Happy Halloween

We don't do much for Halloween around here. Cody is adamant that we not observe this holiday. If it were up to him, we wouldn't acknowledge the day at all, but I still find ways to celebrate.

In honor of the day, I wore my Great Pumpkin socks.

I've always had a penchant for funky socks, even before I started knitting them. Here I am modeling them. Squeaky is unimpressed.

I had minimal decorations out this year. This is about the limit.

In the morning, I'll turn the fake jack-o-lantern off, turn it around, and it'll just be a plain pumpkin that'll fit right in with my Thanksgiving decorations.

Cody watched Spiderman 3, and I watched It's The Great Pumpkin, Charlie Brown.

That's about it for our Halloween.

From Ghoulies and Ghosties
And long legged Beasties
And things that go bump in the night
May the Good Lord Deliver us.--author unknown

Tony Romo

Is now officially signed to a 6 year contract!

Hee Haw!

Crybaby Moments

I am normally not a crier. It takes a lot to make me cry--except in the presence of wild hormone fluctuations. In that case, I claim no responsibility. However, there are some lines/scenes in old movies and TV shows that, as many times as I've watched them, still make me choke up. Seriously. I was mentally composing this post at work, and just the thought of these had me in tears.

Seriously.

Break out the tissues, because here they are, my top ten movie/TV crybaby moments:

10. The Chronicles of Narnia--The movie. At the end when the Professor says, "What were you all doing in the wardrobe?" Peter answers, "You wouldn't believe us if we told you," and the professor says, "Try me!" I don't know what it is about that line "Try me," but I choke up every time he says it.

9. Apollo 13--When they make it back safely. For obvious reasons.

8. M*A*S*H--Season 7 Christmas episode. Radar writes to Charles' mother and has her send him his toboggan cap. I don't know if it's the happiness on Charles' face, or Radar's act of kindness even though Charles has treated him like dirt. Maybe we should all be a little more Radar, and a little less Charles.

7. Miracle on 34th Street--The very end of the movie, they are in the house that is for sale. Fred and Doris find Kris' cane. Doris says, "It must have been left by the people who moved out." Fred replies, "Maybe. Or maybe I didn't do such a wonderful thing after all." Santa Claus exists. Really, he does. I believe. Don't you?

6. Lord Of The Rings The Return Of The King--Face it, the entire last half of this movie moved me to tears, but there are a few lines that stood out above the others. One is when Aragorn is crowned King, and the Hobbits bow to him. Aragorn says, "My friends, you bow to no one," and the entire population of Gondor bows to the four Hobbits. Oh, pass the tissues!

5. M*A*S*H--Season 8, when Radar goes home. I was fine until the scene where Hawkeye finds Radar's teddy bear on his cot. Then I squalled. Even Cody cried at this.

4. Lord Of The Rings Return Of The King--When Aragorn says, "For Frodo."

3. A Charlie Brown Christmas--when Linus quotes the Christmas Story from the Bible, then says, "That's what Christmas is all about, Charlie Brown." That is what Christmas is all about.

2. Lord Of The Rings Return Of The King--Sam and Frodo are struggling up Mount Doom. Frodo has reached the end of his strength. He can't go on, and Sam says, "I can't carry it (the ring) for you, but I can carry you!" Everyone needs a Sam in his life.

and my biggest crybaby moment of all time;

1. It's A Wonderful Life--when Harry says, "To my big brother George, the richest man in town!" I cried just typing that. Seriously.

So there you have it. My biggest crybaby moments of all time (so far). Anyone who reads this post is tagged. Come up with your own list of crybaby moments and post them on your blog, then tag as many or as few people as you want to.

What moves you?

Contests

Ok, a couple of reminders.

Robin's contest is ending soon, so if you haven't been there, it's time to do it.

Secondly, here is another interesting contest.

And finally, I'm having a contest starting Nov 1st. I'll probably post it later today or tomorrow, but it doesn't officially start until Thursday.

Right Brained or Left Brained?

I am definitely right brained.



Take the test.

Not much else to post about. I mean there is, but I chose to watch a PBS special on Charles Schulz instead. Sorry...

What?

So, Dallas and LSU end up with bye weeks the same week. Huh? How did that happen?

To fill in the gaps, I watched Mississippi State beat Kentucky, and pretty soundly at that. Then I watched Georgia beat Florida.

Today I watched the Giants and Miami play the first ever regular season NFL game in London, England. It was interesting to say the least. When I first heard about the game, I wondered how jet lag would affect the players' performance. I don't think it had a major effect, but both teams did seem a little off. What had more of an effect on the game was the local conditions. They played at Wembley stadium in the rain. One of the commentators said that the field just wasn't built for men that size. Think about it, the average soccer player weighs 165 lbs. There are 28 men on the combined rosters of the Giants and Dolphins who weigh more than 300 lbs. Thus the field got torn up pretty badly very early on in the game. Footing was very bad, and it had an effect on the game. Players would get tackled and would slide halfway across the field. It was like one of the old school mud bowls, according to one commentator. I can remember a few of those myself.

Another thing I found to be almost eerie was how quiet the British fans were. They were just sitting there quietly watching the game progress, only cheering if something major happened. It made me realize how truly rowdy American football fans are--even when we aren't misbehaving. But the British fans were blowing whistles throughout the game. This definitely was detrimental to the play, because the players would hear the whistles and think the play was over. They would stop, but the ball wasn't dead. More than one play probably would have had a different outcome if it weren't for this.

So, the Giants were ahead, but they got the ball back with 1:30 left in the game. They naturally did what a team does when they are ahead at that point and they have the final possession. Eli took three knees and the game was over. But, as soon as he knelt down the first time, the Brits started booing, and continued to do so until time ran out. My first thought was that they had no idea of sportsmanship, but I have to give them the benefit of the doubt. Maybe they are used to soccer, in which the ball is constantly changing possession until the final whistle blows. Perhaps they didn't realize that the game was over at that point, and to try to score again would be very unsportsmanlike--not to mention risking a turnover that could cost them the game. They were only ahead by 3 points, and a turnover could easily have led to a Dolphins touchdown which would have given Miami their first win of the season. As it was, the Giants hung on to win 13-10, moving them to 6-2, and the Dolphins to 0-8.

The commissioner, Roger Goodell, is talking about having more regular season games overseas in the future. I kind of hope they don't. It was a nifty little gimmick one time, but to do it regularly would be hard on the players.

At the same time as the Giants were playing, Indy was playing on another channel. In a move that would almost make a man proud, I flipped back and forth every couple of minutes to keep up with both games. To truly make a man proud, I'd have to flip every 2 seconds at most--preferably every .657 seconds. I did turn over just in time to see some guy pile drive Peyton Manning. I mean he picked him completely up and slammed him to the ground. That ain't easy to do to a 6'5" guy like PM. Yep, he got penalized for it, and will likely get fined too, according to the commentators. You just can't pile drive a quarterback. Be that as it may, Indy won that game decisively, and will face the also unbeaten Patriots next week. That's gonna be a good game.

And what did I knit while all this excitement was going on?

I got the first watermelon sock done. Here is Cody modeling it just before I grafted the toe.

I made it to fit his feet, because he wears a 10 1/2 shoe. If it fits him, it'll fit the average man. The colors pooled in sort of a wierd way. You can see the rambling green stripe wandering through the sock. I wonder if the second sock will do that, too.

We shall see.

The Game

I was 5 years old when Roger Staubach started playing professional football. I was too young to know what irony was, or the definition of appropriate, but I still thought it was funny that the team with a star on their helmets had a quarterback named Star-back. It was a while before I figured out what his name really was.

I will freely admit that I was a bit of a late bloomer when it came to noticing boys. I've mentioned this before. I didn't really begin to notice boys as boys until probably the last half of 8th grade. When I was in 7th grade, some of the girls in my class were discussing who their favorite quarterbacks were. They were talking about Joe Montana, Danny White, Joe Namath, Joe Theismann. I believe I even heard Dan Pastorini's name mentioned. One of my few friends, wanting to include me, turned to me and asked, "Becky, who is your favorite quarterback?"

Without hesitation, I answered, "Roger Staubach."

"Ewww," she replied, "how can you like that old, ugly guy."

I must admit, I was a bit taken aback by this. I'd never thought about him being ugly. I'd never really paid attention to what he looked like at all. Why did it matter? Even if he were ugly, which I never thought he was, did it have any effect on how he played the game? Of course, now that I've got a few more years behind me, and a bit more estrogen flowing through me (though it seems to be on the decline, it's still more than I had when I was 12) I still don't think he's ugly. Even if he were, what does it matter? He's still the greatest quarterback who ever played the game, and, more importantly, a man of character and integrity as well.

Flustered and confused, I stammered out an answer. "He's a good quarterback," I said.

"Don't you like Danny White?" she asked.

"Oh, yes!" I excitedly exclaimed. "I like him because you never know what he's going to do. He'll get out there to punt, and he may scramble for a first down, or pass the ball. He's great!"

With a heavy sigh, my friend said, "Oh Becky, you just don't get it."

Early conversations about football often went like this with me. That same year, all the girls were crazy over Charlie Waters. I didn't get it. Now, don't get me wrong. Charlie Waters was a good football player. One of the best. He is still the standard by which I judge a free safety. What I didn't get was why they didn't like Cliff Harris just as much. After all, he was as good a ball player as Charlie Waters. Better, if you judge by how many times he was all-pro. I mentioned him one time.

"That old bald headed guy???"

Again, I was baffled by their response. What did it matter if he had hair or not? How did his being bald affect his game playing ability? Once he got his helmet on, you couldn't tell that he was bald anyway. I had to admit that I just didn't get it. It was about that time that I gave up trying to have football conversations with girls.

I still don't have a whole lot of football conversations with women. Usually, there's not much to talk about. I don't watch because the quarterback is "yummy". (We won't even get into how annoying I find it when that word is used by people over the age of--oh, say three.) I will admit that I find Tony Romo to be drool-worthy, but that's not why I like him. I like him for his ability to play the game--and to play it well. I like him for the joy he brings to the game. I like him because he loves the game. He's not even signed to a contract. He's playing because he loves the game. But I digress...

I watch football for the game. I love the action. I love the long bombs. I love the running backs breaking loose for 40, 50, 60 yard touchdown runs. I love the one handed grabs. I love the excitement of a come from behind victory. I love the noise of the crowds, and the crunching of the bone jarring tackles. I love the perfection of a well executed play. I love the game itself. I don't watch to please a boyfriend or a husband. I have neither, so that's not even a question. It's my son who, along about Sunday night is whining, "Can we please watch something besides football?" I will never wear a pink jersey, or even one of those tight fitting "women's" jerseys. No Barbie dolls for me. I got footballs for Christmas when I was a kid.

The game has always been a part of my life, and for the life of me, I can't imagine life without it.

And It's Finished

The prayer shawl that I've had on my needles since February is finally finished! One more item from my WIP list completed.

Saturday Sky

Clear and cool. A perfect day for knitting and football.

Knitting Update

Yeah, it's been a while. First off, this is what I did last week:

I had a bit of extra yarn, so I tried my hand at dying with food colors. This is what it looks like skeined up:

Unfortunately, I was using a partial ball of leftover wool, so there's not really enough to do much with it. There's just under 50 yards here. I might be able to get a small hat from it. I'm going to try to find a top down pattern. That way, I can just knit until I run out of yarn.

You remember the other day when I had the blahs? I said I was going to cast on something new to pull myself out of my funk. Well, this is it. Tidal Wave socks using TOFUtsies yarn. I swatched, because I've never used this yarn before, then knit the cuff of one sock.

That's all I've done on it. It must have worked, because I've spent most of today working on my prayer shawl. It'll be done soon.

I'm glad, because it's getting kind of tedious.

That's about it from the world of knitting.

Karate Update

Tuesday night was rank test night for the adult class at Isshinryu Karate USA. Ten students tested for ranks ranging all the way from ku-kyu (one green stripe) to Ik-kyu (first grade brown). Everyone did very well, and showed great spirit and determination. It was a very impressive test.

It was an exciting night for me as well because, though I've helped with rank testing ever since I was a purple belt, this was the first test in which I was responsible for specific students. When I got there, sensei handed me a clipboard with evaluation sheets for three students on it, and said, "These are yours." So, even though sensei ran the test, I was the one testing them.

Thursday night was promotion night. The following students were promoted:

Eric--one green stripe
Carlissa--two green stripes
Dallas--two green stripes
Tim--yellow
Brian--yellow
John--yellow
Lawrence--blue/white
Tom--third brown
Twinkie--second brown

and last but certainly not least

Cody--first brown

Yep, that's right, our own dear Cody is now an ik-kyu! Next step is junior shodan. That will be sometime next year, probably April or May.

Promoting so many students took nearly half the class, so we finished off by doing some isometric kicks (that's a fancy way of saying slow motion kicks) and some speed and balance drills.

Today's Pic: The adult class of Isshinryu Karate USA. I obviously didn't take this picture, since I am in it. Pictured are (front row) Mrs. W, me, sensei, Joshua. (second row) Collin, Chad, Cody, Lawrence, Eric, Carlissa, Dallas. (third row) Brian, I Don't Know, Twinkie, Brian, Tom, John

P.S. Mr. T is back in the hospital. His chronic illness is acting up, and he may need surgery. I don't know much more.

Word For The Day

Spectacular achievements come from unspectacular preparation
--Roger Staubach

Another Contest!

Today is Robin's second blogiversary, and to celebrate, she is holding a contest. Hop on over to her coop and wish her a happy blogiversary.

I'm thinking of another contest coming up as well...stay tuned.

The Blahs

I've got the blahs today. I'm pretty sure my blahs stem mostly from fatigue and recovering from the ordeal my tooth has put me through this last 10 days or so. I was going to write you a nice long detailed post about my root canal, but just don't feel like it. I'm sure that if you find the details of someone else's dental work as dull as I do, you're glad of that. Suffice it to say that I had a root canal yesterday. The quick and dirty details are that I developed an abscess inside a crown. Since it was inside the crown, there was no place for the swelling to go but down into my jaw. That's why I was in so much pain. The abscess was actually pushing my tooth out of the socket. If you really want to know why I had a crown on a healthy tooth, just ask, and I'll fill you in at a later date.

Funny how life works. There are days when I sit at my blog and can't think of a thing to say. There are other days--many this last couple of weeks--when I have so much to say, but don't have the energy or the will to type it all out. That's how I feel today.

Even my knitting projects aren't bringing me any comfort. I think I might cast on something new. I know, I know...but my WIP list is down to 5 active projects and I'm making good progress on at least three of those. But tonight I'm just not feeling the love. So I'm off to browse my Ravelry queue, watch House reruns, and try to get to bed early.

Sleep well, friends. Friday is a plant shutdown day, and I'll try to catch up then on all things knitting, karate, and sketching.

Bo Class

Black belt class last night was a bo class. The first half was spent working on Urashi Bo. We all went over it together as a class, then sensei worked a bit with Mrs. W, who hasn't yet learned the whole thing. Josh, Barrett, and I went over it together a few times while they did that, then we discussed bunkai a bit.

The second half of class was bo vs bo kumite. This was fun, because Mrs. W hadn't learned any of this in her old dojo. So I was trying to teach her the side I already knew, while learning the other side at the same time. But we kept at it, and managed to get through it a few times.

Tonight is going to be a rank test. Cody is testing for his ni-kyu or second grade brown. I told sensei that I would have him there, but I would probably be passed out in the back room because I had a root canal this morning. More about that later.

We were discussing last night about how Cody and one other little boy are about ready for their junior black belts. The other boy just turned 13, so he's got three years before he can test for his full shodan (our association sets an age limit of 16 for shodan) so sensei was talking about how to keep him motivated for the next three years. He says he's going to break the rank up into half ranks. Junior shodan will be a black belt with a white stripe, then he'll get a black belt with a yellow stripe, then blue, etc until he is old enough to test for shodan in front of the board. He wants to think of a requirement for each of those ranks. One will probably be Agena no sai, and one will be bo vs bo, and one will be two man basics. That's why he hasn't really pushed those with Cody and Chad. He's started them on two man basics and Agena, but hasn't really worked on them that much. Sanchin will wait until full shodan. They know the moves, but getting the breathing and tension and being beat on will wait until they are older. Chad will probably test for his jr. shodan in January or February, and Cody will test a few months later.

The good news is that Mr. Eiffling and some of the black belts from Greenville are going to come work out with us. Sensei says maybe next Tuesday. That's always cool.

Pictures By Request

Rylea being corrupted, er, learning to be a Colts fan.

Cody, already corrupted, er, a Colts fan.

Some type of wild grass. I don't know what it is but it was very photogenic.


More of those bright red flowers that I still haven't found out what they were.

Records

"There won't be a single one of my records still standing once this guy gets through."--Troy Aikman responding to someone asking him if he was nervous that Tony Romo would break his team record for most pass completions in a single game during Sunday's match against the Minnesota Vikings.

Quite the compliment, that. Perhaps if Tony Romo hadn't injured his hamstring and only attempted 5 passes in the second half, the record would have gone down yesterday. I mused out loud how hot he was, and Cody kind of gasped and gave me an incredulous look. "Not that kind of hot," I said. "He's smokin hot as a quarterback."

I'll grant you that while he is that kind of hot as well, it isn't what I was talking about.

Oh to be young and in love again...

Oh and just for the record, Peyton Manning and the Colts put a pretty good smackdown on David Gerrard and the Jaguars, beating them 29-7.

I Forgot To Post This

This was in response to a discussion we had a few weeks back. I did the quiz, but didn't post the results! Anyway, here they are, a little late...

You Are A Walnut Tree

You are strange and full of contrasts... the oddball of your group. You are unrelenting and you have unlimited ambition. Not always liked but always admired, you are more infamous than famous. You are aggressive and spontaneous, and your reactions are often unexpected. A jealous and passionate person, you are difficult in romantic relationships.

What's Your Celtic Horoscope?

You Don't Need a Man ... or Want One!

Generally, you're very happy being a single woman. And anyone who has a problem with that... well, that's their problem. Not that you wouldn't share your life with the almost perfect guy. You simply won't settle though. Your life is too good to share with some substandard man!

Do You Need a Man?

Miscellany

Simpsonize yourself here.





The Pro Bowl ballots are now open. You can vote here: Pro Bowl 2008.

New Things

Twelve years ago, when I bought my first home, I also bought a microwave oven to go into it. Nothing lasts forever, and a couple of days ago, I decided it was time to lay the old nuker to rest. It still worked, but I'd decided that it had become unsafe to use it. The paint on the inside was cracked and peeling. There were burned spots, and occasionally a smell of burning metal would be present when I heated something up.

So this morning Cody and I ventured out and bought a new one. And here it is:


And the first think I made was an inaugural bag of popcorn, with which I nestled into my recliner, along with my knitting and watched Notre Dame and USC on the TV.

That's about all I did today, other than replace all the batteries in my smoke alarms.

Saturday Sky

I'm A Little Late

with my WIP report. I've gotten a lot done, though, so here we go....

1. Yukon Leaves socks. DONE!!

2. Columbine Peaks Socks from Cat Bordhi's book Socks Soar on Two Circular Needles. DONE!!!

3. Garter Rib socks. A couple more inches worked.

4. The Jaywalkers. DONE!!!

5. My charity scarf for Scarves From the Heart. DONE!!! Twice. It was a very quick knit. Both times.

6. Cody's Texas Longhorns scarf. No progress as of yet.

7. Cubs for Kids charity knit. DONE!!!

8. A Prayer Shawl. I've been working on this slowly but surely.

9. Two toe-up socks on magic loop. No progress.

10. Branching Out lace scarf. I finished the first ball and joined the second.

11. Monkey Socks: DONE!!!!

Ok, it may not look like I've gotten a lot done, but I did finish two items, plus one that wasn't on my WIP list, and have been working on three more. Ravelry is actually helping me stay focused on projects I've already got going. Every time I open that page, I've got all my WIPs staring me in the face. Demanding attention. Saying, "Finish me!"

And so I do.

I Almost Didn't Go

to class tonight, because of the tooth thing. But since Cody is testing Tuesday for ni-kyu, I felt he needed to be there. I sat out class, though. I talked to sensei about it beforehand, and since he is dealing with a broken tooth himself, he completely understood.

After basics, Joshua took the higher ranks into the back room to work on kata, while the white belts stayed in the front and worked with Sensei. I went back into the back, since that's where Cody was, and Josh asked me if I would help him critique the kata. I mostly watched Cody and another young yellow belt. I have to really watch myself when helping younger students. I have to remind myself to take their age into account and not be too critical of them. The most common problem I see with the younger students is that they rush their kata.

Speaking of kata, BBM has posted an excellent article on the value of kata. I meant to post about my opinions of this topic here, but haven't gotten around to it yet. Just one more item on my list of things to catch up on.

After class, Josh and I were talking. Seems some of them have found my blog, and were uncomfortable with some of the stuff I've posted. Out of deference to them, I've removed some of the things they've mentioned--though it was posted so long ago that most of you wouldn't even remember it anyway. It wasn't anything bad, but I guess I'll have to be more careful about what I say in the future.

I'm Just Weird

You're supposed to use ice on toothaches, not heat. Heat is supposed to make a toothache worse. Ice is supposed to make it better.

Not me. I discovered quite by accident today that heat has a very soothing effect on my toothache. Perhaps because it's not really a toothache in that there is no actual tooth there. Whatever. It works, and for that I'm glad.

I called my dentist to make an appointment. "Let's see..." the receptionist mused, "we have an opening October 31st." That's two weeks away. I'll never survive two more weeks of this. I called the dentist who pulled my teeth. They can get me in on Monday. Guess which one I'm going to.

My sister in law included this delightful, if somewhat fuzzy, picture of my nephew Joshua in Cody's birthday card. I snatched it up and haven't given it back yet!

I figured he usually gives them to me anyway...

The other little boy is one my sis in law babysits.

Knitting and Napping

That's about how I spent my day. Napping and knitting in front of the TV. I finished this scarf for charity:


And I worked on Branching Out a little bit more. I got the first ball of yarn completed, and the second joined. This is going to be a nice scarf.


I'd planned on writing a lengthy post catching up on subjects I've let slip--like my daily sketches--but I just didn't. Maybe another time.

It Started

It started when I had a sinus infection a few days ago. I didn't think too much about it, because my teeth often get sore when I have a sinus infection. By yesterday morning, however, the sinus pain had cleared up, and the tooth pain was severe. Technically, it's the socket where my tooth used to be, but let's not quibble over details. What I suspect happened is that the socket was vulnerable due to its recent trauma, and the infection settled there. I snuck out of the plant and called my dentist, who prescribed an antibiotic. He also said that if it's not better in a few days, come on in and we'll do our thing. OK, he didn't phrase it exactly like that, but you get my drift.

What is getting to me right now is the lack of sleep. Being hypersensitive to most painkillers--i can't tolerate aspirin or ibuprofen at all, and can only tolerate low doses of acetaminophen--there's just not much I can do about the toothache. I have some prescription painkillers, but they don't seem to be all that effective. Laying down flat just seems to aggravate things. Propping up on pillows helps, but I don't really sleep all that well.

So today I called in sick, and as soon as Cody is off to school, I'm going to go lay back down and hope to catch some snatches of sleep between the waves of pain.

Band Night

Band night 2007 was held as scheduled despite a light rain falling throughout most of the event. Yes, I had a jacket. The camera was wearing it. That shows you where my priorities are. At least this year it was warm.









Cody is the shorter of the two tuba players seen to the left of the screen.

Tomorrow I'll post videos of the high school band.

Busy Day

that started off with a relatively sleepless night last night, and ended with Band Night in the pouring rain.

I'll have videos posted tomorrow.

Tonight I leave you with a cute puppy picture, and part of the reason I didn't sleep well. She started barking at 4 AM.

I took this one about a month ago. I really need to take some new ones.

Big Fourteen

My fourteen year old.



This card made noise.



Geaux Tigers.



And Colts



A good read



Happy Birthday, Cody!

I'm Giving Up Football, Again

Dallas lost, as I expected them to, but I'd hoped they'd make more of a game of it than that.

They actually were making a game of it at the beginning of the third quarter, but a couple of very questionable calls--or lack thereof--by the refs, and a touchdown brought back by a penalty seemed to totally demoralize them. After that, they just seemed to give up.

At least they are still #1 in the NFC East.

Probably the one good thing that came out of that game is my Columbine Peaks socks:


Finally completed after being on the needles since May, they are one more WIP I can cross off of my list.

.

P.S. I still love my Cowboys, no matter what.

Are You Ready For Some Football?

Ok, I've given up giving up football. This afternoon, my Cowboys are playing the Patriots. Now, as much as I love my Cowboys, and would love for them to win, I'm really expecting the Pats to win this game. I'll tell you why.

1. The Cowboys don't have much of a defense. They are really inconsistent, giving up big plays. It's not because of the defense that they are 5-0. It's primarily because of Tony Romo. Which brings us to my #2 reason they won't win:

2. Tony Romo is smokin hot this year, but he doesn't have anyone to throw to. His most consistent receiver is Jason Witten, the tight end. Yeah, I know all about Terrell Owens, but in my eyes, he's all hat and no cattle. He talks a good game, but he also drops a lot of balls. If you ask me, the up and coming star wide receiver is going to be Patrick Crayton. He showed good promise against the Rams two weeks ago.

3. Overall, the Patriots are a much stronger team. They seem to have more cohesion than the Cowboys. They are also not adjusting to a new head coach. Wade Phillips is a good change for the Cowboys, but it is still a change. They haven't yet shaken off the domineering and belittling attitude of Bill Parcells.

That's my pick for this afternoon's game. Still, it's the Cowboys.

You never know...

.

I'm Giving Up Football

First the good news. Texas finally won one! They put a pretty good whammy on Iowa State--56-3. That game didn't play on any channels here, though, so I didn't get to watch it. I wish I could have.


On the other hand, Kentucky shocked LSU by defeating them in triple overtime. Triple overtime! Triple overtime!

It's not the losing. That's the risk of playing the game. It's the triple overtime thing that gets to me. My old heart just can't take this excitement. I'm giving up football.

At least until tomorrow.

.