Secret Santa

I didn't take part in the Secret Santa deal at work this year, primarily because I thought it was best to spend what little available cash I had on my family and a couple friends first, before spending $25 to $30 on one of my co-workers...I wish I would have been able to participate, but at the same time, maybe it's a good thing I didn't, as I probably would have been a bit embarassed to list the following items as my preferred gifts:

1. This DVD set would be my top choice, but if whoever 'got me' didn't mind spending 35 bones, then this set would be a great addition to our DVD library. If money was tight, though, then I'd be happy to start off our collection for this show with the DVD set from its first season...

2. However, if none of the above DVDs worked out, then I really would've liked this sweatshirt

3. Finally, I also would've been happy with something that could help-out in the kitchen, either for breakfast or dinner


On a side note, if money were no object--and we had the space for it--then this would be one of my dream presents, especially if we could somehow get the USA vs. USSR version...

And finally, I really hope nobody got one of these for Christmas...

Bruce Feldman: CFB Insider...

Although I stayed up about an hour later than I had planned last night, I'm glad I was able to post some of my initial thoughts on last night's Alamo Bowl between Michigan and Nebraska, especially after checking out ESPiN this morning...

Among the few writers that I respect at ESPiN, College Football Insider Bruce Feldman is one of my favorites, and after reading his blog this morning, it appears that he and I had some similar issues with last night's Alamo Bowl...

Here are a couple of points that stood out to me:

1) "In last week's list about guys with the most to prove in the bowl games, I had Bill Callahan coming in at No. 8, and last night he and his team really came through against Michigan. Huge win for the program, and it was impressive to see Callahan ride his hot tailback Cory Ross in the second half after Michigan's pass rush just pounded Zach Taylor.

The game was quite a show and was marked by the worst officiating I've seen in a game all season, and by what I thought might be the most bizarre play of the decade, as hopefully you all got to see. Michigan was so close to pulling off the miracle, if only Tyler Ecker would've flipped the ball back to Steve Breaston, Michigan probably wins. Although God forbid what might've transpired had that Sun Belt officiating crew had to have sorted through quite a mess since both teams had come onto the field.

In case you were wondering how so many players, coaches and sideline hangers-on could spill onto the field without realizing the game hadn't actually ended, I'll offer this: watching games from the sideline you often don't have anywhere near as good view of things as you do from the TV. Depth perception isn't good and I figure most just assumed that Mike Hart or Mark Bihl, the Michigan lineman who handled the ball back at the UM 26 were downed. Nobody can make out a whistle in that kind of atmosphere and when a bunch of people see others start celebrating, they just flock in and join along. But, yes, it was still pretty shocking to see.

Anyhow, it was all so surreal. And, if I was a Michigan fan I doubt I would've been able to sleep last night. "


2) "Am I alone in thinking the rules makers really need to fix some replay issues? In last night's Alamo Bowl, Lloyd Carr was essentially forced to burn a timeout so the Sun Belt officiating crew working the game would be inclined to review a Cornhusker touchdown that appeared to be a drop. Carr burned his timeout. The officials ended up overturning the touchdown and Nebraska ended up getting three instead of a touchdown. Michigan, though, doesn't get its timeout back. Later Carr had to burn another timeout to prod a second review. And we all know how much Michigan could've used those timeouts later.

I am 100 percent with the announcers (Mike Tirico and Kirk Herbstreit) who were calling the game about why not review any call that is borderline rather than just hope the next play (often an extra point) isn't hurried to ruin any chances for review. The system is in place. Take advantage of it. These games are four hours anyhow. I think we could stomach four hours AND FIVE MINUTES. Just get it right, please!"

And did anyone else notice?

On the last play of the Alamo Bowl, I'm pretty sure that the Michigan player (Ecker) who had the ball last and was pushed out of bounds was the same guy who caught the ball on the sideline and stayed in bounds on the last play against Ohio State (and thus letting the clock run out)...

It's hard to say what I would have done in his situation--as things were so crazy at that point I don't know if I could think straight--but if he pitches the ball back to Jason Avant behind him, Michigan probably wins that game...

Never thought I'd see the day...

After watching the crazy end of the Alamo Bowl with some friends at a nearby watering hole, I returned home to find something I never thought I'd ever see: a bunch of Ohio State fans complaining that Michigan got robbed...Ohio State fans complain a lot--myself included--but the majority of the fans on the Ohio State message boards thought the Alamo Bowl was one of the poorest officiated games in a long time...

I wouldn't say that it was one of the poorest officiated games ever--as some of the posters felt, but it was pretty bad...I missed some of the second quarter, but managed to catch most of the game and those Sun Belt officials should be embarassed...

On Nebraska's first touchdown drive, one of their running backs clearly fumbled before he was down, but they didn't even review the play and Nebraska would score on a long run a few plays later...

In fact, Michigan had to waste two timeouts in the second half--timeouts they could have used at the end of the game--to get the replay booth to review a couple plays...The first one was the dropped pass in the end zone that led to a Nebraska field goal, which I yelled out was a trap when the play was live...

Oh well, despite the poor officiating, Michigan still blew an 11-point lead in the span of about four minutes...They probably could have put Nebraska away, but didn't, and and it ended up costing them the game...

And finally, just out of curiosity, I tried to check one of Michigan's free message boards, but the moderators shut it down for the night due to the amount of people trying to post...Not only Michigan fans, but also plenty of flamers...

One post I did manage to check out, though, claimed that Lloyd Carr didn't shake Bill Callahan's hand after the game, which is pretty weak in my opinion, even if the Wolverines got hosed on numerous occasions by the refs...

Pineapple Karma with a Twist (Part 1)...

I don't know how many people actually made it through my 'Pineapple Karma' post back in late October, but I ran into Pineapple again tonight for the first time in probably two months...

I used to see Pineapple at the Chevron down the street, but tonight I saw him at the nearby Blockbuster when I went to return 'Kicking and Screaming'...

I'm pretty sure Pineapple immediately recognized me, as--for the first time in my life--a homeless guy asked me, "Where you been?" Actually, maybe it was the second time a homeless guy has asked me that...Anyway, I actually asked him the same thing, as I hadn't seen him at the Chevron for a while or any other places in the neighborhood...

After picking up a copy of 'When Harry Met Sally', I gave Pineapple a buck as I exited the store and we 'caught up' a bit on my way to my car...It was good seeing Pineapple and I think he provided me with a little karma for the second half of the Motor City Bowl..(Hopefully, I can soon provide an explanation of what I'm talking about here...)

Either way, it was nice to hear that Pineapple is still doing well...

Merry Christmas...

Merry Christmas everyone...Oh, and Happy Hanukkah (sp?), too...

Turtle heading...

After taking care of a few posts so far today, I know that I have plenty more to share, yet the latte I just finished is causing me to 'turtle head' a bit...

That being said, I'm gonna try to hold it for a while, but I also wouldn't be surprised if I have to run home soon...

Damnit...A minute late...

For some reason, I've found it necessary to place bets on every bowl game so far, despite only watching about 5 minutes combined so far...

Anyway, I wasn't sure who to pick in tonight's highly anticipated Fort Worth Bowl between the University of Houston and Kansas, but with the line beginning the day at Houston +3, it had gone up to Houston +5 just before game time...In addition the Over/Under began the day at 47, but was up to 50.5 right before kick-off...

Thus, at the last minute, I tried to put $10 on the Under and then an additional $10 on Houston +5...However, my bet on the Under was the only one to make it through...

Given my luck, I should've placed my bet on the line first, considering one of my observations so far in regard to the bowls is that it seems many of the teams have forgotten how to play defense after a few weeks off...That being said, why the f*ck did I take the under in this game?!?

Oh well, Kansas just scored on their first drive of the game and lead 7-0 with over ten minutes to play in the opening quarter...We're definitely off to a great start...

Congrats Papa Eats...

Primarily due to a lack of available cash, as well as some other random issues/concerns, I wasn't able to attend a good friend from college's wedding this past weekend in New Jersey. However, I was able to pick up a copy of the New York Times on Sunday, as one of our mutual friends pointed out that the Sunday edition included a wedding announcement for the happy couple...

Thus, in light of being unable to attend the ceremony, I thought the least I could do was post a copy of the NY Times' wedding announcement for Ethan "Papa Eats" Schultz (pictured above on my right) and his new wife Deborah Bauml:


December 18, 2005

Deborah Bauml and Ethan Schultz

Deborah Bauml, a daughter of Steven Bauml of Maplewood, N.J., and the late Elaine Katz Bauml, was married last evening to Ethan Schultz, the son of Jacky Schultz and Harvey Schultz of Rockville, Md. Rabbi David A. Moss performed the ceremony at Congregation B'nai Tikvah in North Brunswick, N.J.

Mrs. Schultz, 27, is an assistant director of special projects for fund-raising and alumni relations at the University of Pennsylvania, from which she graduated cum laude. Her father is a director of business development for the debt-rating services group at Standard & Poor's, the bond-rating agency. Her mother was a private math tutor who also taught at Manalapan High School and Howell High School, both in New Jersey. The bride is a stepdaughter of Hanna Praport Bauml.

Mr. Schultz, 28, is a law clerk to Judge R. Barclay Surrick of Federal District Court in Philadelphia. He graduated from Rice University and received a law degree from the University of Pennsylvania. His mother is the senior vice president for patient care services at Suburban Hospital in Bethesda, Md. His father retired as a software engineer for Lucent Technologies in Middletown, N.J.

The couple met in elementary school in Manalapan and started dating as students at Manalapan High School, where they appeared as Anna and the king in a school production of "The King and I." After seven years apart, they were reunited in September 2002 by Sandra Van Dyke, their high school drama teacher.

At that time, Mr. Schultz had returned from college to the East Coast to pursue a law degree. He bumped into Ms. Van Dyke at a chance meeting in New Brunswick, and she told him that she was trying to contact Ms. Bauml, who was living in New York.

Ms. Van Dyke and Ms. Bauml eventually met for lunch, and the drama teacher staged a campaign on behalf of Mr. Schultz.

"She said to me, 'Debbie, you have to call him, he's the guy for you, I knew that when you were 14 years old,' " Ms. Bauml recalled.

At first Ms. Bauml resisted, but decided to call three weeks later, beginning the second act of their relationship."

As soon as I started dating Ethan again, I realized that each of the guys I had previously dated were all a little part of him," Ms. Bauml said. "But Ethan was the complete package. He's funny, smart, ambitious, honest and sometimes wild, but always organized."

Jorts...

For reasons that many of you should understand, I think it would be best that I make a quick entry (or maybe not so quick) on what exactly the word "Jorts" means...

Originally, I did not think that defining this term would ever be necessary for my friends out there, yet that all changed last night when I stopped by my parents' house...

As I waited for my dad to get ready to go grab a bite to eat, my mom stopped me to ask what this great word means...However, last night was different than past experiences where my mom has asked me the meaning of other recent slang/pop culture terms--the example that comes to mind first would be the term "bling-bling"--Instead, this time around my mom thought she would ask me if what she thinks the word means is in fact correct...

And no, the word "jorts" does not refer to 'the joy that me (and my fellow law school classmates) now enjoy after not having to study torts anymore this year'...or something like that...

I love you Mom, but that wasn't even close...

In simple terms, the word "jorts" is a 'shorter' (no pun intended...or was it?), easier way to refer to jean-shorts.

Yet, to give you an ever better idea of what the term means, I thought it would be best to post one of the term's definitions (followed by an example of the word used in a sentence) from the urban dictionary, which I've found to be a great website to look up those numerous words that may not have made it into Webster's Dictionary yet:

Jorts

"Jean shorts. Worn mostly by children and douchebags. Jorts are perhaps the easiest way to recognize people you will not like. If you wear jorts, you probably don't talk to girls. The term 'jorts' does not apply to jean shorts worn by black people, as those are entirely acceptable."

The kid next to me was definitely a total dick; he was wearing jorts.


Anyway, it is getting harder and harder these days to find people who will admit to owning a pair of jorts, and--even if you do find such a person--they probably won't admit that they still wear them...

That being said, if you're having trouble finding someone who likes to pimp their jorts, then I would first recommend you take a trip to Oklahoma or Alabama (where they are also commonly referred to as 'boyfriend-pants'), as you should find plenty of jorts-fans there...However, if you don't have the time and/or money to make such a trip, then I'd suggest you check out the local comic-book store or--and this may come as somewhat of a surpise--a nearby law school...

Finally, as I come to the end of this mindless post, I thought I'd leave you with a helpful link in case you ever find yourself battling the urge of throwing on a pair of jorts and hitting the town...If you ever find yourself in such a predicament, then check out this site for a couple tips before you leave the house...

A little time to burn...

Finally, after dealing with three or four weeks of finals, returning to work, sending out holiday greeting cards, and shopping for Christmas presents, I've found a little free time to sit back and write down some of the many random thoughts that have been floating around in my head this last month or so...

Hopefully I will have a chance to post a few times over the next week or so, and if anyone actually stops by this site to check up on me, I hope you enjoy some of what I've got to say...

And, on a side note, Merry Christmas everyone...

Eight Days Later...

It has been quite a while since I’ve posted anything, although I’ve been meaning to for a while now...I actually took my fifth and final exam of the semester last Monday, and I still haven’t found much time to post anything...

The funny thing is that throughout the three weeks of finals–as well as the hectic couple weeks of cramming at the end of the semester–I kept thinking to myself how nice it would be to share some of my thoughts from the nightmare of finals once they were all done...

However, it has now been over a week since finishing up the semester and I still haven’t posted a single thing...Not even a quick paragraph to let everyone know that I’m still alive and doing ok, which I guess would be a fair thing to say...

I guess one of the reasons for my lack of posting anything–despite my new found freedom–would be the fact that I didn’t really want to spend any time in front of a computer or at a desk those first couple days...In addition, after taking my last final on the night of the 12th, I returned to work on the morning of the 14th, just in time for the firm’s holiday luncheon and the bar tab that immediately followed...I also took care of the majority of my annual holiday greeting card mail-out, as I’ve managed to send nearly 185 of the cards so far since picking them up last Tuesday...Finally, I also managed to get off my fat ass to go pick up some Christmas presents for my family...

Thus, despite finishing up the semester and finally have a break from the library, I’ve remained somewhat busy by quickly returning to work, while also trying to catch up with friends in the evenings...So my ability to blog has been somewhat limited even though I was hoping to have much more time to write (and to do so much sooner)...

Well, I hope to post some more by this weekend, as I do have plenty of things to talk about: not only some of my thoughts from my final exams, but also some takes on the world(s) of sports and entertainment, as well as some random thoughts here and there...

With Christmas being on Sunday and most of my holiday cards in the mail, I should have a little more downtime very soon...So please check back over the next week or so if you have a chance...

Either way, Happy Holidays...

Final: Dook 97 Texas 66

Hmmm...Maybe Duke really is the best team in the country...

Either way, I'm glad I didn't make that bet...

As much as I can't stand Dook or Coach K or J.J. Redick, you gotta hand it to them, as they played a great game today, including Redick scoring 41 points (a new career high), including nine 3-pointers...

Despite the blowout loss, I still think Texas is one of the top four or five teams in the country and should make a run at the title in March...

I guess my next 'team of the week' will be UCONN--who will likely be the new #2 team when the next rankings come out--while my favorite team will continue to be: whoever Dook is playing...

Go Texas, Beat Dook

If you couldn't tell, I haven't had a whole lot of time to blog recently due to these damn final exams...Yet, four have now been taken care of, and I only have one left, so I thought I'd drop a quick post...

Despite being almost done, it appears I'm still going to have to miss this afternoon's match-up between Texas and Duke...In fact, I think I'm going to have force myself to spend the next two hours studying somewhere without internet access, because I'm this close to betting on Texas...

The game is being played at the Meadowlands, so I guess you could say its on a neutral court, but I assume more Dook fans will be there...Still, from the little I've seen so far this year, I think Texas is the better team...Thus, I'm having a hard time right now not taking Texas +2.5 points...

If I think Texas is going to win, then I shouldn't even care what the spread is just as long as Texas is the underdog. Yet, this is Dook that we are talking about here--they're on TV more than 'Leave it to Beaver' reruns--so anything can happen...

Basically, I really just hope the refs let these guys play and don' t take over the game, but anytime Dook is involved, you have to take into account that Dook will probably get some cheap fouls, which is why I have to stay away from this bet...The fact that Dook gets so many bordeline and BS calls from the refs probably makes Duke a six or seven point favorite, yet we're only going to get 2.5 points from Vegas...

Well, I hope to catch some of this game during lunch, as it should be a good one...In fact, I might even tivo the game, as I should be able to watch it sometime next week...I just hope that Duke Vitale isn't one of the announcers, as I'm already tired of his act again and its still very early in the season...

Anyway, I just wanted to call my shot now that I think Texas is the better team and should win this game...Yet, that doesn't mean they will win or even cover...Especially since Dook is involved...