Pats - Panthers Running Diary

Did I mention before I am on vacation? Seems like a great time for some preseason NFL running diary, right? right?

8:01 A moment of panic as I couldn't find the channel - the first two were on ABC but luckily we have CBS tonight... as we all know CBS has control of the AFC games, which is great, because they only have one HD truck. I hear they may have gotten one for Flag Day though.

8:05 I have lost control of the "flickie" within the first 4 minutes to my father in law. I suppose it was inevitable..

8:07 ... and I've already lost my first argument with him about a questionable call. Adalieus Thomsas was not guilty of a horsecollar tackle. I suppose he was right as the refs agreed with him, not me.

8:08 Does BB look a little more svelte this year? I suppose his new lady may be wearing him out...

8:09 Jake Delhomme... still full of potential, huh? I think its time to give up on the Panthers. They're not going back to the superbowl. And yes, I may be having a G&T right now. Yup. Yum.

8:11 You know what I always hate about doing these running diaries? They only last for like a quarter. And I've already been informed that the Sox will be on... and as I type this we've just switched over. Well, we'll get periodic updates on Tom and the boys, right? Hopefully. But we'll have a good time making fun of JD Drew.

8:15 Well, the sox went 1-2-3 in the first... and the Pats are still at commercial. I'm guessing they went 3-and-out. One random note - the Carolina cheerleaders are leaving some to be desired after seeing the Pats cheerleaders last week. I mean, if you're into that sort of thing. Not that I'd notice if I were.

8:17 So is it bad that every time I see Tedy Bruschi get hit in Madden, I'm afraid that he's had another stroke? its a good thing they don't build these types of things into the game. It'll only get worse when I'm watching him on Sundays this fall. Hang in there Tedy. Don't get hit too much. Just... take it easy.

8:20 So I missed the first drive, but now Brady has to drive from the 5 yard line. This should be interesting. 6 yard run by Maroney to start...

8:23 Ok, its time to fire Josh McDaniels. Why exactly did they start the game with 7 straight running plays?? Ugh. Amateurs.

8:25 I just took a shower before the game started... and I didn't put boxers on because I figured it was late and I was putting mesh shorts on to go to bed into afterwards anyway... now I'm starting to regret that decision. I know that you really didn't need to, or care to, know that, but now you do.

8:27 And I'm pretty sure McDaniels was fired, because BB just went for it on 4th in his own territory. Eek. But they got it on another rushing play. Ugh.

8:29 Announcer "A" just called Maroney "shifty" for the first time. Superb announcing here. Ugh. (yes, that's three UGHs so far. oh well)

8:31 Announcer "A" just went to the "LOVE HIM LOVE HIM LOVE HIM" about Wes Welker. Wow, I'm enlightened.

8:32 Announcer "A" (again) - "this is a different team since BB made them go fo it on 4th"... yes, they were replaced by the body snatchers. You missed it if you blinked.

8:33 I can't keep up with Announcer "A"... too much stupidity. Just know that I'm annoyed. He was just talking about his dog. blah.

8:35 A nice drive by the pats in the end that ended with Watson dropping one in the endzone... still, real nice work. My man-crush on Brady goes on unabated.

8:38 To the Sox - Schil just gave up a dinger to a guy who apparently talks to his bat in the dugout. Sheesh. I hope he enjoys Tampa Bay next year.

8:42 Its a great thing I don't have the flickie... I just got 3 minutes of ads. AAAGGH! No, I'm not that upset, its really just for a little drama here. Still.. I would say i'm pretty good with a flickie.

8:45 The Pats just blocked a FG attempt... I always love that. I also love when the camera men don't suck. But this is CBS we're talking about.

8:49 More running plays. You know, Tom didn't have any problem "throwing it in there" about 9 1/2 months ago. I'm just saying is all.

8:50 Announcer "A" just said that Sammy Morris's main trait is "versatility". My main trait is doing my best not to maim Announcer "A" (who I am not reasonably sure is Dan Foutes. Shoot me now).

8:54 TD Pats. A nice drive by Brady and the boys. I can't wait for the season to start.

8:58 Well, this isn't my computer... and I may get kicked off it soon. I hope you won't miss me too much if I do...

9:00 I just lost my second argument - I said that Ortiz doesn't swing at the first pitch, even if its a "big fat one" as the father in law said. Well, his next at bat he drove one out... on the first pitch. Oh-for-two.

9:04 I love it when Manny runs. It really reminds me they may actually be able to win it all again. 3-1 (Red) Sox.

9:10 The sox are making quick work of the Chisox again. The pats offense is looking good. I don't have anything significant to say about this, I just like it.

9:14 They just showed McDaniels on the sideline. Apparently he got his job back. Oh well. Gostowski just missed wide-left... something Brady certainly didn't about 9 and 1/2 months ago... ok, ok, I'll stop.

9:19 My rear end is really itchy. I need some boxers. Skin-on-mesh shorts-on-leather doesn't feel great. This could all be cleared up if someone would just get me another G&T!!!!

9:21 Well, that wraps up the first half. Are you impressed that I made it this far? Its a good warm-up for a regular season game. Of course, the problem with that is that I usually am pacing a little too much during a regular season game. Oh well.

9:32 I was going to take half-time off, but the Sox are just piling it on. I love it, I really do. Could this be the year they manage to win the division? They didn't blow up (yet) in August, and they are the best team in baseball, by record, really, things are looking good. Still, let's not get too comfortable. In fact, lets just enjoy the 8 run lead.

9:39 Ok, sorry I've been gone for a bit... but like the white knight entering the dragon's den, i just snuck across the living room to get the remote back...

9:41 ...but he woke up and took it back from me. I don't know what just happened there... but it was something. I think the Patriots had some sort of scoring type play. Oh well.

9:45 I'm not the first person to mention this... but how cool is it that I can sit here, watch the stats for the Pats and Sox, including the speed of Schil's pitches, the temperature and wind direction in North Carolina, et. al., while typing and watching the games on TV? I love it. Were we all just really, really bored before we had these capabilities, or did we talk to each other more? I can't remember.

9:48. Meghan just informed me I might want to remove the 8:25 item. Eh, if you know me, you can live with it. If you don't know me, I'm kind of scared you're still reading this.

9:55 We're stuck on the Sox right now, which is sort of disappointing, as there's no reason to watch a 9-1 game. But just in case you are bored, here's a descent way to kill a good 20 minutes. Come on, you know you want to.



9:57 Another blocked FG. hehe. Sweet. Did you enjoy a little thumb wars???
I'm a puppet!!

10:04 Fourth and real short on the Panthers 1 yard line. I'm pleading with BB to go for it...

10:05 TOUCHDOWN! Ok, maybe the preseason doesn't require all caps... oh well. That was a SWEET play. Cassel botched the snap from Center, it popped up in the air, he caught it and flicked it to Evans who punched it through. What a chippy play. I love it. Long. TUP. Am I missing any fun catch phrases?

10:09 Meghan and I are the last two awake. Do I have the remote? No. Is my bum still itchy? Yes. But at least the last channel that was flickied was the Pats...

10:10 I'd like to point out that its near the end of the 3rd quarter, and I'm still going. I know, I know. Thank you. Also, I'd like to point out that if my father were here, he would have just made a joke - I don't know how it would have gone, but Nick Goings just ran the ball, and it would have had to do something with "coming and Goings"... I feel unconfortable just thinking about it.

10:16 Well, I was tagged by Meghan. I don't really know what this means, and I don't usually go for these back-door schenanigans, but I'll give it a try. I won't use my real real middle name either (though it does deal with a semi-famous wood worker)...

Obligatory Rules, Copy and put in your post.You post the meme rules before you start listing the facts of the darn meme. For each letter of your middle name, list a fact/statement relevant to you and/or your life, in some way. Alright? If you don’t have a middle name, pick one.Next, it’s your world, make up your own rules for the rest of this one and tag people accordingly .

E dward is Tom Brady's middle name. No, you shouldn't find this creepy.
D own was the first song I ever heard by 311. I like 311. And rocks. And trucks. Yay manly stuff.
W ay Away is my favorite song off the Madden 04 soundtrack. Yes, I need help.
A is the grade that I get in all my classed, cause I'm a wicked smah-tie. Yup, I went there.
R on... Ron... Ron Weasley!
D -Fense. D-Fense. D-Fense. Go Pats!

Vallone, you are the only other person I know that could have made it this far on a stupid Patriots post. You've been tagged. Whatever that means.

10:35 For those of you keeping score at home, the last twenty minutes have consisted of the following: The remote is back in the sleeping dragon's den, and the Sox are on. Oh well. Meghan and I have switched places and now I have her laptop and the comfy seat, while she has gone to bed. And she managed to leave two comments on this (now rather lengthy) post, see below. And I can't tell you how the pats are doing... Oh well. It was good to see them do well tonight, really, the 3rd preseason game is the most important to win anyway.

10:43 Well, the sox are still on. I think getting it back on the Pats is hopeless at this point. I guess its time to pack it in. I hope you enjoyed your night, whatever you were doing (even if it wasn't blogging for 3 hours), and also enjoyed this post. I'm off to bed with my mysterious girl-friend-on-the-side.

Random Thoughts While Ghost Authoring JD Drew's Autobiography "JD Drew: The Two Out Rally Ends Here"

I'm on vacation. You need to know this, and be prepared for the fact that my mind, for the first time in 14 months, isn't on work, or school... for the next 11 days. You may actually get more than one post from me during this time... but don't hold your breath...

Meghan got me a Garmin GPS for my birthday. This is excellent. It took us 58 minutes to get to 18 Partridge Ln from the Westgate mall, at an average speed for 58 mph and a max speed of 79. I love knowing that. I'm very impressed an really excited about it! It would come in handy for vacation... if only we were going somewhere. But who can complain about knowing where your going when where you're going is the Cape, and the weather is perfect down here? Yeah, I'm happy. Did I mention I am on vacation?

Oh, and I got Madden too... way, way better than last year. I may have brought my 360 down just to play it. Not that that's necessary... but I'm just sayin'... I mean, I'm on vacation, right? So its cool. In fact, you're lucky I'm writing now instead of playing (although even though I'm 26 (eek... 26...) there's still a no-TV-while-the-sun-is-up rule in the O'Brien household... which I break liberally for the Red Sox, et al.

So I'm sitting in the back yard at the O'Briens. Perfect weather, in the shade, with the wireless going, sitting in an adirondack chair with a dc and Rhapsody playing. Laney would be proud, I'm playing a Rhapsody recommended playlist, specifically the one for: Rap/Hip-Hop --> Southern Rap/Hip-Hop --> ATL. Yeah, its pretty ghetto... but its fab. You know why? Because it is WAY better than work. Way, way, way better.

I'm not yet sold on this year's Madden soundtrack. I know, you probably don't understand this statement. But ever since the summer I moved to Manch and moved in with Laney and Vallone, the Madden soundtrack has been an integral part of my musical interests. That summer I was working for Autofair, so I had a lot of random weekdays off, or half days, and I played Madden more then than probably any other time in my life. It was GREAT. And back then you were able to play all sorts of drills while the soundtrack played in the background. So I heard all of the songs from Madden 04 about 5,000 times. It was probably the most influential soundtrack on my life since the American Pie soundtrack (don't ask...).

Even to this day I still have all of the songs from that year on my IPod and listen to them more than just about any other playlist. And each year I download all of the new songs and add them, but not since Madden 04 has a game had that good a soundtrack. Last year had a particularly depressing dearth of good songs, and this year seemed like a complete washout, however I'm starting to come around on a few (it really takes about 20 hours of messing with the rosters and other settings instead of playing the actual games to really "get" the sound for that years soundtrack).

So far I'm really big on Brother Ali's Watcha' Got. I don't usually like the the rap as much as the rock they have on the soundtrack, but each year I usually find one that I really really love. I'll break into the rock eventually.

The problem of course is this: this year I don't have to tinker with the roster. The Patriots are rediculously stacked. Its even worse in Madden than in real life, but either way you look at it, they are unbelievable this year.

Ok, well, I'm sure that's enough "fake" football for now, but I may still subject you to more later.

But on the subject of music (I'm starting to think this is a little less "random thoughts", a little more "my (correct) opinions on music), I'm really starting to wonder what's happening to my tastes in music.

Maybe Meghan is having a greater effect on me than I thought, but I'm really starting to like (new) country. This is one of the reasons I love Rhapsody, btw, becuase of the detail they go into for genres - I'm now on the Country --> Coutry Pop/Cosmopolitan --> New Country playlist. That's right... I'm listening to an all country playlist, and liking it.

But what is country these days? I was never (ever) a big fan of country until recently. But the new stuff is pretty good. Its less annoying than most pop music, and less loud than most of the rock that I like. It makes for a pleasant ride to the Cape, or Keene, or wherever we may go. Its easy to listen to while blogging. Ok, I'll just face the facts - I don't even know who I am anymore.

I have to say, as you may have guessed, this vacation thing is GREAT. I haven't thought about work at all today (though I did just text my boss, just in case they need my passwords for anything). But after working 50-60 hour weeks recently, I have to wonder what the people that will be doing my work will think:

a) wow, he does a really crappy job and covers it up real well... until he leaves and it all falls apart
or
b) wow, he does a really good job of holding this crap together
I hope its the second part. I really think it is at any rate.
But I'm not supposed to be thinking about that right now...

Well, I think I need to go purge that thought of work with a nice Gin and Tonic and a little sox and preseason pats.

Welcome to my vacation everyone. It's gonna be a fun, hazy ride.

The Maddenoliday

Well, today is the maddenoliday, and sadly I don't have my copy. I'm still very much on my football kick (the 360 has been overworked with NCAA 08 recently) - I'm so ready for the start of the season, I'm probably going to be sick of it by week two... or not.

Anyway, I've been accused (by Meghan) of not updating (often, ever, at all; you get the point). I'm actually constantly brainstorming ideas to keep you entertained, however there always seems to be a mitigating factor (and when facing a lack of a mitigating factor, I just defer to laziness). Well here is an update, and though I may not have 6-pack abs, I'll give you a 12-pack of cold, hard refreshment from your daily grind:

1. My twin turns 26 on Saturday - an early happy birthday to you Val!

2. This graphic is great - that is if you're interested in finding out how quickly the water comes at you after your header off the Tobin. Still we can cling to hope... a four game lead is better than a no-game lead... http://www.boston.com/news/multimedia/Whats_wrong_with_the_Red_Sox/

3. Great ad - I'd never seen it until recently, you may have seen it, but if you haven't, I won't ruin it.



4. Just in case you don't care about the Sox, or much else about sports (what kind of bizarre human being are you anyway??), but are still thinking about finding a reason to run yourself through with Ian's marine sword, listen into WEEI and/or watch NESN on Thursday and Friday for the Jimmy Fund Radio-Telethon. After about 7 seconds you'll want to kill yourself... that is after you donate your life's savings to them.
http://weei.com/pages/681493.php?

5. Two words: "Oh Yeah"... too bad it gets cut off at the end, but you get the idea.



Always classic... I'll probably get in trouble for that. But just in case I didn't:

5a.



6. And if I'm not already in enough trouble, Meghan really hates this ad. They play it before every movie we go see, and it drives her insane. For what its worth, I'm not about to go sign up either, but I've been thinking a lot recently about our men and women abroad. Even if this ad drives me a little crazy, it makes me think that I'm pretty lucky to be sitting in a stadium seating movie theater - I don't always buy into the argument that our armed forces are protecting our "rights" to freedom - but if they're taking the fight to terrorists abroad, then it should hopefully make us feel safer here. Taking two and a half minutes to remember that once in a while isn't such a bad thing. Doing it more often would be better.




(Plus, the music absolutely kicks ass. I may have listened to it 5 times while typing this.)

7. And on a FAR less serious note (yes, I'm completely switching gears here), I just about completely fell out of my seat when I watched this-




8. Hmmmm... Facebook. Interesting. We'll see. (lets see me keep up with my blog first).

9. Did I mention I was pumped for football? I think I did. If you don't have time for anything else, make time for this. You'll be ready too.




10. I would post a video of Giada here, really, just because I can, and because I don't think I'd get that many arguments... but I know I'd get one. And I'm in enough trouble as it is.
However it does bring me to my one rant of the night: the television. I promise I won't ramble long, but:
1) Why doesn't Comcast carry the NFL Network? I know, I know, its money. But still. I have unbridled anger at this, I'm just keeping it in until the day we're blacked out of a Pats game because of it.
2) Comcast can screw.
3) Why can't the Food Network have a decent programming lineup on its HD channel? Is it that hard? Just stop showing the same episode of Barefoot Contessa 30 times a day.
4) Comcast can really, really screw.
5) When are the rest of the HD channels coming? This is starting to get annoying. I don't need the weather channel HD, fyi. Let's work on this.

11. I would be remiss if I didn't mention Madden at least once more, as it and Giada are plotting my imminent divorce. Bill Simmons most recent podcast is basically just 50 minutes of him talking about video game football with his buddy. Most likely the best train ride I've ever had to work. I can't wait to get the game... Saturday can't come soon enough!

And yes, I'm completely comfortable turning 26 and being excited about a video game. If this makes you uncomfortable, I'm sorry.

12. Red Sox 2, Devil Rays 1. Batlimore 12, NYY 0. Step away from the ledge. Good night everyone.