Feeling Fall... and Other Thoughts

With the temperatures in the 60s and 70s this week, and college football set to kick off this Thursday, you can't help but feel that Fall is in the air. It was nice to take advantage of our office location in N. Old Town and get out for a run last night. While attending the DC United games this summer has been great, I cannot wait to watch the Penn State game this Saturday (against Coastal Carolina). Speaking of which...

My rant of the week has to be about how ridiculous Comcast is (not surprising). After enough fans complained last season that Comcast should pick up the Big Ten Network (as DirecTV did), Comcast conceded and added the BTN to their sports pack lineup. As it turns out, the PSU game is only being televised on the BTN this Saturday, and as a Comcrap subscriber, I was very excited to be able to watch the game in the comfort of my own home rather than needing to go to a bar. But no... Comcrap comes through again with runny brown colors... They must have purchased the rights to show ONE channel and ONE game at a time. So, instead of getting the Penn State game at 12 on Saturday, we will only get the Ohio State v. Youngstown State game. If I really want to watch the PSU game, my only choices are to head to Carpool or catch the game on Comcast's BTN channel, Sunday at 11am. Thanks Comcast... as always, you continue to meet my expectation of being an absolutely worthless service provider. If my neighbor did not have the largest tree on the block which happens to stand on the SW side of our house, I'd drop you like the worthless POS you continue to be.

In other news, Fantasy Football is around the corner with both of my league drafts set to take place next week. With FF drafts taking place, it obviously means that the regular NFL season is set to start, with the Skins taking on the Gints next Thursday. I actually got my Sean Taylor #21 jersey on Monday and am ready to wear it proudly at the first game I'll get to (Cardinals game on 9/21).

BTW - the Match update is that she's doing well. She seems to have finally taken to her crate and understands that it is her home when we're not home. She will go quietly into her crate and not put up much of a fight at night when we go to sleep, which has been great... that and the fact that she can pretty much make it all night now without having to go out. Nice to finally get 6 consecutive hours of sleep for a change.

Week Off, Day Two

So, it's that week between jobs, that week that we all look forward to while we're working wherever it is that we're working... a week that reminds you of Spring Break in college when you don't have to worry about anything. I don't have to think about my old job, and don't have any obligations yet at the new job. So what's the agenda for the week?

Well, the "Big Week Off" started early last Friday, when the weather was in the high 70s. I was able to sneak in a long bike ride in the afternoon on my new hybrid bike before Lauren and I went to the Eastern Shore for the weekend and tasted the food that will be served at our reception on Saturday. We also checked out the church so that we could actually see where we'll be declaring our life-long love for one another. The church is "ok." It's not your traditional Catholic church with high ceilings and stained glass windows, but it's not the building that matters... it's who is standing across from you at the altar. Anyway, from the church, we went on to Salero where we tasted pork spring rolls (C), scallops wrapped in bacon (A-), mini crab cakes (A+), Baked Salmon (B), Ham and Grueyere Cheese stuffed chicken (A), and a house salad that consisted of bleu cheese, cranberries, and nuts (B+). It was definitely enough to fill up, and helped settle some of the indecision we had about certain foods. The menu is not final yet, but it's safe to say that based on what we tasted, it's going to be a VERY tasty reception!

The rest of the weekend was spent watching the Masters and Tiger fail to make a move on the final day for the first time in awhile. I was actually disappointed that Immelman was never challenged on Sunday, though he seemed like a pretty decent guy in the interviews, and you have to feel good for a guy who four months ago was in a hospital bed wondering if the tumor in his body was cancerous. Sadly, the weather itself was a bust on Sunday... cold and kind of rainy. Also watched the Caps give away Game 2 to go into Game 3 today tied 1-1.

Yesterday, Lauren took the day off and we spent most of the day running errands letting the weather slowly warm up. By the afternoon, it wasn't too bad (mid 50s), so we went down to the water in Old Town and laid out in the sun for a few hours reading. Speaking of which, I picked up a great book by James Rollins, called Subterranean. It looks like this is one of a few books that he has written, so I'm looking forward to spending more time today and the rest of the week doing some much needed reading.

So, today... I've already been to the gym and perused the Washington Post to get caught up on my local sports news. In summary, the Wizards won last night in futility as the Cavs locked up the 4th position in a bizarre set of events that had them shooting the winning free throws after the 76ers had already left the court. The Wizards will face the Cavs in the first round for the 3rd straight season beginning this weekend I think. Meanwhile, the Caps play Game 3 tonight against the Flyers and hope to regain home ice advantage. Based on what I saw on Sunday, the Caps need to shake off the mental games and play their game. The Flyers are playing a rough style that seems to shake the Caps, particularly Ovechkin, who cannot seem to get into a rhythm. That being said, if Boudreau can wake them up, there is no reason why the Caps can't take this game tonight. We'll see.

Finally, I came across this great video on Chris Cooley's blog this morning that pits Portis versus Cooley's fiancee to see who knows Chris best. I am pretty excited that Chris is blogging since he's by far my favorite Skin and a guy that seems to have no problem giving his fans a window into his life.

Anyway, time to get moving and make some lunch. I think I'm going to try and go check out another part of the Potomac Heritage Trail after lunch and see if it's going to provide a place to go trail running in the future. Have a great day everyone!

T'is the Season

I love that it only takes for Starbucks to switch to their holiday decorum to get me in the spirit for Christmas. I walked in to the Starbucks by my gym this morning and all of the normal packages of coffee were replaced with green and red packages of the Christmas Blend, and the backdrop for the drink menu was the holiday red. Granted they've had the gingerbread lattes ready for a few weeks now, but hearing the jazz music, seeing the red and green displays, and combine that with a cold and rainy day... I'm ready for Thanksgiving and Christmas... my favorite stretch of the year.

It almost makes the Redskins abysmal play yesterday disappear... Almost. The weekend ended with me going 2-2... A Penn State win and a win in my Exit 16 FFL league, though the two teams that needed the wins were the Skins and my AFL FFL team. Oh well. Think holidays... think holidays...

Recovery & Premiere Week

If you're wondering why it's taken me a few days to post since Sunday, it's because it's taken me this long to recover from the abysmal sports weekend that took place. If you know me at all, you know how emotionally invested I become in both Penn State and the Redskins... throw that on top of the two fantasy football teams I manage and it becomes borderline dysfunctional. And then imagine how you feel when all these teams lose and not just lose... but REALLY lose... a la Penn State or Redskins lose... If you caught any of the highlights of either game, you can understand how these two losses were felt like a backhanded slap or an oncoming migraine. I won't use this space to launch into a tirade about Penn State's coaching, or the Redskins complete offensive breakdown in the second half because I wasted too much of my time on Monday rehashing every possible scenario with my fellow Skins and PSU compadres. Just know that I am hoping for a rebound this weekend in some way... some glimmer of hope for the sporting future... Until then, there is TV premiere week to distract me...

So... what shows are we DVRing this week?

Monday: Heroes, Journeyman, Chuck, and How I Met Your Mother
Tuesday: Really nothing on this day unless you count Dancing with the Stars - Which Lauren can't stand anyway... oh wait The Unit!
Wednesday: Bionic Woman, and for now the Practice
Thursday: Smallville, Earl, and of course THE OFFICE
Fri-Sat: Nada
Sunday: Family Guy

What are my winners so far? Well, I have to say that Family Guy definitely opened with a very good premiere. Their "Star Wars" spoof was hysterical which featured Stewie as Darth Vader and Peter as Hans Solo. I had planned on adding a link to the clip on YouTube, but believe it or not, Fox made a copyright claim and forced YouTube to take all of their Family Guy clips down... Unbelievable.

Anyway, on top of a stellar Family Guy, I was very impressed with The Unit and HIMYM, giving them all 4 stars. After watching Journeyman, I definitely think it has potential and will give it 3 stars with a strong likelihood it could reach 4. To me, Heroes was only mediocre this week also earning 3 stars. Bionic Woman could be interesting, but I was not really that impressed last night giving it 2 stars.

Left to watch from DVR: Chuck, Kid Nation, and the Practice. Stay tuned for my reviews on these three as well as my commentary on tonight's premieres!

Looking for a Sweep...

As I mentioned the other day, come fall, the weekends are all about the teams, and how the teams do... A successful and "good" weekend is one where you can pull a sweep. That being said, Penn State posted a 31-10 win yesterday. Earlier today, the Skins won 16-13 in OT and DC United posted a 4-2 win in hot, humid RFK Stadium. DC's offense was too much for New England and with the win pulled ahead by 4 points in the Eastern Conference with just a handful of games remaining before the playoffs.

All that remains are my FFL teams which are currently both winning... On top of all of that Tiger pulled away today at the BMW championships to take a commanding lead in the FedEx Cup Standings. I'm not entirely sure why Mickelson decided not to play this weekend, but given that idiotic decision, he will have to play out of his mind next weekend if he wants to have any hope of winning. That being said, where in the world did Steve Stricker come from? How is it that he has played so consistently for the past three weekends that he is sitting in a great position right now? Where has he been in the majors?

So... can I pull a sweep??? Stay tuned...

2 Month No Show

Well, the fan mail has been pouring in, wondering where I have wandered off to, so I figured it was time to return from my hiatus and entertain the masses. To everyone who expressed their concern, thank you, I'm fine, we've just been busy being busy.

What have we been up to over the past two months?

Well... a simple check of the Google Calendar, which by the way we swear by, shows that we've been to a friend's wedding, Lauren has been to the DR, Beckham came to town (prior to ending his season), we spent a weekend in Ocean City, our parents finally met, and at work, it's been about the busiest as it has ever been in the 7 years I've been there (more on that next week).

So, the summer is now over and we're entering what has to be one of my favorite times of the year... Fall...

What does Fall mean to me? OBX, FFL, NCAA, and NFL... translated... Outer Banks with my family, Fantasy Football, Penn State games, and Skins games. This is the time of year where a man's happiness is directly proportional to how his teams do during the weekend... when we'll ask one another, how did you do, and we'll respond 2-2 or 1-3 or if it's a great weekend... 4-0. What does this mean? That your fantasy teams won, Penn State won, and the Redskins won.

Anyway, with week 1 upon us, Socks but no Drawers takes on the Scrappy Irishmen in the WeatherBug league, and Young Action takes on the DC Lions in the AFL. Penn State hosts Notre Dame, while the 'Skins host the Dolphins. It's too early to call the fantasy games since I have yet to see how my guys are going to do this season, but I'll call for a convincing Penn State win, and a close Redskins win.

For those of you who care, and are still reading, I'll paste my fantasy rosters at the end of this post... To everyone else, the hiatus is over. Please check back as the fall progresses to stay up to date on all of the sports happenings, the wedding planning, and all of the exciting things happening at WeatherBug. Until next time...

Socks But No Drawers Roster
J. Cutler QB
R. Brown RB
L. Johnson RB
P. Burress WR
D. Driver WR
M. Stover K
K. Winslow WR-TE
D. Dolphins DST
B. Favre QB
D. Foster RB
J. Lewis RB
A. El WR
B. Marshall WR
D. Hackett WR-TE

Young Action Roster
T. Brady QB
W. McGahee RB
C. Portis RB
R. Brown WR
L. Evans WR
J. Hanson K
S. Holmes WR-TE
D. Seahawks DST
J. Campbell QB
J. Norwood RB
D. Williams RB
D. Bennett WR
J. Cotchery WR
K. Curtis WR-TE