By Gudy and Jeff Kamp
Last year, we started on this site by unveiling what is still one of our favorite pieces that we did, the Mockery of a Mock Draft. As you can see, we had a perfect record of selections. Since we enjoyed working on it so much, we decided to do another one this year. As such, we present to you our mock draft for 2007.
I've written a few times about my recent (and growing) love of podcasts. I enjoy the fact that I listen to only content about which I care. I enjoy the fact that I can listen when it fits in to my schedule instead of being beholden to some faceless programing manager's whims. There's also a strange sense of connection with those who are going to the trouble of creating the shows. There's a passion to the "soup to nuts" quality of podcasters producing, engineering, performing, editing, and advertising their product that you don't find much in mainstream media. That passion comes across in their voices and permeates the show. There's also the fact that I'm able to listen to the entirety of the production so that I hear everything that they intended for me hear. They invite, some to the point of nearly begging, for listener feedback to improve the quality of their shows and to make sure that people are enjoying them. One gets to the point - even though in many cases you don't know how they look - where you feel that you really know these people. That's why some of the recent news was so upsetting.
A few of the podcasts to which I listen are part of the Farpoint Media group. That's a fancy way of saying that a bunch of podcasters have gotten together and are supporting each other with engineering, producing and so forth. They cross-promote and help each other out on the shows as much as they can (or so it seems, at least). One of the voices that we would hear on several of the shows was a man named Joe Murphy. No one would ever say that Joe was the loudest voice on any of the shows, but there always seemed to be great thought, humor, or both behind the words that he would choose to share. He had impeccable timing in his comments. He would seem to speak up when there was a lull in the conversation and would evoke one of the biggest laughs of the show, or he would give his thoughts on the movie that was being reviewed allowing himself to be honest about why he did or didn't like it. He was interesting, funny, and intelligent, with the savvy to allow the other people involved in the production to shine without it hurting his ego. That's why the fact that I have to talk about him in the past tense is so sad.
Joe recently passed away after going through several months of getting progressively bad news. First, they had found a mass in his abdomen. Then they shared the news that it was malignant. The doctors decided to operate, but when Joe woke up from the surgery, he was told that the location of the mass made it such that they couldn't remove it in its current state. It turns out that he had leiomyosarcoma. Basically, it was radiation- and chemotherapy-resistant. On April 1st, Joe's body couldn't keep up any more. Some of his friends in the Farpoint family (because that's really how it seems when you get to know them) put together a tribute show for Joe. Be sure to check it out so that you can hear for yourself how close the community is. Also, while you're following the insane number of links that I've decided to place in this post, I would be remiss if I didn't point you to the various charities that the family and podcasters are encouraging people to support in memory of Joe.
Good-bye, Joe. I enjoyed the times that you let us in to your mind. You'll always have a special place in our hearts. You'll be missed.
I'm fairly involved in fantasy sports. I don't mean that I'm one of those people who purchases all of the magazines every fall and researches every move to death before the draft. I mean that I participate. Maybe that's a better way to put it: I'm fairly participated in fantasy sports. (Me fail English? That unpossible!) For all of the time that I put in to fantasy sports, I blame Gudy. It really is all his fault. My wife will be yelling at him soon. He's the one that first invited me in to a league. I don't even remember what sport it was, but I do know that it was the start of something soul-sucking. Especially since he invites me in to all of the different leagues. We have a hockey league, for Heaven's sake (I took 4th). Basketball has been especially frustrating for me. It's mainly because of Kermit.
Don't get me wrong; Kermit is a great guy. What little I've talked to him, he's nice with a great sense of humor and he probably really enjoys long walks on the beach. He also has participated in all of the different leagues. The difference between him and me, however, is that he wins and I lose. More specifically, I lose to him. I lost to him in fantasy hockey and in fantasy basketball. In basketball I had lead him all week long. Then I lost Gilbert Arenas to a knee injury and LaMarcus Aldridge to something called Wolff-Parkinson-White Syndrome. I needed to win four out of six categories to win the week and advance to the championship game. We tied 3-3 and he won the week because he had scored more points than I had. What does Arenas do better than 95% of the NBA? Score. I firmly believe that I would have won if Arenas would have been in there. The same sort of thing happened to me a couple of years ago. In fact, it was exactly the same thing. It just wasn't to Kermit that time.
In hockey we had a strange situation: Every team made the playoffs. Therefore, since I have a lot of other demands on my time, I completely didn't pay attention to my team until the playoffs came around. I was doing pretty well, too, until I ran in to Kermit. He completely decimated my team. Some of my players are still looking for their testosterone two weeks after we lost. Oh well. We'll get him next time.
I would start to consider Kermit to be my arch-nemesis when it comes to fantasy sports if it wasn't for the fact that in our recent baseball draft (a three-hour marathon of picks for which Anne will be sending Gudy a "No Thank You" note), Gudy's dad kept selecting exactly the player that I was going to take immediately after him. It was getting me quite upset. If he wasn't such a nice guy, I think I might have been mad at him. Anyway, I ended up drafting a pretty good team. I went 7-4-1 last week against Gudy's dad and hopefully, that's a sign of things to come, but only time will tell.
And I just realized something: You probably don't care about any of this. I'm done.
My wife and I have quite a few similarities, especially in our background. We're both the middle child of a three child family, and were raised in very small churches in which our families comprised the majority of the youth group. We both have horrible sweet teeth. An actual exchange from this weekend went as follows:
Anne - I think I might make bars.
Me - I just printed out Cold Stone coupons.
Anne - OK, I'll make the bars tomorrow.
Me - Sounds like a plan.
However, there are some very strong differences that we've had to work through in our marriage. She grew up in a large city while I was living on a farm in the middle of nowhere. She's incredibly cute with very questionable taste in the opposite gender. I'm the polar opposite of that assessment. One of the differences that I was reminded of recently was in how we consume our media.
I'm very particular about allowing the storyline to come to me and be unveiled as the creators intended as part of their overall story. To me, the journey is the important bit, but for Anne the destination is what's most important. She'll frequently skip to the last chapter of a book just to see how it ends. Otherwise, she won't be able to sleep very good that night. I avoid even opening my book to the wrong page for fear that I'll catch something that I'm not supposed to know just yet. I want to experience it as I go along.
This difference was very evident last night as we finished the first part of season two of Battlestar Galactica. This series of disks ends in a huge cliffhanger that leaves the viewer wanting more. Very smart of the creators except when they are dealing with people like Anne. She can't stand not knowing. She was mad at the creators for leaving it hanging where it was. She was mad at the library for not having the second half of season two on DVD yet. She was mad at me for getting her to watch another show in which she becomes emotionally invested but can't immediately see the story line reach its conclusion. I slept with one eye open that night. After a few minutes of watching her fume over not being able to peak at the next part of the story, I pointed her to Wikipedia and the fact that they have spoilers/plot synopses for every episode of Battlestar. As she was reading through the next two-part episode, I would hear gasps and utterances of "Oh, my goodness" that means she had come on one of the juicier bits of the plot. She then turned to me and said, "I can't tell you any of this, can I?". To which I responded with a smile on my face, "Nope." You see, not only does not knowing drive her mildly insane, but also the fact that she can't discuss what she just read with me causes her internal conflict. Thankfully, she understands that I want to experience it first-hand as opposed to reading someone's description on a website of what happens. I want the story to unfold before me. The fact that she respects my stance in this just shows how much she appreciates me for the similarities and differences in our personalities. The fact that I asked around at work until I found someone with the next set of disks proves that I'm not a complete moron.
I've always wondered why those updates in the middle of a sports game were called resets. Basically they're just game summary's that get you up to speed on the current situation. Well, that's a perfect title for this article. There's been several things happening in Minnesota sports that I haven't blogged about yet, and it's time that I made my voice heard (if only by our audience of three).
Gophers
Timberwolves
From eternal optimism to eternal pessimism, I bring you the current state of the Minnesota Timberwolves. Yuck. That 25-point shame ridden defeat at the hands of Seattle (who was minus Ray Allen, btw) pretty much sums it all up. I would say that I've never been more confident that we should move Garnett in the off-season and try to build around young talent, but I'm absolutely terrified that McHale would screw it up. This team needs some serious house cleaning, and unless Glen Taylor wakes up and realizes that his franchise has lost all favor in the eyes of its fans, it needs to start with ownership. Truly a depressing blot on the Minnesota sports map.
Wild
I'm actually going to try to write something meaningful about a team I know almost nothing about and a sport that I don't know anything about. The Wild have been putting something together that realistically has a chance at being something special. Marian Gaborik has been nearly unstoppable in the 2nd half, now that he's healthy. Pavel Demitra has been the offensive catalyst that the Wild lacked last season. To top it all off, the team has its choice of three goaltenders to use that have all been solid or better. I expect big things from them come playoff time.
Twins
Once again, Terry Ryan and Ron Gardenhire have decided to start the season off with a degree of difficulty, as Carlos Silva, Ramon Ortiz, and Sidney Ponson will make up 60% of the starting rotation. Last year, the team managed to come back after being offensively sunk by Tony Batista and Juan Castro, so this season the Twins are going to see if they can mess with the pitching staff before they go with the better alternatives in Matt Garza, Glen Perkins, and Kevin Slowey. Also, Chris Heintz unbelievably made the team as a third catcher, displacing two useful players who have hence been claimed by the Arizona Diamondbacks: Alex Romero & J.D. Durbin. I really think that it was worth a shot to let Durbin pitch in low-leverage situations out of the bullpen, as he was out of options and could not be returned to the minors without being exposed to waivers. A few good appearances, and they probably could have traded him for a low-level prospect at least. Instead, Ryan decided to lose something for nothing. If they didn't have such a successful track record, I would be really frustrated about this.
Vikings
For a team that really, REALLY struggled last season, so far we've upgraded by signing Visanthe Shiancoe (pronounced Shank-O), Vinny Ciurciu (pronounce Church-OOO), and Bobby Wade (pronounced Uff Da). Yeah...so, how does this make the Vikes better? It doesn't. The Houston Texans cashed in on the Matt Schaub sweepstakes with a deal that would've been completely reasonable for the Vikings to make. If they believe that Tarvaris Jackson is really their guy, then I'm fine with not making the Schaub deal. But he's not ready, and it's foolish to think that either he or Brooks Bollinger will do anything but lose as the starter for this team. I'm now in favor of at least giving David Carr a look too see if he can be a stop-gap until the kid is ready. Remember, Carr at one point in time had enough talent to be selected as the #1 player in the draft (please don't bother with the Ryan Leaf comments, I'm well aware of this). Carr has had some mildly successful seasons as a starting QB, and might be able to improve considering that the one strength this team does have is offensive line. With that said, who's he going to throw to, if he does sign?
Well, that pretty much covers it. Thanks for stopping by.
I was listening to my normal lineup of podcasts through my work day. I had finally gotten to the third part of the marathon known as the Bendis Tapes on the Wordballoon podcast. Brian Bendis is one of my favorite current writers. He's one of the master minds behind the re-thinking of the Marvel universe referred to as the "Ultimate" line. He's also done some fantastic work in a universe of his (and Michael Avon Oeming's) creation in Powers. Basically, anything that he writes, I recommend picking up. It's also a lot of fun to get a peek in to the thinking behind his writing through the Q&A session that he does with John Siuntres on a semi-regular basis. Check both of them out if you get the chance. Here's what Mr. Bendis had to say:
That was my first reaction upon hearing the news today that the University of Minnesota hired Tubby Smith to be its next men's basketball coach.
Being firmly planted in both of the Rick Majerus and Bobby Knight camps, this news was initially a disappointment to me. Smith is a big time "name" coach, to be sure, but his actually coaching acumen can be easily questioned.
Then I started thinking about it. Smith will be able to recruit. He is a household name, at least to college basketball fans. He has coached at a major program in Kentucky. I think I could talk myself into this.
Plus, I have instituted a three year moratorium on new head coaches before I really criticize them. I like them to show me what they can do before I blame them for the teams' problems. Except perhaps in the case of Brad Childress. I'm still deliberating on that one.
But anywho, short post, gut reaction, gut-check, new coach, go Gophers!
I've become fairly convinced over the last few years that my television hates me. I haven't figured out how it came to this point or, for that matter, why, but I'm pretty sure that it does. Now, I realize that you would say that it's an inanimate object and supposedly incapable of love, hate or many of the more complex feelings (like a football fan's feelings for an inconsistent quarterback), but people said the same thing about the Cylons and look at where things are for the humans now.
I often have good intentions of getting to bed at a decent hour. Honestly, I do. Whenever I mention my intention of getting to bed early, Anne usually laughs at me. Our history says that when one of us states that we're going to go to bed early, we usually end up getting to bed substantially later than normal. My biggest problem is when Anne goes to bed before I do. It's not that I'm a completely irresponsible person, but I have trouble at times hitting the power button on the television and just going to bed. Normally, one would say that the tendency is not the fault of the appliance, but rather the fault of the person in control of the appliance. However, this gets to the crux of my issue. I would have a much easier time shutting off the television if the TV wouldn't be displaying such excellent programming at insane hours of the night. I could be tired from a long week at work and be watching bit of TV before heading to bed, but right as I'm just about ready to turn off the TV, an add will come up and say "Coming up next: Jerry, Elaine, George and Kramer in Seinfeld." Well, I have to stay up for that, don't I?
Of course, while watching Seinfeld, they show what's going to be on after this half-hour. Wouldn't you know that Scrubs is going to be on. I really enjoy Scrubs. I love the pacing of the episodes where it's one beat right after another. They don't wait for the crowd to laugh or to revel in how clever they are that they figured how to make fun of a person's name by making it in to something dirty. They just keep on moving and wanting to get the next joke. I appreciate a show that doesn't hold anything back but keeps entertaining their viewers. Another good example of this is...well, there really isn't another good example of this that comes to mind. Maybe that's why I appreciate Scrubs so much.
After Scrubs is over, I make the mistake of doing a quick tour around the dial. Keep in mind that we don't have cable television. After I graduated from college, in order to save money Anne gave me the choice of getting cable television or high-speed internet. It wasn't even a hesitation. I have DSL and I have a fat pipe. I'm fairly certain that wasn't intended to be a penis reference. During my final perusal of the different channels' offerings, I cross several infomercials (current favorite: "Poop your way to better health."), and then I happen on an episode of Star Trek. It was the original series of Star Trek, which is my second favorite after The Next Generation. However, I've seen most of the episodes and the majority of those multiple times. I can turn off an episode of Star Trek whenever I want. Hey, wait. They're talking about a derelict space craft. (It couldn't be, could it?) It's one from the 1990's. (No. Well, maybe.) "Spock, Bones, and you, the late 20th century historian that no one's ever heard of but is mildly attractive, come with me. We're going to beam over." (I think it might be.) Hey, look, there's a very young Ricardo Montalban. (It is!) That's right, it's the Kahn episode. I hadn't seen this episode in forever and it's the precursor to possibly my favorite Trek movie in Star Trek 2: The Wrath of Kahn. Let me just say, for the record, that in the '60's, Ricardo was stacked. Seriously, dude was huge in this episode. I had to watch.
So, that's how I found myself finally turning off the television in the wee hours and dragging my sorry tuchus up to bed. I knew that I'd be paying for it in the morning and that I'd have to explain to Anne why I was so tired. It's just easier to say that the TV hates me than I'm unable to shut off the TV when I need to.
I've tried to not write many articles that are just a running journal of the happenings in my life. I mean, after all, what is this a log of things on the web? Er, wait, don't answer that. Anyway, I usually will use something that happened during my day/week as a jumping-off point for a rant on society, life, cheese, etc. However, I had an interesting Saturday, so I thought I'd relate it to you.
My day started off with a bang, or more appropriately, a cry. The youngest of my three children, Squeaker, decided that 6:30 was a fantastic time for the entire family to wake up. Anne and I have a tendency to disagree with that assessment, but the older children concurred and since they had a majority (and the volume to back it up), we all awoke. This was followed by the normal activities of getting juice for the older children, eating breakfast, taking showers, getting dressed, and so on.
All of this is slowed by the fact that my second child, Doodle, has begun demanding to do everything on his own. He's two now, so he's a big boy and should be allowed to handle everything on his own. At least, that's what he thinks. He can be very particular about it however. He gets quite upset if we do something for him that he's identified as one of his tasks to complete. For instance, he wanted his stuffed monkey, cleverly-named Monkey. It was sitting on the floor next to me, so I picked it up to hand it to him. That was not sufficient for Mr. Self-Sufficient, however. He took Monkey from my hands, placed it back where it was on the floor, then picked it up himself. This had been going on for a few days, so we thought we had grown smart. When he wanted his juice, Anne picked it up and began to hand it to him. This set off another round of "no, me pick up juice!", so Anne set it down where it was. Again, we thought that we had grown smart, but we still had a lot to learn. You see, Doodle had decided it was also his task to put the juice back where it was. Therefore, he picked up the juice cup, handed it to Anne, took the juice cup from her, placed it back where it was to begin the merry-go-round, and finally picked it up himself. We have since decided to become psychic so we know what we're "allowed" to do for him.
We decided that we couldn't decide what to make for supper, so instead we went to a local Mexican restaurant. The menu is limited, but the food is good and quick and we can find something that the kids want to eat. If was only cheaper, it'd be the perfect eating establishment. We go through the line, order our food, watch it prepared before our very eyes (well, my eyes, Anne and the kids were already sitting) and get to the cash register to pay. I pat my breast pocket where I always keep my wallet and my hand meets no padding as it hits my chest. There's no wallet in my pocket. I had done the checkbook earlier in the day and had neglected to replace the wallet in my coat. I turn to Anne and ask her if she brought her wallet. No joy. So, then I have to explain to the under-paid and over-worked restaurant employee that the idiot customer has forgotten his wallet. They were nice enough to allow Anne and the kids to eat while the fore-mentioned idiot customer runs home as quickly as he can after wolfing down his (large) burrito to retrieve his wallet. They knew that I wasn't just skipping out on the check, however, since Anne and the kids were left there and they were probably quite certain that the kids weren't going to be able to wash the dishes. Mop the floors, maybe, but they most likely wouldn't do a very good job. Idiot customer returns triumphantly (read: meekly), however, and pays for the food. Crisis averted and they can stop making wanted posters with my face on them. On to the grocery store.
The grocery store is another aspect of life that becomes exponentially more difficult with three children since there aren't many carts made to hold all three and, if left to their own devices without being tied down my a retraining system, the older kids will wander the isles, greeting fellow patrons and asking people why they decided to go with skim instead of 1%. Our kids are very taste-oriented. Normally, I will go to the grocery store with one or both of the older children and leave Anne and the baby, Squeaker, home to rest a bit. This day, however, the whole crew made the trip. The trip itself went by uneventfully, however getting groceries put away is an adventure of its own. The older kids will fight over who gets to put what away and where it should actually go. At one point, Doodle ran away with a container of chili powder because it was his duty to place that container in it's proper place. Somehow, the proper place in the mind of this toddler was the living room. Since it was then in the proper place, he saw no reason for the chili powder to be constrained my such a restrictive container any further. Doodle opened the chili powder. I don't know exactly how. I don't know why. I don't know that I want to know. However, he was somehow able to get the plastic wrapper off, the cover off and the shaker cover off and get chili powder on the carpet and the blanket that we keep in the living room.
Just another Saturday in the life of the Kamp family. *Sigh* I'll get the vacuum.
I want to apologize right away for the title of this piece of writing. It was late, I was tired, and I thought it would make me sound smart if the title looked like it belonged on a master's thesis. If to you it does look like it should be a master's thesis, I would really like to know what college you attended. That, however, is not the thrust of my discussion.
The majority of the well-known superheroes that we see in modern media were conceived from ideas in the '60's (Spider-Man, the Hulk, the Fantastic Four), the '40's (Captain America) and as early as the '30's (Superman). Needless to say, we live in a substantially different world from the one in which they were originally leaping tall buildings in a single bound (little-known fact: Superman couldn't fly originally. He could just jump really high and far. Seriously.) As such, I thought that it would be appropriate to put together some pointers for the heroes that have to live in this goofy, mixed-up world of ours and still want to maintain a secret identity.
Wear a full-body costume. Stan Lee and Steve Ditko had it right when they created Spider-Man back in the '60s: Make sure that there is not a single part of your body showing. Not only does it help you keep warm (you think Wonder Woman does a significant portion of her work in the Arctic?), but it also helps you keep from leaving any evidence behind. After all, how many shows do we watch today in which someone is discovered due to the DNA evidence that they left behind at some scene that eventually finds them out?
Wear at least bullet-proof vest. Back when most of the heroes were created, most of the arch-villains were merely interested in getting rich through crime or, at worst, taking over the world. Our intrepid heroes would come out of the woodwork and stop them at the last minute from escaping with the cash bag or successfully turning all of the world's dry cleaning supplies in to gelatin with carrots so that all of the leaders of the free world couldn't dress for the job and they couldn't even eat the gelatin because it was spoiled with carrots. (Seriously, who does that to a dessert?) In the modern world, however, we find that a large portion of the villains are interested in death and destruction and have no interest in gelatin whatsoever. Even the useless gelatin. In fact, some of the "heroes" seem to have death and destruction follow them around (I'm looking at you Punisher and Spawn). Therefore, I believe it to be necessary for the modern hero to attire themselves in something appropriate for what they will be facing (i.e. bullets, claws, blades, etc.) The appropriate attire is Kevlar. Just make sure that it's not white Kevlar after labor day.
Don't tell anyone. We live in a culture that is connected. Someone is strange if they don't have a cell phone that can instantly connect them with any one of a huge amount of telephone numbers stored right in their phone. That same phone can snap pictures at the drop of a hat that can instantly be posted up to a blog. This especially applies to girlfriends. Sure, back in the day, Gwen Stacy was probably keeping a diary that talked about how groovy it was that her boyfriend, that way out Peter Parker, was also secretly Spider-Man. Now, she'd probably post something in her blog about it, and let's face it: That just isn't private. As an aside, I find it interesting that people post their innermost thoughts about life, their job and their relationships on the Internet for anyone to see. Then they wonder why they lose their job and their significant other and why their parents won't talk to them anymore. Bringing it back around, this makes me wonder what a blog done by Bruce Banner would sound like. "Today's mood: angry. I smashed some tanks today because they were infringing on my leap across the desert. Why won't they just leave me alone when I'm angry? By now they know that they don't like me when I'm angry. *Sigh.* I have a date with Betty tomorrow. Hopefully, I'll be a little more mellow. I don't want to have to buy her a replacement pill-box hat again. The last one was white and didn't go well with red wine."
Wear something different. This is also related to the Hulk. You see, early in his career, Bruce Banner bought a large number of the same suit to simplify things in his life. Here's the problem with this theory: All of the suits were a very distinctive purple. Bad move when you might randomly turn into a rampaging green behemoth that is naked except for, thankfully, the purple pants. Now, I'm sure that this was originally intended to simplify the workload on the artists and colorists. You don't have to keep track of exactly what Banner was wearing when he had a hissy-fit two or three issues ago because he was wearing the same thing that he was wearing twenty issues ago. However, as previously mentioned, a large portion of the population carry devices that can take pictures in a format that can instantly be uploaded to any number of different websites for all to see. All it would take is for someone who knows Banner to see it and apply the barest-minimum of deductive reasoning. "Hey, the Hulk wears goofy-looking purple pants. You know who else wears purple pants like that? Bruce Banner. He's also currently in Nevada working at a top secret base doing something with radiation. Funny how small of a world it is, huh?" Now that I think of it, though, General Ross should have come up with that thought the first time he saw the Hulk in his purple pants. I guess Banner is lucky that I wasn't a general in the US Army when he was created. Or something like that.
Don't have a family. This is probably one of the biggest pieces of advice that I can give to any superhero in the modern world. Sure, there were villains back in the day that were out for blood, but a good portion were in it for the money or thought they had the best interest of the world in mind by taking it over. Now, most of the arch-nemesi are in it to simply ruin the lives of the heroes. Look at what happened to Daredevil when the Kingpin found out who he really was: He made it his mission to completely break apart Matt Murdock's world. A hero's spouse and kids will always be the first thing that a villain attacks on finding out the secret identity of the hero. My recommendation: vasectomy.
I am pleased to announce a new feature that we are introducing here at Pluckytown:
Cue 2001: A Space Oddysey musical theme...
Cue deep announcer voice...
Ask Pluckytown
Ok, so that was a tad bit anti-climatic, but it nevertheless is something that we are at least mildly excited about.
AP (which stands for Ask Pluckytown, if you haven't been paying attention) will be a feature where you, the reader, can submit questions or column ideas to the authors and contributors at Pluckytown.
It's simple. Just come up with a question, like:
How much wood could a woodchuck chuck, if a woodchuck could chuck wood?
or
Who do you think will be the top five RBI producers at catcher in the National League Central?
or
What would have been the resulting changes in history if Archduke Franz Ferdinand had not been assassinated prior to World War I?
or
Do you have that $20 you owe me?
Any of those qualify for AP.
The second step towards successfully completing an AP query is to send the question that you have come up with to us via e-mail. The address you may use is pluckytown@gmail.com. Please use as the subject line: Ask Pluckytown. That's all we ask of you...it's really not that much.
Alright...now the rest is up to you. Enjoy!
I really enjoy going on dates with my wife. After nearly seven years of marriage and three kids, we need to take opportunities the present themselves (in the form of grandparents arriving on the doorstep) to get out on our own and remember the fact that we actually are husband and wife before father and mother. So, we took the restaurant gift certificate that was hard-won in a Christmas gift exchange game and the movie tickets that were a prize for a Super Bowl party and went out on our own. We had been planning on seeing Pursuit of Happiness because I really wanted to see Will Smith work a Rubik's cube, but since it had already been out for quite a while, it left the theater for which we won the tickets the day were were going to watch a movie. C'est la vie. The decision was made to go see the romantic comedy Music and Lyrics. I'm the type of person that really enjoys watching movies of nearly any genre. I'm not big on pure romantic films, but I enjoy a good love story woven into the plot. I'm not big on musicals, but I enjoy a good dance fight as much as the next guy. As far as comedies, I'm pretty much always in the mood for a good laugh. So, I was fine with seeing Music and Lyrics, and here's my review.
Music and Lyrics stars Drew Barrymore and Hugh Grant along with his infamous world's smallest nipples. That's the best line in this piece. I'm sorry. Grant plays a washed-up '80s pop music star who has been getting by in life on his former fame by playing such highly-prestigious venues such as Knotts Berry Farm and the Illinois State Fair while his former writing partner, who handled the lyrics while Grant did the music, went on to sell millions of albums, make movies and be knighted by the queen. Really. It's like the an '80s version of the Beatles if, instead of dying, John Lennon went on to be a complete has-been and Paul McCartney had become Tom Hanks along with being, well, Paul McCartney. Or should that be Sir Paul McCartney?
Barrymore is a flighty young lady with some skeletons in the closet and a penchant for killing house plants. She does pretty well with the plastic ones, however. Grant is frantically trying to come up with a song for a Christina Aguilera-like pop princess to revive his career. Or, at least, make a couple of quick bucks out of the deal. Since he only works with the music part of things, he needs a lyricist. Enter Drew Barrymore's character. She's done some writing in the past (poetry and the like, no music), but a bad experience has really shaken her confidence. In short: They need each other. Everybody now. Awwww.
Before I mention any other opinions on the movie, let me say this: I liked it. It was a cute movie with many good moments and good laughs. The casting was fantastic from top to bottom. Yes, the plot was predictable, but what romantic comedy has a plot that isn't predictable? I don't think it's a gigantic spoiler to say that they end up falling in love. That's the way these movies work. Now for the problems. Any time that you can leave a movie and talk about things you noticed in the editing, it's probably not the best job of editing ever. There were quite a few times in which the shot would switch from Barrymore to Grant and back again that I would notice what was being said didn't match up with how the face was moving. Once or twice having that happen is forgivable, but multiple times in the same scene is, quite frankly, sloppy. At the same time, there were two very noticeable long takes in which the actors are going back and forth, going through their scene with the director never cutting. That's either showing a lot of faith in your actors, or a lack of faith in your editors. At this point, I'm willing to say that it was probably a combination of the two. Barrymore is passably-likable in her role and puts in a generally-solid performance. No Oscar nominations will come out of this movie for her, but she did a good job. Hugh Grant plays the Hugh Grant character to perfection. He rarely goes beyond that role of the likable, witty Englishman (see also, Four Weddings and a Funeral, Notting Hill, Love Actually, et. al.), but there's nothing wrong with knowing what you do well and sticking with it. He's never going to be mentioned in the same breath as DeNiro, Hanks and Farrel (sorry, had to throw that one in there), but he's a good actor. Even if his nipples are very distracting. The movie could very easily have been rated PG if they would have (A) toned down on the pop princess's dancing a bit and (B) increased the fabric in her wardrobe slightly. At one point, she was wearing what I can only describe as a "full-body thong." There was no noticeable swearing, no nudity and only two instances of intimacy. One when they start kissing, fall to the floor and then we cut to the next morning and the other with their legs sticking out from under the piano.
All things considered, it was a good movie that made me laugh, and Anne liked it too. It's a great movie to which you can take a date.
I give it a three out of five very tiny nipples.
While puzzling over what to write for this week's piece, I though of something a surrealist friend of mine once told me: "Fish stapler pants jumping gnizzle paltz."
With those words of wisdom still in the back of my head, I came up with the idea for putting together the soundtrack of my life. Below you will find songs that at different stages in my life were important for different reasons. They are not necessarily my favorite songs of all time, but they are songs that I have memories of, or perhaps were somewhat important during different developmental stages that I have gone through in my 26+ years. I have also narrowed it to 17 songs and a hidden track, because that's your typical CD size.
Here's how they would appear, in order, on the back of the CD:
1. Eurythmics - Sweet Dreams (Are Made of This) - This is the first song I remember liking independantly as a child, and it's a better song than the following two to lead out a soundtrack. It's also a tribute to 80s New Wave music, which as a genre is very underrated, and undeservedly gets attacked by those who don't know anything about the music or time period. There were a few other songs from this period I really like, but didn't make the cut, most notably Dexys Midnight Runners (Come On Eileen), and Murray Head (One Night in Bangkok).
2. Belinda Carlisle - Heaven Is A Place On Earth - This is one of those songs that would not qualify as a favorite, but nevertheless, it is a song that when I hear it, I know most of the lyrics. It also is the first music video I remember remembering. Every time I hear it now, it takes me back to a daycare I went to in Grand Forks, ND, sitting in the living room, watching MTV, before MTV was unwatchable.
3. Oak Ridge Boys - Elvira - Basically closing out the period of my early childhood, Elvira is the first song I remember singing. It's also a tribute to my country music roots, which is mostly a period that I've deleted from my memory. Elvira still remains enjoyable to me, however, and as a young child, I liked the song so much, I remember my grandparents taking me to see the Oak Ridge Boys in concert, which is also the first concert I remember going to.
4. Queen - Bohemian Rhapsody - Even though BR was released in 1975, five years before my birth, it gains a special place in my heart, first by being my favorite song of all time, and second by the scene(s) devoted to it in Wayne's World in 1992. An absolutely spectacular sequence of film, in my humble opinion. It is also one of the few songs that I can sing start-to-finish without the help of the music. And, on top of that, it provided Kamp and myself with many an entertaining car ride during our teenage years.
5. Ace of Base - The Sign - During a period of time when I was dealing with my first girlfriend, and subsequent break-up, my cousin introduced me to the Euro-Pop group Ace of Base. They still remain one of my guilty pleasures in life, and at various times, I have owned at least three of their albums. For further reference, if you like, check out their great cover of Cruel Summer.
6. Sophie B. Hawkins - As I Lay Me Down - For some reason or another, I became attached to this song, and it's still one of my favorite songs of all time. I remember seeing her on either Leno or Letterman, and then a few months later at a lake cabin, heard the song debut, and I've loved it ever since. It was briefly ruined for a time when a friend of mine told me that it sounds like some of the background singers are singing "I like tacos," but I've moved past that now, and have re-embraced the song.
7. Seal - Kiss From A Rose - Basically the same story as the song above, only it came to me in a different way. Kiss From A Rose is on the soundtrack to my favorite Batman movie, Batman Forever. I absolutely love that movie, but it is being pushed by Batman Begins. Jim Carrey was perfect as the Riddler, and Val Kilmer was underrated as Batman. "Kiss" is definitely in my top 5 favorite songs.
8. Guns N' Roses - Welcome To The Jungle - Hearing this song gives me a near-uncontrollable urge to grab a basketball, start running circles around a gym, and then start shooting lay-ups. You see, this was the song, along with Thunderstruck by AC/DC, that my high school basketball team ran out to the most. And since I like this song more than Thunderstruck, it made the cut. And since I have the microphone, YOU WILL LISTEN TO EVERY WORD I HAVE TO SAY!!!!!
9. Collective Soul - The World I Know - Just an all-around terrific song, this also is to pay tribute to another era of music that I would like to recognize along with 80s New Wave: Mid-90's alternative and rock. There were some fantastic songs to come out of this period that just didn't make the cut, including, but not limited to: Deep Blue Something - Breakfast at Tiffany's, Just about anything by Stone Temple Pilots, Soundgarden - Black Hole Sun, and a few others.
10. dc Talk - In the Light - I was surprised, as I was mulling over this list, to discover that there wasn't a lot of Christian music that really fits on my soundtrack. I have a long, extensive history of listening to Christian music, and I enjoy it, but nothing really makes the cut...well, except for this song, and one more. In the Light falls right behind Bohemian Rhapsody on my list of favorite songs, but it by far tops it in importance. The lyrics to this song really describe my faith to a T. It's uncanny.
11. Jars of Clay - Worlds Apart - Here we have the second and final Christian song on my list, and this takes me back to a summer of traveling around, teaching vacation Bible school, and counseling at Bible camps during the summer of 1999. Great memories, great song.
12. The Verve - Bittersweet Symphony - I absolutely love this song. It's relaxing, and the music is excellent. It also was a prominent song during my senior year of high school, which is an important time to just about anyone.
13. The Wallflowers - One Headlight - Every time I hear this song, it takes me back to spring of 1997, to a band trip I took to Toronto my junior year of high school. Hearing the music takes me back through the streets of that city. If you haven't been to Toronto, I highly recommend it. And I'm not just fond of it because I got to meet Donny Osmond there.
14. Beck - The New Pollution - A tribute to one of my favorite artists ever. Also my favorite song of his. The beginning to this song is extremely catchy, and makes me smile every time I hear it.
15. Oasis - D'You Know What I Mean? - also a tribute to my favorite band from high school. I can listen to Oasis anytime. Just to share with you how much I like them, I even still like the song All Around the World, even though AT&T is trying to beat it to death. I'm just saying.
16. Coldplay - Clocks - Just a perfectly done song. It really doesn't lack anything except for maybe intelligible words to sing along with at certain points, but that is easily made up for by a most excellent piano part. This kind of pays homage to my maturing music tastes, as I have felt a shift from just listening to entertaining music to really enjoying high quality music. "Clocks" certainly qualifies in my mind.
17. Everything But the Girl - Missing - The last official song on the disc acknowledges a group that ushered me into a period of time where I was fascinated with electronic/dance/techno music. "Missing" also, for some reason, creates a resonating image of an overcast, dreary, European city that I've held onto since I heard the song. It's strange, because I've never been to Europe.
Bonus Hidden Track: Van McCoy - The Hustle - I have perpetually had this song stuck in my head for the last ten years or so. I used to hate it, but now I have embraced it as a tool for either getting it stuck in other people's heads, or getting other songs out of my head. Either way, I can't ignore it.
That's pretty much it. This list is always subject to change, but that's where I'm at right now. I'd like to take this time to acknowledge some others that were close, but didn't make the cut:
Anything by U2 - They should probably get a lifetime achievement award for being such a quality band, but no one song really stands out, so they didn't make the cut.
Neil Diamond - Sweet Caroline, Shilo, Soolaimon, Song Sung Blue, & Brother Love's Traveling Salvation Show - One of the only tapes that I was allowed to listen to when I would travel with my family as a child.
Soundgarden - Black Hole Sun (see links above)
Smashing Pumpkins - 1979, Bullet With Butterfly Wings, Tonight, Tonight - close but no cigar.
Newsboys - Elle G. & Spirit Thing
Chicago - 25 or 6 to 4
Michael Jackson - Thriller
Weird Al Yankovic - Also deserves a lifetime achievment award, but just couldn't come up with that one song. White & Nerdy is getting him close, though.
Linkin Park - In The End
I would also like to acknowledge two songs that are knocking on the door and that I really enjoy right now: Snow Patrol - Chasing Cars & The Killers - Read My Mind
There's a slew of others that are notable, but this article is already getting too long, and I've got to start the editing process. I'd like to thank Wikipedia for always being there when I need you.
Normally, when I wake up, I'll have some form of a song running through my head. Lately, this has included songs by Brad Sucks and OK Go. I don't know why. Maybe my dreams have a sound track. If that's the case, I'm glad that I've never woken up with a Village People song stuck in my head. I don't know that I'd want to be involved in one of those kind of dreams. This morning, however, I found myself with the line from a movie running through my head. I don't know if it's from (completely self-imposed) sleep deprivation or what exactly, but it was a line from the movie Cheaper By the Dozen. Not the original, but rather the remake which starred Steve Martin and Bonnie Hunt. It's a scene where a few of the kids finally confront a couple of bullies that have been bothering one of the siblings. A fight breaks out when one of the bullies has his Starbucks cup slapped out of his hand at which point he exclaims, "My latte!" with just the right blend of pout, shock and whine. I laugh every time that I see that scene. Really, I laugh every time I hear that line, so you can imagine that I'm chuckling pretty good at the moment. I really appreciate a line delivered well enough to make me laugh. It started me thinking about some of the other great lines from movies.
Steve Correll as Brick in Ron Burgundy:
Ron: Brick, where did you get a grenade?
Brick: [completely deadpan] I don't know.
Morpheus (Laurance Fishburn) and Neo (Keanu Reeves) in The Matrix:
Neo: [completely lost] I know Kung Fu.
Morpheus: Show me.
Grandma (Jean Schertler) to Maggie Carpenter (Julia Roberts) in Runaway Bride:
Grandma: [talking about Richard Gere's character] I like his tight butt.
Maggie: [shocked] Grandma!
Grandma: Well, I do!
Marty (Carol O'Conner) about Charlie (David Duchovney) in Return To Me:
Marty: This is Charlie. His wife's dead.
Everyone else: [exuberant, inviting him to play poker]
Inigo Montoya (Mandy Patinkin) to the Count (Christopher Guest) in The Princess Bride:
Inigo: Hello. My name is Inigo Montoya. You killed my father. Prepare to die.
I think you get the idea.
We don't usually relate scenes from movies; we relate lines. At least, that's what I do. I enjoy the overall experience of a movie. I enjoy breaking it down and talking about why I liked or didn't like certain aspects. I love it when a movie or television show gets a line stuck in my head that'll pop up randomly and bring a smile to my face. I love sharing it with friends. Reliving that shared experience of having seen a good movie. I relish that connection. Getting them to smile or laugh or say, "I loved that part!" Maybe I just need to get out more. There are times where we get too caught up in the "big picture" and the "long-term." Yes, they're important. However, what is the long-term but a collection of moments? What is the big picture if not the sum of collected scenes? Carpe Diem, but be willing to stop and smell the roses. Enjoy the laughs. Enjoy the silly (Brick), the shocking (Grandma) and the dense (Neo). I know that it helps me get through my day. This is usually where the whole group breaks into a musical number. Maestro, if you please...
After boring you terribly with a successful AFC predictions campaign, and then again with a not-so successful NFC campaign, I'm back with the final installment. I think I write these articles for my own sake, just to keep me humble and remind myself that I don't know as much about sports as I'd like to believe.
Anyway...
AFC
Predicted order for playoff seeding: Indianapolis, Miami, Baltimore, San Diego, Jacksonville, Pittsburgh
Actual order of playoff seeding: San Diego, Baltimore, Indianapolis, New England, Jets, Kansas City
Predicted AFC Champion: Indianapolis
Actual AFC Champion: Indianapolis
Comments:
I should probably be less happy about getting only three of the playoff teams correct, but that miss is once again tempered by me nailing San Diego and Indianapolis. Any time you can predict the winner of a conference, I think you have to dub it a success. I was close at least on two of the three misses, and completely whiffed on Miami.
Grade: A
NFC
Predicted order for playoff seeding: Seattle, Tampa Bay, Giants, Detroit, Carolina, Dallas
Actual order of playoff seeding: Chicago, New Orleans, Philadelphia, Seattle, Dallas, Giants
Predicted NFC Champion: Giants
Actual NFC Champion: Chicago
Comments:
I'm much less enthused about getting three of the six playoff teams correct, as my other misses were COMPLETE misses. The closest I was on any of the three was Philadelphia, and I was very non-committal about them. The NFC for me was a total disaster, and I think to my credit, the NFC actual was a total disaster this year. So at least I'm consistent.
Grade: C (Hey, 3 out of 6 teams is at least average)
Super Bowl
Predicted Outcome: Indianapolis 38, Giants 23
Actual Outcome: Indianapolis 29, Chicago 17
Comments:
Well, this is now my second consecutive year where I have correctly picked the Super Bowl winner in August, having also slated Pittsburgh for this same honor last season. I guess this is as good as it gets. You have slightly better than a one in thirty chance to do this (because some teams don't have a chance), but I have to pat myself on the back...ok, I'm finished. Thankfully, the NFC was really bad for me this year, or I'd be really puffed up. I also give myself a little bit of props in that I was only three points off in the points differential between the two teams, having guessed a 15 point Colts advantage to an actual 12 point advantage. Yea me!
Grade: A+
Postseason Awards
MVP: Predicted - Peyton Manning Actual - LaDanian Tomlinson
Offensive POY: Predicted - Peyton Manning Actual - LT
Defensive POY: Predicted - Troy Polamalu Actual - Jason Taylor
Offensive ROY: Predicted - Laurence Maroney Actual - Vince Young
Defensive ROY: Predicted - Haloti Ngata Actual - DeMeco Ryans
Coach of the Year: Predicted - Tony Dungy Actual - Sean Payton
Comments:
Not one hit hear, but there are even smaller odds of getting anything right here than there are in the standings prediction business. I know...excuses, excuses. Hey, at least I tried.
Grade: F
Well, that was another exercise in me entertaining myself. Thanks for watching. Buh-bye.
Overall Predictions Grade: B+
Author's note: Sorry that this is a bit late in getting posted today. I had some last-minute additions that needed to be reviewed before I could post. Thanks for your patience.
You might be wondering why it is that I haven't been as regular with articles lately. Well, there are a variety of reasons: We've been busy at home lately, and with our Christmas vacation, there was a lot of catching up to be done around the house. I had been lax in getting the checkbook up-to-date, and there's the fact that I'm historically lazy. However, a large part of the reason is that I've found myself sucked back into the world of Half-Life. Now, I have a designated time during the week which I set aside for playing video games. However, that time is spent with Frederick III and his brother-in-law playing Diablo 2. We're currently running characters in the 60's in case you were wondering. I have a paladin. Trust me, someone out there finds this interesting. However, there are various times throughout the week in which I can maybe squeeze in some time for myself. Nap time on Saturday and Sunday for instance. It is within these time periods that I would normally try to get some writing in. Lately, though, I've found myself getting back in to Half-Life. Half-Life can make a good argument for being called the greatest game of all time. Engrossing story-line, high tension followed by frantically running for a safe place, and never taking the player out of the game for a cut scene make for a game that gets the player emotionally involved. Everything that happens occurs within the context of the game engine to help the player feel as though they are in the game and it's all happening in real-time. To a certain extent, they could have named the main character Jack Bauer instead of Gordan Freeman, but that's neither here nor there. The sequel picks up where the first one left off but has the added bonus of fantastic graphics and an amazing physics engine. Again, someone finds this interesting. Even being a game that is approaching ten years old, it maintains its re-playability. I'm currently in the process of going through the sequel again at a slightly higher difficulty rating than the first time through. It's just as fun as the first time that I played it.
I'm the type of person that will read a book that I've read many times previously if I enjoyed it the first time. I've read through Tolkein's Lord of the Rings and Robert Jordan's Wheel of Time series several times each and will probably pick up Lord of the Rings again here soon. I'm the same way with my video games. If I liked it the first time through, I'm very likely to go back and play it again. After all, I'm regularly playing Diablo 2 which came out in 2000 and another game which had its origins in the 90's. Then again, I mainly listen to music that came out when I was in high school. Maybe I just need to get a life. Or play less Half-Life. Nah. Couldn't be that.
Anyway, that's my word of explanation of what I've been up to. As you can see, it really can be traced to the fact that I'm pretty lazy and tend to avoid doing much of anything. I promise that I'll try and be a little more regular with articles. In fact, I have a couple of articles already stubbed-out. It just becomes a matter of finding the time to do it. Now, if you'll excuse me, I have some Half-Life to play. I hate those Overwatch guys. Especially when they throw grenades. That's just mean.
This was originally intended to be a response to Ryan's comments on my earlier post, but I thought it would serve it's purpose better as a Super Bowl preview article.
Many Bears fans are disgruntled right now because of a perceived lack of respect from the prognosticators. Here is what I say to that:
I don't think I'd neccessarily count myself as a Bears hater, but more or less a Bears doubter. They have the record to prove that they're a successful team. I can't deny that...but consider:
Teams the Bears lost to: Miami (6-10), New England (17-13), Green Bay (8-8).
Teams the Bears narrowly deafeated (by less than a TD): Minnesota (6-10) 19-16, Arizona (5-11) 24-23, Tampa Bay (4-12) 34-31 OT, Detroit (3-13) 26-21.
I know that more than just a score tells the story of a game, but I see two bad losses, and four more ugly wins. Couple that with the fact that they needed OT too beat an exceedingly average team (Seattle) in the playoffs, at home, and that they did crush New Orleans, a team from the south who practiced indoors all week, and I feel I have good reason to doubt the Bears in a game against Indy where weather will not be a factor.
Just for reference, the same set of statistics for Indy:
Teams the Colts lost to: Dallas (9-7), Tennessee (8-8), Jacksonville (8-8), Houston (6-10).
Teams the Colts narrowly defeated: Giants (8-8) 26-21, Jets (10-6) 31-28, Tennessee (8-8) 14-13, Denver (9-7) 34-31, Buffalo (7-9) 17-16, Miami (6-10) 27-22.
I count one bad loss and two ugly wins there.
Finally, another way you can compare teams is through common opponets. The Bears and Colts had these opponents in common during the regular season: Giants, Jets, Patriots, Buffalo, and Miami. The Bears went 3-2 against those teams, and scored 114 pts while allowing 75. The Colts went 5-0 against those teams, and scored 128 while allowing 107.
All of this was basically a long way of showing that the Bears are a more volatile team than the Colts. Volatility is not a good thing in the Super Bowl.
Football is also a team sport, but perhaps the one position that can affect games more than any other is QB. The Bears have Rex Grossman, a QB who when he's been up, he's been way up, but when he's been down, he's been way down. The argument can, and has been made that because of his injuries, this is essentially his rookie season. Playing time wise, this may be the case, but Grossman has been involved, to some extent, in an NFL offense for four seasons now. He's had time to get used to the speed the game, and to review defenses.
During Manning's rookie season, he threw 28 interceptions, and has thrown more than 20 only one more time in his career. He was also the first pick in the draft on a TERRIBLE Colts team and thrown into the fire immediately. Grossman was drafted 22nd overall by a Bears team that had one the division the year before, and he's been gradually grafted into the offense due to his injuries. Manning's exploits since have been greatly chronicled throughout the media. The one comparison I have here is that beating the Patriots, in the playoffs was Manning's version of the Red Sox beating the Yankees in the ALCS in 2004. It wasn't the World Series, but it was THEIR World Series. The Sox went on to blow Houston out of the water after that. I see Manning having one of the best games of his career on Sunday, because basically, the monkey is off his back.
After covering a mostly successful AFC predictions campaign, I shudder to think of how the NFC is going to turn out. I'm aware, off the top of my head, that I completely and utterly botched the North. That leaves three other divisions for me to screw up. This is going to be ugly, folks.
NFC East
My predicted order of finish: Giants, Cowboys, Redskins, Eagles
Actual order of finish: Eagles, Cowboys, Giants, Redskins
Comments:
Um, yeah. Didn't see the Eagles coming. Got the Cowboys right. Completely missed on the Giants, who, by the way, were my Super Bowl team from the NFC. I called the East one of the toughest divisions in football, and the Redskins were unexpectedly bad. All in all, this is a miss.
Grade: D+, just because I got the Cowboys right.
NFC North
My predicted order of finish: Lions, Vikings, Bears, Packers
Actual order of finish: Bears, Packers, Vikings, Lions
Comments:
One of these days I'm going to stop believing in the Lions, and I'm not even a fan. What should really be scaring Motor City Kitty fans right now is that the team is all set to take Brady Quinn with the 2nd overall pick, and he's a player I'm almost certain will be a flop in the NFL. Ugh. I hereby solemnly swear to never pick the Lions to finish anywhere but last in the North as long as Matt Millen is running the show in Detroit. The Vikings were unexpectedly good on defense, and horrid on offense. And the Bears...even though the Bears are the Super Bowl team from the NFC, and I completely missed on them, I would like to issue this disclaimer: it is a sad state of affairs when a team as fatally flawed as the Bears can make it to the Super Bowl, without even so much as a challenge. With that said, they'll probably blow the Colts out of the water. But the Bears don't even "feel" like a good team, much less a Super Bowl team. Finally, my hat goes off to the Packers, who were just a second late and a penny short on making the playoffs.
Grade: F
NFC South
My predicted order of finish: Bucs, Panthers, Falcons, Saints
Actual order of finish: Saints, Panthers, Falcons, Bucs
Comments:
On the optimistic side, I got two right, and two wrong. Not bad. On the pessimistic side, I had first place and last place flip-flopped. Yuck. Didn't see the Saints coming; didn't think the Bucs would be that terrible.
Grade: D
Please, oh please, oh please let this next group be at least decent...
NFC West
My predicted order of finish: Seahawks, Rams, Cardinals, 49ers
Actual order of finish: Seahawks, Rams, 49ers, Cardinals
Comments:
Yessssssss!!!!!!!!...it's average, and I'll take it! Seattle wasn't as good as I expected them to be, and they made the division a heated race until the very end, but they pulled it off. The Rams were basically exactly what I said they'd be, with the exception of Stephen Jackson being a lot better, as opposed to a little better. I missed on the order of the 49ers and Cardinals, but I don't think that's really a big deal.
Grade: C+
The NFC was a train wreck for me. I think that's a testament to the overall mediocrity of the conference, as well as me really not doing a good job researching this year.
Overall Grade: D-
We have a week and a half until Super Bowl XLI. That will give this post, and next week to review the results of my NFL regular season predictions, and then the week after the Super Bowl to finish up with a review of my postseason predictions.
I do this mostly because it's a humbling experience, and because I'm annoyed at members in the mainstream media who make outlandish predictions and then don't revisit them to show what big idiots they are. While it's obvious to most what a big idiot I am, I still like to do this, for posterity's sake.
Onward...
AFC East:
My predicted order of finish: Miami, New England, Jets, Buffalo
Actual order of finish: New England, Jets, Buffalo, Miami
Comments:
Yes, I was drinking the Kool-Aid like the majority of football fans, and bought into all the Nick Saban hype. I at least got the order of the other three teams correct, and at least correctly picked that the Jets would push the Patriots.
Grade: C-
AFC North:
My predicted order of finish: Baltimore, Pittsburgh, Cincinnati, Cleveland
Actual order of finish: Baltimore, Cincinnati, Pittsburgh, Cleveland
Comments:
Pittsburgh and Cincy actually tied for 2nd in the division, with a slight edge going to Cincy for points scored. I'll give myself some points for getting this division mostly right. Baltimore turned out to be better than expected, and Cleveland worse than expected, and I totally whiffed on Pittsburgh as a playoff team.
Grade: B
AFC South:
My predicted order of finish: Indy, Jacksonville, Tennessee, Houston
Actual order of finish: Indy, Tennessee, Jacksonville, Houston
Comments:
Tennessee and Jacksonville tied for 2nd, so I will give myself points again, just like in the North. I nailed Tennessee being tough to play during the last portion of the season, although for all the wrong reasons. Indy is still alive as my Super Bowl contender, and if they win it all, I will have correctly predicted the Super Bowl winner two seasons in a row. Stretching, as all that patting myself on the back is making me sore. I pretty much missed on the Jaguars, although I noted that brain farts during the easy games would hurt them.
Grade: B
AFC West:
My predicted order of finish: San Diego, Denver, Kansas City, Oakland
Actual order of finish: San Diego, Kansas City, Denver, Oakland
Comments:
Once again, the middle two teams tied, nullifying their order. I absolutely and unequivocally nailed the San Diego pick, and I am going to give myself mad props for that. I also correctly predicted Jay Cutler taking over at QB for the Broncos before the end of the season. I see no major misses, so I feel happy with this division.
Grade: A
Overall, I'm pleased with the way my predictions went for the AFC. Miami was really my only glaring mistake, aside from the middle picks in each division tying instead of finishing in the actual order that I had them. I consider San Diego the only major success from my picks here, because Indianapolis wasn't that tough to figure out.
Overall Grade: B+ I feel that that the success on San Diego outweighs the loss on Miami, and the overall goodness of the picks add up.
