Friends, let me introduce you to my new favorite television show, Connect with English.

Yes, Connect with English is an instructional television show for speakers of English as a Second Language.  Yes, there exist workbooks you can order, and you can order the whole series on VHS for free if you are a ESL teacher.  For the rest of us, it’s shown on “Boston Kids and Family Television,” a random public access/PBS channel on my cable system.  For my Rochestarian readers, “Boston Kids and Family Television” is the equivalent of City 12 – your premium outlet for second and third run reject PBS shows (like the Mexican cooking show with the woman who used to scrape Teflon skillets with metal spatulas that my mother was obsessed with when pregnant with my baby brother back in the mid-1990s.)

Chris and I randomly started watching Connect with English a few months ago because the Bruins game we were watching was in an intermission, and instead of using the on-screen cable guide, Chris actually decided to channel surf (a concept that is so dying out with the invention of the on screen cable guide.)  We stopped on Connect with English because it was showing random 1990s scenes of Boston, and for some reason, we became intrigued.

Rebecca, the lead character of Connect with English

Connect with English is about Rebecca, a older twenty-something South Boston woman who works at Bell Worldwide Information Systems in 1997 Boston, who has (in my opinion) misguided aspirations to become a musician.  She lives with her old timey Irish father and her bad boy little brother.  She has a loser boyfriend who thinks she’s an idiot, a sassy girlfriend in an abusive relationship, and she wears over-sized 1990s Red Sox jerseys in her horrible adult softball leagues.  It glorifies every mid-1990s South Boston stereotype so well, you’d think it was Mystic River.

As one could probably surmise, this woman eventually moves to California (in reality, a sunny Brighton, MA – in fact, a few scenes were shot two blocks down from my apartment) to attend music school.  Her Irish dad doesn’t like it.  Her boyfriend and her break up.  Her brother doesn’t care.  While out in California, she gets involved in a love triangle between two brothers, one of which is played by a mid-1990s-freshly-married-to-Kelly-Ripa Mark Consuelos! (And I’ve explained my slight Kelly Ripa obsession before – I’m just enjoying her success because my Nana isn’t alive to.)

The show is entertaining for so many reasons.  One, the acting is pretty bad, and the singing is even worse.  The fake songs are so corny that you want to cry listening to them.  Chris likes to point out random scenes of Boston semi-landmarks that no longer exist (like Bell Worldwide Information Systems.)  The love triangle is so far-fetched, but yet, you get so into it (like when I saw two episodes out of order and realized that the opera tickets that Mark Consuelos’s character gives to Rebecca were actually free, and that he didn’t go out of his way to get them – oh snap!  How un-genuine of him, passing them off as special! Everyone in his office got them!)  It is almost like the producers threw the ESL teachers a bone and created a somewhat unpredictable love triangle with nuances that new English speakers won’t pick up on just to entertain them.  And there are so many funny comments and wisecracks you can make while watching the show with another person, that you never want the show to end.  We have come to calling it ESL Theatre 3000, after the long departed Mystery Science Theatre 3000, because making inane comments throughout the show makes the show.  Take the time Rebecca and one of the brothers spends Christmas together – let’s just say the episode is comedy gold for the double entendres you can come up with!

Heck, Connect with English is a good twenty times funnier than any actual sitcom on broadcast or cable television today.  It’s predictable, slightly nuts, somewhat cheesy – but gosh darn it, it’s good, old fashioned 1990s middle-of-the-roadness, and there just isn’t enough of that in 2008.  Why watch the misbehaving teens of Gossip Girl when you can watch the really poorly acted romantic angst of Connect with English instead?

Connect with English is on every weeknight from 8-9pm on Comcast channel 22, Boston Kids and Family. If you search hard enough, you’ll probably find it on other PBS or random public access stations as well.

————–

Given that my blog is about sports, I must make mention that the NFL season begins tomorrow, and I am not in any way prepared.  I did some horribly mediocre fantasy drafts, have already had to dismantle my DB/DLs in my league with individual defensive players, and can make no educated Super Bowl predictions.  I chalk this up completely to my work schedule, although I can not use that as a crutch.  I have approximately 19 hours in which to turn this around.  I have 19 hours in which to cram for the 2008 NFL Season.  Wonderful. Maybe I’ll keep WGR on in the office tomorrow and try to learn from a non-Brady-centric point of view.  I may not know what’s going on across the league, but I can most certainly tell you every single thing you ever wanted to know about Tom “Pretty Boy” Brady’s feet, thanks to the mostly clueless fan base and sports media here in Boston.

I will say this, however – Tom Brady will not have a lights out year.  Randy Moss won’t either.  I have made this prediction since June, and I am standing by it – one of them will be injured and will miss at least one regular season start this season.  Every great QB-WR combo eventually runs into injury problems, and I think this will be the season for either Brady or Moss to run into trouble. Both are too old not to run into such problems.

I am worried about the Bills, since they are still without holdout Jason Peters, Trent Edwards has that nagging knee bruise, and they are hinging their special teams cart to a somewhat inexpeiernced long snapper in Ryan Neill.  But their win two weeks ago over the Colts was encouraging – I know it was the preseason, and I know it doesn’t count, and I know they were all second, third, fourth stringers – but they had so much more guts and paid so much more attention on every facet of their game than Indy did.  Maybe it’s a sign of things to come.  Maybe I’m getting my hopes up too much.

In my Bills related rant of the week, I must bring to everyone’s attention that the Bills-Seahawks game, a Fox 1pm game, is not being shown in Massachusetts.  See, Fox would rather show NOTHING in Massachusetts than show the Bills-Seahawks game or any of the other three matchups they are broadcasting at 1pm.   I know these games compete with the Pats-Chiefs duel, but sheesh – that game may have blow-out written all over it, and you would then get viewers turning over to another game.  Then you would want a NFC 1pm game on.  I never understood the need not to show double header action on every station every Sunday.  Football is football, and I, along with thousands of other Americans, will watch football regardless of what team is playing.  I don’t want the tired and annoying Pats to be my only option.

*********

8:33PM Tony Kornheiser is dissing the Bills like its no tomorrow. “I went to school in Binghamton,” he posts a map of New York State, “and even I didn’t care about Buffalo.” The Triple Cities just turned on you, Mr. Kornehiser. I might recommend not coming back for the Bracketbuster ESPN2 game in February.

8:37PM Suzy Kolber. I wish I was you. I have wished I was you since I was 11. I’m 25, and I still wish I was you. Darn it.

8:39PM Thanks for making Buffalo look like the blue collar depressed former industrial time it is. We couldn’t spruce it up for the video? Have I mentioned that the Bills haven’t played a home Monday night game in my little brother’s lifetime until tonight? He was born a month and a day after their last home Monday Night game. Craziness.

8:43PM See, again, the Bills offensive line gives Edwards much more time.

8:44PM How awesome was that fake punt!? I heart the Bills special teams. Bobby April is a genius, and Marv Levy’s love of special teams is always clear in his teams. Steve Tasker, Don Beebe, Steve Christie, Chris Mohr — you can name tons of great Bills players on special teams.

8:47PM Gotta love that all the Bills have is special teams.

8:50PM Checking my Blackberry almost distracted me from seeing that crazy interception. Who was Romo throwing to? The great punt by Moorman definitely helped that.

8:55PM At what point do I take a picture of the screen because it’s the only time the Bills will lead tonight?

8:59PM Two interceptions in 87 seconds? What is going on with Romo?

9:03PM my late dinner of leftover buffalo wings from Grille Zone (the closest thing to real you can get in Boston) and Wegmans Cream Soda was just prepared during that time out.

9:04PM way to take the wind out of our sails, cowboys. And how did the Cowboys fans get up to Buffalo?

9:06PM Delay of game, Cowboys. By the way, warmed up buffalo wings — not so hot. I guess that’s what blue cheese is for.

9:10PM Suzy definitely thought it was going to be colder — she’s outfitted in a trench coat and turtleneck. It’s 70 degrees.

9:12PM I wish Roscoe Parrish was more consistent, or better yet, had a more consistent quarterback (which is currently being developed.) He has the ability to be a great fantasy WR. I like him better than Lee Evans. Parrish fights for the ball — Evans used to.

9:17PM To pay a little bit of attention to that game that the rest of Boston is paying attention to — it’s Indians 4, Yankees 1. I’m surprised to see “A. Rodriguez struck out looking,” starting off the last Yankees inning at bat. What’s going on with him? Not that I have a problem with the Yankees losing, but to have such a decrease in production like A-Rod’s had as of late is concerning – is there an injury no one knows of?

9:21PM I don’t like T.O., but this “no spiking the ball” rule is like the NFL equivalent of Buzz Killington, the Family Guy character. “Let me tell you a story about a bridge.” On a related note, I would bet money that my father just thought, “That’s for all of those unfair calls against the Bills in Super Bowl XXVIII! HA!”

9:24PM I think AT&T maybe ought to stop running this Roger Clemens commercial, where he asks his wife if he can come back for another season, and the call is dropped. It might not be that funny anymore after what has gone down in New York the last two days.

9:40PM I love fakes that are so good that the cameraman is faked. Now, Edwards’s fake in the red zone wasn’t fantastic, and it resulted in only a field goal, but it’s always fun when the cameraman is faked.

9:45PM Can you believe this?! Romo’s pass on about the Cowboys 10 was just deflected and intercepted by Chris Kelsay and returned shortly for a touchdown. I’m surprised B The Bills were ranked 32nd on defense coming into today? How? Are we sure about that? Miami wasn’t ranked below them?

10:10PM Wait – Steve Young is in Western New York for the first time since 1999? WHY AM I NOT THERE?!

10:15PM In all of his various Hall of Fame related public appearances, Thurman Thomas has been overwhelmingly gracious and classy. They just showed him being recognized at halftime, and he expressed such gratefulness that is refreshing in athletes in 2007. Maybe I’m just jaded.

10:17PM The ESPn first half stats just confirmed my estimation that the Bills are winning the time of posession battle for the first time in like…forever. At least, since I was a freshman in college.

10:19PM A neighbor’s smoke alarm keeps going off — it regularly does, so I’m not overwhelmingly paniked — and my cat subsequently keeps freaking out.

10:20PM Don’t challenge if Julius Jones’ knee is down — it’s obviously a loss of a time out that the Bills are so going to need later. This is especially true because Trent Edwards seems to keep having trouble hearing calls through his headset, and a pumped Buffalo crowd will not continue to help him in this regard.

10:21PM Oh, that call worked out for the Bills. Again, my dad is probably muttering at the television back in Rochester, “That was for 1994…that was for 1994.”

10:24PM I heart the number of Binghamton references being made this evening. It’s helpful for me in the long run — I hopefully won’t get that many quizzical looks when I tell people where I went to college because of it. “Western New York gets a bad rap.” says Jaws. Very true, very true.

10:28PM Terrell Owens has always suffered from the dropsies like he has tonight. See the 1997-98 San Francisco 49ers. See especially the 1998 Packers-Niners divisional series. Is Owens’ talent worth the chance? At what point do you determine this? When are teams going to stop taking this chance?

10:35PM I always get jeers for picking Terrence McGee in my fantasy football league that involves picking individual defensive players. For the past three years, the guys in my league laugh at me for that pick. And for the last three years, I have cleaned up defensively. See again, right now — Terrence MeGee, 103 yard return for a touchdown. By the way, my defense in that league is very good — Ray Lewis, McGee, London Fletcher Baker, Mario Williams, Ike Hillard. Too bad my offense in that league stinks.

10:41PM First mention of Kevin Everett by the commentators tonight with 7:25 left in the 3rd quarter. Wow, I expected one much earlier than this.

10:42PM In baseball news, the Yankees-Indians game is still going — it’s in the bottom of the seventh. That game began a hour before this football game did. This is why I prefer football. Baseball is slow and can take forever. Football does have its game length problems, but at least it’s almost constant action. Gosh, do the Yankees ever play a game with a duration under three hours?

10:59PM I almost don’t want to watch the rest of this game. I would like to recall it with this eleven point lead that I have a inkling won’t stay that much for long.

11:14PM Turnover number five. Between last week against the Jets and tonight, the Bills can’t be last in defense anymore. And I would like to argue they weren’t horrendous defensively before that — they were worse than St. Louis and Miami? Really? I’ve seen four games of theirs now, and listened to the fifth on the radio, and I would like to dispute this supposed #32 ranking in defense.

11:19PM First specifically Rochester reference of the night, regarding the regionalization of the Bills franchise and the number of season ticket holders from the area.

11:20PM Marshawn Lynch has excellent tumbling ability, as evidenced by that backward roll after his most recent run. He should be a gymnast — or not. (Yes, I taught toddler tumbling in a prior life, thus why I just made such an inane comment.)

11:23PM That’s it — I’m turning back to the baseball game. After that interception of Edwards, I can’t watch this game anymore. Darn.

11:25PM I couldn’t stay away — I’m not a baseball fan, who am I kidding, I’m just a glutton for punishment — and I see a tail end of the fifth Tony Romo interception off the evening, this time by DiGiorgio, leading Kornheiser to announce, “It’s not pizza, it’s DiGiorgio.” However, I’m a Bills fan — it’s not over and I’m still pessimistic.

11:29PM I just watched a Sportscenter game break about Jake Delhomme – how could all those fantasy football experts be right in saying before the season not to draft him? Are they psychic? I mean, I know they claimed “loss of production expected” as the reason not to draft them, but were they just afraid to disclose their injury psychic abilities?

11:36PM I’m officially scared and don’t want to watch this game anymore — it’s going downhill fast. Baseball? I’ll switch to baseball.

11:37PM Ewww, Yankees home run in the bottom of the ninth. I’ll turn back.

11:45PM Yeah, I really shouldn’t have turned back.

11:46PM I honestly muted the television and covered my eyes with the last two plays. But did I expect such a defeating, horrible loss? Of course. I’m a fan of the Bills. I came back to the Bills after two years of Patriots fandom because I like to be depressed and I like rooting for the underdog. So at least they scared the Cowboys and we all had a good time while they did so. Well, except for those who had money on this game. I don’t think they had a good time. No, they probably didn’t.

I am a largely forgiving, relatively shy, and calm person. In other words, besides the rare occasion when someone makes the oh-so-incorrect claim that Joe Montana was a massively better quarterback than Steve Young to my face, I do not get overly angry.

However, Sir or Madam, I am angry at you. For some reason, you decided to venture onto the rooftop of my apartment building last night. Maybe it was to smoke up. Maybe it was to look at the eclipse event that was going to occur later on. Maybe it was because you were so drunk you opened a door you incorrectly thought was your own. For whatever reason, you opened the roof door, and triggered the fire alarm.

The piercing, screeching, louder than my little sister’s scream when she was 1.5 and had a massively bad ear infection, fire alarm.

Normally, I could have let this go, chalked it up to the bad luck I was having that day, and let bygones be bygones. However:

1. Since my first grade music teacher, Mr. Donmoyer, scared the musical talent out of me by telling our class that if we didn’t pay attention to fire drills, “we would all die,” a little bit of that six year old me horror has lived with me everyday.
2. Then, a week after my 25th birthday, some homeless drug addict set fire to my apartment building right under my bathroom.
3. And in the previously mentioned fire, my cat, who somehow survived the fire and subsequent complete destruction of my apartment unit by the Boston Fire Department in fighting the fire, became justly skittish and scared to high heaven everytime a fire alarm, smoke alarm, or siren is heard.

Therefore, Mr. or Ms. 6th floor Neighbor, I can not really let this one go.

See, because the alarm went off, I went to grab my cat to carry her outside with me. She was flipping out and yowling and proceded to scratch me in four places (one from each paw) as she jumped out of my arms to scurry under my bed, since that’s where she hid in our January fire. We eventually got outside, where we waited for the firefighters to look around the building and make the determination that there was no fire, just some idiot opening the door to the roof, and that we could all go back inside.

That’s not the worst part.

No, the worst part was that Mr. Firefighter could not turn off the fire alarm. A few of my neighbors called our management company to ask them to hurry over and shut the alarm off, which they did.

At approximately 1am.

So thank you, Mr. or Mrs. 6th Floor Neighbor, for an hour of unnecessary piercing alarming that drove my cat to hide under my bed and yowl in fear, and that kept me up when I desperately wanted to sleep after working a 14 hour day. I would love to thank you personally for causing this sequence of events — however, I doubt you’ll ever step forward and collect the thanks.

I wish you all the best in your future endevors. With best regards,

Sincerely,

Katherine

********

I guess the only redeeming portion of the above mentioned fire alarm was that because of the insomnia that it produced, I got to watch Michael Vick’s apology broadcast in its entirety on ESPN three times. I can’t believe how misguided one person could be to engage in such an activity as dogfighting, but especially because Vick had been given every chance not to be misguided since entering the NFL. In Vick’s early NFL years, the Falcons brought in retired quarterbacks, most notebly (well, to me) Steve Young, to mentor him on the field, and I imagine off the field as well. I think, tragically, Vick became caught up in the interests of his “entourage” and decended into this type of illegal activity. However, his apology was either extremely sincere or he has the best PR firm ever, and I believe it was worth the fuss it received.

I doubt Vick will ever play football again, not nesscarily solely because of what he did (unfortunately) but because he never lived up to expectations as a quarterback, does not work well with any offensive coordinator or coach he has ever been given, and because I believe the era of the running quarterback has come to an end. (Donovan McNabb is forced to run less because of injury, yes, but also because the most productive quarterbacks against today’s defenses are tall-ish Montana types like Brady and Manning – even if McNabb had never been injury prone, he would have been forced to change his rushing ways.)

On a related note, the Vick situation has led me to believe that fantasy football magazines are a waste of money, since the one I bought two weeks ago reccomends drafting Vick in the sixth or seventh rounds, Corey Dillion in the tenth round, and waiting to see if Trent Green keeps his starting job over Damon Huard in Kansas City (great googely mooglely) before picking either one of the two. Really, peeps, come on now. Why do I fall for this trap? Because I’m too lazy to print out the Yahoo rankings myself to read on the T? And, on another related note, why did I feel woefully inadequate when I did read my fantasy football magazine on the T next to people reading actual books? I mean, at one point, I was reading the magazine in the elbowing vicinity of two riders reading The Kite Runner. I felt both sets of eyes lift up from their texts at one point to silently judge me. Really, I read non-sports good-for-you socially acceptable tombs of literature or non-fiction on occassion. Just not now.

Just wait till I bring my new Buffalo Bills 2007 Media Guide onto the T. Ooh, I can hear the smirks already.

Hmmm…

(insert daydream music here)

Katherine’s Resume

Objective: To become head coach or general manager of the San Francisco 49ers, everyone’s favorite downtrodden NFL franchise.

Education:

Boston University

Ed.M in Higher Education Administration, Expected May 2005

Binghamton University

B.A. in History, Minor in Art History, May 2004

Ithaca College

Studied Sports Information and Communication, 2000-2001

Experience:

Yahoo Fantasy Football Leagues August 2004-Janurary 2005

Finished 4 in both a 10 member and 12 member leagues, had the smart idea to pick up Brandon Stokley and Jerome Bettis just on a hunch, rode McNabb and a WR not to be named because you had problems with him to a very good regular season record until said WR had to go and hurt his freaken ankle.

Steve Young Fan January 1993-Present

Spent my formative teenage years obsessing over your former quarterback, at one point could recite his QB rating per year, what the formula was for the QB rating, and could tell you how many rushing yards he had cumulative to 1994, could also tell you when he graduated from law school, and often corrected people who thought he had brown eyes, not blue. Has taught me to be more tolerant of Republicans and to embrace Michael Irvin for the idiot he is. I can also pretty much name the entire roster of your 1994-95 Super Bowl team due to Steve Young’s inclusion on it. (Example: Off the top of my head, I can tell you the QB roster, which was Young, Elvis Gerbac, and Bill Musgrave, and can note that Doug Brien, the now embattled Jets kicker, was the kicker for said team, and that John Taylor was still on the team at that point, oh and that Brent Jones too went to BYU law, and that I often got him and Harris Barton confused, and that Steve Wallace wore a double helmet. I could go on, but I’ll spare you the memories of your glory years.)

Mountainview Housing Office Pick The Winners Regular Season Champion Fall 2003

Kicked everyone in the office’s butt when it came to picking a select number of games per week.

Extracurricular Activities:

Recreational Madden 2003 player (although I’ll admit my favourite facets of the game are the field goal training camp drills and playing the 1994 Niners versus the 1995 Niners on automatic mode. Oh, and switching Steve Young to being a Buffalo Bill.)

Requesting Salary:

$29,000 per year

(see, I’m cheap!)

(end daydream)

….see? I think I’m well qualified for what they’re willing to pay. I mean, hire me, save money, and then maybe they could use the rest to sign actual players who might make the cut on some AFC teams (some, not all. No need to get unrealistic for the rebuilding process here.)

I’m not saying that the hiring of Nolan is a farce. I mean, I did draft the Ravens defense in like the third round of the MCFFLOAT this year. Me, the non-defense girl, took a defense early. I mean, that speaks volumes about Nolan’s previous work.

However, here’s my problem, and it reflects my all-offense-all-the-time-girliness: Out of the three facets of the Niners, I feel the offense needs the most work. In the NFC, the Niners defense finished 12^th, while the offense finished 13^th (surprising, isn’t it? Worst team in the league, yet they are not the worst team statistically in the NFC…). However, in they finished -17 in take/give aways, meaning the Niners’ QB’s were intercepted 18 times, their players fumbled 16, all while their defense was on par or better with the Vikings and Packers (two playoff teams, by the way) in total takeaways (passes they intercepted and the fumbles they forced that resulted in a Niner procession.) The rushing and receiving statistics are pretty dismal. However, I mean, this is a team that held the Patriots to 7 points in a half, and a team that was able to shut down the Cardinals twice. I need to look at more statistics, but take those short ones and then add on that the most significant veterans they have are on defense, and that that side of the ball was put together by Jim Mora Jr. (who really isn’t a jr.) before he fled for Vick-land. They need to address the offense more than they need to do anything else, and while I recognize the oft-contended point that just because a coach is previously a defensive coordinator, doesn’t mean they will be a defensive minded head coach, I just think that a guy with such a heavy defensive background like Nolan isn’t the best guy for them. They need someone better rounded. I don’t know who they should have hired, but there has to be someone out there who would be able to address both sides of the ball effectively. But really, if the offense doesn’t improve, all the defense in the world isn’t going to help you much (i.e. the Ravens non-existent playoff appearance this season). And I don’t know if drafting a QB is the answer either. I mean, they have totally young QBs in their stable now, and no strong offensive coaching staff to develop them, and no effective offensive line to protect them. Even if you had Matt Leinart (who didn’t declare anyway), even all his USC magic would not go far if he was open to sacks like the Cask and Flagon to a Red Sox post-victory crowd.

I could go on and on. I just feel that they settled with Nolan because 1) his dad was a Niners’ coach in the 70s and 2) he’s going to be able to be paid less than say, Romeo Crennel or Jim Fassel. And that’s the bottom line with the York ownership: cheapness.

Urgh.

***

This week was the first week of classes at Boston University for the spring semester, meaning my winter break is officially over. Thus, the break of massive reading has ended. I ended up reading five books (Moneyball, False Start: How the New Browns Were Set Up to Fail, Committed: Tales of a Fantasy Football Junkie, Hockey in Rochester, and He’s Just Not Into You) and starting a sixth (Faithful). Here are my Winter Break O’ Reading Awards:

Best: (tie) Committed and Moneyball. Both astounding books: Moneyball for having so many of those lightbulb moments for me, because I am behind in understanding baseball as well as I do football or hockey, and Committed for making me laugh hystarically while also making me realize that not only are there war weirder people than me out there, but there women who have seriously taken up fantasy football up there with the hardcore bar regulars.

Most Whiney: False Start. Hands down, one of the most annoying books I’ve ever read. I was that close to finishing it, but I had to take a break because the constant talking in the second person (“You guys feel like the NFL cheated you? They did cheat you! You are miserable because the NFL is evil. Carmen Policy and you are not friends!”) Like, dude, I know people in Cleveland are miserable, but gosh, can you make less annoying arguments as to why the Browns had no control over their suckiness?

Most Degrading: He’s Just Not Into You. I’m glad to know that I, as a women, have to sit around and not take control of my own romantic life and wait around forever for any guys to ever show an interest in me, and then turn 75% of those guys who do show an interest in me down because they don’t bring me flowers every 5 seconds and/or want to spend time with their family or friends at some points. I’m also glad to know that despite how this book came about, men and women should not be friends, especially not men and women who used to date each other. Bull. Sure, there are some valid points to be learned through this book for the large majority of girls, like “get over a guy real quick once he breaks up with you, and don’t stalk them and/or call him up multiple times bawling.” But yo, I already knew that. I mean, I am Miss Queen of Successful Breakups. Basically I hate this book because it’s all about being passive, and the only active you take is dumping or rejecting guys. Last I checked, successful people weren’t successful because they were passive in life.

Best Pictures and Least Interesting to Anyone Who Is Not Me: Hockey in Rochester. Well, I’ll admit, unlike what I had thought before I got it for my birthday, it’s mainly a picture book. But a good one. The author racked tons of archives to trace hockey’s development and history in Rochester, which is pretty darn significant considering it’s all we do as Western New Yorkers. Very informative captions, but unfortunately only one Jean-Luc Grand-Pierre sighting, which is in the corner of a picture about one of the Amerks goalies. Sigh…how can they overlook the best looking Amerk of all time?!

If It Was Released Any Other Year, No One Would Buy It: Faithful. This is the first Stephen King book I’ve ever read. It’s also pointless if you don’t like the Red Sox and would be pointless had the Red Sox not won the World Series this year. However, I enjoy it, and will be fitting it in around my schoolwork.

And Best Movie of Break (okay, I know these are book awards, but I had to throw it in here): In Good Company. Awesome movie. Definitely worth all the hype that I had built up for myself after seeing the preview a few months back.

***

I was in the first day of my Distance Education course the other day, and the professor mentioned, “…the needs of adult learners, such as yourselves…”

I looked around the room, and began the following internal conversation: “Sure, they’re all adults in this class…wait. Does he think I’m an adult? No, I’m not. I’m 23. I’m still a…oh wait. I’m 23. I’m an adult. No, I can’t be. Nope, I think I’m an adult. Oh my gosh, I’m an adult. A grown up. I’m not a kid. I may still look like one, but nope, definitely an adult.”

That was the most depressing moment, like, ever.

If nothing, I exude consistency.

What screwed me over was the following combination of circumstances: 1) The Eagles wrapped up the NFC like sixteen years ago, and decided that Owens’ injury was their wakeup call to rest McNabb. 2) I have little access to crucial sports information in Rochester. Mind you, the Democrat and Chronicle is a fine…well, acceptable…okay, rather Bills-and-minor-league-hockey-centric newspaper. Not the best source for info. I have little internet access at home, seeing that my parents can’t take care of their iMac and still think dial-up AOL is the cutting edge of internet access. I was online once during my five days at home, for all of a half hour, and I got on all of two websites during that half hour. In addition, I didn’t get to watch a lot of ESPN or other sports related TV. So I had to set my lineups with Thursday’s info, and hope that it would carry me through.

Therefore, I lost both match-ups.

(I would insert a picture of me pouting about this here, but I don’t have a digital camera.)

However, despite this ending disappointment, I have to say that fantasy football is totally awesome, and I can not wait till next year! Thanks to everyone who played and were always there to trade and give advice. My two commissioners were fantastic as well, and I learned a lot from both of them. Thanks for finally giving me the chance to play!

Unfortunately, this week is fantasy-less, and that’s kind of weird. When I heard this afternoon that Bettis, my stud RB, was going to sit out against the Bills, I initially started thinking, “Okay, I need to switch to Martin and Droughns for this week.” Then I remembered that it was all over. So I can watch football and cheer for the teams, instead of players. Which is important, given what could happen tomorrow…

…which leads us to this week’s picks.

Baltimore over Miami

Buffalo over Pittsburgh–I want a “Bill-lieve” t-shirt. Sadly, they started selling them on Thursday, the day after I left Western New York, so I will go without. If the Red Sox can win the World Series, then the Bills can make the playoffs. And wasn’t the “Hailey’s Comet” game great if you’re a Bills fan?! I saw all of three minutes–which included a touchdown for the Bills’ offense and a sack for the Bills’ defense. Good times.

Carolina over New Orleans

Green Bay over Chicago–The last two games don’t get me excited at all. I wish they did.

Houston over Cleveland–I will go over this more in my next entry, but I’m in the middle of False Start: How the New Browns Were Set Up to Fail, and it’s a book of excuses. Really disappointing. Yes, maybe Policy screwed you over, but he wasn’t stupid. Maybe you should of taken McNabb, but don’t instruct Browns fans not to ask “What if?” and then go on and on about “What if?”

New England over San Francisco–I wish, I wish, I wish I was going to this game!!!!!!!!!

Cincinnati over Philly–A little too late for Cincy against a resting Eagles team.

Jets over St. Louis–I hope I’m wrong. I really really hope I’m wrong, and that the Bills make the playoffs instead of the oh-so-annoying Jets

Detroit over Tennessee–It’s not that the Lions are horrible. It’s that they can’t get it all together at once. Harrington could be good. They have the best coaching. Their defense isn’t too shabby. They just have to make it all work together.

Washington over Minnesota–I almost think the Washington defense deserves to make the playoffs more than the entire Vikings team. I have never really liked the Vikings, even though my family were always big Dennis Green proponents and I was raised by a huge Fran Tarkington fan. I think Tice needs to go, but I could also see where coaching turmoil could throw that team into shambles.

Tampa Bay over Arizona–Speaking of Dennis Green…

Atlanta over Seattle–Or the other way around. I don’t know. I can’t get a handle on either team.

Indianapolis over Denver–Those starters better play for the Colts, and enough to squeak out a win. However, Denver is so inconsistent, the Colts second string could trip them up.

Jacksonville over Oakland

San Diego over Kansas City–See, I almost almost ALMOST was right last week with the Chargers. I did say it was going to be close. I was so excited when I saw the score at the half of that game. Super Chargers!!!

Dallas over the Giants–My friend Brian said today that there was no reason to start Manning over Warner. However, Warner is Warner, and I can kind of understand why it was done–Warner is so inconsistent but so pompous. It would annoy the heck out of me to have him around. Why give someone playing time who will complain about the sky not being blue enough and his paycheck having a folded corner, when you can make someone’s daddy happy? Coughlin walked right into this one…remove the front office stat!

After supervising the Family Recreation program all morning and checking in on the Programming Council ticket sales for a hour or so (Gavin DeGraw, Oct. 14th!!!!), I walked down to Barnes and Noble. My aim was to get my mom’s birthday gift (nun-related for the 4th year in a row.) I walked out with that and Patriot Reign, the new book about Bill Belichick and the Patriots that’s mentioned everywhere you turn around there.

Now mind you, I’m wearing a cute bebe rhinestone top, low cut jeans, my sequined slippers, with my hair curly and half-up and I have my makeup all done, because that’s just the way I am. And here I am, buying this book. They must of thought I was buying it for my non-existent boyfriend or something.

So I’m sitting on the T (the subway for those of you non-Bostonians), reading this book. I can’t even count how many weird looks I got over my 15 minute T ride. It was like I had put my pants on backward or was wearing hot pink and red together. See, in Boston, you have a lot of girls who know sports. They can talk the talk. They know that Crennel is not a spice and they could pick Weis out of a crowd on a B Line train headed inbound at 7pm on a Friday night. They can even name offensive linemen. They’ll appear with the Globe sports section, but there are doubts if they’re actually reading it. But never, ever, ever do you ever find a girl devouring a book about sports. Especially a girly girl.

In the style of the little old crabby man on The Simpsons, “This is how I live my every daaaaayyyyyyy.”

*****

I HAVE NFL NETWORK!

I just discovered this 20 minutes ago. Yes, our cable was installed almost two weeks ago, but I haven’t been able to sit here and wander the channels until right now. And I have it!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Okay, all my goals for the year have been fulfilled:

1) Graduate from Binghamton.

2) Move to Boston.

3) Date another guy before my 23rd birthday.

4) Get NFL Network.

I am never moving from this couch.

Ever.

And I must let you know, that within 10 minutes of me discovering that I have this channel, they showed a random Super Bowl highlight of Super Bowl XXIX, including the famous line of Steve Young’s playoff speech: “…and no one can ever, ever, EVER take this away from us! EVER!” And then he practically makes out with the Lombardi trophy.

Does NFL Network have ESP? Did it want to properly welcome me?

******

Picks for the week:

Pittsburgh over Cincinnati – I’m all for rooting for people who are my age. I’m also all about people who have long, unpronounceable last names. Therefore, I’m all about Ben Rothlisberger. Also, my favourite fantasy running backs are on this team.

Indianapolis over Jacksonville – I hate the Colts.

Oakland over Houston –Oakland has an old but steady defense. It’s a toss up for me, but I have to go with the old over the new in this one.

New England over Buffalo – Tear, tear, sniffle, sniffle. My Bills are going to get decimated by a much better team. To over-reference Pedro Martinez, the Patriots are the Bills daddy. Tom Brady’s awesomely amazingly gorgeous, so it makes it a little better.

Philadelphia over Chicago – Chicago hasn’t been memorable since Steve Walsh. I rest my case.

Cleveland over Washington – I watched Monday Night Football while writing my Perspectives on Higher Education paper. And maybe I missed something, but Gibbs seems to think that a NFL sideline is a frantic and messy NASCAR pit, and Gregg Williams needs to be banned from coaching. But I was under the influence of the defense of the American community college system, so I could be wrong.

Green Bay over the Giants – I am currently watching “In Their Own Words” on NFL Network, and the profile is on Brett Favre. The man has a wicked sense of humor. I’m learning to like him. My hatred of the Packers kind of delayed my realization that he’s actually an amazingly good quarterback. But now the hatred clouds have lifted somewhat, and I appreciate him for what he is, which is not just the owner of a sexy Southern accent.

Carolina over Atlanta – Vick is stealing Young’s thunder. But I’m happy for Jim Mora Jr. Liked his father as a coach, liked him as the 49ers defensive coordinator, and so far, he’s not doing too bad of a job with the Falcons. But it’s the Panthers at home, coming off a bye. I side with the Delhomme led Panthers in this one, even though Delhomme doesn’t strike me as an interesting QB yet.

New Orleans over Arizona –Poor poor Denny Green.

Jets over Miami — Who is the Dolphins third string QB? What would the harm be in starting him? It’s not like they could do worse than Feely and Fielder.

Tennessee over San Diego — Sing it with me: San Di-e-go, Super Chargers, San Di-e-go! Now realize that that was now a decade ago, and they will never be super again…unless they start Flutie. Note to anyone looking to gift shop for me: I would like a Chargers Flutie jersey before he gets forced into retirement. One I could wear (meaning it would have to be a boys size). I’ll really never get it, but I’m just saying, if you can think of nothing else to get me for a holiday, get me that.

Hold on, wait, they’re doing a montage of Favre’s father and they’re talking about last December’s

Packers-Raiders game. Excuse me while I tear up.

Okay, back now.

Denver over Tampa Bay –aka, the two teams I know nothing about. But I’ve never really liked Jon Gruden, except for this quote from ESPN’s Page 2 last year–warning: explicit quote ahead:

“Bucs head coach Jon Gruden, reveals that he lost his virginity at age 17, in South Bend, Indiana. ‘I lost my virginity to the Notre Dame fight song,’ Gruden says. ‘There was a band?’ asks Playboy. ‘No, not even music,’ Gruden replies. ‘But it was in my mind.”

I like that quote because it finally gave me the answer to what men are REALLY thinking about all the time. Not sex, but the Notre Dame fight song.

San Francisco over St. Louis – Upset special! Rattay is back, we always know the best 49ers QBs are always somewhat concussed, and everyone is down on Martz. First win of the season right here.

Baltimore over Kansas City – A win which will hopefully be leading me to another successful week in the MCFFLOAT (most competitive fantasy football league of all time, previously referred to as the MCFFLYCPEBI, but I’ve finally found a much better acronym.)

Last week: 10-4. This week…hmm…the fact that so many teams I’ve picked to lose are at home…I’ll play it safe and say 8-6.

******

Mini-Oreos (aka, small little things that I just arbitrarily decided that I would call mini-oreos):

I was watching MTV Hits earlier, and again, I emphasize: Alicia Keys, he doesn’t know your name because you are STALKING HIM. Thank you.

About my workaholicism: I am fully aware of it. I wish I didn’t have to work all this much. But I do, and it’s going to be a part of my life for just a few more months. So bare with me.

Legal Issues in Higher Education is a hard class, but it’s so worth it. I love that class–the three hours just fly by as the 20 of us just debate and discuss the cases. And the cases are interesting to read, even if you don’t know all of the terminology.

No Bingo Homecoming because I have to work Boston University’s showings of the Red Sox playoff games. I get to arrange them all and everything. It’s a major task, and I hope to do a great job, because if I can really pull this off, it’ll look awesome in my portfolio. I’ll miss you guys though, and I’m sure Homecoming will be fantastic. But this is one of my dream jobs, and I really want to give it my best shot.

Speaking of Dream Jobs: The right two people were booted off Dream Job this week. It got moved to Tuesday nights at midnight, so I can watch it. However, we are now down to one female representative, and it’s only the third week, and I don’t think she’ll hang on much longer. But in happier news, there are some total hotties this season (both Jasons in particular), although I doubt anyone can top the loveableness of the original Dream Job Mike.

Speaking of total hotties, if anyone wants to set me up with any nice, sports-loving, my age or older, happy, and all-in-all lovable Bostonian men, please let me know. I’m all for it.

And I finish with my quote of the week: “Collinsworth asked Marino, Carter and Carter’s eyebrows the following question: ‘If you could take one QB in a game for all the marbles, who would you take: Manning, Brady, McNabb or Favre?’ Marino thinks about it, then takes Manning, and rightly so — famous QBs who can’t win anything when it matters always stick together.” -Bill Simmons

The following thought came to me while walking to the T Friday morning, and I had to share:

It’s Christmas in September, thanks to the Miami Dolphins.

Da-da-da-dum.

Thank you, thank you, I’ll be here all week.

In case you are football illiterate, the Dolphins have always had this tendency to really…how do I put this kindly…suck around December. Several sportswriters always make reference to the annual December downfall of the Dolphins (and not just because it’s excellent alliteration.) But this year, they’ve decided to not have actual ready-for-the-NFL quarterbacks, and therefore, their suckiness has come along four months early. Nice to all of us of fans of other teams in the AFC East, because it means the constant threat of “this actually is the Dolphins’ year” doesn’t exist. Great news to us Bills fans–it means we actually might be better than someone this year. Squishing the fish shouldn’t be too hard this year, providing Bledsoe maintains the limited quarterbacking capacity he has left. It might actually be a good game…and by good, I mean, “evenly matched up.” I didn’t actually mean the teams were good. Oh no, not at all.

But is this game this weekend? No. Do I get to get phone calls from my parents talk about squishing fish and reminiscing about the infamous “Mom causing Dan Marino’s freak devastating ACL injury in 1993″ incident, which led my father for years following to ask us all when we hurt ourselves, “Oh, is it your anterior cruciate ligament?” thinking that was the most witty remark he could ever make? (I don’t even know if it was an ACL injury to Marino–but in Hasenauer lore it is.)

No.

It is a bye for the Pats and Bills. Unfortunately, it is not for the Niners. Can the Niners’ go on a permanent bye until Donahue and the rest of his front office decides that in football, money is for spending, not sitting on? Great, you’re rebuilding your team with draft picks. Fine. That’s a commendable way to go. However…if you don’t have veterans, who are the draft picks supposed to emulate? Sure, they have…like one veteran. Jeremy Newberry, who is now out indefinitely, and who wasn’t the best offensive lineman ever in the first place (he’s the one who missed the block that allowed Aeneas Williams to sack Steve Young to end his career) counts as their like one veteran. Tim Rattay? Not a veteran. Okay, wait, they have a really good cornerback guy that I read about in ESPN the Magazine…and he’s not such the young chicken. Oh okay. I was wrong. The Niners have two veterans. My mistake.

Mind you, due to work, I have yet to watch a good amount of football yet this season, and we are entering week 3. This is a travesty. However, I have set aside this Sunday to wake up at 10, eat breakfast, then sit in bed and watch Steve Young out yell Michael Irvin for two hours while Chris Berman screams random things about frozen tundras. It’s good stuff. For those unaware, that’s the equivalent of watching a debate between that good looking and amazingly successful guy everyone hates because he just knows he’s right and has some kind of debate training to back it up and a frantic drug addict who insists that he’s right despite the fact that he couldn’t tell you that 2 + 2 = 4, all while your middle aged goofy uncle attempts to referee. Oh, and after that I’ll watch some football games, all while writing a paper about the “double edged sword” of community colleges. Ahh, some things never change: Sundays = football and homework. Well, until next year, when it equals just football, which will be amazingly weird.

So providing that I’ve neglected picking games so far this season due to my busy schedule and my need to devote appropriate time to my fantasy standings, I give you my picks for Week 3. I may be rusty, so let me feel it out this weekend.

St. Louis over New Orleans (I am the most iffy about this one)

Pittsburgh over Miami (Go Class of ’04!)

Minnesota over Chicago (I hate the Vikings. I pity the Bears. However, I am realistic.)

Giants over Cleveland (Hate Garcia. The Browns also lost like their whole offense last week, so Garcia must be lamenting that he would of had more offensive weapons right now on the Niners than he does right now with the Browns.)

Atlanta over Arizona (Vick = A cocky Steve Young. Arizona = worst team ever except for Fitzgerald and the fact that their coach is Dennis Green. My family is partial to Green, and I don’t really know why, but we always have been.)

Indianapolis over Green Bay (This is Manning’s league right now, whether he deserves it or not.)

Baltimore over Cincinnati (and if they don’t, I’m screwed fantasy wise)

Philadelphia over Detroit (Love ya Mooch. However, I adore the anchors of both my fantasy teams just a bit more, and after Monday night, I am convinced that I made the right decision with them.)

Tennessee over Jacksonville (Second least sure about. I hope I get to see some of this one–I don’t know what either team is really like this year, and seeing them is ten times better than reading about them after a while.)

Kansas City over Houston (The Chiefs are due. They aren’t as bad as everyone is making them out to be. They just have senile, weirdo, or both coaches and coordinators.)

Denver over San Diego (Bring back Flutie!!!!!!!!!!!! Come on, you know Flutie would beat Plummer. You know Flutie would beat Drew Brees for that matter. Or maybe it’s just I who will still be picking Flutie when he’s 60 and doing Canadian infomericals.)

Seattle over San Fransisico (Sniffle, sniffle, tear. Dorsey’s hot. Rattay’s not bad. Why must they lose?)

Oakland over Tampa Bay (Even though Oakland got rid of Rick Mirer. He’s gone to a better place, and that would be backing up Joey Harrington. Sigh…where did the Class of 1993 go wrong?)

Washington over Dallas (Feel better soon, Brunell. Although I have been told never to pick against Parcells, I think it’s safe to this year.)

I think I’ll be lucky if I go 7-7 this week. It takes a week for me to get into the swing of the season.

******

Welcome to the SAO:

Two weekends ago, I had to take the student group I advise on a retreat, and the car ride activity in the van I was in was to name your Top 5. Of course, I being the new intern, I was one of the first targets. Of the top of my head I named:

1) Steve Young

2) Mark Brunell

3) Tom Brady

4) Jerome Ignilia

5) Gabe Kapler

Not that those are really my top 5, but they were what I could come up with at the time. My boss laughed at me, and when we were talking about it in the office a few days later, said, “To name her top 5, all you do is just name 3-4 NFL quarterbacks and then fill the rest with two random athletes.”

I beg to differ. Gabe Kapler is not a random athlete. He’s the hottest baseball player ever to exist in the history of the game. That’s definitely not random.

******

A short plea to the NHL:

Dear NHL players, owners, and involved parties;

I have recently become single again, therefore I need you to start playing so that I can be easily distracted from my single status. I also have become somewhat attached to writing papers while listening to NHL Radio online, and I fear without that to listen to, my grades will diminish. While I understand I’m probably the last one holding out hope left in America, and that this further proves what a Canadian I really am, I hope that you all take my reasons into account.

Thank you for your time and consideration.

-Katherine

******

So I take the bus to work about 60% of the time now. And they have these prerecorded announcements that order us, the T riders, to “report any suspicious activity to the driver,” like the subway does.

Have you ever taken a bus in Boston? If I followed those instructions, I would be sitting in the driver’s lap the duration of my 20 minute ride.

******

Personal Note of the Week: I am 3 for 3 in “not only keeping all composure while being dumped, but in keeping the guy as a friend.” I need to teach classes in this. I am single handedly transforming the stereotype of the dumped girl, one breakup of mine at a time.

I’ll give you secret #1, free of charge.

1) Have six tons of work due the next day.

It’s saved me quite a few times, if not all.

******

I have yet to catch the new season of Dream Job because I work Tuesday nights, and ESPN is not repeating it yet, but it doesn’t surprise me that the two top contestants right now are Syracuse alums. When I went to the auditions back in July, the guy I thought would definitely make it from Boston was a Syracuse alum. They’re extremely well-spoken and definitely know what they’re doing. This guy had resumes, a tape of his work, references, detailed writing examples…when we hadn’t been asked to bring anything. It was hard core.

It also sounds like the women stink this year. I will make no comment on that, except that you could of avoided that by picking any girl from Boston. It makes me not wonder if they don’t want the women to succeed…but I’ll wait to pass judgment until I can actually see an episode.

Realistically, could I ever make it on Dream Job? Heck no. I mean, in case you haven’t noticed, I stutter. Not the best trait for a sportscaster to have. So I don’t mind sitting back and watching.

If I ever get to catch an episode, that is.

******

Signs that my life is wicked different than it was five months ago:

It’s sad when you get up at 8:30, and you consider that sleeping in.

I can shop at Sephora.

My jeans are collecting dust because I can’t wear them to work.

I can go shopping at the Pru and at Copley on my free Friday nights. (I love Back Bay on Friday and Saturday nights. It’s the epitome of what I dreamed my life in Boston would be like.)

But some things never change: I work either Friday or Saturday night every weekend, and it’s September, and I’m battling laryngitis.

Till next time…

Hmmm….

If Bill Simmons was allowed to program a whole weekend of NBA TV, during which he did a 24 hour Larry Bird marathon, I think I am allowed to give a list of Steve Young moments I want on DVD or on a weekend of NFL Network (well, provided I have NFL Network at the time it airs. That’s my next goal in life. 1) Graduate college. Done. 2) Move to Boston. Done. 3) Get NFL Network. Still working on it.)

So I thought about it as I went to bed. And here’s a partial list.

1) Super Bowl XXIX. A no-brainer. (And can I just say that while I was looking on Amazon for the DVDs, I finally finally found the 1994 San Francisco 49ers season yearbook video. You know, the collection they make for every Super Bowl Champion? I think the Patriots one is called “3 Games to Glory II” or something like that. I should know this by heart–that and “Still We Believe: The Red Sox Story” is for sale absolutely everywhere. Well, anyway, I finally found it–I didn’t own it originally because I was too young to order it when it came out. Guess what I’m buying after I finish buying my textbooks?)

2) The Deflection Return. I forget the team it was against, but it’s when he threw the ball, and two defenders jumped up in tandem to deflect it. They succeeded…but who ended up catching it?

Steve Young.

For years, my father has defended Young in any discussion about great quarterbacks by saying one sentence. “Only one quarterback that I can remember has ever caught his own pass.”

3) The Run Against the Vikings: October 30, 1988–This is when Young was still a backup. Legend has it that this run was the first time Chris Berman said, “He could….go….all….the…way!!!!!” I am unsure as to if this is true, but when I was in middle school, that run was used all the time in highlight reels. Of course, I didn’t see it when it happened: I was all of 6 years old and was a tad more concerned with first grade at the time.

4) The Spike Against The Bears, NFC Divisional Playoff, January 1995–I mentioned this in my 5 Hottest Quarterbacks entry in January. The Bears just were steamrolled over by the Niners, and it was the first and I think only time I ever saw Steve Young spike the ball after he ran it in for a touchdown.

5) “There’s Joy in Mudville” The 94 NFC Championship Game– If you lived in Western NY in January 1995, even if you hated the Niners, you loved this game, because it denied the evil Cowboys a third straight Super Bowl. I still have the newspaper from the day after that game, and the lead headline of the sports section reads, “THERE’S JOY IN MUDVILLE,” commenting on the soggy state of Candlestick Park during that game.

6) Monday Night Football Opener 1994, Niners vs. Raiders–This is when Jerry Rice broke some record that I’m blanking on against the Raiders. The Raiders were never even in it. I loved that game. I have the newspaper clippings from he day after that game somewhere in my mess of a room (I just moved into a new apartment. Don’t ask me where anything is.)

7) The Comeback II: Niners v. Packers, 1999: I remember screaming at the television with my entire family. We couldn’t believe they had finally beaten the Packers in the playoffs. I had given up on that game too–my father had actually walked into the kitchen, resigned that the Niners had lost. And all of a sudden, Owens made that catch and they won. Great ending. Young’s last playoff victory.
Any Niners game where James Brown broke in during the third quarter to say, “With the Niners up a gazillion to 3 against some really bad team, we are now switching you to a more competitive contest.” I only want those because I never got to see the rest of those games because we were switched out of them.

Those are the immediate 8 that I think of off the top of my head. There are definitely more, I just need more time and more resources around me to figure them out.

Consequently, this past week, ESPN Page 2 named Young’s 1994 season sixth out of the 100 greatest individual seasons in the past 25 years. Right on, ESPN. He was the highest ranked football player. Argue what you may, but I think Steve Young takes whatever accolades he can get, considering he’ll probably have to wait a while to get into the Hall of Fame (throwing my famous Hall of Fame trip off by a few years), so let him have this little one.

***

So I have become a fantasy football junkie. For the first time in my life, I have been invited to play–and not just in one league, but in two. I am going into this hard-core. I am determined for this not to be a repeat of my fantasy baseball league, where I lost all hope back in June. I haven’t won since the end of May. This is because I barely know baseball. I know enough…but not enough to really succeed. I gave it a good shot though.

But the thing with fantasy football is…well, I know football. Now, had I done fantasy football when I was 15, I would of seriously kicked everyone in the world’s butt, as I regularly did with football picks during my entire adolescence (and as I still routinely do now that I’m entering my mid-20s–eek, in 4 months I will be in my mid-20s. Freaky moment right there.) So this should ultimately be far less embarrassing than baseball was.

Out of my two teams, I have to say the Boston Bearcats outdoes The Bearcats (okay, I lack all imagination with team names.) And this is because of one reason: I drafted one far later than the other–aka, I had more time to research. Unfortunately, The Bearcats is in the most competitive fantasy football league you could probably ever be in (otherwise known as the MCFFLYCPEBI….or not.) I swear, the commish (one of my good friends from Ithaca) should probably change the league’s name to that. But not to fret–the core of both my teams is exactly the same: McNabb and T.O. My dad and I agreed that has the makings of an excellent team. It also could completely tank, but let’s hope they’re as prolific as they are being made out to be. Both my defenses totally rock as well: New England in one, Baltimore in the other. Speaking of Patriots, I also have David Givens, i.e. the only football player Marsha knows because she was forced to watch the Super Bowl and thought he was the hottest. He’s also a pretty good wide receiver. I know, I know, WRs don’t make fantasy teams, running backs do. Well, I do have to say I’m set with The Bearcats on the RB front: Bettis and Staley. Hate the Steelers, love their RBs. Anyone whose nickname is “The Bus” gets on my team.

So as of Thursday, we will see if I can contest in the land of fantasy football after a good two years of wanting to be a part of a league. Of course, I’ll still pick games. I need to back up my ego on something.

***

On the non-football front, the last week has been nuts. I moved into a new apartment and started my graduate assistantship with the Student Activities Office at Boston University. So far it is an awesome position–the office, the professional staff and the students are great. We went on a retreat to the Cape and it was very informative and a lot of fun. I just have to get used to not being student staff, but on par with the professionals. It can be very confusing. I’m still working for my Boston Mom at PERD (my boss there, Barbara, has been amazing this summer–she has become like my best friend in Boston, or at least my second mother) as well. I love my jobs…except for the florist. That is on the backburner. I’ll be there when I have time…which looks to be never.

My new apartment is nice as well, and Caitlin and I are busy reliving freshmen year at Ithaca. Caitlin’s first day in the apartment, we had crab rangoon. It’s just like three years ago…except we’re 22, not 18, we’re in an apartment in Chestnut Hill, not Tracy’s and I room in Terrace 5 and we’re in grad school, not undergrad. Oh, and the crab rangoon is not from Jade Garden on the Commons, but Chang’s House on Commonwealth Ave.

I should mention my two weeks of Olympics devotion–even though my Summer Olympic devotion is far far less involved than my Winter Olympics devotion is. For one, I was way disappointed in the makeup of the women’s gymnastics team–no “Scrunchie Girl.” Plus, I honestly don’t think Annia Hatch deserved a silver medal on vault. She’s a consistent vaulter, but not an awesome vaulter. In the individual vault event, there were at least two, three people better than she was. Plus, how can you leave off Holly Vise? It was just a weirdly put together team, but they did get it right with Courtney Kupets and Carly Patterson. Swimmers are fun to watch, but since I can’t swim all that well, I can’t relate. And that’s about it. Give me figure skating, hockey, and bobsledding over softball, beach volleyball and basketball any day.

I don’t know when I’ll get the chance to post again, but I’ll try my best to make it soon!