This Week's Things I Think I Think

Ok, a couple of things that we need to go over.

First, I am kicking myself over the Barbaro pick. Ultimately, when we look back at this thing I think that we are going to think of my overruling of that pick in the same breath as New Coke and the Bay of Pigs.

Also, big event on Friday. Will be traveling with my posse (ie, the family) to the world famous Philadelphia Wing Bowl. For those of you not familiar with this evet, let me explain. The Wing Bowl is a chicken wing eating contest sponsored by a local sports talk radio station, 610 WIP. Fifteen years ago it started as a small bit on the Friday before the Super Bowl. It has since grown into a huge events in the Philadelphia area. To put this into perspective, the event sold out the 20,000 seat Wachovia Center in a little under a day. The past two years they had to sell tickets because more than 50,000 people showed up for an event that can only accomidate 20,000. The event is primarily known to for the behavior of the crowd, such as drunk fans and women in various stages of undress. I will keeping a mental log of the happenings there, and will update the blog accordingly.

Next, does anyone here watch 24? I don't want to get into the plot or anything, but one character in the crowd really bugs me. This guy. It just seems that whatever he plays in, he has to be a real ass. He's a borderline ass on that Numbers show, an ass on 24, etc. Hell, he was even an ass in Ghostbusters 2. I don't know if I could be an actor if I only played asses.

Ok, till next week.

~K

Quick Updates.....

Nothing too exciting going on, but I felt the need to post this morning because I missed my normal Monday night deadline.

First, good to welcome Jonboy back into the fold. I didn't know that the Internet wasn't available in his part of the world. You really should write a letter to your congressman. That's the only reason I can think of for not being a regular participant in this forum. On a related note, I was recently battling a little cold and while I was waiting in line at the pharmacy, guess who was in front of me? That's right! A little old lady with a HUGE hump. And, as luck would have it, she was taking forever to get her order filled. So, instinct kicked in and my elbow was just about to rest firmly on the hump, but I was able to restrain myself.

Next, I have a theory about Carmen Electra. I'm not sure what its called yet, but we can only hope that its 1/2 as good as the Cleofus Theory. Here it is. She has those new commercials for Taco Bell that I see all the time now. First, are we really supposed to believe that before she signed this deal that she was chowing down on chalupas and fajitas? Anyway, here's my theory. She still looks the same way she did 10 years ago. This really shouldn't be the case. My theory is that her looks should have decreased a little bit every year as she aged. Since she hasn't changed at all, there is going to be a huge drop off soon. I'm not saying that I hope this happens, but I can see her going from Carmen Electra 2007 to Carmen Electra 2025 in the span of about 5 years.

Finally, two notable deaths this week, but none that related to the Soul Bowl. First, former pro wrestler Bam Bam Bigelow died on the 19th, and some guy from the Barney Miller TV show died as well.

Take care

~Kevin

Soul Bowl is in full swing......

So far the Soul Bowl has been much more exciting that the 2006 version. We had another selection today as Art Buchwald died at age 81. Now, the bad news is that "RS" had this selection as well. Oh, and I should mention that I incorrectly listed her points for the Benny Parsons pick. That one was worth 140, and not the 260 that I originally listed. [(100-65)*4]. (oh, and I am following the standard "Please Excuse My Dear Aunt Sally" nomenclature) Today's selection of Buchwald gives her an additional 190 points. [(100-81)*10] That brings her grand total to 330. (Ok, ok....I originally put 360 there.) All I can say is that if this pace keeps up, she will be banned from future Soul Bowls, and reported to Salem, MA as an undesirable.

Whole 'Lotta Nothin'......

Ok, buckle your seatbelts Ladies and Gentlemen. Every now and again I have to release all this crap that I keep wanting to mention and always forget about. That's the beauty of the blog. Otherwise, I'd be paying for expensive therapy. Here's how this is going to work. I am going to go full blast with a wide variety of things that I have been thinking about. There will be no rhyme. There will be no reason. But you all knew that already. Here we go.....

Point 1: In response to the comment left on my last posting. 1. You're right. I haven't been drinking enough. I've had a full case of Pottsville's finest waiting to be tapped since Christmas. However, today's posting will be brought to you by Yuengling and Honey Brown. Cheers! (And I'll keep you updated as I write as to what number I'm on. This is #1) 2. As for the mugs. We can't get up there fast enough, my friend. We need to coordinate with the 3rd member of our group. His schedule with "work", "school", "vacations", and the "wife" is really cutting into our group drinking time. On a related note, a little birdy told me that someone is using my mug on their visits to State College. Not cool! I'm going to start putting my own lock on that thing.

Point 2: As was pointed out in the comments of the last post, we have our first casualty in the '07 Soul Bowl. Former NASCAR Rookie-of-the-Year Benny Parsons passed away today at the age of 65. "RS" picks up 260 points for that selection. She is currently in first place. Well, at least until Fidel kicks it in a few days.

Point 3: What's the deal with these flags at half-mast? I assume that they are that way for Gerald Ford, but he died the day after Christmas. Does everyone agree that this was a bit long? The man wasn't even elected, for God's sake. But that isn't really my point. Here's what got me thinking. How does everyone know when to raise and lower the flags? Is there a book that tells you the standard length of time for these sorts of things? That book would have to be pretty damn thick to cover every situation. And, I know what you're thinking: it must be on the Internet. I'm sure that it is. But, what did we do before that? Did you just wait for your neighbor to lower his? There has to be an answer here. So, any flag raisers, let us know.

(Just FYI, I am on #2. I am either a slow typer or a fast drinker.)

Point 4: Did anybody catch this little news item over the weekend? That's gotta be the dumbest thing I have every heard of. Really. And trust me, I went to college for 5 years, so you know I'm familiar with really, really bad ideas.

Point 5: You know what really creeps me out? These new commercials from Volkswagen. Weird. I can't even talk about them. That's how weird that guy is. Moving on.....

Point 6: I realize that I am about 6 months late with this, but I just thought that I would throw it out there. Are we ready to concede that Jennifer Aniston might be a complete trainwreck? I am beginning to think this. Vince Vaughn decided that shacking up with some random co-ed in a foreign country was better than going back to that. These are the kinds of things that you learn in the check-out at Wal-Mart. It reminds me of that old line of "no matter how beautiful she is, somewhere, somebody is tired of putting up with her shit." Amen!

Point 7: Call me crazy, but this next thing really bothers me. It bothers me when drug companies try to wow me with numbers. They will rattle off some statistic like "1 in 12 people suffer from bleeding of the elbows" or "15% of all Americans will be stricken with sunburn to the eyes." Now, as far as I know I do not have any major medical conditions. (Mental disorders, not withstanding). And, I know a lot of people who don't have any of these things either. So, either there are major clusters of people somewhere with all the same disease or there are 10,000 people who have about 30-40 things wrong with them. There's got to be some overlap somewhere.

Ok, that's enough for now. Take care and talk to you all in a few days.

~Kevin

Woulda, Shoulda, Coulda.......

Ok, a quick mid-week posting regarding the Soul Bowl. Just thought that I would let all the new Soul Bowl participants in on a little secret. Now that you are engaged in this, prepare to watch the news a little more closely. Also, be prepared to have a couple of "I was gonna...." moments. It's a given. Happens to the best of us. I had one myself today. Looks like Barbaro has a hoof disease and it's not looking good. I am kicking myself for overruling that pick. Dumbass. Oh well. Also, no one had her on the list, but the actress who played Lily Munster died today at the age of 84. Just thought I would pass this along.

~Kevin

Random Thoughts........

This post will have no theme whatsever. It's going to be mish-mash of various thoughts. Just thought that you should be warned ahead of time.

First, again let me thank everyone who participated in the Soul Bowl for 2007. Lots of great picks. I think that it will be much more exciting than the 2006 version. Seems like the big misses of the year so far have been athletes. A DB for the Denver Broncos and the kicker for USC.

Also, many apologies to "MJ" for initially listing her last selection as Roy Schneider. First, there is no person called Roy Schneider. (Or at least none famous enough to be included in the Soul Bowl). When I originally linked to the Wikipedia article, I linked to John Schneider of the Dukes of Hazzard. I didn't even realize that his first name is John and not Roy. Apparently, Roy Scheider was in Jaws and some TV show, and is about 30 years older. This kinda makes a difference. I'm a dunce sometimes. So, I don't know if this means we put the juju on John Schneider or not, but lets just say that I wouldn't be standing next to him in a lightning storm. Also, Benny Parsons, listed on the list of "RS" is currently in the ICU. Could be the first pick of the year to go.

Next, as I write this I am watching the Ohio State vs. Florida national championship game. Just a couple of observations. First, why do they keep showing shots from the blimp outside? The game is being played inside a dome, and we just keep seeing shots of the roof. Seems like a waste of gas to me. Second, I like to see Ohio State getting the crap beat out of them at this point. Who knows, maybe tomorrow morning I will wake up to find out that OSU came back and won, but its not looking good. I couldn't be happier. I hate OSU. On the list of things that I would pay to see is an imposter going Enrico Pallazzo and "dotting the I" for OSU marching band and then streaking off the field. Good times!

Ok, till next week....

~K

Let the Games Begin.....

Well, I know that everyone has been waiting eagerly for the posting of all the picks for this year's Death Pool. We'll get to those in a moment. Before that, I just wanted to say that I was very impressed with the level of research and thought that went into the picks. This should prove to be an exciting year because of the increased number of picks and participants. I also need to acknowledge The Chad for winning the 2006 Death Pool. The shocking, unanticipated expiration of Gerald Ford left him with the only successful selection for the entire year. The Chad wins bragging rights for the next 365 days. This information will be invaluable during cocktail parties, job interviews, etc.

But enough about last year. That was merely a warm-up for the main event. 2007 brings us a new and improved scoring system, more picks, more participants, and even a new name. After much thinking and consultation, the new official name for the Death Pool will be.......the Soul Bowl. I heard a lot of different of possibilities, but Soul Bowl just seemed to fit. If I get the iniative I might even spin the Soul Bowl off to its own website. But then again, I could get lazy and you'll never hear of this again. Could go either way at this point. Or if someone has a real blockbuster name, let me know. I am flexible.

A couple of quick revisions to the rules. First, the picks need to be human. Some jackass suggested that they wanted to pick Barbaro. Ok, the jackass was me, but I ended up overruling myself. That would have been an awesome pick, but you have to draw the line somewhere. Also, one selection is actually over the age of 100. In this case, the pick will be worth 1 point times whatever slot they fall into. Otherwise you'd end up with negative points. Finally, you need to keep track of your own picks and make sure someone doesn't fall through the cracks. Obviously, if its a well-known person I'll get word here at Soul Bowl central. But for some of the lesser-known picks, you might have to do a little research on your own.

As it stands right now there will be 10 participants for this year. There might be 1 or 2 stragglers after this, but we'll see. So, without delaying this any further, here are all the picks for the 2007 Soul Bowl. Enjoy!

	TW	CWG	Kevin	MJ	The Chad	JH	KH	DD	Von	RS	DWB
10 points	Ian McKellan	Boris Yeltsin	Fidel Castro	Tammy Faye Bakker	Fidel Castro	Ayman Al-Zawahiri	Tammy Faye Bakker	Phyllis Diller	Keith Richards	Art Buchwald	Fidel Castro
9 points	Estelle Getty	David Crosby	Ariel Sharon	Estelle Getty	Dr. Jack Kevorkian	Muhammad Ali	Charlton Heston	Little Richard	Andy Rooney	Sheikh Omar Abdel Rahman	Charlton Heston
8 points	Luciano Pavarotti	Fidel Castro	John Forsythe	Lady Bird Johnson	Estelle Getty	Dick Clark	Henry Kissinger	Jesse Ventura	Warren Buffett	King Abdullah	Terrell Owens
7 points	Queen Elizabeth II	Dick Clark	Tammy Faye Bakker	Kirk Douglas	John Wooden	Osama Bin Laden	Kirk Douglas	Flava Flav	Nicole Ritchie	John Wooden	Hugh Hefner
6 points	George H.W. Bush	Eminem	Billy Graham	Elizabeth Taylor	Nancey Reagan	Muqtada Al-sadr	Barbara Hale	Brigitte Nielsen	Richard Branson	Madeleine L'Engle	Warren Buffett
5 points	Don Rickles	Ozzy Osbourne	Kirk Douglas	Brooke Astor	Andy Rooney	Adam Gadahn	Mickey Rooney	Bob Barker	Little Richard	Ed Asner	Courtney Love
4 points	Larry King	Darryl Strawberry	John Wooden	King Sihanouk	Lady Bird Johnson	Fidel Castro	Wink Martindale	Stephen King	Cher	Benny Parsons	Billy Graham
3 points	Mikhail Gorbachev	Bobby Brown	Mike Wallace	Margaret Thatcher	Muhammad Ali	Ed McMahon	Gary Busey	Nick Nolte	Fidel Castro	Don Herbert	Dick Clark
2 points	Fabulous	Keith Richards	Jack Klugman	Annette Funicello	Dick Clark	Kirk Douglas	Julie Newmar	Danny DeVito	Barbara Bush	Annette Funicello	Muhammad Ali
1 point	Farrah Fawcett	Nikki Sixx	Nancy Reagan	Roy Scheider	Jerry Lewis	Prince Harry	Norman Lear	Margaret Thatcher	Gary Busey	Carl Reiner	Osama bin Laden
* TBD (Pick was made before his death) Jonboy's Straggler Picks Suri Cruise-Holmes Jayden James Spears-Federline Dakota Fanning Reed Sorenson Maurice Clarett Danika Patrick Macaulay Caulkin Mary-Kate Olson Harrison Ford Tom Osborne