Ramblings

Ramblings AFL Pick 'Em

Thursday, February 28, 2008

On the heels of the first ever Ramblings Playoff Fever, I present to you Ramblings Arena Football Pick 'Em. Really simple game here folks and once again I invite everyone reading this to join.

All you have to do is follow these simple steps;

1.) Go to ESPN's AFL Pick 'Em page (click here) and sign up if you do not already have a membership (free).
2.) Check who you want to win each game as well as the score of the last game.
3.) Head to the Ramblings AFL Pick 'Em page (click here) and click "Join this Group".

That's it! The season starts Friday night so get your picks in A.S.A.P.!

Good luck to all!

Correction

Tuesday, February 26, 2008

So a while ago I posted about your chance to vote for the mascot that will grace the cover of NCAA Football 2009 for the Nintendo Wii. Apparently I neglected to place the link you need to vote!

Step 1: Click here.
Step 2: Move the Wii remote cursor to the "Vote Now" bar. Click it.
Step 3: Click on "Big Ten", or if for some reason you feel the need to spite me, any other conference of choice.
Step 4: Click on the Nittany Lion, or if for some reason you feel the need to spite me, any other mascot of choice.
Step 5: Confirm your vote for the one that stands the test.

GO! STATE! BEAT! ALL THE OTHER MASCOTS!

And while we are on the topic if video games, here is the latest edition of Play Value, from ON Networks.

The Return of the Arcade

Ok, time to get ready for work!

Public Notice

To the tenants at 521 Cherry Lane, it is February 26. It's time to take down your Christmas lights.

Nude Pictures!

Wednesday, February 20, 2008

AHEM! That should say "NEW Pictures!" Perverts.

The past 24 hours has been pretty time consuming, with my first jury duty service and a rehearsal for the Philadelphia Soul pre-game festivities in the Spectrum.

I'll post (maybe tomorrow) about my experiences with both, but I wanted to share with you my two new sets on Flickr.

Philadelphia Soul Pregame Festivities Rehearsal

Kevin's Guide to Baking a Cake

It was only a matter of time, right?

Tuesday, February 19, 2008

If you have been keeping track of the latest format war between BluRay and HD-DVD, it should come as no surprise to you that Toshiba has officially annoucned it is ceasing production of HD-DVD units. Toshiba was the last leg HD-DVD had to stand on and with the company out of the picture things are looking good for Sony, who is the brain behind the BR format. Then today Universal announced it was switching over to the BR format.

Paramount; You are next.

I have not yet witnessed either format in person except for whatever may be on display at a Circuit City or Best Buy, but I will say that BR is especially nice while still expensive. With the Playstation 3 being one of the cheapest BR players out there I would expect the PS3 to start making some headway in the console wars as well.

I'm not about to go out and buy any kind of BR player yet. They are still too expensive (as are the discs), but the price should be down enough in time for Christmas if anybody wants me to get a nice gift for me.

Toshiba got Knocked Out!

On an unrelated note, Lehigh Valley Iron Pigs single game tickets go on sale March 1 at 9am, including remaining tickets for the exhibition against the defending National League East Division Champions!

Farewell Mr. President!

A site with a simple idea. Record your personal good bye to President George Bush, and upload it to their site (FarewellMrPresident)! Positive and negative feelings are all over the site from what I have briefly gathered, but this one was one of my favorites from the couple that I did watch.

Why I don't like Fox News #2,924

Saturday, February 16, 2008

At the gym this morning I watched Fox News while ESPN was on a commercial break. It was whatever show they have with Steve Forbes. Now, anyone who knows my news of choice knows I prefer ABC News and CNN and it's not even close. Simply put, Fox News sucks.

Want an example of why? Ok, then read on.

They were talking about the congressional hearing with Roger Clemens from earlier this week. Comments were made about how it was a waste of tax payer's dollars (agreed) and how no progress was made (agreed). Then the genius who is Steve Forbes makes the asinine comment on how if they wanted to get anything done then the commissioner (Bud Selig) and/or the player's union director (Donald Fehr) should have been there and questioned why they weren't there.

I kept working on the elliptical waiting for someone on the morning show panel to point out to Steve that both of those men had in fact been in front of the same committee not once, but twice. Not a single person commented on it.

If this is the kind of research Fox News puts into their programming and opinions, then I will continue to stick with CNN and ABC News for as long as I can foresee. I thought it was outrageous to let Forbes get away with that comment without any remarks from any of the four people by his side or via satellite.

Vote for the Nittany Lion!

Friday, February 15, 2008

As a college football fan, it brings me much pleasure in knowing that EA Sports (It's in the game!) will release NCAA Football 2009 on the Nintendo Wii. Instead of a cover athlete though it appears there will be a mascot gracing the cover instead!

Vote for the one that stands the test. Vote for the stately Nittany Lion, the symbol of our best!

You can vote once per day.

The End of an Era?

Friday, February 08, 2008

This season I discovered The Official Eli Manning Sucks Blog, which ironically is put together by a New York Giants fan. The premise is the blogger recaps the previous game, and answers the same question fo every game; Did Eli Manning Suck? Every week the answer is yes.

However, after checking in on it this morning, just out of curiosity since Manning was named Super Bowl MVP, I wonder if the blog has come to an end?

"The Giants won! As a Giants fan, I could not be happier. Eli still sucks, but since the Giants won the Super Bowl, I'll give Eli a break and quit blogging about him."
The Official Eli Manning Sucks Blog

Please say it ain't so! Yes he had a good game and did win the Super Bowl, but I hope the blog continues in 2008! Perhaps somebody will start a Tony Romo Sucks Blog? Any takers?

Philadelphia Soul Pep Band

Thursday, February 07, 2008

This Saturday I will attend a practice for the Philadelphia Soul of the Arena Football League. This is the first ever attempt to put together a full fledged pep band for an AFL team so the organizers are pretty psyched.

I got word of this through my buddy Mike, of Shenanigans Welcome, who will also be at the first practice. Hopefully it is something we can both participate in. I am excited about it and am already planning on sticking with it for the first season at least.

Not only would I get free admission to each of the Soul's home games (and I would assume some decent seats) in the Wachovia Center, but maybe, just maybe I would get a chance to meet a rock and roll legend.

For those of you who didn't know, the Soul is owned by Jon Bon Jovi.

Ramblings Playoff Fever!

Tuesday, February 05, 2008

With the conclusion of the Super Bowl it is time now to check in on Ramblings Playoff Fever!

I hate to do so but I must congratulate myself for winning the first ever Ramblings Playoff Fever fantasy football pool. But I hope to grow on my success in next year's playoff! While I finished as champion of my own league I actually fared pretty well nationally.

According to ESPN's service I finished with 361 points, which was better than 96.1% of all players in all of the fantasy football leagues they operated. My final ranking, although it seems lowly without realizing how many people played, was 7160.

I also participated in a similar style league on The Sporting News. I finished in second place in my league as I had zero trades left to make before the NFC and AFC championship games. Luckily for me I had just about ALL Patriots and Giants players for my roster spots.

My Favorite Super Bowl Comercials

Monday, February 04, 2008

Here are my favorite commercials from Super Bowl XLII, mostly in order of appearance. You can check out all of the Super Bowl commercials on MySpaceTV.

Who amongst us hasn't been guilty of nodding off and having their head bob back up alertly after dozing off for a second or two? I was a huge fan of the old Roxbury guys skits on Saturday Night Live. I loved this commercial even before seeing Chris Kattan make his appearance at the end.

Joe Buck though, should never dance again. Ever. Never ever. Period.

At first I thought this was reminiscent of the old WAZZUP videos. This next video comes with a disclaimer...

DISCLAIMER: You could put Rocky music to a video of a guy organizing papers and I would enjoy it.

I have seen these T-Mobile commercials with Dwayne Wade and Charles Barkley for a while now and I wondered if Wade would ever make it into Barkley's Top Five. I like Charles. He's funny and he speaks his mind without reservation.

I like Shaq. He's funny and speaks his mind without reservation. That poor horse.

I'm a sucker for these Pixar movies so it should come as no surprise that I can not wait for Wall E. This commercial is Wall E at his purest, from my early take on the little robot who just wants to help and make friends. Throw in Woody and Buzz and this was easily the best commercial for a movie during the Super Bowl.

And finally I come to my favorite commercial of the entire Super Bowl. Whoever wrote this commercial and put it together is a genius in so many ways. This commercial found a way to demonstrate to the viewer that their product is two great traditional themes that are sought after in advertising;

Worth fighting over to get the last one
As timeless as some icons in history

I could watch this commercial over and over again and still get a huge grin on my face. I admit that I did see where it was going as the commercial played out, but the winner in the end was a surprise to me, but there could not have been any greater choice. Behold.

The sad thing is that this commercial will not receive the respect it deserves. Many Coca-Cola commercials get overshadowed by the Bud Lite's and the Pepsi's of the market, but no commercial had as much thought go into it as this one I am sure. The genius of this commercial will go over the heads of so many people it is not even funny. If you know anything about Charlie Brown then you know that he is the last person in the world who should win the battle for the Coke bottle.

But you have to feel good for good old Charlie Brown, huh? This one's for you Chuck!

Barack Obama

I have made my decision and it is to support Barack Obama for president in 2008.

I agree with Mike's opinion that you should get educated and involved with this year's presidential election no matter who you support. Find the candidate that is right for you and cast your vote. This is the most important presidential election I believe I will have voted for, although this is only my third presidential election I can vote in. Wow. Three already for me? Is that right?

Anyway, on Super Bowl Sunday I traveled down to Wilmington with Stef and Sarah for a rally for Democratic candidate Barack Obama. I had already stated I was leaning towards Obama before going to the rally, and after attending the rally I believe I am sold. I won't push my political views on anybody, hence this will be the last time I jot down my endorsement of Obama in my blog. The more important issue in my mind is that people voice their opinions, whatever they are. I encourage everyone to do what is best for them.

Anyway, I took a bunch of pictures at the rally and you can find them on my flickr account in a brand new set; Barack Obama Rally. Enjoy.

And how about the fact that some people put the Obama speech on YouTube already? It is not complete but below are the clips (in order).

Also, maybe I like Obama because he reminds me of the greatest president ever to grace the fictional airwaves of television, David Palmer.

Six Pack of Picks for the Weekend: SUPER BOWL PICK!

Saturday, February 02, 2008

Short and sweet and to the point and in Super Mario Brothers 3 form...

New England Patriots over New York Giants. No doubt in my mind.

NOTE: I forget where I found this graphic.

Lost: Season Premiere Open Thread

Thursday, January 31, 2008

It is here, the season premier of Lost. Tonight starts the fourth season of the show. I know some of you readers enjoy Lost, so here is your chance to discuss it together in my first ever Lost: Open Thread.

So what exactly is an open thread? An open thread is a simple post with little content (usually) and visitors leave their comments and communicate back and forth through the commenting system. Think of a message board, but without the message board I guess.

So feel free to go ahead and leave comments with your thoughts leading up to and after the show tonight. Also feel free to leave links you find interesting in the comments for others to check out. From this point on today, if I feel like posting anything Lost related it will be in the comments section.

Enjoy the show and don't forget to leave a comment before surfing away from here!

Here's a music video to get you in the mood...

Mega Man II: This is the Remix!

Wednesday, January 30, 2008

Mega Man II may be one of my favorite games of all time on the NES, and as such is among my favorite games of all time. The game play, the level design, the characters, and the music all add up to a terrific game.

The music is still great, even with out being updated. If you have played this game then you know the tunes. Well, check these videos out for an updated sound.

Part I

Part II

Happy Birthday LEGO!

Tuesday, January 29, 2008

I spent many hours playing with LEGO and today is LEGO's 50th birthday! Happy birthday LEGO!

LEGO Money in the Snow

Day 162

For a LEGO time line, click here.

Lost: It's like crack, but more addictive

Well, I actually can not honestly back that statement, but that's the feeling I get when it comes to Lost. Stef may be more into the whole phenomena than I am, as is my sister, but I strongly encourage people to get in on this show. The season premiere is Thursday night. Wednesday night the complete two hour season finale from season three (last season) will be broadcast as well. If you have not watched Lost before and want to start doing it, then the best thing for you to do is sit down, and watch the DVD's from seasons one, two, and three (Blu-Ray!) in order.

If for some reason you don't have a flux capicitor (I only have a Mr. Fusion right now...) and are running out of time to do that before Thursday night, then pay attention to this video. It will bring you up to speed on all of the important details. Feel free to leave any questions you have. I will try to respond to them.

In addition I will start up a Lost open thread for any one reading that wants to leave any comments on the show Thursday. Feel free to leave your comments and thoughts on the season premiere. We'll see how it goes. All are welcome to leave their comments.

By the way, only two more days until Lost.

You're Probably Safe

Communist Monopoly

Monday, January 28, 2008

"I collect $200 and distribute it evenly amongst my comrades."

Blog Updates

Just throwing out a post with a couple updates.

Updated "Currently Reading" by replacing Schultz and Peanuts with Playing for Pizza
Switched "Currently Playing" by replacing Super Mario Galaxy with Legend of Zelda: Wind Waker
Updated "Currently Watching" by replacing Prison Break: Season Two with Entourage: Season Two
Updated my VodPod with Vader Sessions, Flying Dude, Internet Party, 58% of French people are dumb, Power Rangers own Pokemon
Started a joint movie review post for Cloverfield and Untraceable, to be published Tuesday
Started laundry

I'm also feeling a little under the weather today, so I hope that when I coughed in front of my new landlord that he didn't catch anything, otherwise the rent may go up. Hopefully he gets sick after signing the new lease!

Oh, and three more days until Lost!

Power Rangers pwn Pokemon

Sunday, January 27, 2008

Maybe it's just me, and that's ok if it is because this is my blog, but this video finds a way to crack me up at the ending. I can't explain why. It just does. And so I share with you...

I must just be a dork, but we all knew that right? Not exactly sure why it would say "yay 4 Jesus" at the end but whatever. And for the record, the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles pwn all.

Also for the record, I hate internet verbiage like "pwn".

You're My Inspiration

Friday, January 25, 2008

This is the fact for today on the good old page-a-day calendar;

Super Mario Brothers: Mario, the Italian-American plumber in dozens of Nintendo video games, was modeled after the landlord of Nintendo's New York offices in the 1970's.

Interesting!

This was too easy

But here are my results.

Are you a true Simpsons fan?

Excellent

You know the simpsons really well

Click Here to Take This Quiz

quiz

Quizzes and Personality Tests

My Lost Podcast answers

Here we are less than a week away form the new season of Lost. Stef informed me of this contest that a Lost podcast holds. Before each season begins there is a list of questions and you guess the answers. At the end of the season, whoever has the most correct answers wins some sort of prize. So here we go. If you want you can copy the questions down and e-mail them to lpcontest@gmail.com if you want. Good luck!

1. Will we find out who is in the coffin? No.
2. Will we find out who Kate had to get back to? No.
3. How many episodes will it take before Locke blows something up? Won't happen.
4. Will Jack kill anyone during season four? No.
5. Will Hurley have a flash forward or flashback in season four? Yes.
6. How many episodes will Danielle appear in? Three.
7. Will Kate kiss anyone other than Sawyer or Jack? No.
8. Who will be the first one Sawyer gives a nickname to?
Jack.
9. Will Juliet and Jack kiss? No.
10. How many episodes will Jin appear in? Eight (all of them).
11. Will we see the four-toed statue? No.
12. Is Kate pregnant? Yes.
13. Who will be the first person to talk to Michael? Walt.
14. Will Sawyer "do the dishes" with anyone that he hasn't done them with already? No.
15. Will Sun have a miscarriage? No.
16. Will we see Boone this season? Yes.
17. How many episodes will Hurley appear in? Eight (all of them)
18. Who will be the first survivor to die? Jin
19. Will Claire and Desmond get romantic? No.
20. Who will be the first person to talk to Walt? Michael.

Flying Dude

Wednesday, January 23, 2008

You will have a hard enough time getting me to jump out of a plane with a parachute. I don't think you will ever find me contemplating doing this...

...although it looks really cool!

James Earl Jones

Tuesday, January 22, 2008

James Earl Jones is one of my favorite actors, and not just because I love Star Wars and I love his voice. I got to see him speak once at Shippensburg University for a minority scholarship fund raising dinner and it was great. He spoke about his experiences growing up and the challenges he had faced on his rise to his fame, and how he now gives back and encourages others to achieve their goals.

I came across this post a few days ago in my Google Reader, from BagofNothing. Again, you should check this site out everyday, or do what I do and add it to your RSS reader. There are many posts per day, but there is usually one or two really good ones to check out.

If you chose not to click the link to BagofNothing, then here is the video that cracked me up.

Why the Packers Lost

Monday, January 21, 2008

Clearly it was not because Eli Manning is Tom Brady and besides the fact that Brett Favre once again threw wild passes in the playoffs, it is simply clear why the Packers lost to the New York Giants yesterday. Just take a look at the stat line for John Kuhn.

0 rushing attempts, 0 rushing yards, 0 touchdowns. o receptions, 0 receiving yards, o touchdowns.

C'mon! The guy had a 3.5 rushing average this season (shut up, I don't care if he only carried it three times total)! Give the ball to Kuhn!

Photo from Packers.com

Conference Championship Predictions

Sunday, January 20, 2008

No time for a full Six Pack this weekend, so just my quick picks...

New England Patriots over San Diego Chargers (I'm rooting for San Diego though)
Green Bay Packers over New York Giants (I hate New York).

Enjoy the games!

Maybe the perspective is different in France

Friday, January 18, 2008

And people thought the education of Americans was struggling.

Are You Kidding Me?

Thursday, January 17, 2008

Bud Selig Given 3-Year Contract Extension Through 2012. Dumb man gets rewarded for ignorance and incompetence. God bless America.

NFL to return to Britain for regular season game in 2008. For Eagles fans, don't worry. I hardly think the NFL would take one of the most successful home teams (we're talking revenue here people) and put them in another country for a "home" game.

On a related note, I believe the Giants should have to play at least one of their home games in another country at some point. When they played in London last season, it was a "home" game for Miami. A few years ago when the New Orleans Saints were displaced from the Super Dome, they played a "home" game against the Giants in Giants Stadium.

And on a side note, it is snowing outside.

Two Days

I write this on Thursday morning, but I want to say that the Wii and the Wi-Fi USB adapter discontinued working together yesterday (Wednesday). It was actually less than 48 hours that it worked flawlessly.

I am so annoyed.

Why Did the Chicken Cross the Road?

Wednesday, January 16, 2008

DR. PHIL :
The problem we have here is that this chicken won't realize that
he must first deal with the problem on 'THIS' side of the road
before it goes after the problem on the 'OTHER SIDE' of the road.
What we need to do is help him realize how stupid he's acting by
not taking on his 'CURRENT' problems before adding 'NEW'
problems.

OPRAH :
Well, I understand that the chicken is having problems, which is
why he wants to cross this road so bad. So instead of having the
chicken learn from his mistakes and take falls, which is a part of
life, I'm going to give this chicken a car so that he can just drive
across the road and not live his life like the rest of the chickens.

GEORGE W. BUSH :
We don't really care why the chicken crossed the road. We just
want to know if the chicken is on our side of the road, or not. The
chicken is either against us, or for us. There is no middle ground
here.

COLIN POWELL :
Now to the left of the screen, you can clearly see the satellite
image of the chicken crossing the road...

ANDERSON COOPER - CNN:
We have reason to believe there is a chicken, but we have not
yet been allowed to have access to the other side of the road.

JOHN KERRY :
Although I voted to let the chicken cross the road, I am now
against it! It was the wrong road to cross, and I was misled
about the chicken's intentions. I am not for it now, and will
remain against it.

NANCY GRACE :
That chicken crossed the road because he's GUILTY! You can
see it in his eyes and the way he walks.

PAT BUCHANAN :
To steal the job of a decent, hardworking American.

MARTHA STEWART :
No one called me to warn me which way that chicken was going.
I had a standing order at the Farmer's Market to sell my eggs
when the price dropped to a certain level. No little bird gave me
any insider information.

DR SEUSS :
Did the chicken cross the road? Did he cross it with a toad? Yes,
the chicken crossed the road, but why it crossed I've not been
told.

ERNEST HEMINGWAY :
To die in the rain. Alone.

GRANDPA :
In my day we didn't ask why the chicken crossed the road.
Somebody told us the chicken crossed the road, and that was
good enough.

BARBARA WALTERS :
Isn't that interesting? In a few moments, we will be listening to
the chicken tell, for the first time, the heart warming story of
how it experienced a serious case of molting, and went on to
accomplish its life long dream of crossing the road.

JOHN LENNON :
Imagine all the chickens in the world crossing roads together,
in peace.

ARISTOTLE :
It is the nature of chickens to cross the road.

BILL GATES :
I have just released eChicken2007, which will not only cross
roads, but will lay eggs, file your important documents, and
balance your check book. Internet Explorer is an integral part
of eChicken This new platform is much more stable and will
never cra...#@&&^(C% ........ reboot.

ALBERT EINSTEIN :
Did the chicken really cross the road, or did the road move
beneath the chicken?

BILL CLINTON :
I did not cross the road with THAT chicken. What is your
definition of chicken?

AL GORE :
I invented the chicken!

COLONEL SANDERS :
Did I miss one?

DICK CHENEY :
Where's my gun?

AL SHARPTON :
Why are all the chickens white? We need some black chickens.

MR. SPOCK :
Did the chicken cross the road? If he crossed the road certainly he had no reason to as a chicken as it would mean expending more effort than the food he would find on the other side could provide the energy for. If he crossed the road.... that can only mean that Colonel Sanders was close behind and closing in on him. Captain- if we can approach Colonel Sanders from the correct approaching angle, we may stop him from strangling the chicken. *looks pensive, then checks Captain*.

PETE ROSE :
I don't know, but I swear I didn't bet on it.

JACK NICHOLSON :
'Cause it (censored) wanted to. That's the (censored) reason.

CAST OF LOST :
Jack Sheppard: I don't know, maybe the chicken was just moving in that direction. Why does it have to mean anything that it crossed the road?
John Locke: The Island demanded that the chicken cross at that moment.
Sawyer: Why are you so interested in the damn chicken, Colonel Sanders? Tired of mangos?
Sayid, calmly: I know more about chickens and the use of them crossing roads than I care to remember. I don't know what is more disturbing. The fact that that chicken has crossed the road, or that it has only three toes.
Early Shannon: Oh my God, why should we care if the chicken crossed the road or not? It has nothing to do with us.
Hugo "Hurley" Reyes: Dude, did you see a chicken come this way?

The Great Scan Project: Update

Tuesday, January 15, 2008

This afternoon I took some time to scan some more photos as part of my Great Scan Project, in which I am digitally archiving all of my old photographs. I was only able to scan about 15 pictures today but that brings my total up to 308 pictures. There is still a long way to go though so who knows when it will be complete.

I wanted to share a couple of my favorites so far with you. None of these are on my Flickr account yet.

This was taken when I went on a road trip out to Pittsburgh with some friends from Shippensburg. We went to see the Pirates take on the LA Dodgers.

Here is a shot of some friends on a band trip to Virginia Beach. Front (from left to right): Mercer, Megan, Aislinn, Eckert. Back row (from left to right): Greg, Carmen, me.

Here is a picture I took in Austria. Because I didn't label where every photo was taken though, it could be from Germany.

I am certain however, that this is Ireland.

Nintendo Wi-Fi USB Connector

Monday, January 14, 2008

I love Nintendo. I hate the Nintendo Wi-Fi USB Connector. Ever since getting it to connect my Wii to the internet it has been on again, off again as far as the connection's stability goes. I don't understand how the Wii and USB connector stop communicating, because each recognize that their Wi-Fi waves are in the air, they just sometimes refuse to communicate 100%. It's like Donovan McNabb and Terrell Owens on the football field; they acknowledge each other, they just don't like each other.

Oh wait, T.O. has always had great relationships with his quarterbacks. Anyway...

Today I will start keeping track of how many days can go by before the Wii and USB Connector stop playing nice for me. Today is Day One.

This kid sums up my frustrations, although in a less mature style of course...

Go Chargers!

Sunday, January 13, 2008

That is all.

Six Pack of Picks for the Weekend: DIVISIONAL PLAYOFF EDITION!!

Friday, January 11, 2008

Brace yourself and go get a snack and a beverage of choice, for this is a traditional Football Friday post with more detail and links galore that are thrown in for your reading and relaxing pleasure. Go ahead, I'll wait!

I'll kill some time (high score: 1406)...

Ok, have your Coke and Frito's? Then carry on.

In the Wild Card weekend of the playoffs I went a respectable 4-2 including a pair of meaningless bowl games. But then I went ahead with the bonehead decision to put my faith in Penn State's Big Ten brother in Ohio, and picked the Ohio State Buckeyes to topple the hometown LSU Tigers in my BCS Championship bonus pick. That terrible decision dropped me to 4-3. For the season I currently sit with a record of 73-44.

And now that bowl season is over let us review all of my bowl game picks this season.

San Diego County Credit Union Bowl: I picked Utah over Navy. CORRECT!
New Orleans Bowl: I picked Memphis over Florida Atlantic. WRONG!
Papajohns.com Bowl: I picked Cincinnati over Southern Mississippi. CORRECT!
New Mexico Bowl: I picked Nevada over New Mexico. Oops. WRONG!
Las Vegas Bowl: I picked BYU over UCLA. CORRECT!
Hawaii Bowl: I picked Boise State over Eastern Carolina. WRONG!
Motor City Bowl: I picked Purdue over Central Michigan. CORRECT!
Holiday Bowl: In picked Texas over Arizona State. CORRECT!
Champs Sports Bowl: I picked Boston College over Michigan State. CORRECT!
Texas Bowl: I picked TCU over Houston. CORRECT!
Emerald Bowl: I picked Oregon State over Maryland. CORRECT!
Meineke Car Care Bowl. I picked UConn over Wake Forest. WRONG!
Liberty Bowl: I picked UCF over Mississippi St. WRONG!
Alamo Bowl: I picked Penn State over Texas A&M. CORRECT! (Of course!)
Independence Bowl: I picked Alabama over Colorado. CORRECT!
Bell Helicopter Armed Forces Bowl: I picked Air Force over California. WRONG!
Humanitarian Bowl: I picked Fresno State over Georgia Tech. CORRECT!
Sun Bowl: I picked South Florida over Oregon. WRONG!
Music City Bowl: I picked Kentucky over Florida State. CORRECT!
Insight Bowl: I picked Indiana over Oklahoma State. WRONG!
Chick-fil-a Bowl: I picked Auburn over Clemson. CORRECT!
Outback Bowl: I picked Wisconsin over Tennessee. WRONG!
Cotton Bowl: I picked Missouri over Arkansas. CORRECT!
Gator Bowl: I picked Virginia over Texas Tech. WRONG!
Capital One Bowl: I picked Florida over Michigan. WRONG!
Rose Bowl: I picked USC over Illinois. CORRECT!
Sugar Bowl: I picked Georgia over Hawaii. CORRECT!
Fiesta Bowl: I picked Oklahoma over West Virginia. WRONG!
Orange Bowl: I picked Virginia Tech over Kansas. WRONG!
International Bowl: I picked Rutgers over Ball State. CORRECT!
GMAC Bowl: I picked Tulsa over Bowling Green. CORRECT!
BCS Championship: I picked Ohio State over LSU. WRONG!

Bowl record: 18-14

Hideous! Embarrassing! Humiliating! On ESPN's College Bowl Mania I ranked #233,938! GASP! That's awful! That is a finish in the 18.94 percentile! Yuck! Let's just move on please, can we?

This weekend's Six Pack of Picks for the Weekend focuses on the NFL's divisional round of playoff action. Some good match-ups here folks.

In the NFC we have the Seattle Seahawks, champions of the NFC West division and victors last week over the Washington Redskins, visiting the Green Bay Packers, who are coming off their first round bye week and are lead by none other than Brett Favre. Do you remember the last time these teams played in the playoffs? The game went to overtime and a young and over confident and excited quarterback Matt Hasselbeck called the coin flip for the Seahawks and said into the ref's microphone, "We want the ball and we're gonna win!" Obviously the Green Bay fans were not happy, but it was Hasselbeck who ended up tossing the game winning touchdown in that overtime. The only problem was Al Harris was the man who scored that touchdown, and he played for the Packers (and he still does). I am on the Packer band wagon in the NFC and I hope, and predict, the Packers will win this game and move on.

In the other game, the New York Giants and the Dallas Cowboys will meet for the first time in the playoffs. There have been 90 plus games between these two rivals but I found it hard to believe this is the first playoff game between the two. A lot of people are predicting the Giants to win this game, much to my chagrin. I find it impossible, as an Eagles fan, to "root" for either of these teams in this game. Therefore, I have no rooting interest. Both teams are evil in my mind. It is a lose-lose for me because I either hear about the heralded quarterbacking of the young gun-slinger Tony Romo or the wonderful evolution of Eli Manning. I either hear about Terrel Owens recovering from injury to help his team win or I get another week of Plaxico Burress thinking he is the man. Tom Coughlin is annoying and I detest all of the Wade Phillips hysteria. We know it doesn't take a genius to win in professional sports (see Terry Francona) so I don't want to hear people proclaim Phillips to be all that until he wins a playoff game, or two. Much is being made about Tony Romo going on a vacation with Jessica Simpson last week too, but I don't buy it. The Cowboys are a better team than the Giants and I think they will pull one more out. I would rather see New York win (assuming Green Bay wins) because I'd like to see the Packers host a conference championship game in the historic "Frozen Tundra" instead of seeing another game in that dump of a stadium in Irving, Texas.

As for the AFC, the unbeatable Patriots play host to what seems to be everybody's newest "Patriot Killer" darling, the Jacksonville Jaguars. The Jags are getting attention and respect because they beat the Steelers in Pittsburgh twice this season. Sure, I picked the Steelers to win in the Wild Car round against the Jaguars, but there is nothing that tells me the Patriots are losing the rest of the season. They are just too good and at this point, they play their best. Everybody continues to point out the weaknesses of the Patriots and some say the Jaguars are just the team to expose them and beat them. Whatever.

The Patriots are at home. They have the edge in just about every category against Jacksonville, with the Jags maybe getting a slight edge at running back, but when was the last time New England needed to rely on their running game at any point this season? As long as Tom Brady is the quarterback and Randy Moss is one of his targets, who cares about a running game? Certainly not the Patriots. They also NEVER sweat or succumb to pressure. And now people think the Jaguars can overtake them this weekend. NO WAY.

Look, I am not a Patriots fan by any stretch of the imagination. If anything I would be ecstatic to see them lose just about any day. While I have no ounce of love for them I do respect history and I would love to see a team go undefeated. The Patriots just so happen to be that team that can pull it off, but alas, one game at a time. They will beat the Jaguars.

Oh yeah, did you know there is a team in Indianapolis? They play pretty well too and rumor has it they just won the Super Bowl last year. I need to confirm my sources because I didn't think anybody outside of Boston won championships lately, but I'll get back to you. The Colts play host to the San Diego Chargers this weekend, and while I'll be rooting for the Chargers, I find it hard to believe that the Colts will lose. This game may be close though and I believe will be a better game than the Pats-Jags match-up.

So let us recap the Six Pack of Picks for the Weekend...

Green Bay Packers over Seattle Seahawks
Dallas Cowboys over New York Giants
New England Patriots over Jacksonville Jaguars
Indianapolis Colts over San Diego Chargers

Wait, that's only four games! Ahh, I hate when college football ends. So, as I have done before, lets throw in some college basketball picks to round out the Six Pack until the NFL season is over.

#17 Villanova over Cincinnati (Saturday)
#5 UCLA over #4 Washington State (Saturday)

Here is my Playoff Fantasy roster for this weekend as well. My salary breaks even at $0.0.

Now THIS was a classic Football Friday post! How I missed them!

New Template

Thursday, January 10, 2008

It's hard for me to sit still with my template. I always want to add something to it. Having said that though, I do believe that this is the template I will be sticking with for a good while. I may mess with the color scheme a little but this template gives me the look and feel I want, plus allows me to add the functionality of the social bookmarking buttons. Does anyone ever use them? Probably not, but they are there for you if you ever need them!

This template comes from Blogger Buster.

On the left you can check out a number of links, including my friends' blogs as well as some of my favorite blogs. The Penn State blogs and Phillies blogs get their own section.

On the right you will find my Facebook and Flickr badges, as well as my Amazon Wish List, in case you ever want to buy me a present or something. Also there is my VodPod, a collection of video clips that will likely be found in this blog somewhere. And finally you can find out what book I am reading, what game I am focusing on playing, as well as what can be found in my DVD player. This year I would like to try and make an effort towards getting back to writing my reviews of books I've read and comment on the DVD's I watch or games I play. So be on the look out for that. I am (finally) almost finished Peanuts and Friends.

My Photos! They're Everywhere!

Wednesday, January 09, 2008

I received a notification the other day stating that one of my photos had been selected for use on a tourist information website. Pretty cool, huh? The photo I took of the St. Petersburg Times Forum in Tampa is being used by Schmap! Here is the photo, and you can click the photo to check out the site itself.
In addition I noticed that The 700 Level has used one of my photos from Eagles training camp for a story they put together for another website. I wasn't asked for permission but I submitted the photo to the Flickr pool for The 700 Level so it's all good. Not like the time I found a photo of myself being used by We Should be GM's.

I Like Free Samples of Cereal

Received this with the newspaper the other day. I like free samples. I wish we got more. The only time as a kid I ever got to have Lucky Charms or Count Chocula or any other marshmallow cereal was when we got the free samples in the mail. It was like a sweet bonus!

Another Job Interview

Tuesday, January 08, 2008

On a day when my dream job popped back up on Careerbuilder once again (I interviewed with them back in early November only to find out they thought about not hiring for the position), I had an interview with a staffing agency that is doing the hiring for this company.

I'm supposed to wait to hear about a second interview with the company itself. I should know by the end of the week. Crossing fingers!

I also resubmitted for the previous job opening as well!

Ramblings National Champion

LSU won the BCS "National" Championship. Appalachian State won the FCS National Championship. Valdosta State won the division two national championship. And University of Wisconsin - Whitewater won the division three national championship.

Seeing as everybody seems to have a different opinion on a national champion on the grand stage that is the Football Bowl Subdivision, ruined by the Bowl Championship Series computers and after witnessing LSU become the first ever two loss BCS champion I figured I'd throw my argument in there as well.

So today, I officially proclaim that the University of Kansas is the first annual Ramblings National Champion!

With a record of 12-1 and capping off the best season in Kansas' history with a victory in the Orange Bowl, I proudly announce Kansas to be national title worthy in this crazy season of college football.

Why Kansas? Well, why not? The "national champion" LSU Tigers had two losses this season. Kansas only had one! ONE! Kansas had a good story all year and was clearly disrespected all season because of their schedule. Of course, had Oklahoma or Texas gone 12-1 with Kansas' record those schools would have been lauded and tauted as national title contenders instead of pretenders, which Kansas was leveled too after losing to Missouri in the final week of the season before conference championships. Never mind the fact that Missouri was the best team in the Big XII conference (I hear you Boomer Sooners, calm down).

Kansas was fortunate enough to still be invited to the Orange Bowl where they dismantled the favored Virginia Tech Hokies. Today they can crown themselves as national champions. It may not be as rewarding (no cash involved, that's for sure), or as prestigious (you won't hear about this on ESPN or Sports Illustrated), but I feel recognition should be given to the team who exhibits the character and sportsmanship that a national title winner should exhibit.

Congratulations Kansas! Your certificate is in the mail.

BCS Thoughts: Part 2

Book it now folks for next year's BCS "national" championship;

Ohio State - 23
Georgia - 34

Following the trend of losing to an SEC school, but continuing to close the gap in the point differential.

BCS Thoughts: Part 1

I hate Ohio State and despite the fact that I picked them to win, I am glad they lost.

That is all for now!

Six Pack of Picks for the Weekend: PLAYOFF EDITION!

Friday, January 04, 2008

That's right folks, the playoffs are here! And with it I bring you the playoff edition of Kevin's Six Pack of Picks for the Weekend! I rebounded last week, going 5-1 with my lone loss being the Colorado-Alabama bowl game. My record going into this final full week for picking stands at 69-41. Not too shabby, but I look forward to stronger 2008 when that time comes.

Tampa Bay Buccaneers over New York Giants
Pittsburgh Steelers over Jacksonville Jaguars
Seattle Seahawks over Washington Redskins
San Diego Chargers over Tennessee Titans
Rutgers over Ball State (International Bowl)
Tulsa over Bowling Green (GMAC Bowl)

Bonus pick in honor of the mythical "national" championship which is the BCS Championship; "THE" #1 Ohio State over #2 LSU.

As for my fantasy playoff roster, here's my lineup for the wild card round;

Quarterbacks: Ben Roethlisburger (Pit) and Jeff Garcia (TB)
Running back: LaDainian Tomlinson (SD) and Fred Taylor (Jac)
Wide receiver: Hines Ward (Pit) and Reggie Williams (Jac)
Tight end: Alex Smith (TB)
Kicker: Josh Brown (Sea)
Defense: Seattle

Enjoy this weekend of football folks!

Happy New Year!

Monday, December 31, 2007

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!

Six Pack of Picks for the Weekend

Friday, December 28, 2007

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!

Merry Christmas!

Monday, December 24, 2007

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!

Ramblings Playoff Fever!

Friday, December 21, 2007

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!

Six Pack of Picks for the Weekend

Thursday, December 20, 2007

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.

Hey Ya Charlie Brown!

Wednesday, December 19, 2007

Play Value

Tuesday, December 18, 2007

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.

Tough Guy Wannabe

Free Online Dating from JustSayHi

Thanks to BagofNothing for the heads up on this.

I saw I Am Legend

Monday, December 17, 2007

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!

Penn State National Champions

Sunday, December 16, 2007

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.

Six Pack of Picks for the Weekend

Saturday, December 15, 2007

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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