one of the greatest days in history

i'm not sure if any of you are kenny vs. spenny fans, but it was hands-down my favorite show of all time.  the shows featured 2 best friends going head-to-head with one another in certain challenges.

the shows evolved into vulgar, crass, disgusting, and hilarious banter between 2 friends doing all they could to defeat the other.  spenny always religiously followed the rules.  he was so intent on keeping the integrity of the show that he fixated/obsessed about keeping the rules in play.  kenny always found insane loopholes to guarantee "cheating" would be an option.

the premise of the show was that whomever lost the challenge would have to face a humiliation determined by the other player.  in the event of a tie, the produces/cameramen earned the right to humiliate both participants.

well.  today.  in honor of one of the most popular episodes of all time, the term "yarp yarp" was finally added to urban dictionary.  for those of you who don't understand the reference, i'd highly recommend watching the "who is the better wrestler?" episode on whatever illegal livestreaming website you prefer.

More political thoughts

from Bockmed this time.

You could say that to some extent, Ahmed and I bat for different political teams. But I think we can both agree that the current state of affairs in our system of government is a joke (if you have the time, be sure to watch the whole thing). This is only my second Presidential election cycle as an eligible voter and I have to say that I feel quite disenfranchised. It feels like the last time leaders in our government made any kind of compromise, it had something to do with Missouri. Since I can't seem to find the words myself, I just wish we could get all the elected officials to think a little bit more like this guy. But I guess we'd have to get all the major corporate and union lobbying groups to tell them to do that.

By the way, if you haven't seen any of Lev's other videos, they usually contain some interesting insights. I'd suggest giving one a watch.

not very much

those of you who know me know my political affiliation.

those closest to me know that i have grown increasingly apathetic as the two parties have become more polarizing over recent elections.  i hate what politics have become.  i hate how no one can relate to me.  i hate how no candidate is willing to take a position.  i hate how no one reaches across the aisle and promotes compromise.  i hate how the upper echelon of our society's socioeconomic background tends to be those in office.

so today as i read a new york times article about mitt romney i couldn't help but feel disconnected even more so than in recent years.

for those of you who haven't been paying attention, romney has refused to release his tax records.  bascially: he doesn't want people to know just how rich he is because he wants to seem approachable/similar to the "common" american.

after both republicans and democrats alike jumped all over romney to get him to admit his annual income, he decided (as any slick politician would do) to release a small part of his fiscal year 2011 tax return.

mr. romney was directly quoted as saying that a very small portion of his income came from public speaking fees.  (basically, for those who aren't familiar, famous politicians are frequently invited/asked to speak at certain events and are paid for their speeches/presence).

romney's exact quote was that "not very much" money was made from public speaking fees.

today it was revealed that from february 2010 to february 2011 he made over $347,000 in public speaking fees.

well mr. romney, it's nice to know that the same amount you consider to be "not very much" is the same amount i will never cumulatively make over the course of my lifetime.

i'm starting to think the $10,000 bet he proposed to rick perry a few weeks ago was a legitimate bet, not just a figure of speech.

sorry for the rant.  but i haven't posted an opinion piece in awhile.  adios, blogosphere.

hahahahaha, ovy, you sly dog

We can talk about football on this blog, right?

We can?

Oh. OK. Good. Here we go. My thoughts on this weekend's playoff games:

The AFC home teams will win. Shocker, I know. If only to end the Tebow talk, I hope Denver loses. Which they will. Tebow can't keep up with Brady and the Patriots offense. Especially not in Foxborough.

As much as I love to root for the underdog, especially when it's the Texans (I'm not sure why), I don't think the rookie QB will be able to do enough to win it. I think this game will be close; both teams have a solid running game and defense. But I think you have to give the edge to Flacco, the extra prep time, and home field advantage.

The NFC side is a bit more interesting to me. We've seen the Giants almost beat the Packers before. However, I think it took everything Eli, Pierre-Paul and the rest of the Giants had to come that close. And I think that the Green Bay coaching staff will learn more from that game than the Giants will, and we'll see more creative ways to beat and stop the Giants. Rodgers leads the Pack to a 2-score victory.

Simply because I picked them early in the season, I have to stick with the Saints. But it's going to be tough. I predict a defensive battle with a winning last second/OT drive by Brees for the win. The Saints have been able to run the ball effectively this year, but the 49ers are the best run D in the league, which may force NO to become one-dimensional. On top of that, the Saints haven't been the best outdoors, but the weather should be nice in San Fran this weekend, so I see that as being less of an issue. One thing I don't think enough people realize is the Saints defense's ability to take away one aspect of an opponent's offense. I think Frank Gore is going to get shut down, leaving the 49ers' less than spectacular pass attack to carry them.

Moving ahead, I see the Patriots coming out of the AFC and the Saints getting revenge in Lambeau (actually, the Packers will probably win, but hey, I'm from Minnesota). Patriots win it all.

One last thing. Just another reason to follow Chris Kluwe on Twitter.

Fantasy Wrap-Up

I did it. I completed the three-peat in my family league. I'll be happy to make the playoffs next year. Next year, to give the rest of them a chance, I won't be accepting any ridiculously unfair trades randomly thrown my way. After putting up 100+ pts every week, the championship was actually quite nerve-racking. Several of my studs put up very disappointing numbers. It's nice to see LeSean McCoy, Hakeem Nicks, and Jason Witten combine for 9 points. Lucky for me, my cousin's team performed quite similarly so I had a 30 point lead going into the monday night game. She had Colston, Moore, Sproles, and Matt Bryant. I had Roddy White and John Kasay. If Lance Moore hadn't left the game or if Darren Sproles would have taken that one return all the way to the house, I probably would have lost. But I didn't, and in doing so, have earned eternal fantasy football bragging rights among my family. Thank god for Arian Foster's never-ending studliness. And for Roddy Whites return to acceptable fantasy production.

My other league just didn't go so well. For me as a team manager or for me as a co-League Manager. We haven't even collected league fees yet, and unless the winner hassles us for it, we probably won't. But I blame Harold for that. Some of the teams payed less than attention to their rosters on several occasions. I'm just not sure of the future of this league. It's got a good core, but there definitely needs to be some rule-changing and a couple players need to be booted if it's to make a successful resurrection next year. As for my team, injuries were a killer.

My starting lineup week 1:

QB Drew Brees
RB Knowshon Moreno
RB Joseph Addai
FlEX Mario Manningham
WR Andre Johnson
WR Dez Bryant
TE Vernon Davis

My starting lineup week 16:

Drew Brees

Mike Tolbert

Michael Bush

Nate Burleson

Dez Bryant

Eric Decker

Vernon Davis

As you can see, almost my entire RB/WR corps was destroyed by injury. Thankfully, Darren McFadden was also destroyed by injury, justifying my view of him as a late second round, early third RB and thus having no chance of being on any team of mine. And by going down, turning Michael Bush into a nice RB fill-in for me. But still, the amount of time that my players spent injured this year is mind-bending. I was so deep into my running backs at one point that I had to drop DeMarco Murray because he wasn't getting any touches to get anyone who was touching the ball just to throw them in my starting lineup. It hurts to see a player you were high on in the draft go nuts 2 weeks after you drop him out of necessity. And fuck Tim Tebow for never throwing to Eric Decker.

Things I was right about this season:

Loving LeSean McCoy.

Javid Best being made of fine porcelain.

DeMarco Murray being far more impressive than Tashard Choice and being arguably the best feature back in Dallas.

Drafting proven backups to risky running backs. See: Michael Bush, Willis McGahee.

Eric Decker being draftable. If only the Broncos had a QB.

Brandon Lloyd being a one-year wonder.

Things I was wrong about this season:

Taking a WR with an injury history in the first round. Never Again. Aaron Rodgers would have been a *much* better option with the 10th pick.

Thinking the 4th round is a good place to start taking running backs.

Mario Manningham.

Not taking Rob Gronkowski in the 8th round when I had the chance. Or the 9th or the 10th or the 11th or the 12th.

Vernon Davis.