UngsungBlog: A (Fantasy) Sports Blog

My poor blog, how I’ve ignored you over the past few days!

(What can I say? I haven’t had much to talk about lately!)

Quick-hitters:

- It’s been sunny and COLD the last few days.

I miss the heat. I also miss sunlight at 6PM.

And if it’s so cold, why the heck do I really really want some ice cream?

- Small Shot-Online update: I’m still stuck on level 52 (haven’t played much lately), and, due to a bout of complete idiocy, I blew a chance at an easy ONE HUNDRED MILLION NG profit!!!

I don’t wanna talk about it.

One of these days, I will venture onto Cads. One of these days.

- Current rebate-o-meter: $1,500 or so, but I’m sure that the total is closer to $2,000 than $1,500.

That’s what I get for keeping such poor rebate records

- For the first time ever, here’s a tangent to a previous topic topic that deserves its own section!

Tangent: Fry’s/WorldwideRebates.com update: Fry’s customer service sent me this email regarding my “lost” $20 rebate:

Hello Peter, in regards to your Trand Micro rebate in the amount of
$20.00. We have since gotten in contact with the rebate manufacturer in
regards to your denial. Unfortunately after talking with them it seems
as though they are unwilling to help there customers. What we are going
to do for you in this matter is go ahead and give all of your rebate
submission to our home office. They will be issuing you a check shortly.
Please note that this may take up to 2 months. Please feel free to get
back with us in regards to this status. Thank you.

I boldfaced the line above because I thought it looked awfully familiar to me, especially the misuse of the word “there.” Does Fry’s use a form email to respond to rebate complaints? Well, remember my American Telecom rebate rant?

Hello Peter, in regards to your Pay N Talk rebate in the amount of
$25.00. We have since gotten in contact with the rebate manufacturer in
regards to your denial. Unfortunately after talking with them it seems
as though they are unwilling to help there customers. What we are going
to do for you in this matter is go ahead and give all of your rebate
submission to our home office. They will be issuing you a check shortly.
Please note that this may take up to 2 months. Please feel free to get
back with us in regards to this status. Thank you.

That was from an email response sent to me from February 1, 2008! Notice the emphasis in the blog entry linked above!

Once again, kudos to Fry’s!

(EDIT: Just as I finished typing this, I got an email from WorldWideRebates…it appears that they finally got my rebate submission! Should they successfully process my rebate claim, I will contact Fry’s and see if I can get them to not issue me a check. If not, I’ll just destroy it.)

- Fantasy football updates:

I’m riding a three-game winning streak in one league, the third win coming via a 132-88 beatdown of my opponent. It helps that my two RBs, Thomas Jones and Maurice Jones-Drew, combined to score 59 points by themselves. I am now 5-5 in this league, tied for fifth overall, and still a game out of a playoff spot (though I’m trailing badly in the tiebreaker, which is points scored overall.)

In my other league, I won for the sixth straight week. I’m not going to take too much pride in this win, though, as my opponent played three guys on their bye week, and one was on IR. I’m now in first place in this league, and I face the team that I leapfrogged in Week 11. The receivers on this team are really killing me, save for Andre Johnson.

Non-fantasy football thoughts:

- Ask and ye shall receive.  Thank you, T.O., for giving me my lead story of Week 10!  I need not even comment on this (though I will):

“We have to go back to the drawing table and look at the things that made us successful last year, moving me around a little bit, really just making an effort to get the ball in my hands on certain routes,” Owens said Tuesday, during a signing for his new book in Manhattan.

Well, at least he was smart enough to say the word “certain.”  You know, he wouldn’t want to appear to be demanding the ball, or anything like that…

I cannot wait for the upcoming Cowboys-Redskins game.  What will spew out of T.O.’s mouth if the Cowboys happen to lose THAT game???

- As soon as I found out that the Monday Night game was San Francisco at Arizona, I decided that I wasn’t going to watch it.

Boy did I miss out!  What a crazy goal-line “stand” by Arizona!  Of course, I say “stand” because Arizona’s field turf played a huge role on that series, tackling 49ers’ RB Frank Gore on 2nd and goal.  Why was Frank Gore not on the field on the final play of the game?  And why didn’t the 49ers spike the ball on the final play, since it was only 3rd down?

By the way, if Kurt Warner wins his third MVP this season—and personally, I think he’s the front-runner—tying himself with that guy currently on the Jets, that has to be enough to get him in the Hall of Fame, right?  Maybe he doesn’t get in on the first ballot, but he’s gotta get in, right?

- Speaking of the Jets, did you see them running up the score against my hapless Rams?  How sickening!

OK, fine, my Rams horribly stink, and the Jets did not run the score up on them.  However, can we stop giving Favre all the credit for the Jets’ “resurgence,” a 6-3 record against a cupcake schedule, including a LOSS to the RAIDERS?

Kris Jenkins?  Alan Faneca?  Thomas Jones?  Leon Washington?  Eh, forget it; let’s give all the credit to Diva Favre.

(And please stop with the “Oh, if Favre were still a Packer, they wouldn’t be 4-5!  It is not completely Aaron Rodgers’ fault that the Packers are struggling.  That defense of theirs is terrible, and it only got worse with the loss of LB Nick Barnett for the season.)

- Colts fans, begin to send your hate mail!

Is it just me, or are the Colts quickly rounding into that struggling team that, all of a sudden, gets white-hot, and earns the “We don’t want to play THEM!” label?  After back-to-back victories over New England and Pittsburgh (did the Colts really keep the Steelers out of the end zone when Pittsburgh was on the Colts’ 1???), the could-have-been 1-8 Colts could very well be 10-4 going into the final two games of the season.

Of course, they could also get upset by Houston, lose @SD, and then lose one of @CLE, CIN, or DET (shudder…), and miss the playoffs.

- And finally, thank goodness that Jacksonville remembered who they were…as did Detroit.

By the way, would you bet on Detroit going 0-16, or Tennessee going 16-0?  You’d have to be on the latter being more likely, wouldn’t you?

I would…but just barely.

Until next time!

Tags: cadeiger, diva favre, fantasy football, frys, green bay packers, indianapolis colts, kurt warner, mvp, new york jets, nick barnett, rebate-o-meter, shot-online, t.o., worldwiderebates by Peter
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Random thoughts:

- Has anyone seen Fall?  Seriously?  Why the hell is it so hot???

I just can’t win…

- Commercials:

1) Any time I see that stupid Sinupret commercials (”I love you more!” “No, I love you more!”), I feel like throwing my remote through my TV.

More WalMart commercials, please!

2) Cheesy cable commercials always bug the hell out of me, but Valley residents have to agree with me that the latest Keyes Woodland Hills commercial jingle (set to “Where in Thumbkin?”) has to rate as one of the dumbest, most obnoxious, cable commercial of all time!

Where is Honda?  Where is Nissan?  Woodland Hills!

(I think I got the line right.  Every time I hear that commercial, my ears start bleeding.)

3) The Guitar Hero:  World Tour commercial.  Enough said.

Now THAT’s a good commercial.

- Latest CVS trip:  bought lots of candy (2 for $3, $1 coupon), and some SoyJoy bars (4 for $4, $3 off 5 coupon, and $4 ECBs).

I will neither confirm nor deny that the candy was purchased for me first, and the Trick-or-Treat’ers second.

Next week, I’ll be buying some Brita pitcher filters which will cost me more than a buck after all my ECBs.  I hope that my favorite cashier isn’t there on that day

- Current rebate-o-meter:  $925, but that doesn’t include the $500 or so that I have not yet entered.

(I’m lazy!)

- Fantasy football updates:

Believe it or not, I actually played Brian Westbrook last week, and believe it or not, I did not hex him!

5-2-1 now (second place), after a blowout victory, and somehow, Rams WR Donnie Avery was available in this league, strengthening my average WR corps (Andre Johnson(!!!), Jerricho Cotchery, Roy Williams, Donald Driver, Lance Moore).

In my other league, I had WR Reggie Wayne, TE Dallas Clark, and a four-point lead over my opponent, who had (gulp!) RB Chris Johnson.  Fortunately for me, Johnson’s garbage-time TD did not hurt me, as Dallas Clark finally showed up in a game.  Now I’m 3-5 in that league, and amazingly, only two games out of a playoff spot.

Non-fantasy football thoughts:

- Let’s start with the big story of the week:  Deanna Favre is hurt over the recent allegations that her husband, Diva Favre, offered ousted Lions’ GM Matt Millen tips against Favre’s former team:

‘Brett does not, in any way, hold a vendetta against his former team…Some incidents, like the locker room pranks appear funny [but they are still untrue]…Others, like the questionable phone calls to other teams, are hurtful, distasteful, and…still untrue as they have been reported.

Because of this, lately, my heart has been so heavy. It is very hard to watch the daily toll this has taken on Brett.

Brett is the same man who has always put his team first, not personal gains or statistics. And, Brett is the same man we know who is filled with great character, strength, goodness and love. Truly, nothing has changed but a uniform.’

1) WAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!!!!!

Here’s a kleenex.

2) How can something that is untrue still “appear” funny?

3) Sure, any scrutiny directed at your husband must be hard to take.  However, wasn’t it YOU that pushed your husband to return for another season?

EDIT:  I saw a clip of an E:60 interview with Mrs. Favre—Greta Van Susteren must have been busy—where she denied pushing Favre back into the league.  Maybe you should convince your husband to retire mid-season.  He could always come back in Week 13!

4) That last paragraph makes me LMFAO.  Favre puts his team first?  The same guy that used to throw backbreaking pick after backbreaking pick, and then blaming the personnel around him for his poor play, “put[s] his team first?”  And oh by the way:

*cough* Michael Strahan? *cough*

*cough* The entire drama of the past three offseasons? *cough*

*cough* Declaring that he’s not responsible for the development of Aaron Rodgers? *cough*

Character?  Goodness?  More like selfishness and a swollen ego.

(BTW, I got sick to my stomach over hearing analysts anywhere praise Favre for that fourth-quarter rally against the Chiefs.

1) THEY WERE PLAYING THE CHIEFS!!!!!!!

2) Favre threw three picks in that came, if you don’t recall.  The Jets’ D probably had something to do with keeping Favre in the game, no?

3) Enough with the praise over that pass he threw to Laveranues Coles!  That pass was thrown about two yards behind Coles, and Coles had to adjust to the ball, NOT the other way around!  That pass was so poor that it could easily have been a Pick Six!)

- In lesser news, did you hear that the Tennessee Titans are now 7-0, after a drubbing of the team formerly known as the powerhouse Indianapolis Colts?

That being said, I’m still not sold on the Titans…yet.  Look at some of their past opponents!  KC?  Cincy?  Houston?  An overrated Jags team?  Let’s not put the champagne on ice just yet.  However, looking at their next four games (GB, @Chi, @Jax, NYJ), should they go 3-1 in those games, then we can talk about championship contention.

By the way, does the Pacman Jones trade count as “Ewing Theory” potential?

And even though they are 3-4, I just can’t bury the Colts just yet.  I might after their next four games, though (NE, @Pit, Hou, SD).  I’m thinking a 3-1 record in those four games is the worst the Colts can do if they want to contend for a playoff spot this season.

- Speaking of teams that are for real, is Carolina now on that list?  Not yet, in my opinion, due to the fact that they had to rally against an average Arizona team (and it didn’t help that Arizona’s defenders appear to be allergic to tackling.  Marion Barber a couple weeks ago, and Steve Smith on Sunday?)

- At 3-5, San Diego has to be finished, right?  JAX too, at 3-4.  Washington?  I’m not sold on them being for real yet.  And maybe New England will be OK after all.

And the New York Giants are pretty good.  So is Pitt, that entire fourth quarter notwithstanding.

- The Cowboys eked out a win against Tampa Bay, but not all is well in Dallas, even at 5-3.

And has anyone seen TO?  No comments?

- Can Cincy do it?  Can they go 0-16?  Here’s their remaining schedule.

The final game of the season (KC) scares the heck out of me, but next week’s game (JAX) screams “trap game.”

- Speaking of winless teams, can Detroit do it?  Here’s their remaining schedule, and it looks great!

That “trap game” versus Jacksonville scares me as well.

- And finally…who didn’t enjoy Niners’ coach Mike Singletary’s rant on TE Vernon Davis?

Incredible stuff, all of it deserved, by the way:

‘I told him that he would do a better job for us right now taking a shower and coming back and watching the game than going out on the field,’ Singletary said after the 34-13 loss to Seattle. ‘Simple as that.’

Until next time!

Tags: andre johnson, brian westbrook, dallas clark, deanna favre, diva favre, donnie avery, fantasy football, indianapolis colts, mike singletary, new york bretts, san francisco 49ers, tennessee titans, vernon davis by Peter
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I’m in a pretty bad mood right now, so pardon me if this blog is a bit more negative than usual.

(I know, I know…MORE negative?)

Quick-hitters:

- Still no resolution from Costco…though the manager is only partially to blame. I tried calling him twice more last week, and he was not in on either day.

I have yet to call since :P.

- My forehead is still sore from the smackdown I received from my favorite cashier at the Encino CVS.

(You remember this, right?)

Two days ago, I dropped by for the first time in a month (!!!!!), and I ended up spending $7 out of pocket! You should have seen her reaction this time!

“SEVEN DOLLARS??? YOU’RE SUPPOSED TO HAND ME A QUARTER!!!”

And then…***SMACK***, right on the forehead!

(OK, so it was more like a V8 commercial-like tap on the forehead, but still, it was pretty damn funny.)

Fortunately, after seeing the 3-4 ECBs that printed out, she decided that it would be OK to return to the store for my future CVS shopping needs.

- Current rebate-o-meter: $1052, and rising.

Thank goodness for the 2009 FAR software “season!”

Yeah, I know I skipped last week’s NFL Thoughts, but I promise I’ll make it up to you.

- Fantasy football updates:

Fortunately for me, what will forever be known as the “Steven Jackson game” did not ruin me. I was blown out anyway. I am now 2-5 in that league, and facing the top team next week.

(So should I hex the other Steven Jackson owners in the Fantasy Football universe and play him this week?)

In my other league, I’m on a 3-0-1 run to get to 4-2-1, good for third place. I really like my chances in this league, even without a healthy Brian Westbrook.

Non-fantasy football thoughts:

- Awwwww…Brett Favre is angry, over the reports that he spoke with former Lions’ GM Matt Millen, offering “strategic Packers information” to the Lions.

Poor baby.

Where should I start?

“It happens more than you know,” Favre said. “Don’t think for a second that, you know, when Mike McCarthy left in ‘99, went to the Saints, the next year we played them, they put it to us, that he didn’t tell his guys what they thought. There’s nothing wrong with that.”

Note to Diva Favre: the “Other people do it, so it must be OK” argument never works! Nice try, though.

“I guess I’m a little bit angry because I think my reputation has been well respected throughout the years,” Favre said. “Any time that’s questioned, the type of teammate I am, it does anger me, I’m not going to lie to you.”

You must have been quite angry over the damage your rep took over this past offseason, huh? Then again, that’s probably the media’s fault.

“Believe me,” Favre said, “I’m trying my best to help this team win, the New York Jets. Spending no time trying to make the Packers lose. I got enough on my plate, believe me.”

“Believe me. I’m trying my best to help this team win by thinking about retirement until training camp.” I can’t wait for him to try this line out during the offseason.

Now that I got the cheap shots out of the way, let me just say that Favre is…R…RIIII…RIGHT. People talk all the time. Exactly how is anybody going to prove that Favre told Millen (assuming they did speak about schemes and strategies) what the Lions’ coaches couldn’t already figure out by watching tapes? More importantly, the NFL has already considered it a non-issue, so I guess that’s good enough for me.

- Do you realize that:

The Cowboys could be 4-6 after their game at Washington?

(Speaking of the Cowboys, how I will live without some T.O. news this week???)

The Colts could be 3-6 after their game at Pittsburgh, and could easily be 1-8?

The Rams are three upsets away from being a legitimate playoff contender?

(I can dream, can’t I?)

The New York Bretts could be 4-8 after their game versus Denver, sparking Favre to consider returning to his team the following week at San Francisco?

(I can dream, can’t I?)

- I thought Chicago and Minny had two premier defenses. Eighty-nine points combined? Yikes.

- So is New England that good, or is Denver that…average?

Of course, Cutler’s finger injury played a huge role in the outcome of that game, but Denver’s D couldn’t stop a Pop Warner RB right now.

(Fantasy football tangent: Selvin Young, please stay injured. I am enjoying the Michael Pittman show.)

EDIT: OK, the tangent above was a bit of a low blow, on the heels of this article chronicling the Broncos’ injury woes. It’s incredible that the 3-4 Chargers (no, you guys should not be 5-2…please stop that) are only a game out of first place in the AFC West, and could very well beat out the Broncos for the division title.

And finally…

- Raise your hand if you had the Tennessee Titans as the only unbeaten team left in the league. To borrow a thought from ESPN’s Bill Simmons, there’s some serious “Ewing Potential” with this team, now that Vince Young is no longer the QB.

It’s probably the media’s fault that Young isn’t the QB any more, though.

Until next time (later tonight, that is!).

Tags: brett favre, brian westbrook, cashier, costco, cvs, dallas cowboys, denver broncos, diva favre, fantasy football, indianapolis colts, matt millen, new england patriots, new york jets, rebate-o-meter, steven jackson, tennessee titans by Peter
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Lots to get off my chest, and I promise a full NFL (Fantasy) Week in Review next time.  But until then…

Random thoughts (an HGH-boosted version of Quick-hitters):

- Seriously, what happened to Fall?  Mid 80s to low 90s all week last week, and now AccuWeather says it’s 78 right now.  If it’s 78 degrees outside right now, then I’m the freaking Pope.

Time to make my hot coffee iced.

(Tangent:  I dropped my coffee press!  Now the pot itself won’t stay secured to the round metal base, causing the pot to lean in one direction!  AHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!!!!

Worse yet, my local 99 Ranch no longer carries this thing.  Bah.)

- Read this article, if you haven’t already.  What an absolutely heart-wrenching story.

(Kinda make my complaining about a broken coffee pot trivial by comparison, huh?)

- After the Boston Red Sox made that improbable rally to upset the Rays in Game Five of the ALCS, I had to brace myself for something that I hadn’t seen since June.

The Return of the Boston Myopians, led by Mr. Myopian himself!

Thank goodness the comeback was squashed by a J.D. Drew half-swing.  And yes, Boston fan, he went around.  Stop complaining.

(And yes, the fact that J.D. Drew was the one to kill the rally made it extra gratifying to watch.  I can’t wait for Boston fans to turn on this guy.)

- Raise your hand if you had Steven Jackson on your fantasy team, and you benched him this past week.

(raises hand)

It’s a damn good thing that I got blown out of the water anyway!  I’m headed for a 2-5 record in one league, and possibly 4-2-1 in the other.  Full recap next time.

- This article caught my eye this morning:  When has a video game ever made you cry?

I could think of one video game example which really got to me.  I’m pretty sure I didn’t go running for the nearest box of Kleenex, but it was pretty heart-wrenching.

I’ll post what video game that was (specifically, what scene) at the end of this blog.

- Current rebate-o-meter:  $1222, including a $20 rebate from Norton/Symantec that Parago just refuses to pay out, despite numerous fax attempts.

I hate the rebate game.

- WalMart (groan) rant time!

On the 29th of September, I bought a Philips DVD-RW drive from WalMart, because the item page said it was a ten-pack.

(Anyone who has ever jumped on deals like this already know that this was, more often than not, a description error.  Part of the reason why I decided to take a chance on this deal, however, was the fact that I had a $20 WalMart gift certificate from this ordeal.)

As expected, I received a single drive.  As I am known to do, I waited until the 10th of October to contact WalMart about the “incorrect” item in my order.  I sent them an email that day, and got a reply that night telling me to log in to my account, print an RMA label, and return the package.

Simple enough, I guess.  I decided not to pursue this further.  On Sunday, however, I got this email:

We are writing in reference to order #xxxxxxxxxx. To ensure that we
provide you with accurate information, we are researching the matter, to
see why you didn’t receive the Philips 20x DVD-RW 10-Pack, SATA
Interface. We will contact you with an update within the next 2-3
business days.

What quickly got my attention was that last line.  Two to three business days after that Sunday would have been the 15th or the 16th (that Monday was Columbus Day), both dates being past the 15 day return window.

Again, I had decided not to deal with the issue, and I requested my RMA label that day.

On Tuesday, I got another email from WalMart:

I am writing in regards to your recent order with us for the Philips 20x
DVD-RW 10-Pack, SATA Interface. Unfortunately, due to an error at our
fulfillment centers and on our site, we will not be able to replace the
order at this time. These items are only sold in singles. You may
return the item for a full refund. Please call us at 1-866-625-0507 to
discuss this issue.

“Discuss,” huh?  I liked the sound of that.

I quickly called WalMart, and here’s the gist of our conversation:

Me:  (blah blah blah…error…let’s “discuss.”)

CSR:  Log in to your account, request a return label, and return the item back to us.

Some discussion, huh?  Thank you, CSR, for telling me exactly what the previous email CSR told me to do! What, no apologies?  No “we’re sorry for the inconvenience”?  That’s it?

(Yes, I realize that the last email did tell me to return the item for a full refund.  What irks me is that the CSR is telling me to call in to “discuss this issue,” only to get the same information again???)

- Shot-Online update:  lvl 49, awesome clubs, and unfortunately I am now guild-less.

One of the things I have learned about MMORPGs—Shot-Online is the first MMORPG that I have actually spent more than a week playing :P—is that, at some point in the game, it becomes a social setting first and a game second.  I learned that the hard way after a recent ordeal with one of my now-former guildmates.

An innocent comment about club selection somehow escalated into a vicious attack on my character and intent, and I got so pissed off over the whole affair that I had no choice but to leave the guild.  I had even entertained the thought of quitting the game altogether.

I told my guildmaster what happened, and I could tell that he wasn’t exactly thrilled with the situation, acknowledging how much I had done for his guild.  Some of my friends in the guild weren’t too pleased as well, acknowledging how much I had helped them with the game to that point.

Part of me then realized, “I’m getting worked up over a GAME!  WTF?”  So I decided to discuss this situation with another friend of mine, and I asked him:  “At some point, does an MMORPG become more of a social setting than a game?”

He explained that people play MMORPGs for the social atmosphere first and foremost, and that everything I was feeling—guilt, frustration, anger, etc.—was perfectly normal, and, unfortunately, part of the “appeal” of the MMORPG genre.  He did agree with my decision to leave the guild, as others did, and that I should have expected drama like this to happen, he explained; after all, MMORPGs boil down to glorified chat rooms full of strangers.

Now I know that an MMORPG isn’t just a video game.

Will I still be playing Shot-Onlne?  Hell yes!  I want the Tour Pro title :P.

- So what was the video game moment that was so emotional to me?

Easy:  The scene in Final Fantasy VII where that bastard Sephiroth killed Aeris.  Be honest!  Who didn’t scream “F**K YOU SEPHIROTH!!!” at the TV when that happened?

(OK…maybe it was just me and a couple friends.)

Tags: boston myopians, cry, csr, fall, fantasy football, hot weather, jd drew, lost kids of willows, mmorpg, rebate-o-meter, shot-online, steven jackson, video game, walmart by Peter
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Random Thoughts:

- Never, ever, in a million years, could I have seen the Dodgers sweep away the Cubs in three games!

And Cubs fans, please stop saying that the Cubs choked away the series. The Dodgers beat them, plain and simple.

- The weather here has been crazy lately! Late last week, it was chilly; we’re talking mid-70s with winds. Over the weekend, it was a tad warmer, maybe in the 80s.

Today, it was in the mid-90s, and it’s expected to be even hotter tomorrow! Even stranger, the day after, it is expected to be back in the mid-70s!

WTH???

- Shot-Online Update: I’m a Level 48 semi-pro, and yet I’m too afraid to try Cadeiger :P.

(One quick Shot-Online rant: You morons that are clogging the AH with your one-hit items are freaking annoying.

All of you, please go DIAF.)

- Week Five Fantasy Football Updates:

Going into Monday’s Minnesota v New Orleans tilt, I was trailing by 11 points in one league (with only Minnesota’s defense left), and I was up by 30 points in another league (and facing, gulp, Drew Brees and Adrian Peterson).

Then the punt block/TD happened, and I felt really good about the first league.

Then, inexplicably, New Orleans’ run defense started playing really well, practically shutting down AD to the tune of THREE fantasy points! Brees ended up with 13 points, thanks in part to two lost fumbles, and my opponent in the second league ended up with only 16 of the 30 points required to overtake me.

I figured that I was in big trouble in both leagues, and now I’m 2-3 and 2-2-1, with plenty of Fantasy Football left to play.

Some non-fantasy football thoughts from the past week:

- A win is a win is a win, but T.O. going T.O is still T.O., and I love it:

‘This was a great team win,’ T.O. said. ‘It was frustrating out there, but I kept with it. My teammates stuck with it. … God used me today for his glory. Reality is where glory resides. That’s all I’ve got to say.’

What???

First of all, how is holding off a pathetic, winless Bengals team a “great team win”? Second of all…WHAT???

I can’t wait for T.O. to drop a game-tying TD late in the fourth quarter of game, then proclaiming that the loss as a “bad team loss” while staring in the general direction of Tony Romo.

By the way, how would you like to be 4-1 and be in THIRD place in your division? I have a good feeling that the NFC’s Super Bowl representative will come out of the NFC East.

- Another game, another Ed Hochuli controversy. How his crew blew that obvious facemask penalty is beyond me. But can we stop blaming Hochuli for this one? This was not his call!!!

Look, part of sports is the human aspect of it; officials are going to make mistakes! Yes, that’s what instant replay is for, right? Well, why not allow instant replay to reverse non-calls too? If we do that, then where would we draw the line on what is challenge-able and what is not?

Besides, two missed calls in a five-game stretch is not exactly a compelling sample size to determine if a referee needs to retire. Also, what if the Jay Cutler fumble didn’t result in a Broncos TD? What if Reggie Bush did not fumble following the facemask? I’m not arguing that these outcomes would have made the blown calls right, but I will once again hammer the point that one cannot attribute the result of a SINGLE play to the outcome of a game!

- Where are the pro-Diva Favre Packer fans calling for GM Ted Thompson’s head? Is Aaron Rodgers hiding in a bomb shelter? Is Greta Van Susteren getting ready for a second interview, entitled “I Told You So!” with Favre?

(By the way, Packers fans, your secondary looks TERRIBLE. I just thought I’d throw that opinion out there before you mail out your expletive-laden hate mail to the Packers.)

- I guess Kurt Warner shouldn’t retire just yet.

Poor guy, though, to have to witness his teammate—Anquan Boldin—get seriously hurt because of a poor decision on Warner’s part. I immediately became a fan of the guy, and I still am, and I hope that this is not going to be his final season. I would love to see Warner take a team to the playoffs one more time.

(Fantasy football tangent: the goose-egg I got from Trent Edwards, thankfully, did not ruin me.)

- Sage Rosenfels, congratulations on winning the Colts’ Team MVP award. My goodness!

That was kinda cool, I guess, for you to try to channel your inner John Elway. However, you do realize that this was Week Five of the regular season, right?

And Colts fans, isn’t it amazing that you are two failed second-half rallies away from being 0-4?

- And finally…

My Rams did not lose this week! WOOHOO!!!!!

Tags: chicago cubs, choke, controversy, diva favre, ed hochuli, fantasy football, kurt warner, los angeles dodgers, monday night football, nfl, retirement, sage rosenfels, shot-online, sweep, t.o., weird weather by Peter
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No quick-hitters tonight.

- So as my loyal readers (all none of you) know, I’ve got idiot neighbors.  The neighbors upstairs, though, are especially rude and inconsiderate.  Everyone up there seems to enjoy constantly running around their condo with absolutely no regards for us downstairs.  I used to wonder if there were nine or ten people in that condo, or if the residents there were just all really…um…lead-footed?

Well, according to my sister, part of the reason why they are so noisy is because there are at least TWO families that share the condo!  Additionally, my sister, being awfully gratuitous, pointed out that several of them are…well…lead-footed?

(Hank—where are you???—might dub some of them “heroically portly.”)

Form your own conclusions; I am just speaking the truth!  Wouldn’t YOU get riled up about being forced awake at 5:30AM to hear what sounds like the National Jume Rope Competition going on upstairs?

- Shot-Online update:  I made it!  I am now a Semi-Pro—thanks to a -8 on Gladsheim—and I absolutely LOATH it.

I hate losing EXP just for making bogeys.  I hate the Pro courses!  Can I go back to being an amateur?

So, because only I care about how I got to Semi-Pro, here’s a brief recap of my Gladsheim round:

• Birdie on 1 (-1)
• Lip-out for birdie on 2
• Birdie on 3 (-2)
• A medium-length (3-7yd; the hardest putt to make consistently) double-breaker par save on 4
• A similar par save on 7
• Another birdie somewhere between 3 and 7 (-3)
• Chip-in birdie on 8 (-4)
• Birdie on 9 (-5)

And then…

• A 2yd putt for par broke unexpectedly, and rolled 4yd back.  A tough putt for bogey kept me at -4
• Pars on 11-13
• Birdie on 14 (-5)
• Par on the toughest hole on the course (IMO):  15
• Birdie on 16 (-6)
• Thinking I needed “insurance,” I made birdie on 17 (-7)
• Birdie on 18 (-8)

Further proof that I’m a Shot-Online dork, right?

- Reason #9080329483242342 why I hate Fantasy Football:

My sister somehow blonded (please save the hate mail!) her way to a 2-2 record, while I’m 1-3 in one league and 1-2-1 (I absolutely stole a tie against a 3-0 team, thanks to Pittsburgh’s DST) in the other.

It’s not fair!

Amazingly enough, Le’Ron McClain was available as a FA in both of my leagues, as well as popular pickups as Lance Moore (WR - NO), Steve Slaton (RB - HOU), and Muhsin Muhammed (WR - CAR).

Hopefully this is the week teams start quitting, so I can start rallying towards respectability

Other, non-fantasy, football thoughts:

- No, the big story of the weekend was not T.O. remembering that he is T.O.  It was not the whole Al Davis-Lane Kiffin ordeal.

Tampa Bay K Matt Bryant playing one day after burying his infant son has to be the story of the week, if not the entire NFL season:

“The biggest thing for me, I wanted to honor [son] Tryson’s name,” Bryant said. “I mean, I don’t think it was very fair for his life to end so short. This is the best way I believe I could get out and honor him. I miss him and wish he was here, but he was here with me. He helped out.”

Prayers go out to the Bryant family.

That being said…

- Thank you, T.O., for remembering that you, not Tony Romo, are the most compelling figure on the Dallas Cowboys’ roster.  Seriously, complaining that you weren’t involved enough in the offense?  By everyone’s count, you were involved in 20 of 58 plays, or over 1/3 of all the Cowboys’ offensive plays!

Should we expect to see T.O. lined up as QB and/or RB sometime next week?

(And nice job, T.O., giving absolutely no credit to Washington DB Shawn Springs, who was in your back pocket all day.)

- Boy…what to make of the entire Al Davis/Lane Kiffen situation?  I certainly don’t know all of the facts, but if anyone has a case against the other, it’s Kiffen for everything Davis has done to him!  Remember the resignation letter Davis drafted for Kiffen to sign?

I sincerely hope Kiffen gets the money left over on his contract.  Should this be his one and only NFL contract, I’m sure he wouldn’t mind having to “settle” for a college football job.

Also, who the hell would want the Raiders’ coaching job, after this entire episode?

- Ninety-one points combined for Arizona and New York (Bretts)?  Crazy.

And I guess the “Greatest [QB] of All Time” can still play.

(Yes, that remark was made tongue in cheek.)

- Speaking of Diva Favre…are Packers fans seriously panicking now that the Packers are 2-2 and Aaron Rodgers might be hurt.

I sense that Diva Favre is quietly celebrating by himself right now.

- I hear there are plenty of job openings available in Pittsburgh’s backfield.

- With Kansas City out of the picture, that leaves my Rams as the only team winless.

The fact that they came from ahead to lose to Buffalo gives me hope!

- I guess Chicago’s defense is for real.  Same with Pittsburgh.  I guess Buffalo is really for real.  I guess L.T. is just fine.  And is Carolina for real?

Until next time!

Tags: aaron rodgers, al davis, diva favre, fantasy football, gladsheim, lane kiffen, semi-pro, shot-online, stupid neighbors, t.o. by Peter
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Quick hitters:

- The Los Angeles Dodgers’ magic number: ONE.

Start engraving that MVP trophy with Manny’s name on it! Sure, the Dodgers are only 28-21 since his acquisition, but do you think the Dodgers win more than 2-3 of those games without him?

And how great was it to see Rafael Furcal and—to a much lesser extent!—Jeff Kent back on the field?

(Somewhat off topic, but why do newspeople insist on raising one finger any time they say the number “one” with emphasis? I’m looking at you, FSN’s Patrick O’Neal!)

- Subject and From: field of an email I received a few days ago:

Walmart.com bought a Walmart.com Gift Card for you!‏

From: Walmart.com bought a Walmart.com Gift Card for you!‏

Spam, right? If I offered you 1:10 odds that this was spam, you’d bet the house on it, right?

Amazingly enough, it was NOT spam! You see, a couple weeks ago, Walmart.com had offered several workout machines for ridiculously low prices. Sure enough, they turned out to be pricing errors, as stated in the “kill mail” email from Walmart that immediately found its way into my trash can.

Good thing Hotmail hadn’t yet emptied my trash when the email containing the GC hit my inbox.

- Current rebate-o-meter: $1,039, but I haven’t yet updated it with over $500 in recent purchases.

- So you might recall that my really cool neighbors recently moved out of their condo. I’ve met two of the three new tenants in that condo; the lone female seems like a nice person, and one of the guys seems to be a grade-A jerk. There’s a third guy there, but I have yet to meet him.

Unfortunately, I have become quite acquainted with the fourth member of that condo: a super-annoying, barks-every-waking-minute dog! Of course, every time the stupid rat dog starts barking, the other dogs near us start barking away as well.

One of the dogs—a serial offender, and one I’ve probably written about before—is now so bad, there have been times where s/he has barked at 3-4AM!!!

Stupid dogs…and their stupid owners.

- Needing to use up some expiring ECBs yesterday, we swung by the Encino CVS. I was hoping to score some more FAECB body wash, deodorant, and some really cheap Propel water. I also needed eye drops, and after picking up all the items above, I went to the checkout counter, where I met my favorite cashier.

After all my coupons and ECBs, my total due was $3.00. As I reached into my wallet to pull out a $20, the cashier started giving me the death stare.

(Oh sh*t…what did I do???)

In her thick accent, she started scolding me! “Three dollars? Usually you hand me a few cents!”

I responded with “It was the darn [Propel] water…too good of a deal!”

She responded “Come on, I know you’ve got a two-dollar-something ECB in that envelope of yours.” Then she almost tossed my change back at me.

As I grabbed my bags, I told her “Does this mean I’m banned from the store now?”

She responded with “You better come back next time and spend a few cents. You’re letting me down!”

I love my CVS.

Better yet, apparently my sister forgot a bag of items, and we didn’t realize this until we got home. Upon realizing this, I instructed her to call the CVS and, to prove that it was her bag of items, I told her to identify what was in it.

She called, and while speaking to a cashier at the front, she could hear another cashier screaming “It’s all my fault! I’m so sorry!!!”

We went back, and as soon as we stepped in, the cashier screamed, “I’m SO SORRY!!! I can’t believe I did that!”

I love my CVS.

- I’m now 1-2 in both of my Fantasy leagues, no thanks in part to the injuries to Donovan McNabb and Brian Westbrook.

In my “crap” (read:  Carson f**king Palmer) league, I’m 1-2, thanks to Maurice Jones-Drew.  I now face the only winless team in the league, and unfortunately, he’s not 0-3 because he drafted Tom Brady.  Worse for me is the fact that Reggie Wayne, Dallas Clark, and Roy Williams are all off next week.

1-3 here I come!

In my other league (read:  Donovan McNabb and Brian Westbrook), I got drubbed 97-56, so it’s not like those two would have helped much.  I’m now up against a 3-0 team next week.

Fantastic!

Until next time!

Tags: barking dogs, brian westbrook, cool cashiers, cvs, donovan mcnabb, ecbs, encino, fantasy football, gift card, injuries, jerks, los angeles dodgers, magic number, manny ramirez, maurice jones-drew, neighbors, rebate-o-meter, spam, walmart.com by Peter
2 Comments »

Quick blog entry tonight…my head hurts.

- I had a roto chicken/cheese danish/assorted junk food-in-bulk craving, so we ran off to Costco. We also swung by CVS, where I could only score some FAECB Excedrin medicine.

The Excedrin medicine has caffeine in it, though! Oh well, it might make an interesting pairing with my Advil P.M. pills

At Costco, over in the baked foods section, I was looking for a box of cheese danishes, when I noticed what looked like a new offering. It turns out, though, that Costco now offers their cheese danishes in a six-pack, round metal tray, called a “Danish Pull Apart.”

Pretty cool, I suppose, although it would be cooler if the six-pack of danishes didn’t cost only a buck less—$4.99 versus $5.99—than the original nine-pack.

Even freaking Costco is not immune from the Consumerist-dubbed “Grocery Shrink Ray!” NOOOOOOOOOOO…

(Speaking of higher costs, do you want a sure sign of the apocalypse? Two weeks ago, I swung by one of those Glacier Water machines, stuck five quarters into the coin slot, hit the “5 Gallons” button, and wondered why nothing was coming out of the spout. I took a closer look at the machine, and saw that a gallon was now thirty cents!

Thirty cents??? Back in the early 90s, when I would go, with my dad, to fill up several of those five-gallon bottles, one gallon of filtered water was twenty cents. A few years back, it went up to twenty-five cents, and now thirty? OMFG!!!

And please save your inflation/cost of materials/etc. arguments :P)

I also couldn’t resist a tub of seafood dip, some frozen pizzas, my rotisserie chicken, and a few other necessities (honest!).

Note to self: NEVER, EVER, go back to the Costco on Sepulveda Blvd.!

- Fantasy football updates:

1) No thanks to Carson Palmer (three points), Roy Williams (four points), and no Dallas Clark (1 pt from L.J. Smith of Philly), I am now 0-2 in one league, and DEAD FREAKING LAST (and it’s not even close).

2) No thanks to the aforementioned Roy Williams, as well as Jerricho Cotchery (two points), an injured Justin Fargas (four points), and my opponent having Kurt Warner (26), Greg Jennings (16), and Clinton Portis (21), I’m now 1-1 in this league.

3) My sister joined a Yahoo! League as well, and even though her team is terrible, she’s 1-1.  It helps to face a team with Tom Brady and a still-suspended Steve Smith…

4) Boy am I glad I did not draft Joseph Addai!

Too bad I (auto) drafted Steven Jackson.  Sigh…

That’s it for today.

Tags: cheese danish, costco, cvs, excedrin, fantasy football, glacier water by Peter
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Let’s see if I remember how to do this.

(Week 1 NFL thoughts to come tomorrow…I hope.)

Random thoughts from the past week:

- Stupid commercials I’ve seen lately:

1) These two about high-fructose corn syrup. I was going to attempt a long-winded rant about these commercials, but I’ll let The Consumerist and their readers handle it.

2) “Pasta player-hater!” WTF.

- I have something like ten rebates that need to go out in the next week or so.

Who wants to bet that I won’t send them out until two days before the postmark deadline?

- Eight straight wins, and now nine of ten. A 2.5 game lead over Arizona. Four wins against Arizona aces (Brandon Webb and Dan Haren).

Three thoughts here:

1) Why aren’t teams giving Manny the Barry Bonds treatment? Manny had another HR today, as well as a scoring fly ball. Can we etch his name on the MVP award right now?

2) Speaking of Manny…hey, Jeff Kent, Andre Ethier is Exhibit B of the Manny effect, is he not? He had four more RBI today, including a huge bases-clearing double to give the Dodgers’ bullpen some breathing room.

Don’t rush back, Kent.

3) Derek Lowe just made himself a ton of money over the past few weeks. And who knows how much more money Manny made himself.

- So some of you might be thinking that I was kicking up my heels and celebrating the season-ending torn ACL that Tom Brady suffered.

You’d be wrong, and I will neither confirm nor deny that that eleventy billion replays I’ve seen of the hit that Brady took might have changed my opinion of the injury. Despite what I may have written in the past about the Cheat-riots, nobody deserves a season-ending knee injury, especially on a fluke play in the first quarter of the first game of the season.

And please stop with the “karma’s a b!tch” talk. If anything, the Pats got what was coming to them in last year’s Super Bowl.

I first heard of the injury when I woke up late Sunday morning, fired up my laptop, and saw something about Brady leaving the Chiefs-Pats game early in the first quarter with a knee injury. When I first read that headline, I immediately thought “Oh oh…season ender?” After seeing the replay for the first time, I was about 90% sure he was done for the year.

Was the hit dirty? I don’t think so. It seemed desperate, and definitely unnecessary, but I didn’t think it was dirty at all.

What sickens me about the entire situation is the fact that one could argue that Diva Favre’s Jets team might very well be the favorites in the AFC East. If the Jets win the East (even with Brady’s injury), we might not hear the end of it until after the Super Bowl, even if the Jets lose in the first round of the playoffs! Worse, we might have to suffer through weeks and weeks of “See? The Packers should never have gotten rid of Favre!”

(shudder…)

More NFL thoughts next time…

- My two fantasy football drafts had one thing in common: I somehow missed the first pick of each draft.

Both leagues are Yahoo! standard, ten-team leagues. Unfortunately, I was not able to get twelve players to partake in a BargainShare league. Oh well.

(Note: For some reason, I’m having difficulty getting screenshots of my draft results. As soon as I figure out what is going on, I’ll post the full draft results. For now, I’ll just list my team.)

Team 1 (currently 0-1 and in DEAD FREAKING LAST):

• Round 1, Pick 4: RB Steven Jackson

(Grrrr…I was going to draft Joseph Addai here. I was also considering Tom Brady here, so at least I didn’t do that!)

• Round 2, Pick 17: WR Reggie Wayne

(Peyton Manning better get back into “game-shape” real soon.)

• Round 3: RB Maurice Jones-Drew
• Round 4: QB Carson Palmer

(This is the pick that is going to make or break my team. So far, I’m leaning towards “break.”)

• Round 5: WR Roy Williams

(I was going to take Williams in round 4, and was very happy to see him fall to me in round 5.)

• Round 6: TE Dallas Clark
• Round 7: DST Minnesota

(Don’t ask.)

• Round 8: WR Donald Driver
• Round 9: RB Thomas Jones

(Sleeper! And with the way Steven Jackson and the Rams are playing, he might be a starter soon enough.)

• Round 10: WR Bernard Berrian
• Round 11: WR Reggie Brown
• Round 12: K Phil Dawson

(He has since been dropped.)

• Round 13: RB Kevin Smith (Lions)
• Round 14: WR Drew Bennett

(Rams’ loyalty :P)

• Round 15: QB Jeff Garcia

I could see this team easily finishing 5-9 or something like that. I am not too thrilled with this team, and believe it or not, this was my “casual” draft.

Team 2 (1-0, second place after scoring 111 pts):

• Round 1, Pick 4: RB Brian Westbrook

(I actually wanted Addai here too. I think I’ll live with this pick.)

• Round 2, Pick 17: RB Ryan Grant
• Round 3: WR Andre Johnson
• Round 4: WR Roy Williams
• Round 5: TE Antonio Gates

(Why was I not notified that he still has a foot injury???)

• Round 6: QB Donovan McNabb

(Possibly my best pick of both drafts, if he stays healthy.)

• Round 7: WR Donald Driver
• Round 8: WR Jerricho Cotchery
• Round 9: DST Pittsburgh
• Round 10: RB Selvin Young

(Michael Pittman? Andre Hall? Stupid Mike Shanahan :P)

• Round 11: WR Nate Burleson

(Ouch…torn ACL? Now who is Matt Hasselbeck going to throw to?)

• Round 12: K Phil Dawson

(Dropped.)

• Round 13: RB Justin Fargas
• Round 14: QB Matt Schaub
• Round 15: WR Ronald Curry

If (and that’s a huge IF) my top six stay healthy, this team is going to be a force to reckon with…I think.

Until next time!

Tags: andre ethier, derek lowe, fantasy football, hfcs, high fructose corn syrup, jeff kent, los angeles dodgers, manny ramirez, new england patriots, season ending injury, stupid commercials, tom brady, torn acl by Peter
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It’s hot.

Quick-hitters:

- Is it just me, or do Reduced Fat Oreo cookies taste disgusting compared to the original variety?

Methinks it’s time to do a double-blind experiment.  Any volunteers?

(My experiment will be BYOOs, by the way.)

- It’s that time of the year…FANTASY FOOTBALL TIME!!!

(W00t!)

If anyone is interested in joining the Bargain$hare Fantasy Football league, please let me know.  We have only 2/12 spots filled as of tonight.

- Current rebate-o-meter:  $1,070.

I can’t wait for the 2009 software to come around.

- So I know I said that I didn’t have much interest in the Olympic Games this year, but I couldn’t help but watch the Men’s 4×100 Freestyle Relay, just to see if the Americans could beat the favorites:  the French team.  What really got me interested in the event was the comments of French swimmer, Alain Bernard:  “The Americans? We’re going to smash them.”

Nice try, Alain.  I think he meant to say that new American hero Jason Lezak was going to smash the French with a world-record 50m split time of 46.06 seconds.  Seriously, though, how the hell did Bernard lose what looked like a half body length lead over Lezak with only the final 50m to go?

I hope Michael Phelps plans on sending the guy a fruit basket or something.

(Note:  Despite the blog title, I am not taking credit away from Lezak and the Americans; they won the race.  The French did not choke the race away.  It’s just fun to see the word “French” followed by the word “surrender” :P)

It was a damn shame, though, that I already knew the results of the race prior to air time.  Thanks, Yahoo! Sports and ESPN.com.

- I will interrupt the sports talk to give credit to Staples for a positive customer service experience.

(A POSITIVE customer service experience?  On THIS blog?)

On Sunday, I acquired a Staples coupon that, I later found out, was already redeemed.  I figured that I could place the order that night, find another Staples coupon to use (which I did on Monday), and then call Staples and see if they would manually add the coupon to my order.

Earlier tonight, I called Staples, and after spending about 30 seconds navigating through Staples’ IVR (Interactive Voice Response), I got a live operator.  I quickly explained that I needed to add a coupon code to my order.  The rep asked me for my order number, followed by the coupon code, and a couple seconds later, she explained that I would be seeing a refund of ~ $27 on my VISA in the next couple of days.

Total time of call:  ~1:45.  Nice.

- Finally, I gotta talk about my Dodgers, specifically the two come-from-ahead losses to the Giants.

(clears throat)

WTF?  WTF???  W T F??????

Two ninth-inning, one-run leads…POOF!  Worse yet, two freaking losses to the SAN FRANCISCO GIANTS???  Two losses that should have given us a half-game lead in the West, instead of the 1.5 game deficit we currently face?

And the losses themselves didn’t really hurt.  It was the manner in which we lost both games!  Leadoff hits, booted balls, poor defensive decisions, you name it!  It was almost as if the 2008 Dodgers were trying to replicate their failures of last year.

(EDIT:  Oh my.  Bases loaded, four run lead, ninth inning, and Chase Utley is up.  Gulp…if Broxton can’t close this one, I might have a heart attack.)

(EDIT #2:  Of course…Utley blooped a single into left.  8-6 now, and Ryan Howard is up.  Yikes.)

(EDIT #3:  Whew.  Grounder to the shift in super-shallow right.)

Hurry back, Takashi Saito!

Tags: alain bernard, bargainshare, coupon, customer service, fantasy football, jason lezak, los angeles dodgers, mens 4x100 freestyle relay, michael phelps, olympic games, reduced fat oreos, relief pitching, san francisco giants, staples, takashi saito by Peter
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