( 7:42 PM )
Put Out The Fire
I used to consider myself an optimist. If you put that proverbial glass in front of me and filled it halfway with water, I would have said it was half full. But working at a magazine of critical opinion has changed that in two different ways. The first being that there are so many bad things happening here and around the world that my naiveté meter can no longer pretend it’s all good. So I can see that I’m becoming more of a pessimist, but I don’t want to be and I keep fighting against it.
The second is the way I think about things. If presented with the half full/half empty analogy, my magazine would have inspired me to ask some serious questions. Such as why was it only halfway filled up? Who filled it? Did they have more to give or were they skimming a little off the top for themselves? What is it filled with, bottled water, tap water, spit, a clear alcohol? Why was it poured into a glass instead of a cup? And if it’s exactly half full, is the half full/half empty question the right one to ask since both answers would be correct? Way too much thinking going on there, but I do like the approach.
So it was a little inspiring when I recently heard Harry Belafonte recount a story from his days of working with the Rev. Martin Luther King, Jr. Belafonte said Dr. King had doubts about the work he was doing because America was in such disarray. And one night, just before King was murdered, he told Belafonte he was worried that trying to integrate black people into white American society may be a bad move because “we’re integrating into a burning house.” Belafonte said they thought about that for a while and asked what should they do about it? King replied, “we must learn to become better firemen.”
And I needed to hear that – to remember the fight will always be on and you have to keep improving. Because even though President W seems to think the Constitution is his personal rolling paper to smoke, I’m going to join the NYFD so I can put his little fire out. Yeah boyee!
Put out the fire put out the fire put out the fire
You need a weapon like a hole in the head
Put out the fire put out the fire baby put out the fire
And let your sons and daughters sleep sound in their beds
--Queen
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( 7:04 PM )
Gentle On My Mind
Random ramblings for a Friday...
1) Let's see if I've got this straight. The Dick says it's ok to leak - classified info that is. Bush came, got scrubbed and went. Brown went yellow and finked on his old crony crew. And - well I don't have an "and." I was hoping to put a good joke together, but I'm tired and want to take a nap before I go out. So read on and realize we're still getting screwed.
2) This is the absolute best take on the Super Bowl that I've read anywhere (and trust me, I've been soaking up the moment and the media A LOT. In fact, I just finished watching HBO's Inside the NFL for the 2nd time.).
3) Every semester our interns seem to get cuter and cuter. Is there something in the water or am I just a dirty old man?
4) What the hell was I thinking when I agreed to buy season tickets to the Yankees? Two tix to 46 games split between 2 people. That might be a bit much even for me.
5) I've been meaning to start a blogroll here (or somewhere) so I could give a shoutout to a couple of friends. But I've been meaning to do that for some time now. So I'll take this occasion to highly recommend reading Hambric's Curve and listening to some of the tripped out electronic dub reggae on Mel Gray's ACEtone Studio site.
6) Here's hoping it doesn't snow so I can cure my soon-to-come hangerover by sleeping late tomorrow and then motivate to leave some food for old Aunt Ethel on Sunday.
Cheers.
It's not clingin' to the rocks and ivy
Planted on their columns now that bind me
Or something that somebody said because
They thought we fit together walkin'
It's just knowing that the world
Will not be cursing or forgiving
When I walk along some railroad track and find
That you're movin' on the back roads
By the rivers of my memory
And for hours you're just gentle on my mind
--Glen Campbell
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( 5:19 PM )
We Are The Champions
So the big game is over and I'm still sitting here with a big smile on my face. After the Buckeyes won the national championship way back in 2002, I let out a huge scream (partly because it went to overtime and to say I was tense would be an understatement). But after the Steelers won, I just sat there with a grin soaking the moment in.
Before I take a quick look at my generally wrong predictions, I'd like to clear the officiating issue up right away. The refs DID NOT hand the game to Pittsburgh. They certainly did make some bad calls (like the holding call and Hasselbeck's tackling penalty), but they also made some good ones like the offensive interference call. If you watch it again, you'll see that when the WR pushed off on the defender, the defender goes backwards. It was a clear push that took Chris Hope out of the play and it was absolutely the right call. Roethlisberger's TD? We'll never know because you can't really see the ball. But don't forget it goes both ways. Jeramy Stevens caught a pass, put both feet on the ground (and made the elusive "football move") and fumbled. It was called an incomplete pass.
Outside of that, my picks were off base. Though items 1, 2 (iffy), 4 (ok, Willie wasn't the MVP but he definitely had the most valuable play of the game), 5, and arguably 7 were right (in general), the other half were not. Big Ben stunk up the game so bad that I'm worried his poor play will get in his head the next time he gets back (which should be Feb. 2007!). The cornerbacks weren't really factors, the turnover theory didn't work out (although it's only the 3rd time in Super Bowl history it didn't pan out), and the Hollywood script played out to a Hollywood ending.
No, it wasn't pretty and it was mostly defensive in nature. But the mother krunkin' Pittsburgh Steelers are the football champs of the world and I for one am happy as hell about it.
I've paid my dues -
Time after time -
I've done my sentence
But committed no crime -
And bad mistakes
I've made a few
I've had my share of sand kicked in my face -
But I've come through
We are the champions - my friends
And we'll keep on fighting - till the end -
We are the champions -
We are the champions
No time for losers
'Cause we are the champions - of the world.
--Queen
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( 12:42 PM )
He Who Picks A Rose
Alright - it's time for the hype to end (although I have to admit, I've enjoyed reading and watching the Steelers get analyzed to death) and to get down to business for some Super Bowl XL (extra large) prognostications. Here are 10 thoughts that won't shame me come Monday morning.
1) Steelers OLB Joey Porter is a loud-mouth idiot. In the past he's been thrown out of games before they even started for mouthing off, and it's likely his big trap got him shot before the season began a couple of years ago. I expect Seattle to dominate him all day long.
2) Although the Steelers were the 5th best running team in the NFL during the regular season, they haven't been consistent with it all year long - and especially in the playoffs. I would expect them to pound the ball early to take some pressure off Roethlisberger. If it works, Seattle will be in for a very long day.
3) Now this prediction doesn't make sense with my final one, but we humans just aren't consistent. So my "wild-card" guess is that Big Ben is going to lead a 4th quarter comeback to get the victory for the Steelers and to start writing a new chapter in what should be a legendary career.
4) Willie Parker will be the XL MVP.
5) None of this is to say the Seahawks will not play well. Expect Shaun Alexander to run for 100 yards - a rarity against the Steelers - and for Hasselbeck to have a good game.
6) The biggest question for the Steelers is whether the cornerbacks will play well. They get very little respect, and I tend to think they're good - and will eventually be great (one of the starters is only in his 2nd or 3rd year). The S'hawks have excellent receivers and it will be a challenge to keep up with them.
7) Halftime and the commercials will generally suck. I love the Stones, but can't we all agree they're a little tired and we should all move on. Actually, what we need to do is scrap the halftime show all together. All year long teams have a 15 minute break. Then when the Super Bowl comes around, halftime is 30 minutes + long and it has to be a distraction from playing football.
8) Since the 2 teams are so equal, many people have trotted out the old "it's up to the special teams" guess. I'd like to discount that, but the Steelers' Randle-El and Seahawks' Peter Warrick are threats to break a big one, so they really could swing the game.
9) I hate to get into cliches, but the line I've been throwing all week is the team with the fewest turnovers will win. It's a consistent stat in football and it's a pretty common sense theory - don't make mistakes, succeed at the task.
10) The script for this game is totally in favor of Seattle. They really don't get much respect. They truly do have great football players. And they're led by one of the best coaches in football. The Steeler script is a bit to romantic/Hollywood-ish. Hall of Fame back plays potential last game in his hometown. Near rookie QB goes from championship game to Super game in 2nd season. Coach who missed the playoffs 3 consecutive seasons gets rewarded with a new contract and repeatedly says all he wants to do is give the Lombardi trophy to the loyal owner. That's a bit fairytale-ish for me and it scares me. But as I noted before, I practically bleed black and gold and I'm certainly not copping out now. So the final score? Well, as I said earlier, this goes against basically everything I've written above, but the score I see on the board at the end says Steelers 28, Seahawks 17.
Go Steelers!
--Temptations
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