I am conducting a live blog for today's Penn State game on Examiner and Nittany White Out, but viewers of Ramblings can also feel free to join in! Below is the same chat that can be seen on either of the "host" sites.
Penn State has some wounds to lick and this week and there is no better opponent than Indiana to help expedite the healing process from last week's loss to Ohio State.
I have a lot of links for you to check out today so get clicking to get caught up! Be sure to check back later this morning to join in a live chat during the Penn State game today!
Examiner
Preview: #18 Penn State (8-2, 4-2 Big Ten) vs. Indiana (4-6, 1-5)
Big Ten Examiner Round Table
Previewing Indiana with Hoosiers Examiner Brandon Moore
Indiana may be just the medicine for Penn State
For Penn State, it's time to let go of 2005
Nittany White Out
Happy Birthday Vinny Testaverde!
Video Preview: Indiana
Phinally Philly
Temple football going for eight straight, Penn State looks to rebound
The 700 Level
Penn State seniors look to go out with a win
Previously on Mario Monday - Dr. Mario
I am a big fan of YouTube sensation Brentalfloss. I have posted some of his masterpieces here before, but his latest creation is hands down my favorite.
With the animation skills of Parker Simmons this video is an instant classic if you ask me. I could not wait for Mario Monday to share this one, so kick start your Friday with it instead!
Of course the answer is no. But I am starting to receive a number of compliments for some of my recent prognostication skills. I have been given some praise for many of my predictions on the final scores of the Penn State games this season, although I have picked he Nittany Lions to win every game so far and look how that has turned out.
But within the last 24 hours I was asked this question on Facebook by Shaimus guitarist Evan Brown...
So I thought why not take a look back at my official prediction post for the 2009 Phillies, originally posted on April 5, 2009.
I feel that this year's team has potential to be better than the 2008 squad. Replacing 16 starts from Adam Eaton with a full year of Joe Blanton, possibly having a refocused Myers for an entire year and getting a full season out of Chan Ho Park as opposed to Kyle Kendrick only seems to give the Phillies a much better starting rotation with a steady Jamie Moyer and the ace in Cole Hamels.
Well, that did not quite go as I thought it would. Cole Hamels entered the season unprepared after not focusing on work outs in the off-season, which is understandable and typical for a World Series MVP. Hamels finished the regular season with a losing record and had a frustrating post season.I expect Jimmy Rollins to have a season that falls between his 2007 MVP season and last year (which seemed worse than it was because of his spectacular 2007 season). Ryan Howard will push for 50 home runs and Chase Utley will play at an MVP level.
Truth be told this was a cop-out type of prediction as all three players universally had the same kind of expectations. Aside from a down turn in walks and a slight rise in strike outs, Rollins' numbers did go up from 2008 in most offensive categories. His batting average took a drop but considering how poor his first half of the season was, it would be hard to be too upset with what Rollins did offer at the plate for the entire season.I'll go on record and predict a 94 win season from the Phillies, culminating with a third straight NL East division title. But repeating is tough so I'll play the odds and say they lose to the Yankees in the World Series. Call me a sucker, but I buy into the hype that the Yankees may have just bought their way back to the Fall Classic.
Yesterday was Veteran's Day and I never posted anything in honor of those who served. I apologize for that.
But a number of people did post some good stuff yesterday. Naturally I found the most interesting content from Geeding over at BagofNothing.com (boasting a new design by the way). In one post he shared a number of heart warming videos of soldiers returning home. We always see the videos of men and women returning to their spouses, girlfriends, boyfriends, children, parents and siblings and it is bound to give you a good feeling in your heart.
But what about the family dog? How do they react? I honestly found some of these videos to be so much more touching and wanted to share one with you here.
From my Page-a-Day Calendar e-mail...
November 11, 1984
The Philadelphia Flyers defeat Edmonton, 7-5, at the Spectrum, snapping the Stanley Cup champion Oilers’ NHL record 15-game unbeaten streak (12-0-3) from the start of the season. The Flyers out shoot the Oilers, 46-26, score three goals in a three-minute span of the third period and come back from three Edmonton leads during the game to gain the victory. Goals by Mark Howe and Ilkka Sinisalo just 31 seconds apart with four minutes remaining prove decisive against Edmonton goalie Andy Moog.
Of course, November 11 also marks a tragic event in the history of the Flyers organization. A year after the above factoid the great goal tender Pelle Lindbergh was pronounced dead after a horrific automobile accident the day before. My friends at The 700 Level have more on this today.
In case you forgot what happened this decade, this video should bring you up to speed.
It's true! Amazon has opened up a Denim Shop on their site now offering a wide selection of premium brands and offers free returns.
My performance is dipping as the season continues
Much like Ohio State gave Penn State a good lickin', according to Joe Paterno, the Onexia Football Pool crushed me this week. I scored a pool-wide season low 39 points. My down fall? Riding the hot hand of the Philadelphia Eagles after last week's dismantling of the New York Giants, thinking the Giants could rebound at home in a big game, and looking past the Tennessee Titans.
In those three games I placed 35 points on the wrong team. Picking those games would not have handed me a win but it would have helped me greatly in the season long competition with my dad who would have finished with with 69 points if the Eagles, Giants and 49ers had won.
Oh well. Here is an updated look at my points vs. those of my dad.
My points for the season in blue. My dad is in orange, and pulling away.
To top off the awesome sports week I had I also said good-bye t the NFL Suicide pool I have been in. Leave it to me to think the Green Bay Packers would rebound form a tough loss against a Tampa Bay team who was still looking for their first win. In retrospect it was unwise to pick against Tampa Bay for the fourth or fifth time this year. Of course they were due for a win. And I did not realize the game was in Tampa. I try to avoid picking road teams in suicide pools.
On the bright side, my fantasy team kicked butt this week, defeating the Phrontiersmen in the process. Tough match-up this weekend as I take on a first place team form the Eagles Blogger Division, Team Vicktorino. I remain two games out of first in the Phillies Blogger Division.
Today marks the 40th anniversary of the debut of Jim Henson's Sesame Street. To honor the ground-breaking children's educational show I wanted to share some of my thoughts and memories of the show.
To the best I can remember I watched Sesame Street every day on a small television in our family's dining room. It just seemed natural I believe to watch Sesame Street in the morning, near the breakfast table. Cereal and Sesame Street.
This was a time well before the thought of Barney and Friends came to be popular, and am I ever glad I missed that era. Maybe Barney had his advantages for kids and I am sure the show taught some valuable lessons, but Sesame Street used the power of Muppets, which I was surrounded with at an early age. The Muppets were everywhere for me. Fraggle Rock, movies, animated shows, and of course Sesame Street.
My personal favorite character on Sesame Street was and always will be Cookie Monster. Who would not love a blue furry guy who loves cookies? But combine him with the classic character of Kermit the Frog and you get some classic clips, if you ask me.
As they did last week, today Google celebrates the gang from the show by including them in today's Google doodle.
Or the Yankees or Ohio State...
This week Mario Monday take s a look at the final classic game from the series to be played on the Super Nintendo. Thought to be a bit of a high risk-high reward title, Super Mario RPG: Legend of the Seven Stars successfully blended the terrific RPG game play that only a company like Squaresoft, known today as Square Enix and the lovable characters form the Mario universe.
Super Mario RPG is perhaps one of the best role playing games to be played on the Super Nintendo, a system that had a healthy share of awesome games in the genre. The game featured an action-command battle system, which helped make the game more fun. In older RPGs the player typically just chose a command and hoped for the best result. But Super Mario RPG added animations for each move in a battle. As great as the game was it enjoyed limited success as the release of the Nintendo 64 followed just four months later. With the release of the next home console a blockbuster (Super Mario 64) stole the show.
In the journey to save the day Mario must team up with Bowser as well as two new allies. Mallow is a fluffy looking side-kick. Mallow learns that he is actually a prince during the quest as he was raised by a character who found him stranded as a baby. Geno is a little bit more mysterious and very powerful. He possess a great knowledge of many things along the way. Mallow joins Mario's party first and Geno is the second side-kick picked up along the way before Bowser joins the party.
I call this "The World Series Fumble"
The best part about the Ohio State not coming until today is that there is no World Series distraction. Last year the Ohio State game took place the same night as game three of the 2008 World Series. Thankfully, for me, there was a long rain delay for the Phillies so I was able to sit and watch the Penn State game without distraction! Of course, Penn State won that night and the Phillies eventually won sometime after 1am on a Carlos Ruiz grounder to score Eric Bruntlet in the ninth inning.
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