like that. They just went by so freakin' fast. It's like all of a sudden I looked up and discovered I had spent a retarded amount of money and completely misplaced a week and a half of my life. Apparently my holidays took me all the way to Michigan and back, but that is only a rumor right now.
There is some evidence that the holidays did in fact occur. I got presents. Sweet. Mostly books and gift certificates, and also some stock. I'm still unsure how I feel about the stock, except that it's cool to say, "Yes, I own stock."
I do recall New Year's Eve, which was a pleasant evening Mandy and I spent with our friends Alex and David. We watched the Bears lose to the Packers, and then just hung out and chatted until about one in the morning. Very nice. It was a last minute decision; our other option involved watching the game and then going to a bonfire, which was a bit more than we were looking for in our quest for a low-key evening. Had the Bears won, everything would have been perfect.
I also have some resolutions for the new year, which I will now share because that way people might occasionally ask, "Hey, how's that [Insert resolution here] going?" After a couple of those, I will do anything to avoid be embarrassed into admitting I gave up. So, my New Year's Resolutions for 2007 are as follows:
1. Lose Weight. Yeah, I know, everybody does that one. But seriously, after all that holiday food I tipped the scales at 297 lbs. That scares the shit out of me.
2. Publish Two (2) Short Stories. I look at this as the equivalent of beefing up my resume. I am more interested in writing novels, but a few publishing credits under my belt will help round out that query letter.
3. Get a Driver's License. I had one once, back in Michigan. I somehow lost the actual card when I moved to Chicago. I desperately needed some ID as I was looking for a job, so I just wandered into the nearest Secretary of State's office and applied for an Illinois State ID. For some reason I never bothered to replace the Michigan card, and it has long since expired. I haven't needed to drive a car in ten years, but I just think that one of these days I'm going to need to rent a car at a moment's notice and I won't be able to. So, I should get on that.
That's it, basically. Oh, I should try to do other stuff. Make more money. Figure out whether or not I'm going back to college. Stuff like that. But those big three are the things I want to do, just for me.
Oh, and I am making another foray into the theatre arts, as well. Yesterday was the opening night for Stone Cold Dead Serious, a play by Adam Rapp and directed by my good friend Joanie Schultz, and featuring stage combat choreography and a voice-over provided by yours truly. But even more exciting, this week marked the beginning of rehearsals for Rogue 8 - Issue #3. This is a really fun serial play about a group of misfit superheroes. Dan Telfer has written every "issue" so far, and this time around he was kind enough to invite me to direct. So, stand back and prepare yourself for the awesomeness!
In other news, the Bears won their first playoff game, barely, against the Seahawks. Next Sunday they go against the Saints for the conference championship. I'm terrified.
Also - and I am particularly excited about this - one of my all-time favorite fantasy novel series, A Song of Ice and Fire by George R. R. Martin, was optioned by HBO to be turned into a TV series. The plan is to turn each book into a season of the show. This just might be the coolest thing ever, in the history of the world. I can't wait. Of course, this means now I have to get HBO. I guess I'll add that to the list.
Happy New Year!
Addendum:
I love books, and I love movies, but if I had to choose between the two, I'd have to choose books. However, I get all excited when I hear that a book I love is being adapted into a movie, but I find "novelizations" of movies to be ridiculous. Is that wrong?
Monday, December 04, 2006
On the Flipside
Hello, all! I've missed you so. I don't have much to say right now, but I wanted to congratulate myself for winning National Novel Writing Month for the second year in a row. Also I need to give a shout-out to my writing buddy and fellow two-time winner Dan, as well as my good friends Reski and Jen, both of whom won for the first time this year. My friends are a prolific bunch, aren't we?
As always, of course, my lovely wife Mandy was a pillar of support during the whole month.
It was a different experience this year. In '05 my only goal was the word count. This year, I already knew that I could write 50,000 words in a month because I'd done it before. The challenge then became, can I write 50,000 words and have them be any good? For any of you considering NaNoWriMo, let me just suggest that you avoid this way of thinking at all costs. It does nothing but slow you down. There was about a week and a half in there that was a real slog, hard to get anything moving because I doubted every other word I typed. Even as I was doing it I knew it was counter-intuitive, and completely against everything that NaNoWriMo stands for. I had to constantly remind myself to just get the words out and forget how good they are. Later, after the month is over, if I really like the story that much I can go back and replace the crappy words with better ones. Eventually I managed to push through the rut and crossed the 50,000 word mark with two days to spare. It's a good thing I had that vacation time to use.
In other news, Mandy's birthday is coming up, as is Christmas. I am looking forward to one of these things, although we will get to spend Christmas weekend up in Muskegon, Michigan, which is usually a good time.
Oh, and the Bears clinched their division yesterday, guaranteeing them a playoff berth. Now if only Sexy Rexy can get out of this slump in time, we're gonna RULE.
Bear Down!!!
As always, of course, my lovely wife Mandy was a pillar of support during the whole month.
It was a different experience this year. In '05 my only goal was the word count. This year, I already knew that I could write 50,000 words in a month because I'd done it before. The challenge then became, can I write 50,000 words and have them be any good? For any of you considering NaNoWriMo, let me just suggest that you avoid this way of thinking at all costs. It does nothing but slow you down. There was about a week and a half in there that was a real slog, hard to get anything moving because I doubted every other word I typed. Even as I was doing it I knew it was counter-intuitive, and completely against everything that NaNoWriMo stands for. I had to constantly remind myself to just get the words out and forget how good they are. Later, after the month is over, if I really like the story that much I can go back and replace the crappy words with better ones. Eventually I managed to push through the rut and crossed the 50,000 word mark with two days to spare. It's a good thing I had that vacation time to use.
In other news, Mandy's birthday is coming up, as is Christmas. I am looking forward to one of these things, although we will get to spend Christmas weekend up in Muskegon, Michigan, which is usually a good time.
Oh, and the Bears clinched their division yesterday, guaranteeing them a playoff berth. Now if only Sexy Rexy can get out of this slump in time, we're gonna RULE.
Bear Down!!!
Wednesday, October 25, 2006
0.999... = 1
Does the title of this post make any sense to you? I just read it in Wikipedia, and now my mind is a little blown.
I've never pretended to be any good at math of any kind. I might have gotten more out of it had I ever done any homework in high school, but even if I had paid attention back then I would probably still get a headache trying to work out how much to leave for tips at restaurants. That being said, I do pride myself on a certain level of common sense. And few things satisfy my desire for common sense like an easy-to-follow algebraic formula. Which leads me to the topic at hand.
0.999... is intended to signify a number in which the nines extend an infinite amount of decimal places. Common sense tells me that no matter how many decimal places it extends, however, the number 0.999... is less than 1. That's the whole point of decimal places, right? They're another way to represent fractions, like this one:
This makes sense. My calculator says so. But then check this shit out:
Who with the what now? That's half my mind blown right there. But then Wikipedia throws this bomb at me, and I am totally gobsmacked:
It makes sense to me if I look at it, but please don't ask me to explain it. Part of me thinks it's cool. But it's a small part. The larger part believes that math is the language with which we will come to understand the universe, and something like this makes me think we may have screwed up some basic part of the grammar, and now we're translating it all wrong. Should I panic about this? Should I lose faith in my High Priests, the scientists, who hold the keys to the vast and arcane knowledge of the universe? Or is this just some annoying thing that high school AP math teachers whip out because they think it's funny to make fourteen-year-olds' heads explode?
Also, on the Wikipedia page it looked all cool 'cause the "=" signs all lined up in the little boxes. Someday I gotta figure out how to do that, but it's almost one o'clock in the morning. I gotta be up for work in like five hours. This is gonna keep me up all night.
I've never pretended to be any good at math of any kind. I might have gotten more out of it had I ever done any homework in high school, but even if I had paid attention back then I would probably still get a headache trying to work out how much to leave for tips at restaurants. That being said, I do pride myself on a certain level of common sense. And few things satisfy my desire for common sense like an easy-to-follow algebraic formula. Which leads me to the topic at hand.
0.999... is intended to signify a number in which the nines extend an infinite amount of decimal places. Common sense tells me that no matter how many decimal places it extends, however, the number 0.999... is less than 1. That's the whole point of decimal places, right? They're another way to represent fractions, like this one:
1/3 = 0.333...
This makes sense. My calculator says so. But then check this shit out:
1/3 = 0.333...
1/3 x 3 = 1
0.333... x 3 = 0.999...
0.999... = 1
Who with the what now? That's half my mind blown right there. But then Wikipedia throws this bomb at me, and I am totally gobsmacked:
c = 0.999...
10c = 9.999...
10c - c = 9.999... - 0.999...
9c = 9
c = 1
It makes sense to me if I look at it, but please don't ask me to explain it. Part of me thinks it's cool. But it's a small part. The larger part believes that math is the language with which we will come to understand the universe, and something like this makes me think we may have screwed up some basic part of the grammar, and now we're translating it all wrong. Should I panic about this? Should I lose faith in my High Priests, the scientists, who hold the keys to the vast and arcane knowledge of the universe? Or is this just some annoying thing that high school AP math teachers whip out because they think it's funny to make fourteen-year-olds' heads explode?
Also, on the Wikipedia page it looked all cool 'cause the "=" signs all lined up in the little boxes. Someday I gotta figure out how to do that, but it's almost one o'clock in the morning. I gotta be up for work in like five hours. This is gonna keep me up all night.
Tuesday, October 17, 2006
Holy Crap! Did You See That?!?
Never in all my football-viewing years have I witnessed a game like the one that played out last night on ESPN's Monday Night Football. The still undefeated Chicago Bears paid a visit on the Arizona Cardinals in their fancy new stadium. Everybody from the "experts" to the fans to the players had written the game off as an easy win for the Bears. The Cardinals came into the game at 1-5 with a rookie quarterback in only his second start.
The Bears got greedy early, sending wide receiver Bernard Berrian on a long route on the first play of the game. Had quarterback Rex Grossman connected the play likely would have ended in a touchdown, or at least fantastic field position for the rest of the drive. Instead Berrian missed getting a finger on the ball by a matter of inches, and the drive stalled with a three-and-out. Then the Cardinals took over and pretty much ran roughshod over the Bears for the remainder of the first half. Their first two drives resulted in touchdowns. Over the course of the game Grossman was responsible for no less than six turnovers--he fumbled twice and threw four interceptions. He was completely unable to get his offense into any sort of rhythm. The Bears offense was responsible for only three points the whole game. The first half ended with the Cardinals ahead 20-3.
The second half was equally anemic for the Bears from an offensive standpoint, but the defense managed to bear down (hah) and hold the Cardinals to only three more points. More importantly, however, they forced two fumbles. Rookie defensive end Mark Anderson caused the first by hitting Cardinals QB Matt Leinart from the blind side. Bears safety Mike Brown scooped up the loose ball and trotted five yards into the end zone. Later in the fourth quarter as the Cardinals tried to run down the clock Bears middle linebacker Brian Urlacher stripped the ball from Arizona running back Edgerrin James. Charles "Peanut" Tillman recovered the fumble and ran it back for the second Bears touchdown of the night.
With three minutes left in the game the Bears defense forced a three-and-out. On the punt return rookie Devin Hester ran almost untouched for eighty-three yards to put the Bears ahead 24-23.
On the following possession Arizona drove the ball to within field goal range. The Bears defense had to be exhausted by this point; they'd spent over twice as much time on the field as their counterparts on the other side of the ball. With less than a minute to go the Cardinals set up for forty-two yard field goal attempt. The kick missed the mark by about a foot. It was second time in two weeks that Arizona kicker Neil Rackers had missed a game-saving kick. I had to feel a little sorry for the guy.
I'm glad the Bears won. I'm thrilled to still be undefeated. I am very happy to be the only 6-0 team in the NFL, at least until the Indianapolis Colts come back from their bye week. But last night was one of the ugliest, ugliest wins I've ever witnessed. I can't for sure say we even deserved to win, but I guess that's what good teams do.
The Bears got greedy early, sending wide receiver Bernard Berrian on a long route on the first play of the game. Had quarterback Rex Grossman connected the play likely would have ended in a touchdown, or at least fantastic field position for the rest of the drive. Instead Berrian missed getting a finger on the ball by a matter of inches, and the drive stalled with a three-and-out. Then the Cardinals took over and pretty much ran roughshod over the Bears for the remainder of the first half. Their first two drives resulted in touchdowns. Over the course of the game Grossman was responsible for no less than six turnovers--he fumbled twice and threw four interceptions. He was completely unable to get his offense into any sort of rhythm. The Bears offense was responsible for only three points the whole game. The first half ended with the Cardinals ahead 20-3.
The second half was equally anemic for the Bears from an offensive standpoint, but the defense managed to bear down (hah) and hold the Cardinals to only three more points. More importantly, however, they forced two fumbles. Rookie defensive end Mark Anderson caused the first by hitting Cardinals QB Matt Leinart from the blind side. Bears safety Mike Brown scooped up the loose ball and trotted five yards into the end zone. Later in the fourth quarter as the Cardinals tried to run down the clock Bears middle linebacker Brian Urlacher stripped the ball from Arizona running back Edgerrin James. Charles "Peanut" Tillman recovered the fumble and ran it back for the second Bears touchdown of the night.
With three minutes left in the game the Bears defense forced a three-and-out. On the punt return rookie Devin Hester ran almost untouched for eighty-three yards to put the Bears ahead 24-23.
On the following possession Arizona drove the ball to within field goal range. The Bears defense had to be exhausted by this point; they'd spent over twice as much time on the field as their counterparts on the other side of the ball. With less than a minute to go the Cardinals set up for forty-two yard field goal attempt. The kick missed the mark by about a foot. It was second time in two weeks that Arizona kicker Neil Rackers had missed a game-saving kick. I had to feel a little sorry for the guy.
I'm glad the Bears won. I'm thrilled to still be undefeated. I am very happy to be the only 6-0 team in the NFL, at least until the Indianapolis Colts come back from their bye week. But last night was one of the ugliest, ugliest wins I've ever witnessed. I can't for sure say we even deserved to win, but I guess that's what good teams do.
Tuesday, October 03, 2006
I Am An Awful Person
The month of September was a rough one for me, cognitavely speaking. Three of my four parents have birthdays in September, and I managed to forget every freakin' one of them. To each of them--Michael (9/16), Mom (9/21) and Dad (9/28)--I offer my sincerest apologies. I don't know what I was thinking, except that it was about something other than your birthdays.
Also, and perhaps more importantly, Happy Birthday, you guys.
Not that any of them read, or are even aware of, this blog. I should probably make some phone calls.
So I'm feeling a little guilty about that. On top of that, my good friend Clayton announced that he is moving to Philadelphia. I'm thrilled for him, of course. He's starting a new job out there that sounds, for lack of a better description, totally sweet. He has grand plans for a kind of complete life-overhaul that I find inspiring. I can't help but notice that I am still in the job I've been complaining about since I started this blog, and agents and publishers are not exactly pounding at my door. I think I need to get a little of that Clayton mojo, and get off my ass and start, you know, working, or something.
Then again, right now I am at work, but does it look like I'm actually working?
Also, and perhaps more importantly, Happy Birthday, you guys.
Not that any of them read, or are even aware of, this blog. I should probably make some phone calls.
So I'm feeling a little guilty about that. On top of that, my good friend Clayton announced that he is moving to Philadelphia. I'm thrilled for him, of course. He's starting a new job out there that sounds, for lack of a better description, totally sweet. He has grand plans for a kind of complete life-overhaul that I find inspiring. I can't help but notice that I am still in the job I've been complaining about since I started this blog, and agents and publishers are not exactly pounding at my door. I think I need to get a little of that Clayton mojo, and get off my ass and start, you know, working, or something.
Then again, right now I am at work, but does it look like I'm actually working?
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)