Happy New Year!

Just a quick post today to say happy New Year to all! I hope you have a safe and enjoyable night with whatever you may end up doing!

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Six Pack of Picks for the Weekend

Just a quick post for the weekend picks folks. I'm busy playing Wii in my spare time.

Penn State over Texas A&M (Alamo Bowl)
Wake Forest over #25 Connecticut (Meineke Car Care Bowl)
Colorado over Alabama (Independence Bowl)
Philadelphia Eagles over Buffalo Bills
New England Patriots over New York Giants
Washington Redskins over Dallas Cowboys

2-4 last week. Grr. Finishing off pretty weakly this year. 64-40 overall.

There you have it! I'll be rooting on my Nittany Lions with my good pal Paul, who is coming down to watch the game with us. I hope everybody is having a terrific holiday season and I hope you got what you really wanted!

I know I did!

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Merry Christmas!

To those who celebrate it, Merry Christmas! I won't be posting anything new probably the whole week until Friday when I post my weekend picks (I went another awful 2-4 this past weekend)! So I hope you have a safe and happy holiday!

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Ramblings Playoff Fever!

Well folks the final weekend of the NFL regular season is upon us and it is time to start thinking about the playoffs. I extend an invitation to YOU to join my playoff league, hosted by ESPN's Gridiron Challenge.

I have set up a group that is private, but I will provide the sign up necessities right here if you are interested in joining. I am extending an open invitation to everybody I know and everybody who happens to read this blog. There is no prize except for bragging rights and there is no fee to sign up (you just need to set up a registration with ESPN...again, free).

Get in the action now:
http://games.espn.go.com/nflpc/group?groupID=8926

Game Front: http://games.espn.go.com/nflpc/frontpage
Group: Ramblings Playoff Fever
Password: sixpack

I'll be sure to post a recap after each week as well so you can see how glorious you or a friend are doing. Again, it's really easy to set up. It only took me two minutes to set up my team, and everyone can use the same players (that means everyone can use Tom Brady in the division round for their team). Good luck!

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Six Pack of Picks for the Weekend

This one comes a little earlier than the usual Friday posting, so pardon me while I mess with your regular Ramblings reading schedule! The Christmas holiday is shifting some things around for me so I figured I should get this out before the weekend starts, especially with the return of the college football picks with bowl games starting tonight!

So here is Kevin's Six Pack of Picks for the Weekend - Egg Nog Bowl Edition!

New Orleans Saints over Philadelphia Eagles
Carolina Panthers over Dallas Cowboys
Cleveland Browns over Cincinnati Bengals
Utah over Navy (San Diego County Credit Union Poinsettia ...whew!...Bowl)
Memphis over Florida Atlantic (Up Up Down Down Left Right R + L Carriers New Orleans Bowl)
Cincinatti over Southern Miss (Papajohns.com Bowl...because they couldn't just call it the Papajohns Bowl).

Last week I continued to leap towards the finish line with another abysmal week, although improved over the previous week, with a 2-4 record, putting my season long total at 62-36. C'mon Kevin, finish strong!

In other football picking news, I am currently 58 points behind my dad in his office pool for the year. While I am not mathematically eliminated, for all intents and purposes, I am not going to beat him this year. I don't remember the totals from last year but I imagine I closed the gap some on him this year. I did win as many times as him though this year with two weeks to go.

I am also participating in a couple Bowl Game pick em contests; one with Sports Radio 950AM (click the button to check it out) and the other through ESPN's site. Through ESPN I am taking part in the Black Shoe Diaries pool, as well as the groups "pennsylvania people only" and taking my shot in the biggest pool titled ESPNU College Football Insider.

Here are my picks as they appear on ESPN's pools;

Click to enlarge

I'm playing big points against the Big Ten, with USC as my 32 point game against Illinois (Rose Bowl) and Florida over Michigan (Capital One Bowl). My somewhat surprising pick is 20 points on the Buckeyes against LSU in the BCS "Championship". The more I think about it the more I'm starting to think that Jim Tressel isn't going to be as unprepared as he was last year. Much was made about the speed factor between Ohio State and Florida. I witnessed a huge difference in coaching in addition to that and I feel that is often overlooked. By no means am I rooting for the Buckeyes, but I am starting to feel they will win...much to my chagrin.

Penn State is my eleven point game after I dropped it twice while filling it out. I don't think they will lose but I can't put many more points on Anthony Morelli and the offensive play calling. No offense (heh, get it? It's a play on words of course). I figure Dan Connor and Sean Lee are what kept PSU from being my 6 point game.

Alabama and Colorado is my one point game. Who knows what Alabama or Colorado teams will show up. I figure only Buffalo and Crimson Tide fans will be using a lot of points on that one.

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Hey Ya Charlie Brown!

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Play Value

It has been some time since I shared these videos with you. Behold two of the latest episodes of Play Value, from ON Networks;

Controversy

I love the line at the end and could not agree with it more;

"The bottom line is that they can regulate and they can market these things all they want, but it is up to the parents to keep track of what their kids are playing. If parents did their job the government would not always have to step in."
Jeff Rubin

And here is the latest bit...

Colecovision

I loved Colecovision, even though my family only ever had Donkey Kong, and that came with the system. We had an Atari 2600 though so that probably stole the thunder from the Colecovision.

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Tough Guy Wannabe

24

Free Online Dating from JustSayHi

Thanks to BagofNothing for the heads up on this.

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I saw I Am Legend

I saw the new Will Smith movie, I Am Legend, and when I walked back to my car Saturday night I was left in awe. I loved what I had seen and I could not wait to see it again!

Yes, the movie was good and Will Smith was great as usual, but my favorite scene happened before the movie even started. I am referring to the trailer for The Dark Knight, the sequel to the revived Batman franchise due out in 2008.

Observe if you have not yet seen it...

And if you have not seen it, check out the movie poster as well!

I am putting together my review of I Am Legend as well so check back for that sometime this week. I am still recovering from another pitiful week of football picking!

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Penn State National Champions

Remember that old ESPN commercial where the guy says he would sell his soul for a national championship? Of course he is talking about his football team. The devil shows up and gives him his national championship, in field hockey I believe.

Well, congrats to the Penn State Women's basketball team...2007 NCAA national champions.

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Six Pack of Picks for the Weekend

Once again, a little late, but better late than never! Coming off a hugely disappointing 1-5 last week. Ouch!

Dallas Cowboys over Philadelphia Eagles
Pittsburgh Steelers over Jacksonville Jaguars
Green Bay Packers over St. Louis Rams
San Diego Chargers over Detroit Lions
#5 Northwest Missouri State over #8 Valdosta State
#1 Mount Union over #2 University of Wisconsin - Whitewater

Overall: 60-32

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Let the Smack Talk Begin!

Not that Penn State will be getting into this too much in public, but a future opponent has already guaranteed a victory against the Nittany Lions.

Nope, not Texas A&M. Not coach-less Michigan (who don't need to waste their predicting a victory against PSU, it's pretty much a given) or Coastal Carolina.

By now you have probably heard that THE Oregon State University Beavers will visit Beaver Stadium next September, thankfully replacing Arkansas State. OSU athletic director Bob De Carolis is excited and serves up the first guarantee;

“Any time you can play a team of historic proportions and play a team coached by a hall of fame coach (Joe Paterno), you go for it,” De Carolis said. “It’s a great venue to play in. It’s going to be loud and raucous. It will be a great experience for our kids, similar to LSU. But make no mistake; we are going to win the game.”

Corvallis Gazette Times

Make no mistake about this; THE Oregon State University is coming to Happy Valley for the payday, but perhaps getting Penn State fired up over the summer and so they can kick your butts all the way back to the west coast will teach De Carolis a lesson. He is just lucky that Dan Connor won't be around because I am sure he would find a way to tackle him to the ground and eat dirt. Of course, Sean Lee should be able to do that just fine.

I am going to publicly call for De Carolis to literally eat his own words should Penn State end up beating THE Oregon State University. He can add whatever condiment choice he prefers and even wash it down with his choice of beverage. I just feel that a man who has next to nothing to do with the preparation of the football game, other than picking out what deal is most profitable to his university, should be able to make statements like that. In return, should THE Oregon State University pull out a victory against Penn State, I will print up this post and eat it myself. That's right De Carolis, I am challenging you to a friendly bet!

If there are any other Penn State fans out there that feel the same way let me know!

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Ugh

Well, bad news for Phillies fans; Aaron Rowand is a San Francisco Giant. I'm not sure if it was the money or the five years but I think the Phillies should have given him the same deal.

The Phillies, Jimmy Rollins aside, are killing my enthusiasm much faster than I would have hoped coming off of an NL East championship season.

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Top Ten College Football Games of 2007

Now that we are in the downtime between regular season and bowl mania I thought it would be a good opportunity to look back on this crazy football season. In my eyes this was one of the mostunpredictable football seasons I have ever seen. While my Nittany Lions somehow seemed to be the only team who couldn't reach one of the top two spots in the polls this year, there were many story lines throughout the nation. With upset after upset, overtime after overtime, Heisman candidate after Heisman candidate, #1 after #1 and #2 after #2, there was never a shortage of conversation.

Feel free to debate this list as you please, as I am sure with the season the way it was there is a lot of room for suggestions and debates as to which game was most exciting or compelling.


10. Delaware 59, Navy 52 - While this game may not have had the magnitude of an SEC match up, this game was one of the more exciting games of the season. This game was not for the fans of a good defensive game though as the host Navy Midshipmen and visiting Delaware Blue Hens combined for 111 points and 1,087 yards of offense. Delaware struck first and Navy scored the next 14 points in the first quarter. In the second quarter the squads alternated touchdowns with Delaware scoring 21 points and the game was tied at 28 at halftime.

The second half was just about as crazy with both teams scoring 17 points in the fourth quarter, but thanks to a pair of touchdown passes from Delaware quarterback Joe Flacco in the third quarter Delaware was able to pull out a hard fought, back and forth game and have the momentum at the end of the game to secure the upset victory on the road. It was the year of the upset after all. Delaware would continue their season, they may appear later on this list as well, and this Friday they will be playing Appalachian State for the national championship on the division 1AA level. A week after this game Navy would go on the road...

9. Navy 46, Notre Dame 44 (3OT) - Let us put aside all criticisms of the Notre Dame football program, its players and of course their coach. Notre Dame was in the thick of their worst season ever, we all know that. Navy was coming off a home upset to Delaware. All of that meant nothing on this day though as Navy snapped an unthinkable 43 game losing streak to the Fighting Irish. Just think about that; forty-three years! With all of that history and heavy metaphorical monkeys on the backs of the Midshipmen, this game had the nerve to go into triple overtime? You have to be kidding me! Of course, Notre Dame should have won this game, but thanks to a bonehead decision by Charlie Weis (see clip below), Navy was able to take the game into overtime.

The game went into a third overtime and Notre Dame was unable to convert for a touchdown on fourth down, sending Navy fans everywhere around the world in a frenzy that was long overdue. If Navy's loss to Delaware was a low point of the season, surely beating Notre Dame was the high point (although if you ask Navy fans they might still consider beating Army the true high point). Meanwhile, the Irish fans were left shakin', not stirred...


8. Trinity University 28, Millsaps 24 - You've seen it. If not, you're missing perhaps one of the best plays in college football history.
If you think this game makes this list just for this play, you are only half right. This game was legitimately a Top Ten worthy game. I try to take a lot of things into consideration. One of the reasons this game was great was because it had a lot riding on it as well. Two Top 25 teams battling it out for the SCAC lead scoring 25 points in the fourth quarter in hopes of increasing the odds of making the playoffs. You and I may not know much about these teams but this game makes the top ten list for sure.

7. Navy 74, North Texas 62 - Nope, it's not a basketball game folks. It is the highest scoring game on the top level of college football. Navy involved in three of the top ten games of the season already? You bet. Again, Navy doesn't like playing a game that defensive enthusiasts would enjoy, but that's ok. I enjoy watching a game like this when it is not for a championship or anything. This was just one in a hand full of high scoring football games that would make you think you were looking at a basketball score sheet.

6. Chadron State 76, Abilene Christian 74 (3OT) - To me, any playoff game that goes into overtime should be worthy of this list. This game is no exception. As my list counts down you may think that I hate defense. I promise you that is far from the truth, it just happens that offenses have been stealing the show so far. Take this game for example.

This Division 2 football game is now the highest scoring college football game in history, except for the Georgia Tech 222-0 ripping of Cumberland back in 1916 (before official NCAA records were kept). Playoff intensity is nice but what about a big come from behind victory? This is what that game was. Chadron trailed 35-14 at halftime, and 49-20 at the start of the fourth quarter. The Chadron State Eagles put together 36 points in the fourth quarter, including 17 in the final five minutes to force overtime, tied at 56-56. I can't imagine what that must have been like. Well I can, but I have never seen it. Chadron State quarterback Joe McLain somersaulted into the end-zone (see the above picture) to give Chadron their first lead of the game, and in doing so gave the Eagles the triple overtime victory, advancing them to the next round of the playoffs.


5. Oregon 24, USC 17 - Once upon a time USC was the unquestioned #1 team in the land. Then Stanford came along and squashed that idea, dropping USC to #9. While USC was being knocked off of the undefeated perch there were PAC 10 teams waiting to take the next step, and Oregon was the first to get a crack at it. The PAC-10 is more known for their offenses but defense was the key to this game as Oregon was able to force two interceptions on a USC backup quarterback and seal a victory that would launch Oregon to the newest sweethearts of pollsters. Dennis Dixon is a phenomenal athlete and he really is what made his team go. Dixon busted open a 76 yard run for a touchdown to compliment his steady passing attack. Oregon would climb to the coveted, yet dangerous, top two spot in the BCS rankings with the victory. Unfortunately for the Ducks, that was the high point of this season as an injury to Dixon would later remove him from the lineup, as well as the offensive juice to put together key drives.

Ironically, USC would recover from this loss and the Stanford loss to regain the PAC 10 title. Crazy!

4. Kentucky 43, LSU 37 (3OT) - Those of you who know me know that I am a Penn State fan. This does not mean I am a fan of the Big Ten. I have no problem saying that the SEC is the best conference in college football. How it took me this long to reach an SEC match up in the Top Ten list is mind boggling. The SEC was chock full of action this year but this may be one of the most memorable of the season. LSU entered the game as the number one team in the land. Kentucky was building their own momentum. Kentucky was actually coming off of a loss to Steve Spurrier's South Carolina Gamecocks, but quarterback Andre' Woodson was beginning to receive his own national spotlight, as rival Louisville quarterback Brian Brohm was dropping off the radar. Kentucky pulled off yet another upset in the crazy 2007 season, this time dropping #1 LSU in triple overtime. LSU did all of their scoring in the 2nd and 3rd quarters (except overtime) while Kentucky was steady the entire game, scoring a touchdown in each of the first three quarters, and two field goals in the final quarter. In overtime each team exchanged scores but LSU was stopped on their final play, failing to tie the game.


LSU somehow would go on to clinch the SEC championship and be awarded a slot in the BCS championship game despite having two losses.

#3. Oklahoma 41, Missouri 31 - Before the Big 12 championship game, there was the regular season match up. Missouri was rolling along in their season and Oklahoma was fresh off of their impressive Red River Shootout victory over rival Texas the week before. Missouri was unable to hold on to a fourth quarter lead as Oklahoma put together 18 fourth quarter points to turn a deficit into a ten point victory that would propel Oklahoma back into the national title picture. A couple weeks earlier Oklahoma had lost to Colorado.

Many feel that Missouri would have won if their best running back played and some believe that Missouri handed Oklahoma the game, but in the end you have to do things on your own no matter what. Oklahoma did that at home and held on. The two teams would later have a rematch in the Big 12 championship game, a game in which Oklahoma never let the game get away form them as they clinched the Big 12 title and earned a chance at the national championship, but they instead will play in the Fiesta Bowl against West Virginia.

#2. Arkansas, LSU (3OT) - Hi. Remember LSU? They lost in triple overtime to Kentucky earlier in the season. Well to top that one off they decided to do it one more time, but this time add even more drama to the game.

Instead of just being the #1 team, this time they were the #1 team in a trophy rivalry game. Oh, and a loss could officially eliminate them from BCS national title contention. I know, looking back on that now it seems kind of silly.

Arkansas has a really good running back, one who I thought should have won the Heisman trophy but whatever, in Darren McFadden. This game brought out the best in him. McFadden rushed for 206 yards, three touchdowns, and threw for one touchdown for 24 yards. LSU responded well just about every time but once again could not pull through in the third overtime. After each team scored touchdowns in the first two overtimes, Arkansas scored in the third overtime and converted the required two point conversion. When LSU scored a touchdown, Matt Flynn's pass was intercepted to clinch the game for the Razorbacks and seemingly dismantle LSU's title hopes.

But LSU knew by this time that patience would be a virtue. Much like THE Ohio State I suppose.

And now the number one game of the 2007 season. It should be of little surprise to anyone by now I believe...

#1. Appalachian State 34, Michigan 32- Words can not describe what makes this game so great. Upset of the century? Surprisingly, a lot of people didn't quite feel that way. People were quick to criticize Michigan coach Lloyd Carr and the coaching philosophy. People were also quick to compliment Appalachian State by saying that this wasn't a regular 1-AA team. But the fact was Michigan came into the season as the overwhelming favorite to win the Big Ten and make a run at the BCS championship. Throw out the last two games of last year is what Michigan fans wanted to do; this was their year. Chad Henne was back along with Mike Hart and Mario Manningham. Seniors all over and revenge on their mind. Ohio State was home at the end of the season. Perhaps the Wolverines were looking past not only Appalachian State, but everybody on their schedule towards Ohio State. Appalachian State....really? Make no mistake about it, this was the upset of the year. We didn't know back then in early September what kind of season was about to unfold, but this was definitely the best way to get it all started.

What makes this the number one game of the year is this; everybody around the nation was into it. Scores were being announced all over the country and fans of all schools were cheering, except for the folks in Ann Arbor of course. Teams from the 1AA level had beaten 1A opponents before of course, but Michigan was #5 coming into the season. After the potential game winning field goal was blocked, Michigan fell out of the polls, while some voters clamored for the right to place Appalachian State in the AP Top 25. The game was monumental.

I remember being on the road and listening to the Penn State-Florida International game on the radio when Steve Jones informed me that Appalachian State was leading at halftime. Huh? Interesting, I thought. I knew Michigan would get their act together and put the game away in the second half. I still can not believe I was wrong.

The score makes the game look closer than it really was too as Appalachian State was all over Michigan all day. The spread attack and speed of Appalachian State was just too much for the bigger and slower Michigan defense.



Appalachian State will play for the national championship this Friday against Delaware. Has any team ever played two teams with essentially the same uniforms to begin and end their season? Or how about Michigan? Has any team ever lost to two national championship teams in the same season (Ohio State plays for the BCS championship against LSU)?

Well there you have it folks, my comprehensive, yet brief, Top Ten College Football Games of 2007. With some bowls coming up I do hope that we see some good games to ring in the new year. As we approach the Alamo Bowl I'll be sure to share my thoughts on Penn State's chances (heads up, I am feeling a victory for Joe Pa) and perhaps we will look at the big bowl games and the most intriguing match-ups (hello Fiesta Bowl). In the meantime please, once again, feel free to leave your comments on this list. Did I miss a game? Do you feel a game should ranked higher (or lower)? What was your favorite game of 2007? I look forward to reading your comments.

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I Won the Football Pool

And let me be clear about this. I didn't just win. I was the the 1972 Dolphins of Week 14 in the football pool as I became the first player this year to have a PERFECT pool! I wanted to call myself the New England Patriots of Week 14 but that would have been silly as there were many contenders this week. Everybody went over 100 points this week, which is very rare from what I have seen.

The sweetest part about the whole thing is that I came from behind to beat out my dad for the overall lead. My dad had a really good week, only missing three points total in two games.

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Our Christmas Tree

Here is our Christmas tree for this year! It is a blue spruce.

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Let's go Saints!

If the New Orleans Saints beat the rival Atlanta Falcons tonight on Monday Night Football, I win the football pool! So let's go Saints! If you watch the game, keep an eye out for Falcons #43, Brent Grimes on special teams.

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Six Pack of Picks for the Weekend

Sorry for being late with these, but if I get them in before games start it's legit! So just a quick post this week!

Philadelphia Eagles over New York Giants
Tampa Bay Buccaneers over Houston Texans
New England Patriots over Pittsburgh Steelers
#4 Southern Illinois over #13 Delaware
#7 California (PA) over #8 Valdosta State
#1 Grand Valley State over #5 Northwest Missouri

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Stef's Dad won!

Stef's dad won the WZZO Best Rack Contest I mentioned a couple posts ago. Thanks to anyone who voted.

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Congrats to Dan Connor

Dan Connor, linebacker from Penn State, came up with what many would call an upset last night as he was awarded the Chuck Bedenarik Award for top defensive player in college football. Many believed that Glenn Dorsey, defensive lineman from LSU, was a cinch for the award and James Laurinaitis, linebacker from Ohio State and Big Ten Defensive Player of the Year this season, was a possible second choice. Always seemingly overlooked are the Penn State linebackers though by many in the media, as I felt the case for Connor was.

After Connor received the award I let out a big yell of "YEAH!", to which Stef had instructed me to calm down immediately for fear of disturbing our neighbors. I couldn't help it because I was so proud that a Penn State linebacker received the recognition he deserved. Plus the stumped look on the face of Laurinaitis was cool too.

So, when exactly do they rename the Chuck Bednarik Award in honor of Penn State?

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Job Hunt Status

It has been over a month since I interviewed with LA Weight Loss for a new position they were organizing for their corporate office. The interview went really well and things seemed to be pretty positive. A while passed and all I had heard is that they were still interviewing for the position but even then things seemed slightly positive.

It is now December so I decided to keep in touch and send the two people I interviewed with an e-mail, just to check up and see if the position had been filled. I received a response this afternoon informing me that the position had not been filled, and that now they were re organizing some things and may not even have the position.

How about that? I'm still interested in the job (VERY INTERESTED) so hopefully it is a position they do end up deciding to keep. I know it's perfect for me, I just know it.

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Re Modeling

Now that I am back on Bloggger I find myself messing with the settings again. Please be patient as I rework the layout and such. I know you understand! Thanks!

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Snow Day!

Go out and buy your milk and bread and a bag of salt! It snowed today!

I love how the big story on the news tonight, barring any assassinations of any sort or terrorist attacks, will be the fact that the Philadelphia region received a coating of snow. Make no mistake about it, all of the local news outlets will cover the trace of white stuff for the first ten minutes. One reporter will be in the middle of a town asking people what they think, one person will be by the roads and showing clips of them interviewing drivers and asking about the roads, one video clip will show the salt trucks, and one reporter will be at a grocery store.

People in Buffalo and Denver must laugh at this. Here is how much snow sits outside as I write this:



On this cold, blustery day though I want to share a couple things with you. First off, Joe Paterno's induction speech at the College Hall of Fame from Tuesday. Thanks to Run Up the Score for originally alerting me of this.

And a couple pictures that make me chuckle. these were sitting on my phone for who knows how long.

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Best Rack Contest

As it says on the website, not THAT kind of rack! Just thought I'd throw this plug out there for Stef's dad. If you're reading this then check out the link and send in a vote for Rich Banko (Kintnersville, PA) on WZZO's Best Rack Contest.

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