UngsungBlog: A (Fantasy) Sports Blog

Ugh.  I’m constipated.

(TMI?)

Random thoughts from the past few weeks that never made it to a blog, not counting the one above:

- We went to the LA County Fair a second time, and this time I chose to get food from the Rib Ranch BBQ (I believe that’s what the restaurant was called).  My two sisters and I ’split’ three plates of food:  two orders of the tri tip, and one order of ribs.

I fell in love.  With my food.  I would marry it if I could.  Too far?

One of my sisters barely touched her slices of tri tip, so she made me finish practically her entire portion.  She didn’t need to ask me twice.  Later on in the night, we chased dinner with a big Mexican funnel cake.  Just imagine churro batter being used to make a funnel cake, seasoned with cinnamon and sugar.

(For those reading this that actually went to the Fair, and know which booth sold Mexican funnel cakes, no, we did not split a “Jumbo” cake.  We did, however, take pictures with one.  Yup, one group actually ordered a Jumbo laced with strawberries, whipped cream, and chocolate syrup, and some members of our party took pictures of and with the cake.)

Too bad we didn’t get a chance to go to the Fair a third time.

- In another twist to the Ryan Howard near lawsuit, which I discussed here and here, CNN reported something that I had not yet read anywhere else:

A Phillies employee, Jennifer says, told her if she handed over the ball, she could come back after the game, meet the slugger and get him to autograph it. She gave the ball up. In exchange, she got cotton candy and a soda.

If this is true, then I have no problem with a lawsuit, even if it wasn’t really about the money.  However, color me skeptical, but I highly doubt the Phillies employee really promised the girl the exact ball back.  If he did, then he’s an idiot.

Also, I can stop asking “Where were the parents?”  The girl attended the game with her grandfather, among other people.  So I’ll then ask, “Where was another adult?”

- I’m now 2-2 in both of my Fantasy leagues, after running into two more buzzsaws (122 and 100 pts from my opponents, respectively, and the team that scored 100 did so with two players on their bye week *sigh*).  On a more alarming note, however:  I cannot believe how badly I struck out on my waiver wire pickups this past week.  Check out these results (kickers excluded):

1. Pierre Garcon (WR-Ind):  0.90 pts
2. Kenny Britt (WR-Ten):  1.80 pts
3. Jerome Harrison (RB-Cle):  2.10 pts

Oh by the way, Indy and Dallas are on their bye week next week.  I only have to find replacements for that Manning dude, Marion Barber, and Jason Witten.

I hate fantasy football.

- So I finally watched The Office wedding episode, and this is all I have to say.

This episode all but reaffirmed my faith in the show.

Seriously, what was not to like about the episode?  All the puking at the beginning of the episode gave me flashbacks of Eddie Izzard’s bit about the inner ear and how hearing somebody vomit causes you to do so.  I loved the Dos/Don’ts list (is it just me, or is Jim very list-centric?).  I loved everything that went on during check-ins, especially Dwight’s “test” of Michael, and who didn’t foresee Toby offering to share his room with Michael?  Also, who didn’t see Michael hooking up with Pam’s mom by the end of the episode?

I couldn’t stop laughing at Dwight badmouthing Jim to all the kids at the dinner.  Please, oh please, let this be a season-long running gag.  And don’t Oscar and Kevin make a cute couple?

At first, Michael’s toast, followed by his attempt at explaining that “accidents happen” really ticked me off.  That’s when I realized this was all Jim’s fault, first for inviting Michael in the first place, and then for going brain-dead by revealing Pam’s little secret.  And I must admit that I did chuckle at least once at Michael’s “accidents happen” story.

I loved Kevin losing his shoes because they were a safety issue.  I loved his Kleenex-box shoes idea a hell of a lot more.  And wasn’t Jim’s cutting of his tie the most awwwwww-inspiring moment of the entire episode?

And yes, I had to Google search the YouTube video in question.  The final dance scene where everybody danced down the aisle must have been so much fun to tape.

Two questions:

1) At what point did Michael and Jim’s brothers collaborate on the whole dance-a-thon?

2) How the hell did Jim know that he needed a “backup plan?”

Bonus question:  has anyone, in one’s life, ever stuck his/her foot in the ice machine like that?  I don’t think I can ever trust those ice machines ever again.  EDIT:  After re-watching this episode, I just caught that Kevin got six numbers…out of seven for a full phone number.  LMAO!

I don’t know how the season finale’s gonna top this episode, but I can dream, right?  As long as Michael doesn’t ruin Jim and Pam’s relationship via his own fling (?) with Pam’s mom, I’ll be happy.

Tags: baseball, bust, fantasy football, jerome harrison, kenny britt, la county fair, lawsuit, mexican funnel cake, pierre garcon, rib ranch bbq, ribs, ryan howard, The Office, tri-tip, waiver wire, wedding by Peter
2 Comments »

…will have to wait.

My loyal readers—all none of you—will notice that I haven’t said a word about the Dodgers in some time.

I’m going to break the silence with just one comment.

Adam Wainwright, in his attempts to defend LF Matt Holliday’s horrible gaffe that sparked the Dodgers’ ninth inning, two-out rally, went with this defense:

“That ball got lost in 50,000 white towels shaking in front of Matt’s face,” Wainwright said. “It doesn’t really seem fair that an opposing team should be able to allow their fans to shake white towels when there’s a white baseball flying through the air. How about Dodger Blue towels?”

You’re kidding, right Adam?  Let’s ban white T-shirts next!  And, technically, Matt really only had to deal with 30,000 or so towels.  How could the ones behind him in the pavilions and the seats by the foul pole distract him?

By the way, Adam, the Phillies’ rally towels are white too.

Go Dodgers.

Tags: adam wainwright, los angeles dodgers, matt holliday, st louis cardinals by Peter
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Looks like more details have come in regarding the near-lawsuit between the family of a 12yo girl who caught a Ryan Howard home run, and the Phillies’ organization for allegedly entering an illegal contract with a minor (at least, that appears to be the case the family’s lawyer had against the Phillies).

From the article:

This was not about money, Vanegas insisted, although she admits that she contacted a Miami TV consumer affairs reporter after co-workers told her that the ball’s historical significance gave it added value. (emphasis mine)

So you didn’t have a lawyer sue the team for the money, even though you only got in contact with a lawyer after finding out the ball’s potential value?  Uh-huh.

The reporter, in turn, put her in touch with Kent.

As Krunk put it, when a lawyer gets involved, isn’t it always about the money?

(By the way, go to 0:42 in this YouTube clip, and then try to convince me that this case was not about the money.  Then, go to the 1:00 mark, and you’ll hear the lawyer use the phrase ‘criminal theft’ to describe what the Phillies did to this girl.  CRIMINAL THEFT???  For argument’s sake, let’s say that the girl did agree to trade balls with the team.  Fine, stick to the ‘illegal contract with a minor” case, but criminal theft?

I can’t watch any more of that clip.  If anyone wants to finish the clip and add to my remarks, please post a comment to this blog entry, and I’ll add it here.)

In addition:

“They’re saying I stole the ball from Mr. Howard,” Vanegas said. “I didn’t steal anything from Mr. Howard. Whoever caught the ball, the ball belongs to that person.

“Why did they take the ball away? Because they knew it was a very valuable ball. They took advantage of my daughter.”

Where in the hell does the mother get this idea that the Phillies were accusing her of trying to steal the baseball from Mr. Howard?  And why does she suggest that the ball was ‘taken away’?  As far as I’m concerned, when you trade one item for another (even if the trade is ridiculous, like an ice cream cone for a pebble), you’re not technically getting your ice cream taken away from you.  Or am I just splitting hairs here?  Also, if it’s not about the money, then why would you care about why the Phillies want the ball back?

Going on:

According to the lawyer, security officials escorted Valdivia to the clubhouse during the July 16 game and a Phillies equipment manager persuaded her to give up the ball, telling her to come back after the game and that Howard personally would give her a signed ball. “She thought he was going to sign the ball she caught,” Kent said. “She’s 12 years old. She didn’t have a clue.”

Sorry, being 12 years old isn’t an excuse for not having a clue.  “Give us the ball, and in return, we’ll give you a signed ball” is pretty clear in my book; we’re talking about two different baseballs here.  And I’ll ask again:  where were the parents during this alleged illegal contract with a minor?  Furthermore, the lawyer said it himself right there:  someone in the Phillies persuaded the girl to give the ball up.  CRIMINAL THEFT?

Valdivia came back as instructed, Kent said, but Howard did not appear and a club official sent her home with a different ball autographed by Howard.

What?  No breach of contract lawsuit?

Finally:

“People are talking so much crap about the ball, and that we just wanted it for the money,” she said. “We had no idea what it was worth. I don’t think Mr. Howard had any idea what was going on. I blame the Phillies’ administration.”

Until your co-workers told you how much it was worth, and then you were more than happy to speak to a lawyer to get the ball back.  But it wasn’t about the money, right?

Final thought:  do you realize that the ball is probably worth way more now than it would have been had the girl not been ‘robbed’ of the ball in the first place?   The ball is now encased in an acrylic holder, authenticated by the Phillies, AND, I’d argue, has extra value because of the controversy surrounding it.  But it’s OK; it’s not about the money.

Office review to come shortly…maybe.

Tags: 200th home run, baseball, criminal theft, lawsuit, phillies, ryan howard by Peter
1 Comment »

I heard on the radio this morning that tonight is going to be a one-hour episode of The Office, complete with Jim and Pam’s wedding.  I guess that means I better watch the last two episodes.  But first…

- Fantasy Football updates:

Remind me never to listen to Yahoo! and their stupid point projections ever again, or I may have to deal with another Julius Jones situation in the future.

You know Julius Jones, right, RB of the Seattle Seahawks?  He of the incredible 3.5 points last weekend?

Fortunately, I got smoked in both leagues.  My opponents scored 121 and 98 points against me, respectively, while I didn’t break 75 in either league.  Next week, I’m going waiver-wire WR heavy, with pickups such as Kenny Britt and Pierre Garcon twice.

I’m now 2-1 in both leagues.

- One non-Fantasy Football update:  so the Monday Night revenge-fest game was the highest-rated cable show of all time, eh?  I can certainly tell you of one household that did not tune in to that game for more than five seconds.

- So Ryan Howard (the other one) got sued by a little girl over a home run ball, eh?  Let me summarize my reactions to this story with one motion.

***facepalm***

To all you wannabe lawyers that insist that the girl has all the right in the world to sue because the Phillies engaged in a contractual agreement with a minor, please stop.  This isn’t about an illegal contract, or extortion (!?!), or the rich guy trying to exploit the not-so-rich family, or any of that crap.  This is about a baseball player who reached 200 HRs faster than anybody else in MLB history wanting back a sentimental object to commemorate an achievement.  This is about a family that, I have to believe, thinks they can sell the ball in the future for an enormous profit.

Stuff like this happens in baseball all the time.  A player loses his grip on his bat, launching it into the seats.  A team staffer asks the lucky (or sometimes unlucky) guy who caught the bat to trade it for a non-game used bat.  He usually obliges, and life goes on.  So excuse me if I believe that this is nothing but a money grab.

Now don’t get me wrong.  If the girl caught Ryan Howard’s 763rd home run, and traded it in for a plain old autographed ball, then I wouldn’t have a huge problem with a family trying to get the ball back.  I know I would if my 12yo gave the ball back to the team.  Also, the story leaves out some pretty critical information.  Where were the parents when the girl was approached by staffers asking for the ball back?  Even if she did agree to go to the Phillies’ clubhouse to exchange baseballs, didn’t the staffers have to bring the girl to her parents first before doing so?  And if they didn’t, wouldn’t the parents have screamed bloody murder at the apparent kidnapping of their child?

Finally, as many people have already posed, how would the family know that Howard actually surrendered the real HR ball?  Sure, it’s probably fraud if he doesn’t, but how would we know the real HR ball isn’t locked in a safe in Howard’s house right now?

- Time for my Office thoughts:

1) “The Meeting” might have been the most topsy-turvy episode of The Office I’ve ever seen.  Let me explain what I mean by topsy-turvy:  the one character that really pissed me off in this episode was…Jim!

What the heck did he mean when he said that Michael screwed him over?  If he didn’t earn all those negative remarks in his performance evaluations in the first place, Michael wouldn’t have been able to screw him over.

Well, maybe he would have found a way, but still.

Michael did what he had to do—explain to David Wallace that Jim wasn’t fit to be a manager—and I wasn’t happy at all when he caved in and helped Jim become a co-manager.  Yes, I understand that, if Michael didn’t do so, Jim might have taken his other job offer.  But if he was planning on doing so, then why was he so upset that Michael “screwed” him over?

I entertained the thought that the performance evaluation was so slanted against Jim because the author of it, one Toby Flenderson, may have written it around the time he was expressing feelings for Pam.  Even if that was the case, what part of that eval is NOT true?  Constant office distractions?  Check.  Spends way too much time at reception?  Duh.  Antagonizes other salesmen.  Yeah.  Not at all what he thinks he is?  Debatable.  3.5 out of 4?  Bad.  Jim’s act actually made me feel bad for Michael, especially when it was obvious that Michael felt bad about costing Jim a promotion within the company.  I didn’t feel as bad when Michael gave in, however.

I loved just about everything else about this episode:  Toby and Dwight’s adventures in attempting to prove that Darryl was scamming worker’s comp, Pam frustratingly trying to get a head count for the wedding (especially Kelly and Ryan’s responses!), and I loved Andy and Michael’s cheese-cart idea (fine grated Parmesan cheese, eh?).  But Jim…sigh.

2) “The Promotion” proved what I said about “The Meeting.”  Jim is NOT management material.  At least, he’s not fit at all to run THAT office!

I loved this episode.  I loved Dwight having to run from Michael’s office to Jim’s and back.  I loved watching Pam practically begging for money instead of gifts (LOL @ Kevin).  I loved how Michael antagonized Jim throughout the entire episode, and how Jim realized that, oh no, Michael might be his only friend.

(The episode should have ended with Michael giving Jim an awkward hug.  That would have been hilarious.  And Jim, I’m pretty sure Pam is still upset with you.)

Dwight, though, stole the episode with his attempts to rally the office against Jim, only to seemingly fail despite that awesome speech near the end.  I wonder if Dwight realizes that, by turning the office on Jim, he might also be turning the office against Michael.  And Pam falling prey to Ryan’s scam was icing on the cake.  Now THAT’s The Office I remember from years past.

What were Jim and Michael supposed to do?  Equal raises?  The entire office would have vetoed that.  Merit-based?  We saw how THAT worked out.  I just hope the writers touch upon how the raises were distributed in a later episode.

Until next time.

Tags: baseball, fantasy football, home run, jim, lawsuit, michael scott, pam, ryan howard, the meeting, The Office, wedding by Peter
1 Comment »

It was 2-0, Colorado, in the top of the first inning when I turned off my TV.  It was 4-3, Colorado, when I turned it back on.  Then I saw Andruw Jones strike out for the fourth time in the game.

(Wait.  That wasn’t Andruw Jones?  That was MANNY RAMIREZ???)

And to think, I thought the Ung-hex was losing its powers.

I read on Yahoo! Sports earlier today that the Dodgers need but one win to not only win the NL West, but to clinch home field advantage throughout the NL playoffs.  And you know what?  As a true Dodger fan, I want them to choke the division crown away!  If they are going to play like absolute crap for the last week of the season, they don’t deserve home field advantage.

One last thought:  how did Colorado only manage two runs in the first inning?

- No, I have not watched yesterday’s episode of The Office.  I know, I know; I should turn in my Office Fan Club card.

- Fantasy Football updates:  I came back to win both league games, and now I’m 2-0 in both leagues.  However, my decision to bench Peyton Manning in Week 2 might prove to be costly.  In league #1, I’m ranked #1 via tiebreaker—total points scored—but I could have had a much larger lead had I not benched Manning.  Oh well.  I’m second in league #2, only because of the tiebreaker.

Fun fact:  I usually handcuff my star running backs in every Fantasy Football draft I do.  I don’t recall ever having to use the handcuff, though.

(For you non-FFB players, handcuffing a running back means to draft his backup, just in case the star gets injured.)

Of course, last week Marion Barber goes down, and Felix Jones slid comfortably into Barber’s spot in my starting lineup.  Then of course, Jones goes down, and fortunately I had a high enough waiver priority to handcuff him with Tashard Choice.

I gotta ask, though.  Who is Tashard Choice’s backup?

I’ve been battling a toothache this past week (that super duper large Mexican funnel cake I shared with my sisters at the Fair last week probably didn’t help), so I’ll leave it at that.  Until next time.

Tags: andruw jones, fantasy football, felix jones, handcuff, handcuff the handcuff, los angeles dodgers, manny ramirez, marion barber, mexican funnel cake, tashard choice, ung-hex by Peter
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And if you don’t believe me, watch SportsCenter later today.

Or tomorrow.

Or next week.

Or right now (CBS is showing “The Play”).

Guess I’ll be skipping ESPN for a week.

- Nope, haven’t watched this past Thursday’s Office yet.  I plan on doing so later tonight.

- Quick Fantasy Football Week 1 recap:

In league #1, I was ahead 99-97 going into Monday’s Indy-Miami tilt, so I decided to bench Peyton Manning.

(People were giving me flak for benching Manning, calling me a wuss.  How was my decision anything but damn intelligent?  What if Manning fumbled the first snap and left the game with an injury?)

That’s when I found out that Yahoo! no longer rounds fantasy points.  It turns out that I was winning by 0.8 pts (97.90 to 97.10).

Oh well, a win’s a win.

In league #2, I won handily, 114-100, thanks to Matt Schaub (30.68) and Marques Colston (21.80).

I’m getting my butt kicked in both leagues so far today, though.

Later.

Tags: brett favre, diva farve, fantasy football, greatest of all time, office, peyton manning by Peter
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Yay!  The Office is back!

Quick review (sorry, I don’t feel like doing those thorough reviews anymore) to come.

- Here’s a bit of background about my Bank of America checking account.  I use it only for eBay transactions.  Money from eBay sales go to my eBay-specific PayPal account, which gets transferred to my BofA checking account, which then goes to ING Direct, which then goes to my WaMu/Chase checking account.

(I’m gonna have to adapt to calling my checking account a Chase checking account.

(Tangent:  I know it’s only September, but that stupid Chase Sapphire commercial might already have won the Worst Commercial of the Year award.  It only took two viewings to already assign this commercial “This is Myyyyyyyyyy Country” status:  as soon as the commericial airs, I’m reaching for the remote to hit the Mute button.))

Well, I hadn’t sold anything on eBay lately, and therefore, I hadn’t had any activity on that account for about three months.  I then sold a few things, transferred the money from PayPal to my BofA account, and then immediately transferred the money to my ING account.

(Oh by the way, they charged me an inactivity fee of $8.95, and it turns out they should have been charging me this for the last three months.  Then again, when I signed up for the account, I was told that the account was completely fee-free.  Apparently fee-free means free of fees until they deem it necessary to charge fees.

EDIT:  I do recall BofA charging me a $5.xx inactivity fee months prior too.  Fortunately, I got that waived by a phone CSR, and that’s when I found out what BofA’s definition of “fee-free” really is.)

Anyway, you could imagine my surprise when, about a week later, I got a letter in the mail saying that my account could be deemed “abandoned” because of inactivity.  Three months of inactivity = possibly abandoned?, I thought to myself.  I then concluded that BofA probably sent the letter before my most recent transaction, so I decided to ignore the letter.  That’s when the listed account balance caught my attention; it was the balance on the account AFTER the PayPal transfer!

Apparently, one week of inactivity is enough for BofA to think that the account could be abandoned, not three months as I initially thought.

- For some reason, I bought some basketball cards on eBay about a month ago.

One of my items was sent a week late, because the seller was out of town.  I wasn’t notified of this, until after the seller shipped out the item.

One of my items was sent to another buyer.  I wasn’t notified of this until a week later, when I asked the seller about the whereabouts of my item.

These two transactions paled in comparison to the third transaction I had.  Let’s just say that if either of the first two transactions was like getting a root canal, the third was like getting each and every one of your teeth pulled out.

Yup, that bad.

- For the first time in years, I did not draft a Fantasy Football team prior to the start of the season.

The last part of that sentence is important; I drafted a couple teams early last Thursday, hoping to finish before the start of the Thursday night Steelers-Titans game.  Unfortunately, even though both drafts ended well before the 5:30PM start time of the game, both leagues were set to start scoring with the Week 2 games.

Oh well.  Here’s team 1, in a “competitive” league.  I actually hated my second and third picks—I really wanted to go WR-RB with those two picks, but was ‘forced’ to take Barber and Manning in that spot—but absolutely hate my WR picks.  And please don’t ask me why I like to pick DSTs so early.

Here’s team 2.  I really hated the RB options between picks 26 and 35, so I decided to go WR heavy.  Knowing that I might have to rely on McFadden, Jones, or waiver wire pickups as my RB2 is gonna keep me up at night, for sure, and Matt Schaub isn’t exactly impressing me at the moment.

Ahhhhhhhhh…it’s good to have (Fantasy) Football back!

- Speaking of things that are good to have back, I was in tears sixty seconds into tonight’s premiere of The Office.

(No joke.  And who didn’t realize that that refrigerator box was probably empty?)

As premieres go, I thought it was decent.  I loved how most (all?) of Michael’s fake rumors turned out true, especially Kelly’s eating disorder and Pam’s pregnancy.  I’m so glad the show decided not to devote several episodes to Jim and Pam trying to hide their little secret.

(Free at last!  Free at last!)

After watching the premiere, and thinking over past episodes, one has to wonder…is Andy Bernard really gay?  Think about it; how many times did we see Andy show affection towards Angela?  I’m tempted to re-watch “Business Trip” just to see if the writers planted seeds towards ‘outing’ Andy.  Then again, maybe I’m just reading too far between the lines.

The summer interns didn’t detract from the episode—that bit at the end was pretty amusing, and the scene with them and Dwight was epic—but overall, I was pretty disappointed.  Add to that the fact that this was the season premiere, and I can’t say I’m too pleased.

(Come on, NBC!  You couldn’t give The Office another one-hour premiere?)

Until next time.

Tags: abandoned, bank of america, checking account, fees, The Office by Peter
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I think so, especially if that person is one Brett Favre.

(I’ll give him credit, though; this is the first ‘news’ about Favre that I have no problem discussing.)

Now, I really don’t care much about preseason football.  However, any time a Hall of Fame, flip-flopping, real-life soap opera-starring, washed-up, doubly-injured quarterback throws a block that could’ve ended another player’s career, I’ll talk about it.

At first glance, I thought it was an ugly play but not dirty at all.  Upon watching the clip a second time, however, I caught something I didn’t catch before:  Favre had a running start before he threw himself at the knees of Texans’ safety Eugene Wilson.

I’ve read some comments out there that actually insisted that Favre hit Wilson in the torso first.  Sure, if Wilson’s torso starts below his waist.  How Wilson got off the field without the assistance of a cart is beyond me.

I can’t wait to see what the NFL’s reaction to the hit is gonna be.  Is he gonna be suspended?  However, he better be fined for the hit.  Don’t be surprised if I blog again in a couple days, though, wondering why Roger Goodell didn’t fine the Diva.

Tags: brett favre, crackback, dirty, diva favre, illegal block by Peter
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Unlike the subject of this blog entry, I never officially retired from blogging, and therefore, I am NOT a flip-flopper!

That’s my story and I’m sticking to it.

- Raise your hand if you are surprised by the announcement that the Diva Favre show is scheduled to re-re-re-re-launch this NFL season.

(If your hand is raised…really?  You didn’t see this coming?)

Hooray!  We NFL fans are going to get YET ANOTHER year of the Diva Favre Show, complete with a horrible, season-ending performance in the playoffs, a teary-eyed post-game press conference, hints about retirement, live updates as he flies home to Hattiesburg, and the eventual announcement that he will, finally, hang up his cleats for the last time.

All of this will happen over a 24 hour period; never mind what’s going to happen once the offseason begins.  ESPN might as well park a trailer outside Favre’s Hattiesburg house right now, and offer fans a 24-hour live feed ASAP.

(Brett Favre is stepping outside!  He’s gonna announce a comeback!  No, wait…he just grabbed the newspaper sitting on his doorstep.)

Question #1:  Why now?  Why not wait until Week 3?  Let’s say the Vikings are stumbling after a humbling defeat at the hands of the Lions (!!!) and a narrow victory against San Francisco.  Imagine Favre standing in Vikings’ owner Zygi Wilf’s press box, during a fourth quarter time out, announcing his return to the league!

(It’ll probably sound something like this.)

Why Week 3?  Look at the schedule:  a revenge game vs. GB, a guaranteed win @ STL, two toughies vs BAL and @PIT, and the “Screw You, Green Bay” game.

If Minnesota wins vs. GB, imagine how much more inflated Favre’s ego will get.  See!  See!  Look at me!   I’m not done!  Why’d you guys make me retire, Green Bay? Couple that with the win @ STL, and even if Minnesota loses the next two games—it wouldn’t be his fault if they lost those two games, after all—Favre’s got another revenge game against GB after that.

Hell, why not go all the way and retire after the Vikings’ bye week, only to return, Trevor Hoffman style (do you think he’d loan Favre “Hell’s Bells”?) for the season finale vs. the NY Giants?

Who wouldn’t watch THAT soap opera?  Even I…might.

Question Answer #2:  $12 million.

Question:  How much money is clearly burning a hole in Zygi Wilf’s pockets if he thinks a fragile, 39 going on 40 year old, flip-flopping, attention-starved, interception machine is going to be the difference between a Division Round elimination and a Super Bowl berth?

(I’ll take “Stupid Proclamations” for $200, Alex.  Gosh I miss blogging.)

How is a past-his-prime QB with a rotator cuff tear going to put Minnesota over the top?  Bernard Berrian’s a nice player, but look at the rest of that WR roster.  Unless Percy Harvin turns into Calvin Johnson…yuck.  And what if his shoulder flares up again?

(Tangent:  Quote of the year, so far:

Lance Briggs: On Favre constantly changing his mind.

“I hope he changes his mind when he’s going to throw the ball away, and throws it into coverage…”

Winner!)

Question #3:  What does The Diva Favre Show, Season 3, have planned to top the drama of the first two seasons?  Teary-eyed press conferences and one-on-one interviews are so 2007.  Lying right in front of all of America, or at least those watching his act, is too boring.  A rose ceremony, Bachelor-style?  Nah, too obvious and not exciting enough.

(I doubt this would happen, but the thought did cross my mind.  A tandem press conference announcing the re-re-returns of Diva Favre AND John Madden!

*shudder*

And for the record, I am not, in any way, comparing Diva Favre to John Madden.)

Here’s my idea for the Season 3 finale:  The Brett Favre Dating Game.  Now, we know that Favre wouldn’t want to play for a doormat, and teams with championship aspirations already—NE, BAL, IND, PHI, TEN, etc., and apologies if I left out an obvious team—wouldn’t have interest in him, so let’s eliminate those teams.  Next, we’ll make Favre submit a list of teams he’d like to play for (I guess that will eliminate Green Bay).  We’ll then take these two lists, and all the teams that are on both lists will be invited to the taping of The Brett Favre Dating Game.

On the show, each team will be represented by an anonymous team staffer.  Chuck Woolrey—Chris Mortenson if Woolrey’s not available—will allow Diva Favre to ask each staffer one question, and after the last question is posed, Favre will have a commercial break to decide which team he’d like to date.

After the date—training camp, I guess—we’ll invite Favre and his date back on to the show and see if he’ll be willing to go on a second date.  My bet:  he’ll dump whichever team he picked and sign with Carolina…in Week 9.

Now tell me, who wouldn’t watch this?  I certainly would, just to see Favre do that stupid kiss and wave at the end of each show.

Later.

Tags: adrian peterson, brett favre, diva favre, minnesota vikings, the brett favre dating game, the diva favre show by Peter
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Did Ryan Church really miss third base, costing the Mets the lead in the top half of the 11th?

Did Xavier Paul’s fly ball really fall between LF Angel Pagan and CF Carlos Beltran?

And what the heck was with that throw to the plate???

Cue Yackety Sax!

- So over at The Consumerist about a week ago, I read an article about how Chase was “inviting” certain customers to skip a payment on their credit cards, clearly with the intention to charge interest rates on existing balances.  I told myself, “Gee, I wish Chase would do that with my balance transfer!”

Fast forward to today, and I noticed something peculiar on my Excel spreadsheet made for bills.  According to the spreadsheet, I had already paid off my Chase Freedom card for the month of April (you know, the one that was made better than ever recently, if by better than ever, I mean FUBARed).  I wasn’t sure if that was right, though, so I logged in to my Chase online account.

(I know that a payment is due on a credit card account when there is a figure under the minimum payment due.  In addition, the first thing I check when I log on to my Chase account are the notices on the left hand side of the page.  Once a payment clears, the minimum payment due resets to zero, the notice goes away, and I make a note on my spreadsheet that the account is paid.)

I looked at my Freedom account, noted the minimum payment due was $0, and thought that that was peculiar.  I investigated further, and that’s when I saw the last payment date of April 13.  I knew that that didn’t sound right, so I opened up a PDF copy of my statement, and that’s when I saw the blurb quoted in the Consumerist article above:

You have the flexibility to skip a payment. you must pay past due and overlimit [sic] balances immediately. However, the remaining minimum payment for this month has been reduced to $0. Finance charges will continue to accrue. To reduce your balance, feel free to make a payment.

Thank goodness that my minimum payment of $0 was due on May 21.  It was only a $120 balance, so I suppose it wouldn’t have been a big deal if I missed the payment (even at 24%, that’s about $5 out of my pocket).  Still, that’s a few bucks of mine that Chase nearly got their hands on.

- I had a Status-Now.com rebate that was in rebate limbo from all the way back in November of 2008.  Being the lazy bastard that I am, I waited until a few days ago to inquire about the rebate.  After a brief wait on hold, I was told that the rebate was invalid due to a duplicate submission(?!?).  I couldn’t find my rebate scans, so I told the rep that I would call right back.

I checked Status-Now.com, and sure enough, it appeared that I did file duplicate rebates.  WTF, I thought to myself.  I could’ve sworn that the two rebate entries were different, and without the rebate form, how was I gonna prove it?

It took a bit of, um, URL “engineering,” but I eventually found the proper rebate form.  I called Status-Now right back, gave them the promo code of the rebate, and was stunned to hear what the rep told me.

(paraphrasing) “Sir, that rebate promotion code is for a promotion that hasn’t yet occured.”

…….

Huh?

About a minute later, I finally was able to speak again.  “Come again?” I said.

The rep put me on hold, came back on soon after, and explained that there was “probably” a typo on the rebate form.  She explained that, in the event that the promotion code is incorrect, the system automatically tries to process the rebate under the closest promotion code.

OK.

Long story short, the rep created a new record for me—she had to process it under a promotion that I’ve already done, but she assured me that it would be OK—and that she would expedite the rebate process.

Whew.

Until next time…whenever the hell that is.

Tags: angel pagan, carlos beltran, chase, chase freedom, consumerist, los angeles dodgers, minimum payment, new york mets, rebate error, ryan church, status-now, yackety sax by Peter
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