The Austin Daytripper

A friend of mine from Port Neches-Groves High School has created and hosts this great show which will be featured on PBS soon. You can watch the pilot at this site though:


http://www.theaustindaytripper.com/PILOT.html

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Great Giveaway Ends Saturday!

Sister blog "If You Think Round is Funny..." is having a great giveaway! Three wonderful prizes (that would be great for Mother's Day) are being given away, and all you have to do is go to her aunt's site who made the prizes and then comment on "If You Think Round is Funny" about her aunt's site and which prize you hope to win! It's just that easy!


Prizes include beautiful earrings, a bookmark and a bracelet. Each of these was hand made by her aunt and are really beautiful.


So what are you waiting for? Hope on over by clicking on this link:
If You Think Round is Funny...

On Everyone's Christmas List?

I am not sure if this has been done before when other president's have taken the oath of office (guessing it hasn't) but this item is too good to pass up. I fully intend to buy all my family and friends this "historic" plate for the next gift giving occassion! Hey, it is better than the Obama Thong (not joking, Google it)!

Friday Night Lights Season 3

I just wanted to type up a quick reminder that season 3 of Friday Night Lights officially returns to NBC tomorrow night (Jan. 16th) at 9/8c!


The show was able to come back this year thanks to the powers that be at Direct TV. They offered to shoulder a portion of the productions costs (because obviously NBC is poor) in order to get season 3 out. As a result, an exclusive Direct TV channel has already aired season 3. I am about to watch the final episode, but can tell you that is has been a fantastic season. Probably my favorite out of all three.


Last year ended abruptly thanks to the writer's strike. There were many unresolved story lines as a result. The first episode will quickly clean those up (for the most part) and quickly get rolling with what I found to be more engaging stories. So if you've never seen an episode, you'll be able to keep up well enough.


So be sure to check out Friday Night Lights on NBC tomorrow! You are missing out if you don't.

Divisional Playoffs

Just some quick picks for this weekends NFL action:


Saturday's games:
Titans over Ravens (in a close, defensive battle)

Cardinals over Panthers...upset special. Much like the two teams I will talk about in a moment, the Cards have momentum working for them in many forms. First they wrap up the NFC West and then played horribly. Everyone wrote them off quickly (me included). So they wanted to win to prove everyone wrong, which they did last week. Add last week's big win to the momentum and the Cards are a team to be reckoned with. I'd like the Panthers to win, but if the Cards can pull it off then why not. Plus their QB (Warner) is down with J.C.


Sunday can go either way. The home teams should win, but I wouldn't be suprised if the visitors pulled upsets. Kinda like the Cardinals, both the Chargers and Eagles ended their seasons on a hot streak. The Giants lost their top receiver (to prison) and had issues getting it back together - though they had a huge win over the Panthers in week 17. The Steelers/Chargers game might be good. Both teams have late injuries. The Chargers are all offense while the Steelers are gritty on defense.


Sunday's games:
Giants over Eagles (just can't give the Eagles the win)

Steelers over Chargers (A good defense usually beats a good offense. If the Steelers QB isn't in top form though the Chargers have a shot)

Next on the Bailout List...

Now that the U.S. government has bailed out numerous banks/financial institutions and the auto industry, it is time to move on to the next group of people seeking help. These hard working Americans are looking for help just like everyone else...what would the world be like without them? I will let you decide for yourself.

"Another major American industry is asking for assistance as the global financial crisis continues: Hustler publisher Larry Flynt and Girls Gone Wild CEO Joe Francis said Wednesday they will request that Congress allocate $5 billion for a bailout of the adult entertainment industry."

This is not a joke. The CNN article can be seen by clicking here.

If Congress approves this then I'd imagine the founding fathers will start rolling in their graves...except maybe Ben Franklin. A pervert that one was.

NFL Losers

I love football. I love it in all of its forms: high school, college and professional. However I generally only watch the NFL. I will keep up with college scores, but unless the Texas A&M Aggies are on or a really big game (like the Alabama/Florida game awhile back) I don't really watch. High school football is fun to watch (live) because the kids are playing with a real passion. They love the sport and play like it. This year the NFL had some real surprises. At the beginning of the season I picked the Cowboys and Chargers to play in the Super Bowl. While the Chargers made it in by the skin of their teeth (do teeth have skin) the Cowboys blew every chance given to them...which I find funny.


So with the regular season over with I wanted to hand out my Worst NFC/AFC Awards. This prestigous honor is given to teams who had every opportunity to win (the players, the coaching staff, the overall ability) but blew it instead. This is not handed out to a team that was horrible in general. So without further delay....


With about a month left in the season I stated that the Cowboys were finished. An ESPN analyst summed it up best when he stated that the Cowboys are made up of talent, but that doesn't make a team. I thought for a while that Coach Philips would be canned, but I finally figured out why Jones will keep him - because he can tell him what to do. Owner Jerry Jones likes to be in control and that is what he has over the coach. Look, Wade Philips is a great guy and seems nice. Sadly that doesn't always translate into Super Bowl Rings (hardly ever). There has to be an edge to them. In their last game Philips called out the punt team and QB Romo sent them back. What a lack of control.


Speaking of Romo, he is the another (of their many) problem. The kid is decent, but I don't know if he has what it takes to be a starter in this league. I love listening to local sports coverage on the radio because of the loyal (translate: blind) fans. It was fun in Boston and just as fun in Dallas. ESPN Radio asked listeners if they'd take Romo or Colts QB (and 2008 NFL MVP) Peyton Manning in a clutch situation. So many said they'd take Romo who has never done anything in a clutch situation. Unless choking is doing something. Then you have T.O. who is a great player...when he wants to be. I was watching an old game of him as 49er. He dropped just as many balls then. As for his complaining - well I am just surprised that it didn't start sooner. That is what he does everywhere. Anyway, all that to say that the Dallas Cowboys win my Worst NFC Team Award for this year (yep, even above the winless Detroit Lions).


As for the AFC, well there are so many options. It came down to the N.Y. Jets and the Denver Broncos. The Broncos also had 3 or 4 chances to lock up their division but couldn't get it done. They finally handed it over to the Chargers in the last game of the season. Long time Broncos coach Mike Shanahan was fired shortly there after. I can't give them the award though. The Broncos had around 14 players on I.R. (meaning out for the year) and most were on defense. The Broncos have all the tools they need to win, like the Cowboys, but injuries killed them (Dallas doesn't have that excuse). So that leaves me with the Jets who brought Brett Farve out of retirement. I watched this team with interest this year because I wanted to see what Farve had left. As suspected he wore out before the end of the season. The Jets had their division under control about half way through and then folded and missed the playoffs. They had the tools to win and just needed to execute, but didn't. They were poorly coached (if your QB is hurt and throwing only interceptions then bench him) and now the players are finger pointing. Never a good sign for a "team". So the New York Jets win the Worst AFC Team Award. Congrats to the Dolphins though and former Jets QB Chad Pennington.


So who do I like for the Super Bowl now? Well I would really love to see the Colts vs the Giants. Manning vs. Manning. I love the Colts and like the Giants so that would be fun. I will be watching the Colts in their Wild Card game versus the Chargers though. If the Colts win that then I like their odds to I know the Titans are tough but they seemed to peak early and haven't played as well (despite beating the Steelers). I imagine it will come down to those three teams though: Colts, Titans, Steelers.


In the NFC I think it will come down to the Giants and the Panthers. I would love to see these two teams face off in the title game. Their game near the end of the year was a lot of fun. Of course the great thing about the NFL is that last year the Giants came from Wild Card write-offs to Super Bowl Champs. And that is why I love football.