The A-Holes in IT Relent for Two Freaking Seconds

Our tech monkeys apparently hit the wrong button this morning, and "de-restricted" all blogspot websites. Not a good move considering the generally quality of blogs (including this one).

But I digress....as Vegas fades into the shroud of memory, I thought I would hit the remaining highlights of the trip, bullet-point-story-style (feel free to add more in the comments):

• Within two hours of arriving at Treasure Island, Spurt has been banned from drinking. Our pit boss, Trudy, was a complete moron anyway (one of her comments upon finding out that many of us were lawyers or in law school..."It normally takes a couple of times to pass the bar." Yeah, if you're fucking stupid). Spurt dropped a few f-bombs, and that was the end of his alcohol experience. Too bad he was only drinking Coronas at the time (he may be the first person ever cut off while drinking girlie beer).

• 10 dudes in a Grand Caravan on the way to Luxor for steak dinner on Friday night. The minivan was destroyed. Between AJ having to crouch in between the two captain's chairs and Peak literally riding in the trunk well, I was praying that we would not be pulled over. I worried about getting past security (who normally looks in your trunk), but Spurt used his expert Vegas knowledge to assure us that the Luxor did not have security. Unlike the "take Frank Sinatra Drive, it's faster" incident, this one actually worked.

• The return trip to Denny's and the hostess' comment that "we don't have any seats available right now" despite the fact that HALF of the restaurant was empty. T disappearing for ten minutes and coming back with a comp for his dinner.

• The hotness of the waitress at the Venetian (Ari knows), which cannot be overstated. The hobbit-like quality to the waitresses of TI. Watching ND come all the way back from 20 down only to choke. The lack of Caribbean Stud in any casino. The "fun" of "Super Fun 21" at the Fiesta. Triple shot Everclear martinis sounding like a good idea. The Luxor steakhouse: great food, awful service. Forgetting that DJ is actually deaf in one ear and just thinking he was ignoring me. Looking forward to next year.
  

One step ahead...

of big brother... maybe...

Anyway, we've moved.

http://questionablecommentary.squarespace.com/

Come on by.

NFL FOOTBALL POOL, WEEK 11

All games for Week Eleven of the 2006 NFL Season are listed at the bottom. The home team is spelled out in CAPS. Please pick five games and assign point totals by writing the name of the team you pick in the blanks below. Also pick the Monday night game if you have not done so.

Favorite Spread Underdog
KANSAS CITY CHIEFS 10 Oakland Raiders
Indianapolis Colts 1 DALLAS COWBOYS
NEW ORLEANS SAINTS 3.5 Cincinnati Bengals
Pittsburgh Steelers 3.5 CLEVELAND BROWNS
PHILADELPHIA EAGLES 13 Tennessee Titans
Baltimore Ravens 4 Atlanta Falcons
CAROLINA PANTHERS 6.5 St. Louis Rams
HOUSTON TEXANS 2.5 Buffalo Bills
New England Patriots 6 Green Bay Packers
Tampa Bay Buccaneers 3 Washington Redskins
Chicago Bears 7 New York Jets
MIAMI DOLPHINS 3.5 Minnesota Vikings
ARIZONA CARDINALS 2 Detroit Lions
Seattle Seahawks 6 San Francisco 49ers
DENVER BRONCOS 2.5 San Diego Chargers

MONDAY NIGHT FOOTBALL
JACKSONVILLE JAGUARS 3.5 New York Giants

The Old Hot Stove

Jim Leyland and Joe Girardi took home manager of the year honors yesterday. Leyland's win was somewhat less of a surprise than Girardi's. To be fair, though, Girardi finishing at the top of the voting wasn't all that surprising either. The reason I bring it up is because it gives me a chance to rail on the Marlin's evil owner Wayne Huizenga... er... John Henry... er... Jeffery Loria. Right, Jeffery Loria. Hey, Jeff! Great call firing your manager because you're a control freak. I'm sure it won't be hard to start with a $15 million opening day payroll and be so competitive, that you almost make the playoffs next year. Don't worry... at least this year's opening day roster will have more than one batter with over 1000 ABs in the bigs. Maybe.

Boston is thinking about shooting a cool 50 mil over to J.D. Drew. Hey, what's another $50 million? Especially for a player who plays hard and everyone loves. With Manny in left, and Drew in right, are the Red Sox putting together the laziest outfield of all time? Is Bobby Bonilla available to play center? A Boston side note -- I'd like to be there when they tell John Henry that they bid 50 million dollars, not yen, on Megalon. That meeting would be good times.

No major signing activity thus far. Mike Mussina reupped for 2 years, at about 22-24 million. Fair enough. And I hate that I'm saying fair enough. That's an f-load of cash for being a "solid number 2." Heh. Sorry, this entire paragraph was a setup to allow me to use the phrase "solid number 2." Okay, I'll go back to the news now.

GMs are considering instant replay for baseball. You know, this is my favorite game, and I love how there's no clock. But come on people, do we really need to extend the game in an area where for 100 years we've been fine with the occasional missed call? Look at college football this season. Sometimes instant replay can do more harm than good. Although if baseball adopts instant replay and the Oklahoma Sooners somehow get screwed again, I'm all for it.

And finally... you've got to love Philadelphia. Pat Gillick comes in as the new GM last season, and by the trade deadline is trying to convince optimistic fans that the Phillies will not contend in 2007. Nothing like an organization that doesn't even believe in itself.

42 Million, and All I Got Was This Lousy Import

So... 42 million (allegedly!) for the right to sign a Japanese ace. But wait! If you you act now, we'll also throw in East Asian market awareness and a new car. But not really on the new car. Is it really financially sound for the Red Sox to be throwing this kind of cash around? Probably. Isn't that a bit sad? I want to say "who cares" because a) it's cooler to seem apathetic, and b) I really don't have any love lost for the Bosox... but I do care. It's just one more thing the real Evil Empire, Kevin McClatchy, Inc. has never heard of. What's "it"? Oh, that's right... putting together a competitive baseball team. (yes, you read that link correctly... that's a 2004 article.)

But you don't come to the site to read more rants about the Pirates, you want uplifting news. Something not so 'Burgh-centric? Sure thing. Did you realize ND was on tv for 169 straight games before USAFA's CSTV contract put an end to it? Kudos to the headline writer on that one, too. At first I was confused. I thought, no way ND has lost 169 games. Ty Willingham was only there for three seasons. Hard to forget when the Talking V*gina (yes, a blog I read only refers to May as this because of his distinctive(ly bad?) facial hair) reminds viewers every Saturday. Speaking of Mark May, we have scientific proof that he is disliked. Universally. Too bad Harold Reynolds decided to harass someone first (allegedly!). I'm not saying that Mark May should be fired, or even that I'm rooting for that. I'm just saying that it's more likely he'll be fired before May features Notre Dame in any of his polls, lists, or otherwise. Unless, of course, that poll is titled, "Teams I Unjustifiably Hate". I'd expect Notre Dame to finish near the top of that one. But not at the top. Because ND cannot be #1 for anything for May.

Don't worry Mark, I'm sure if ESPN ever lets you leave Bristol, you'll get the Corso Treatment in South Bend.

Is This Seriously Going to Happen?

Well, that was a pretty wild weekend of college football. It started, as it often does with me, while I was at a poker game. I'm over at my buddy Sean's house playing a little hold 'em and eight-or-better Omaha (dealer ante, of course), and the Louisville-Rutgers game comes on. Due to my wife being from Louisville, I feel compelled to sit through the horror that is this game. When Louisville is up 25-7, I am feeling pretty good about UofL's championship chances. I figure, at this point, that ND is totally out of the running, so I should root for UofL.

But not so fast, my friend, says Corso. Louisville loses to Rutgers, followed by losses by Texas, Auburn and Cal. Tennessee also lost, which is not necessarily relevant for ND's title hopes, but makes me all warm and fuzzy inside nonetheless. So now ND is ranked #5 in the BCS, with a legitimate shot at the BCS national championship game if they beat USC and Florida manages to lose.

Here is my dilemma. A month ago I bought ticket futures for ND in the Sugar Bowl. If you haven't seen how this works yet, you should definitely check it out. You pay a certain amount of money per ticket, and then if your team makes that particular bowl game, you buy tickets to that game at face value. Before Saturday, all looked to be in line for an ND Sugar Bowl appearance. I don't know if I plan to go to the game or sell the tickets, but the point is that I would have the tickets. Now, if ND goes to the NC game, I am more than happy to forfeit that money. However, if ND goes to the Rose Bowl because tOSU and UM get a rematch, I am going to be pissed.

On to the game recap.....

ND-Air Force, 39-17

Five Things I Liked:

1. Brady Quinn's rocket arm.

2. The sight of the Shark running free in the secondary.

3. Charlie's playcalling on the first two series.

4. Charlie not running up the score just to impress voters.

5. Four touchdown passes to four different receivers.

Honorable mention: Rhema's move after he caught his TD pass. Showed strength and agility. We'll need both against USC.

Five Things I Didn't Like

1. STOP THE RUN FOR THE LOVE OF GOD.

2. Continued inability to wrap up by Zibby.

3. Is it that difficult to recruit a kicker? It seems like there are probably lots of kids who would like to come to ND and could kick a fucking extra point. Really. It doesn't seem that hard.

4. Dropped passes. Yes, I am looking at you Darius Walker.

5. Life after Quinn looks bleak right now.


This was again one of those weeks where I was very happy to win, but playing a service academy always is a little depressing because it feels like beating up on someone who is not quite capable of responding in kind. 9-1, though, is very nice.

NFL Week 10 Reaction

Well... that was interesting. It's nice to see the Steelers trying to ruin any chance of getting a good draft pick. Prediction -- they finish 9-7 and miss the playoffs by a game. Since I've predicted it, though, it is sure not to happen. Tune in next week when I predict records of 3-13, 4-12, 5-11, 6-10, 7-9, and 8-8 for the Steelers, too.

It would appear not all is well in Steeler-land (aside from being 3-6), as the defensive line still cannot get any real push on the QB. I'm not convinced Casey "Hungry-Hungry Hippos" Hampton is healthy.

On to the rest of the league...

If we call it the Good Ship Lovie, can we call it the Sinking Ship Marvin? If you're a "defensive mastermind" and your team scores 41 points, shouldn't you win every game? Something to ponder, I guess.

Arizona lost again, and I, for one, am excited that with Denny Green's impending firing. We get to hear Denny Green's name come up for every head coach opening for the next three to four years -- with him never actually being hired, of course. Sometimes coaches fail because their teams are bad. Sometimes they fail because they're bad coaches. Sometimes, it's both. And sometimes, you're name is Rich Kotite. I'm not saying that Denny Green is Rich Kotite... but geez man, 1-8? Are you serious? And enough about how you could be 6-3. Guess what? You could be 9-0. But you're not. Stop crying and start working on your resume. (Some advice though, don't list your all-time NFL record.)

Houston, congratulations. I'm sure your quest to finish .500 will fail. But it's fun to watch you try. Somewhat sadly for the Texans, and happily for Houston, the Dynamo (great name by the way -- not) won the MLS Cup yesterday. I know many readers (all five of you) will greet MLS talk with some derision, but I mention it for two reasons -- 1. It was a ridiculously entertaining game if you turned it on halfway into the first overtime. 2. It's that much more embarrassing to Houston that one of its expansion teams won so quickly, and the Texans are still terrible. Kicking a man while he's down you say, in making fun of the Texans? I care.

It's been since Buddy Ryan was coaching that NFL audiences have seen this frosty a handshake. I couldn't quite make out Bill's words... but I think it started with "F*ck" and ended with "your mother."

And finally, from the files of Brett-Favre-Plays-Just-Well-Enough-This-Year-To-Consider-Coming-Back-Next-Year, the Pack won yesterday. Have we ever seen a guy raise a franchise up (won the SB) and kill it (not allowing anyone else to develop, steals away good draft picks by winning a few games a year) like Brett? I doubt it.