Kinetic

Saturday Falcons @ Cardinals at 4 on NBC Colts @ Chargers at 8 on NBC Sunday Ravens @ Dolphins at 1 on CBS Eagles @ Vikings at 4:30 on FOX Like I said in the other thread, I expect all four road teams to win.

God be damned! That shit's piling up outside right now. I have a job interview tomorrow that I'd very much like to reach without risking life and limb.

Things I observed while watching the Vikings today: 1. Jared Allen was worth everything they gave up to get him. Not just from a playmaking standpoint, but as an energy guy that hypes up the rest of the defense. Not to be a broken Marvin or anything, but this is exactly what Tampa was missing during that horrible four-game stretch at the end of the year. 2. Tarvaris Jackson isn't the answer at QB. Guy could be a pretty good backup, but I don't think he's capable of taking the next step and becoming a legit NFL starter. 3. Adrian Peterson is a really streaky player. At times, I felt like they would have been better off keeping Chester Taylor in the game. Is Taylor a free agent after this season? He really should be the primary back somewhere in the league.

I'm anticipating a close, high-scoring game. Tebow is ultimately able to make one play more than Bradford, and the Gators win by a touchdown.

I find myself with no real rooting interest in these playoffs. Last year, I was at least able to root against the Patriots, which ultimately led to one of the more euphoric sports moments in recent memory. I got nothing this year. I don't know if I can muster up the interest to become a Tennessee Titans fan for a couple of weeks. Nevertheless, I shall go with Titans/Steelers/Eagles/Panthers.

There's a sort of surreal quality to this game. My ears tell me that I'm hearing Joe Buck and Troy Aikman, but my eyes tell me that this isn't a Dallas Cowboys game. I splashed some cold water on my face and took a walk around the block, yet I can't help but feel somewhat disoriented by it.

We are ALL Titans next week. Still a great season for Miami. This one's nothing to hang your head over, and it'll be a fond memory for their fans when the team goes 4-12 next year. Funny that 60 Minutes is doing a Mike Leach story now, considering how that Texas Tech season turned out. No commercials for the Hyundai Assurance during this game. I like the idea of a car that comforts me when I'm down. "We're going to get through this, and we're going to get through it together."

Albums of some sentimental value to me that were lost: OK Computer, Bringing It All Back Home, Odelay!, the first Fountains of Wayne album, Rid of Me,, the first Elvis Costello album I ever bought, etc. It's probably stupid of me to attach emotional value to pieces of plastic, but a part of me liked knowing that the copy of OK Computer that I was listening to was the same copy that I purchased at the Manassas, Virginia Target in 1997 and subsequently obsessed over with the first girl to ever handle my member. I've lost that.

I suspected as much. Various online resources tell me that I should have gotten the package insured and made a list of its contents. File that one under things to do next time I move across the country. From a practical standpoint, I could easily replace all of those CDs for less than $50. But it's the sentimental value, you know? You can't download memories on Soulseek.

An unrelated postal service question: I recently mailed the majority of my earthly possessions across the country. Most of it made it here in good condition, but a box of CDs arrived with the box intact but the CDs missing. Like, the mailman actually delivered an empty box to my house this morning. I'd value the worth of the lost CDs to be in the $350 range. Do I have any sort of recourse here? Or are the people at the post office just going to tell me to get fucked?

Arenas just made this a game.

Every time they show the Alabama student section, there's at least ten floppy-haired, ballcap-wearing, besandaled douchebags sending text messages. I swear, people in our age group are such worthless cocksuckers. Your parents paid good money for these tickets, your team is getting smeared...put the fucking phone down.

First time this decade I haven't felt like shit on New Year's Day. This not drinking thing is all right.

Seeing post-stroke Dick Clark on TV tonight was really unsettling.

Ditto on both counts. I want to say that the multivitamins made me feel better during my lengthy shifts at the gas station, but I could just as easily credit the gallons of Powerade I was drinking daily at the time.

We all survived "the Pursuit of Perfection" and the world of accompanying bullshit and douchebaggery last year with our ability to enjoy football still intact, so I'm sure we could deal with "Manning vs. Manning." Seems like it would be a pretty good game, so I wouldn't mind that being the SB matchup at all.

That's flawed logic, Marvin. You're projecting next year's results based on this year's teams, which is impossible to do with today's NFL. Jerry Jones lobbied to schedule the team you're so slavishly devoted to as Dallas's last opponent at Texas Stadium because he assumed they would be as bad as last year. They were not. Kansas City and Cleveland could be next year's Atlanta and Miami, for all we know.

I voted for Rainbow because their video works.

I understand what you're getting at, but Marney was no average person on a message board. She was a high-ranking and well-connected government agent who was responsible for the deaths of thousands in the name of democracy and George Bush's America. If you don't believe me, get out your Ouija board and ask her.

As grim as the details of my 2008 may be, I'm actually feeling pretty okayish about my prospects for 2009. I've been getting in some exercise, trying to maintain this picture-perfect hipster-thin physique as I enter the latter half of my 20s. I've also stopped drinking altogether. If I can just find a job or two and maybe get laid, I'd be on the road to redemption.

Spent a fair amount of it unemployed. Went on several lengthy and terrifying drinking binges. Alienated almost everyone around me. Broke up with my girlfriend of 5 years. Moved back in with my parents. So fair to decent, all things considered.

I heard that the original Spaceman Spiff died and they just replaced him with another guy, thinking that no one would notice.

Why would that make anyone feel better? I'd sooner wish Druggalo on a kid than that guy.

This was probably a long time coming for Shanahan, given the relative mediocrity of the Broncos over the last few years (with the exception of their one puzzling run to the AFC Championship game in '05). That defense was just...I mean, you got the feeling watching that game the other night that San Diego could have put 100 up if they were really getting after it. Whoever gets that job will inherit a pretty good quarterback, a very good WR corp, and about 3 drafts worth of marginal pass rushers.

That "away" game against Tampa is actually a neutral site game in London; home of the brash, outrageous, and free. Nice to see New England finally drawing a difficult schedule, although there's obviously no way of telling what it'll look like once the season actually begins.