Congrats Texans...

A few weeks ago the Houston Chronicle had just run the headline “0-4 Crying Out Loud” in reference to the Texans' fourth straight loss to start the season, prompting me to take a look at the Texans’ remaining schedule...I also checked out the remaining opponents that my alma mater—Rice University—would be facing, as the Owls were winless at the time, as well…After a brief look at their respective schedules, it appeared that both teams had a small chance of going winless in 2005, but that there were some winnable games left for the Texans and Owls...

The biggest question remaining was which Houston team was going to win first?

Well, the first winnable game on the Texans’ remaining schedule was yesterday, and I just wanted to congratulate the boys on a job well done…Its comforting to know that the Texans won’t be the league’s first ever 0-16 team…

At the same time, I hope the Texans don’t win too many more games, as it is pretty much a lock at this point that the Texans will miss the playoffs and the team needs a lot of help on both sides of the ball...Bascially, I hope the Texans can get one of the top two picks in next year’s draft, which would allow them to select Matt Leinart or Reggie Bush…

Looking ahead after yesterday's big win over the (Trent-Dilfer-led) Cleveland Browns, the Texans hit the road for 4 of their next 6 games, likely setting up the "Showdown in H-Town" on December 18th, as the Texans will host the Arizona Cardinals with the #1 pick in next year's draft likely on the line...

Rice, on the other hand, lost number 7 on the season and their 13th in a row, falling to UTEP by 7 points despite being a 20-point ‘dog at home (well, at least that’s how many points I needed the Miners to win by)…However, there were a couple positives to take away from this game, as the Owls never quit despite being down by 18 at the half, and it was the first time this season Rice lost by less than double-digits...

Anyway, the Owls hit the road this weekend against SMU, and if the Owls fail to crack the 'W-column' in Dallas, then hopefully a fired-up ‘Homecoming 2005’ crowd will be the Owls’ 12th Man the following weekend and help bring home a win over Tulane…If Rice fails to overcome the Green Wave, then they must win at home against the University of Central Florida or 'on the road' (technically) against the University of Houston in the season finale for the Owls to avoid their first winless season since 1988...

Unfortunately for Rice, however, college football recruiting doesn’t work the same way as the NFL draft and the Owls don’t have any sort of top pick to lose…errrrrr…to play for…All Rice can look forward to at this point is a fresh start…That and baseball season is only three months away…

Roll Owls…

An Apology...

I would like to issue a quick apology to anyone who actually read all or any of my entry on karma below, as it was a bunch of rambling-on—a ‘stream of consciousness’ primarily—most of which I did in class on Tuesday…However, after suffering through Game 3 on Tuesday night, I really didn’t want to ‘finish’ it up, if there ever was an actual end in sight…Basically, I tried to add a couple things at the end and then posted damn thing, not even bothering to take a couple minutes to proofread it…I felt that I’d written too much not to post anything, but at the same time, I just wanted to move on and put that headache behind me…

Pineapple Karma...

I’ve seen a couple episodes of the new show “My Name is Earl,” and it is my understanding that the main character (played by Jason Lee of Chasing Amy and Mallrats fame) is trying to improve his karma by trying to right some past wrongs…

I think this show is ok, one of the better new shows given what else the networks have had to offer recently, so I’ve seen a couple episodes, or at least parts of them…

Anyway, the real reason I’ve brought this show up is that I’m a firm believer in karma…I’m also a strong believer in my faith, and I guess I’m pretty superstitious at times, too…but basically I think that it doesn’t hurt to try to do some things that would be viewed by most as ‘good’—while at the same time trying to right past wrongs whenever the opportunity presents itself—in an attempt to show your appreciation for the ‘good’ in your life now or perhaps even later…I guess some people might consider this ‘paying forward’…

I’m sure there are numerous definitions of karma—as I think this could vary from person to person—and some people even think they provide their own sort of karma, such as Jim Rome’s claim that athletes and coaches get some ‘Jungle Karma’ from appearing on his show…

Either way, no matter what you think karma really is, and no matter how seriously you take it, I believer in it, or at least I believe in my understanding of it…

Anyway, one person who I thought was in need of some good karma recently was Morgan Ensberg, so when a friend of mine told me he was coming on the Jim Rome show last Thursday, I had to listen. Anyway, I thought he could really benefit from some ‘Jungle Karma,’ as he had been struggling from the plate recently and I at this point I think anything could help…

Just a few days earlier in the week—after Ensberg continued to struggle at the plate in the NLCS—I decided to do some research on Ensberg’s recent perfomance at the plate, especially since I couldn’t sleep that night considering Albert Pujols had temporarily postponed the Astros’ trip to the World Series earlier that evening…

Now, I know that Ensberg had been hit in the hand during September, which led him to miss 10 games, but still I don’t think anyone expected him to struggle this much…Ensberg hit 36 homeruns during the regular season, which came out to one out of every 14.6 at-bats…However, as of last Monday night, his last homerun was on September 20, giving him 1 homerun out of his last 75 at-bats, and only 2 out of his last 93…

Thus, I was hoping Ensberg would get some good karma from the Rome show as the Astros headed into the World Series, and I thought I could help along the way…

After the Astros clinched the NL Pennant last Wednesday night, I went out for a few beers after the game, but nothing too crazy….Anyway, on my way home, I stopped for gas and while at the station, a homeless guy asked me if I had any spare change…Given the fact I had two or three dollars in change in my car—and since I was in such a good mood after the Astros win that night—I thought it wouldn’t hurt to give this guy a little money, so I gave $1.34 in change…

I didn’t think much of this until I ran into this same guy a couple nights later…I’d had a relaxing Friday evening checking out a band, and was looking forward to a good weekend of sports on TV…The weather was really nice, although it was beginning to get a little chilly out, so when I saw this guy again I gave him a couple bucks to make sure he could get some coffee and some food…

As I was leaving, he asked me which way I was heading, as he was hoping I could him a ride home…I told him I was heading south to Peden (for those of you Houstonians, this is taking place at the Chevron on the corner of Montrose and West Dallas). However, I was interested to see where ‘home’ was for this guy, considering the fact that he was homeless. Anyway, he told me that his girlfriend was sleeping in a house under construction down the street on West Dallas, and since I knew where he was talking about and wasn’t making something up, I thought it would be ok to give him a ride…

Before we got in the car, though, I wanted to make sure he wasn’t going to try anything crazy, so when I asked, he said no and that I have nothing to worry about because he believes in karma, which was the best thing he could have said in my humble opinion…I told him I was a fan of karma, too, and at that point, I felt it was fine to give him a ride, even if looking back it doesn’t seem like the smartest move…

Everything was fine, though, and when I dropped him off we shook hands and he thanked me…He then asked me what my name was, in case we ever crossed paths again, and I told him that my name was Tobin, but a lot my friends call me Scooter…He then said that he thought Tobin was a powerful name—at least more than Scooter—before telling me his name was Brent, but his friends call him Pineapple...

Anyway, I thought maybe with all the random variables involved over the last few days, I thought maybe the Astros—and specifically Ensberg—would have some good karma heading into Game 1, yet Roger Clemens could only pitch two innings and Ensberg was unable drive in Willy Taveras on two occasions when the Astros faced a one-run deficit near the end of the game, before losing 5-3…

After it was clear to me that there just wasn’t enough karma there to help Ensberg and the rest of the Astros out, I decided to tell a couple friends from law school when we went out that night about my conversation with Pineapple from the night before…

Then on my way home that night, I decided to stop by the Chevron to see if Pineapple was there, and to make sure he and his girl were doing alright, which they were…He then told me how his bag was stolen earlier that day, but he found it that night with nothing missing, as the thief was probably just looking to see if there was any money or valuables in there, which there weren’t…I then gave him another buck and went on my way, telling him I probably check back on him the following weekend…

Anyway, when Ensberg homered on the first pitch he saw in Game 2, I thought that maybe this karma thing was working out, and I even text-messaged the friends that I talked to about Pineapple the night before…

However, apparently I was mistaken about the presence of any karma here, or at least much karma, as whatever I thought we had wasn’t enough…and it has continued to not be enough throughout this series, as the Astros continue to struggle...

I really don’t know what the purpose of this entry is; it really just started out as some random thoughts I took down in class yesterday, and I guess my tendency to ramble-on took over and here we are…All I know is that as it turns out, maybe I really don’t have a solid grasp on what karma really is and what all it consists of and can pertain to…

Thus, as I pledge to try to gain a better understanding of what karma really is, for the benefit of the whole world, I think the best thing to do here would be to refrain from writing anything else in this entry and just move on...

Scrap Iron...

I have plenty of thoughts to share on the last few days of being an Astros fan, but in case anyone actually reads this blog, I quickly wanted to point out this article that CNNSI's Tom Verducci posted this morning on Phil Garner.

More like Borophyll...

"Lights out Lidge?"

More like "Leave it Over the Plate Lidge"...

It hasn't been the best week for Brad Lidge, but I was confident in having him in there for the bottom of the ninth last night and really thought the Astros could get a couple innings out of him after not using him for almost a week...

Oh well, hopefully he can bounce back from these last two outings and dominate out of the pen once again...If not, then the World Series won't likely be heading back to Chicago...

Burger King...

After seeing numerous commercials over the first two rounds of playoffs, I’m still trying to decide what I am more frightened of: the Burger King guy from the BK commercials or BK’s Meatnormous sandwich? I’ve put quite a bit of thought into this question, and I think I’m gonna have to go with Burger King guy being more frightening than the sandwich…The deciding factor for me probably was the commercial where Burger King guy shows up in the woods right after that lumberjack cuts down a tree…For some reason, that commercial freaks me out…I definitely wouldn’t be smiling like that lumberjack when the king showed up out of the blue, no matter if he was offering me a free sandwich or not…or anything else free for that matter...

Another factor that helped me reach a decision was the fact that I attempted to eat 3 Sausage McMuffins with Egg and two hash browns in one sitting on my recent trip to New York. Since I almost made it—I think I passed out during number 3—I think I could handle a Meatnormous sandwich…I’m just not sure if I want to…

Thus (or should I be saying ‘In Conclusion?’), I think I’m more frightened of the Burger King guy than the Meatnormous sandwich…

By the way, if I found myself in a similar situation to that lumberjack in the commercial, I would have bounced immediately and not taken a breakfast sandwich from the freak who just showed up out of the blue in the middle of the woods…However—despite my average to above average speed for a man of my age, in my humble opinion, of course, and the below-average shape I’m in—I wonder if I would be able to get away from the king if he were to give chase, as he apparently has some talent…Well, at least he’s played a little DB and WR in the NFL, and has pretty good hands and enough speed to not get caught behind on a pick-six… Plus, he has the hops to dunk a football over the goalpost and he clearly can hold his own when it comes to logrolling…

How Witty...

Did anyone else get a kick out of the witty headings Fox used for its in-game player features during Game 4 of the NLCS yesterday? Here are some of my favorites:

"A Wolf in Lamb's Clothing" (Pointing out Mike Lamb's recent success at the plate over his last five or six playoff games)

"You can Adam Up" (Listing the career highs that Adam Everett experienced at the plate this past season)

"Funky Cold Molinas" (Pointing out that three of the Molina brothers were currently active in the postseason, with Tone Loc's 'Funky Cold Medina' playing in the background, no less...)

"Supp Special" (Pronounced 'soup,' of course, and describing Jeff Suppan's contributions to the Cardinals' pitching staff this past season)

"Playing with Sand" (Describing the impact on the Cardinals' offense with and without Reggie Sanders in the line-up)

Maybe I got a kick out of this because I'm always trying to come up with witty titles to my blogs...Or maybe I'm a freak and this only stood out to me...All I ask is that Fox keeps up the good work...

Now hopefully the Astros can close out the series tonight, and provide me a huge reason to continue to watch Fox's coverage of the 2005 MLB playoffs...

Say it Ain't So...

Just saw this headline while checking out another article online:

"Sylveste Stallone entering ring again for Rocky VI"

According to the article, Stallone will reprise his role in the sixth Rocky film, titled Rocky Balboa, playing the Philadelphia boxer who is lured out of a long retirement to fight a championship bout while dealing with personal tragedy outside the ring.

In a statement, the 59-year-old Stallone said, "Rocky Balboa is about everybody who feels they want to participate in the race of life, rather than be a bystander. You're never too old to climb a mountain, if that's your desire."

MGM President Dan Taylor added that he was convinced that "a whole new generation of filmgoers (is) ready to be introduced" to Rocky Balboa and his life in and out of the ring.


Umm, are you sure about that?

On the other hand, I think Rocky V was one of the most unintentionally funny movies I've ever seen--a topic which could be discussed in many future blogs--so maybe I should actually be excited about this one...

Headline News...

This past summer I was outraged when I saw the following headline on the Houston Chronicle website: "Johansson told to keep her clothes on." I immediately clicked the link, and the article discussed how 20-year-old Scarlett Johansson had to be persuaded by director Michael Bay to keep her underwear on while filming a love scene for last summer's flop "The Island." Bay told reporters that while discussing the scene in her trailer, Johansson told him, "I'm not wearing this cheap ... bra. I'm going naked," to which Bay responded, "It's PG-13, you have to wear the bra."

Since then, I've been paying a lot more attention to headlines on the 'net, and for some reason or another, many of them stand out to me...For example, I saw this headline on ESPN.com just the other day:

"Romanowski reveals steroid use, fingers Conte"

This article immediatley stood out to me, and not because it was stating the obvious that Bill Romanowski used steroids. Almost immediately after clicking on the link, however, the reason for my surprise was quickly laid to rest, as the first paragraph reveals that Conte is a dude...

Anyway, I tend to come across interesting headlines (well, interesting to me, that is...) on the internet quite often--every day or two it seems--so hopefully I can share some more of them in the near future...


[By the way, in case you were wondering where I got the above quotes, I searched the Chroncile archives for the original headline, but could no longer find it. Instead, the article is now accompanied by the following: "Actress would rather have bared all in film." Now, wouldn't you have clicked on that link, too?]

Waiting...

Last Monday, while watching part of some special on USA regarding Monday Night RAW’s return to the network (On a side note, I don’t watch wrestling anymore, but there were a lot of highlights from when I watched every week), there was a commercial for the upcoming film “Waiting,” which I hope to check out soon. It is my understanding that the movie is about the employees of a restaurant modeled after a Bennigan's (called Shenanigan's in the movie) and their day-to-day hijinx. The dude who played Van Wilder is in it, returning to comedies after doing the Amityville Horror film last summer, as well as Anna Faris who was the main character (Cindy Campbell) in the Scary Movie films…Thus, in my opinion, we're off to a good start…

Anyway, at the beginning of the commercial, the ‘voice-over-er’/narrator said, “This weekend, make reservations for a comedy for anyone who’s ever eaten or worked in a restaurant…”

Huh?!? I had to rewind that commercial a few times to make sure I heard it correctly, and then immediately wrote that down…

Now, wouldn’t such a statement apply to almost the entire (U.S.) population?!? I immediately started thinking about all my friends who’ve worked at a restaurant before—as well as the one time I did—yet, upon review (or a couple reviews), I realized that we are talking about the entire country here…not the part about anyone who’s ever worked in a restaurant. But wouldn’t it be safe to say that almost the entire population has eaten at a restaurant before? At least once?!?

After quickly estimating that probably half of my friends have worked in a restaurant at some point in their lives—and it could have been more if a couple restaurants didn’t have a drug test—I then tried to think of any situation where someone could say that they have never eaten at a restaurant…

I’m sure we could find someone…depending on factors such as what qualifies as a restaurant (does it have to be sit-down, does fast food count, do grocery stores with a deli count, etc.) or if there should be a minimum age for our search (obviously many babies probably haven’t eaten at a restaurant, yet) or if the Amish count (although I thought I saw some Amish people at Cracker Barrel once)…

Either way, I’m sure we could find a few people that this movie is not perfect for…Yet, if the dude on the commercial is right, then 99% of the population should make reservations for this film…

Regardless of the ‘minor’ issue I had with this commercial—as well as the fact that I’m sure I can already predict more than a few of the jokes, especially after catching the rest of the commercial—I am looking forward to seeing it soon…Perhaps I can even post a brief recap of what I thought of it in a future blog...

I easily forget...

Something that bothers me when it comes to this blog is that for some reason I think that I have to write a novel every time I post. I easily forget that there are no length or word requirements to blog. It seems like a write quite a few e-mails a day at a minimum, and I’m not even sure if anything positive comes from most of them…

Plus, I easily forget that just one or two paragraphs is plenty when it comes to this page, as once you get past four or five paragraphs, it is probably too long…Thus, hopefully I can blog some more quick, random thoughts from time to time, maybe posting something rather than sending one of my meaningless e-mails…Starting today…