I'm going to attempt to do something a little crazy here, while watching football on a Sunday afternoon I will try a bit of a live blog from things I'm seeing going on. Currently it's 12:40 p.m. so I will make time marks and continually edit the blog as events unfold throughout the day. Just a warning beforehand I am a Seahawks fan and after 1:10 p.m. West Coast time, it will probably be pretty heavy on the Seahawks postings, stay tuned...
12:40 p.m.
Watching the end of the morning games on my Sunday Ticket compliments of DirecTV. Not really compliments of, I paid out the butt for this programming... I'm currently watching the Red Zone Channel (RZC) and am convinced this channel is perfect for those of you with NFL ADHD... The guy hosting the channel is literally eating lunch while talking about all the stuff going on and just gagged. This is high intensity.
12:45 p.m.
It's becoming very apparent to me that the Vikings are either just toying with the Dolphins or are actually bad. Favre may think he doesn't need training camp, but all signs point to he does. QB's this morning in general are awful. Carson Palmer, bad. Joe Flacco, less than stellar. Vince Young, benched. Only one showing signs of life is Matt Ryan and he's playing the Cardinals. Welcome to week 2 Cardinals, it's the beginning of the end.
12:49 p.m.
This just in, Matt Moore has been replaced by Clausen down in Carolina, QB's are a dime a dozen today.
12:51 p.m.
Bears have all but sealed the deal against the Cowboys with a Forte TD. Are the Bears good or are the Cowboys just awful? I think a little bit of both. Romo looks mediocre at best has a ton of weapons vs Jay Cutler who looks pro bowl caliber and his #1 receiver sounds like I just sneezed. Aromashodu? Bless you... Oh whoops, Roy Williams just fumbled, give it up Cowboys. They look like the Cardinals...
12:59 p.m.
41-7 in Atlanta, Max Hall gets his first taste of NFL action. Another QB being benched? Is it the blowout or the performance? I'm thinking it's performance based. Oops, he just threw a pick. Turns out the Cards are bad and the Rams are worse. Good news for Seahawks fans. :)
1:05 p.m.
Cowboys get a FG, signs of life. Onside kick here to try and recover to keep them alive, too little too late in my opinion. Bears go 2-0 with a successful recovery of the onside. Who knew? They've done it, Bears make the Cowboys look foolish. On the battle of who could care less home front, the Chiefs just downed the Browns in a thriller. Seneca Wallace, can't say I miss him. How did he end up starting in Cleveland? Things must be in bad shape. Congrats on 2-0 Chiefs. Now the Seahawks need a 2-0 as well. It's just gotten under way. Here we go!
1:10 p.m.
Wow two 3rd & 7 conversions to 1st down to start the first drive for the Hawks, this is lookin' alright! I'll be sure and keep you updated on the battle of who could care less part 2, Rams/Raiders. Should be a bloodbath... I am becoming a fan of Bradford, just wish someone decent would have gotten him because at this rate he might be dead by week 6.
1:16 p.m.
Touchdown Seahawks! No wait, holding offense. Awesome... 2 penalties in a row to screw you up from 1st & goal on the 1 yd line. 1st & Goal on the 16! How many chances will the Broncos give us? Tampa Bay 2-0? Like a full moon or something. Oh awesome, Hasselbeck picked off by Bailey. I'm having flashbacks of last week.... This "Good Cop Bag Cop" routine Southwest Airlines is doing is pretty good. It just wouldn't have felt right had the Seahawks scored on their first possession in the game. It just isn't supposed to happen that way. Wait, Norv Turner still has a job? I used to think a loss to the Chiefs meant an automatic dismissal...
1:25 p.m.
I'm actually getting pretty excited to witness my first Tebow sighting in this game. I hope he gets a couple snaps. Not this drive though, looks like it's time for the Broncos to punt. Oh unreal, a fumble on the punt return. This is why people drink bloody mary's on a Sunday morning/afternoon. Seahawks love to give themselves every disadvantage possible. Seahawks are making Orton look decent, something about the NFC West making good QB's look stellar....
1:30 p.m.
Way to let Royal roll into the end zone there Hawks... Nothing beats digging yourself into an immediate hole. They just said it's 92 degrees in Denver?! I didn't know that was possible. Two turnovers already for the Hawks, this is embarrassing. Eagles are trying to win it for Vick. The Lions are actually looking decent this year. Andy Reid just looks huge. Pretty sure I just saw him order lunch on his headset. Lions lose.... Cowboys and Lions have the same record, do they play each other this year? Could be a shootout.
1:36 p.m.
Tony Siragusa "Goose" is the sideline guy for the Seahawks game. To what do we owe this honor? He looks like he was in a couple seasons of The Sopranos. He and Andy Reid should wrestle. Hawks continue to shoot themselves in the foot, 4 penalties already. It's over 100 degrees on the field! In Denver! I can't believe this. My awesome wife just went to get us Chicken Nuggets at McDonald's. It's the only thing that sounds good to her being under the weather. My mouth is already watering, now I know what Andy Reid feels like.
1:39 p.m.
What?! We're in the second quarter in Oakland and it's still 0-0?! Who would have thought that possible. My prediction for this game is 6-3. Rams win by default because they have Stephen Jackson, who does Oakland have? McFadden? Shoot, I don't even know. Rams need to put it in the end zone.
1:42 p.m.
Arian Foster trying to pick up where he left off last week with what I'd call a pretty decent week. The Texans could be a potential Super Bowl contender if they keep this momentum up. Only 15 more games to go!
1:45 p.m.
Rams score! 7-0, there goes my prediction already. It's ok, I'll take it coming from Bradford. Rams are going to win that so we need the Hawks to win this so there's not a 3 way tie for first place in the NFC WORST. Lost all our momentum with all of these penalties, we look like ASU and the penalty bug. Frick, trick play from the Broncos, Seahawks D looks half asleep. Could be a long afternoon here...
1:49 p.m.
Uh oh, Ryan Mathews carted off the field in San Diego. Not a good sign for the Charger faithful. I'm not sure but it appears as though the blackout is in effect in San Diego as they didn't sell out, please correct me if I'm wrong. Everyone must have decided to watch the Raider game instead...
1:55 p.m.
14-0 Broncos, this does not bode well. Hawks need to get something going on here. Still no Tebow, it's painful on all accounts... Man, Chargers are bad, Jaguars are way worse. This should be a gimme. Still waiting for those nuggets to show up. I'm starvin'! Darren Sproles just has to be loving how he shows the Chargers time after time he produces and they still don't make him the starter when LT leaves. Mr. Durability award goes to Sproles in my book...
2:10 p.m.
Hasselbeck's new nickname: "Drive Killer". He looks ridiculous. Anything thrown over 6-7 yds is completely off. Give your defense a break... Sanchez finally got a TD for the Jets offense. Welcome to the 2010 season! Those nuggets were great....
2:16 p.m.
We love to not hold on a 3rd down & long. Work so hard for 2 plays then take the 3rd one off. Time to limp into the locker room... Need to regroup here, this is getting out of hand. Still no Tebow :(
2:22 p.m.
Ryan Mathews the self healer is back out on the field already. Bad news for Sproles fans, he resumes his duties as head bridesmaid. Orton looks like he can't miss right now. Oops, he just missed, a bit low. Whew, Broncos have to settle for a FG. And they get the ball coming out of halftime. Not a good combo, score points and get the ball back. Maybe I'll get to see Whitehurst perform? Need about a perfect 2nd half to have a shot here. Redskins are looking pretty solid here. So much for that Super Bowl prediction of the Texans. Still a half to go however... Schaub always does something crazy. Stat of the day: Steelers force 7 TO's against the Titans. Something you need when playing with your third string QB in the game.
2:31 p.m.
Revis you just got OWNED by Moss. Glad you held out of camp all preseason cuz you're so good. Yeah get your hamstring worked on like that had something to do with it. You should have to pay some of your check back every time you give up a TD like that, that was awful.
2:34 p.m.
Good Sunday night commercial for Eli vs. Payton tonight. Like Archie would be driving either of them to the game... Get real. Well maybe now after what happened to Brady. Can't afford to get in a car wreck.
2:38 p.m.
It should be illegal for all games to go to halftime all at once, let's space this out a bit! I don't need to see all the highlights, I've been here since it started. All morning games were awful in one way or another. Afternoon games are shaping up that way too.... Jets/Pats has some hope.
2:45 p.m.
3rd & 10, can the Seahawks hold? They need too. I like the Kyle Orton surender dive, that was pretty good. Contact's not his thing. And they fail to convert the third down. Time to score now! Hold onto the punt dillweed.... Sweet return! Just about made up for your early mistake! Now we HAVE to get in here. Bag Cop time again. These knuckleheads are making quite the name for themselves.
2:50 p.m.
1st & 10 on the 11 so basically 1st & goal come on Hasselbeck... He's trying too hard to get the ball to Carlson. Spread it out! You can do this. Touchdown Obomanu! I love saying that name out loud. Sounds like something you played in band back in high school. I was a master Obomanu player.... Hawks are getting back in the game.
3:00 p.m.
Now if we can get a quick stop here and get the ball back we'll keep the momentum going. Knowshon? Yeah I know him. He's not doing much with those pitches and draws. 3rd & 8, big stop we need you now! Oh what do you know, pass interference..... Come on Babineaux....
3:01 p.m.
Tebow sighting! Just standing on the sideline next to his buddy Brady Quinn. Meanwhile Knowshon finally got it figured out. Way to go Seattle D, you just screwed the pooch there.
3:05 p.m.
This does not bode well for a comeback. Ball's on the 1 yd line and it's 3rd & Goal. Need a miracle here to keep the Broncos out of the end zone. Field goal wont be a back breaker. Seahawks D just doesn't get pressure on the backfield at all, then when it looks like they do, they give up a 45 yd play. Touchdown Broncos, this is bad. Letting the team down D...
3:15 p.m.
Are you kidding me Hawks? You need a field goal anyway down 17. Dumbest throw of the day and it wasn't even intercepted. About to give up and watch Bradford polish off the Raiders. Carroll makes his first big dumb call of the season. Oh an offsides on the Seahawk D. Fancy that.
3:20 p.m.
Benched QB update. The Raiders have benched Campbell and put in Gradkowski who scored. Welcome to Oakland Campbell. Have a seat. It's gonna get worse (somehow) in Oakland before it even thinks about getting better.
3:25 p.m.
Jets put the Brady's in the hole. Not sure if you knew this but Jacksonville is horrible. Houston's trying to salvage something in Landover. Gradkowski not looking bad against the Rams, not looking good either though. Rams are looking even worse. I wonder what the guys that draw the Raiders assignment to broadcast on Sunday say/do when they find out they've got the Raider game. I'd be asking my bosses if they hated me.
3:29 p.m.
Week 2's official title is "Backup QB". David Garrard out in Jax, McCown in. All over but the crying pretty much in Denver, Seahawks have officially given up. About time to take a shower I think... Gradkowski trying to put the Raiders out of reach for the Rams. Might be winning himself a starting job too. Maybe the Raiders should have gotten Leinart?
3:35 p.m.
Houston's about to go down to the Redskins. So much for my Week 1 prediction of Seahawks/Texans in the Super Bowl. Wow the Jets just picked off Brady. Totally different game from their pathetic Monday night game. Oh man Houston just blocked the FG, maybe I spoke too soon. Plenty of time for Schaub to work his magic. Seahawks are still running like they have a chance to make it a game here between plays.
3:40 p.m.
Arian Foster having a normal game today after his 10 minutes of fame last week. Bradford's falling apart, that makes me sad. I don't know who I can't stand more, Tom Brady or Rex Ryan?
3:45 p.m.
Still bummed that Tebow hasn't been used yet today. It would have eased the pain of this loss a bit had he gotten out there. Hasselbeck is now just throwing up prayers and hoping one of them gets answered. Might as well be praying for a Jaguars win. Not gonna happen.
3:49 p.m.
I spoke too soon with the Texans. Schaub is putting together quite the drive here. Could be a good ending here...
3:52 p.m.
Are you kidding me Andre Johnson?! 4th down & the game and Schaub just throws one up for Andre. Game tied, 2 minute drill for McNabb. I'm not sold on his 2 minute skills. The Skins really shafted themselves here. Texans deserve this... Meanwhile Bill "Cranky" Bellichek isn't having a good time. Shoot Gradkowski threw a pick, Rams aren't out of it all the way. So much for that starting job next week...
4:00 p.m.
Patriots have just lost without a miracle happening. Sanchez just made them look silly on the goal line. I love a good Patriots loss. Cranky's got a mediocre team on his hands this year yet again. But Brady really does have pretty hair. Has Bradford done something good here?! They're trying to overturn a call, but I haven't seen it. Yes it is, TD Rams! They're not done! Bradford refuses to go away. That and the Raiders suck.
4:05 p.m.
McNabb is giving Schaub a chance to win the game, no OT required. Rather the offensive line with holding penalties is giving Schaub a chance. Patriots wait until 5 minutes to go to put together a very efficient drive. Oops nevermind, Brady sacked and fumbled. Jets win. Seahawks lose... At least College Gameday is headed to Boise next Saturday! Here we go BSU!
4:10 p.m.
Looks like OT in Washington. Then punter wasted 3 seconds by running around like a chicken with no head to end it. This will be interesting. Hopefully McNabb remembers that you CAN in fact end an NFL game in a tie. He'd better try and do something. Unfortunately the Rams are gonna come up short and go to 0-2. Depending on what happens tomorrow in San Fran, it could be a 2 or 3-way tie for 1st in the NFC Worst. Hey Cowboys, how does it feel to have the same record as the Rams? Better yet, a worse record than the RAIDERS! Raiders even had the backup QB in, way to go Romo. OT is starting, remember McNabb, it will end after 15 minutes of no scoring.
4:15 p.m.
McNabb might not even have to worry about OT rules if he doesn't get out on the field. Nice drive going here Schaub. Arian Foster refuses to be forgotten after last week keeping his name in the stat book. Tom Brady, you have been pimp slapped by Mark Sanchez today. How does it feel?
4:20 p.m.
Green Bay, Pittsburgh, Chicago, Kansas City, Tampa Bay, Miami. Congratulations, you are the only undefeated teams left as of right now. It's only Week 2... Houston or Washington will join you after this, possibly the Giants after tonight if Eli beats Peyton, and the Saints hopefully when they beat the 49ers. Quite the stellar short list after only 2 weeks.
4:25 p.m.
Gano for the win here, Washington is counting on you buddy! First one good, but a timeout will make it null. Way to call it Texans. Give him time to think about it.
4:26 p.m.
Gano kicks it and it's "Ga-no good". He boots it wide right. Amazing how the ice timeout actually works on these guys. Schaub you'd better win this here.
4:33 p.m.
Good call refs, he caught it and now they've gotta be in Rackers territory. Line it up, get it over with. Redskins fell apart here today.
4:37 p.m.
Rackers makes an appearance for the win! Will he be iced?! My guess is yes. No ice timeout, Rackers puts it through, Redskins complete the collapse. Oh the mayhem! What a day of sloppy football. This day shall forever be remembered as the day of the "Backup QB". Hopefully Eli & Peyton put on a show tonight, although I think I'm done watching football or my wife might never talk to me again...
Sunday, September 19, 2010
Saturday, July 17, 2010
Thank You For Flying With Us (Pt 2)
After spending a fabulous week in J-ville, FL, the night before we were to return to Phoenix I started getting a little nervous. It took me a minute to figure out why, but upon realizing there was a flight and a connecting flight involved, I knew that chances were pretty good something was going to go screwy. Especially after our initial flight, I had a reason to be worried that something might go awry. Let's just say that Delta Airlines didn't disappoint with the mayhem.
It was a balmy 88 degrees with about 92% humidity that fateful afternoon/evening we headed to the J-ville airport. You could sift the air through your teeth, it was brutal. Our flight was due to leave at about 7:25 J-ville time, and things were already looking sketchy. An attempt to do early check in online a few hours earlier proved to be quite the ordeal. After a few failed attempts at checking in, I finally had to call Delta to figure out what was going on as it was telling me we were ineligible to check in. As it turns out after talking to Doris, magically on top of our already scheduled connecting flight in Atlanta, they also had us somehow connecting in Philadelphia. Great, a phantom flight! Delta you continue to impress. After a few minutes, Doris had everything straightened out and thankfully we still had our original itinerary. Check in complete, maybe we had the worst of it behind us for this trip. Yeah, right...
After a successful check-in at the airport counter, we headed towards the security gate and stopped briefly so my niece, Samantha, could get some souvenirs to take back with her. I thought I'd take a quick glance at the flight monitors to see how we were doing. Oh look at that, the flight's already been pushed back to 8 p.m.! What a surprise! I just got in the building, can't you let the suspense build up a little bit first before making everything haywire? Well, now we at least had time to eat some food. The highlight of the evening it would be.
After a quick dinner, I decided to go up to the gate desk to see how we were looking. Oh no, that line is way too long for things to be ok. I asked the gentleman standing in front of me what the prognosis was. He quickly replied in a sweet tone of voice, "We're not leaving til' 8:30 now." Instantly, a wave of semi-nausea ran over me. Our new arrival time was 9:41 ATL time, our departure time to PHX was 9:40. This was not going to be good. I thought to myself, 'What is wrong with THIS flight?'
No sooner did I ask myself that, then the attendant came over the loud speaker explaining how it was delayed due to the plane being "too heavy" before takeoff and how they had to "de-fuel" the plane to readjust the weight. This apparently takes an hour or so to do. De-fuel a plane? Are you kidding me?! I can hear that announcement happening on that plane now, "Uh yeah, folks this is the captain speaking. It turns out we're a tad too heavy fully loaded. We can't take any people or luggage off this flight, so what we're going to do is remove the fuel from the plane and put a little less back into it. Don't worry, we will have PLENTY of fuel!" This is very similar in my opinion to someone telling me that maintenance is on board the plane fixing an issue. It doesn't make you rest easy. Less fuel than intended? Are we going to make it? Delta, you are amazing! You know how to make everyone feel at peace!
It becomes clear quickly that they're telling people they won't make their connecting flights and making people hotel reservations. This line is going nowhere fast. Obviously, no one in the line is in a good mood, including myself. I've never been stuck like this before, it looks like my streak was coming to an end. Meanwhile, there's 1 Delta attendant at the next gate over looking for different airlines to get people out on time and hopefully still catch the connecting flight. She's asking people if they are flying to certain cities to come see her at that desk, everyone else just stay in line. Funny, no one's going over to see you, how about taking some of the load off of this line? No? Ok, just checking. Eventually she wanders back over to our terminal, as no one is taking what she has to offer. Thirty minutes later, it's my turn at the gate. As soon as I get up to the front, another attendant comes out of nowhere and tells me to meet her over at the other gate the other attendant was just at. Perfect! This circus just keeps getting better by the minute. Meanwhile I'm telling my traveling companions that we're probably staying the night either here or in Atlanta and to get the proper people notified.
The attendant promptly tells me it's not looking good. She really knew how to talk straight with me. Her final suggestion was to go to Atlanta and see somehow if we could make our connecting flight, as that flight was a little delayed leaving its destination. It still showed leaving on time at 9:40, but nevertheless it's worth a shot! If not, we could see some of the finest lodging Atlanta had to offer. All I had to do was get their "I'm stuck here and don't have my luggage" kit when we got there, and I would have necessary toiletries to get me through the night and a fresh t-shirt. Awesome, I hope they have a XXL kit. Maybe the shirt says "I got stuck in Atlanta and all I got was this stupid t-shirt." I'd go for that. She talks me into going to Atlanta, and we're all set. After doing a "quick turnaround", we are all on board from the late arriving plane and ready to take off. I stand up to get something and hear 2 attendants behind me attempting to do something they are obviously struggling with. I turn around and notice they are trying to put a ceiling panel back into place. Great, the roof is falling off inside the plane. Delta, perhaps it's time to update your fleet a bit? Oh well, it's just a ceiling panel. The attendant promptly asks me if I could help them out as they are both about 5'0" on a good day, and well, I have a little height to lend to the cause. "Sure," I said, "I'll put the roof back together for you." Let's roll!
So we take off at exactly 8:30, flight's still scheduled for 9:40. Flight's scheduled to be an hour and ten minutes. The captain tells us we have a 50 minute flight ahead of us, which gives us just a small glimmer of hope. This will be nothing short of a miracle if we make it. Now we will be landing at approximately 9:20 at gate B4. Luckily, we were moved from row 40 on the plane to row 16 due to all of the people cancelling and just trying again tomorrow in J-ville. We all know how fun it is de-boarding a plane. It can take 10-15 minutes just to get off of the dang thing. We get off the plane into the terminal at approximately 9:30, and quickly discover our departing gate is B34. B4 to B34, we're not out of the woods yet. Remember previously what I said about Atlanta being the busiest airport in the world? Even at 9:30 at night that theory holds up. We had to make like a bakery truck and haul buns down to B34 as the attendant at B4 was screaming at us telling us to hustle, they were waiting for us at B34. Do you know how hard it is to run with your shorts falling off your waist? I wasn't fully prepared to be running, as I had not put a belt on. This did not help any.
About 3/4 of the way to B34, we come upon a gentleman dressed in a captain's uniform. He was at approximately B26 and he yelled out to us, "Are you going to Phoenix?!" To which we promptly replied, "HOPEFULLY!" He retorted back with, "Well they're not going anywhere without me, so you're ok." We instantly slowed down just a bit to a very brisk walk. As we got within eyesight of B34, the attendant was out in the hallway screaming at us like a drill sergeant, "GO GO GO, come on Phoenix!" I instantly thought to myself, 'Why are they trying so urgently to get us on the plane when Captain Fantastic back there is either getting a biscuit to eat, going to the bathroom, or getting a magazine for the long flight to Phoenix?' Amazingly enough we were walking onto the plane at 10:39. They even waited an extra 5 minutes for what looked to be other passengers, but I think the real story was Captain Fantastic doing God knows what in the terminal. They promptly closed the door after the 5 minutes and we were backing out. I was only half paying attention but I never did see the Captain come back on board. I'm half convinced that guy was just some crazy old man that dresses up in a captain's costume and walks around giving false hope to passengers in a frenzy. Nicely done, sir.
We had done it! The impossible! We were on the way to Phoenix! Man what a relief, and man was I warm from running through the halls and jumping onto a stuffed plane. Let me just reach up and get that air vent on me... That's weird, there's no air vent? First time ever I've been on a plane with no personal air vent. Maybe there was some technological advance out there that made it possible to not have the personal vents, I could feel the air blowing, it was doing ok. No sooner do I think this to myself then I hear a guy 2 rows in front of me asking where the vent is because he's warm. The flight attendant promptly responds to him "Yes sir, this plane was built BEFORE the invention of the personal air vents, I'm sorry about that." Holy cow, are you serious?! We are on a dinosaur plane, maybe this plane is grandfathered in and they will let us smoke on it, because I might need a cigarette to get us through this flight. Once again Delta, you have put me at ease knowing the metal can I'm flying on is as safe as a newborn in his mother's arms. NOT... A 4 hour plane ride in a plane that was built BEFORE they made personal air vents. How many of those have you been on? Unreal Delta...
Safe to say we made it back to Phoenix at about 10:45 p.m. The streak is still intact, and I didn't have to spend the night in Atlanta. Maybe next time... Delta sent me an apology letter earlier this week for all of the mishaps that went on that glorious evening. They even were generous enough to give me an extra 1,000 frequent flyer miles for the inconvenience. Thanks Delta! Not quite sure I want to be using what I have now dubbed the "Dinosaur Airline". But we'll see, who knows what the future holds. Riding on a plane that was invented before air vents, watching them try to fix another plane for 2 hours with no luck, and riding on one that the ceiling panels were falling off doesn't make me feel like jumping right back on the next flight. Yay flying!
It was a balmy 88 degrees with about 92% humidity that fateful afternoon/evening we headed to the J-ville airport. You could sift the air through your teeth, it was brutal. Our flight was due to leave at about 7:25 J-ville time, and things were already looking sketchy. An attempt to do early check in online a few hours earlier proved to be quite the ordeal. After a few failed attempts at checking in, I finally had to call Delta to figure out what was going on as it was telling me we were ineligible to check in. As it turns out after talking to Doris, magically on top of our already scheduled connecting flight in Atlanta, they also had us somehow connecting in Philadelphia. Great, a phantom flight! Delta you continue to impress. After a few minutes, Doris had everything straightened out and thankfully we still had our original itinerary. Check in complete, maybe we had the worst of it behind us for this trip. Yeah, right...
After a successful check-in at the airport counter, we headed towards the security gate and stopped briefly so my niece, Samantha, could get some souvenirs to take back with her. I thought I'd take a quick glance at the flight monitors to see how we were doing. Oh look at that, the flight's already been pushed back to 8 p.m.! What a surprise! I just got in the building, can't you let the suspense build up a little bit first before making everything haywire? Well, now we at least had time to eat some food. The highlight of the evening it would be.
After a quick dinner, I decided to go up to the gate desk to see how we were looking. Oh no, that line is way too long for things to be ok. I asked the gentleman standing in front of me what the prognosis was. He quickly replied in a sweet tone of voice, "We're not leaving til' 8:30 now." Instantly, a wave of semi-nausea ran over me. Our new arrival time was 9:41 ATL time, our departure time to PHX was 9:40. This was not going to be good. I thought to myself, 'What is wrong with THIS flight?'
No sooner did I ask myself that, then the attendant came over the loud speaker explaining how it was delayed due to the plane being "too heavy" before takeoff and how they had to "de-fuel" the plane to readjust the weight. This apparently takes an hour or so to do. De-fuel a plane? Are you kidding me?! I can hear that announcement happening on that plane now, "Uh yeah, folks this is the captain speaking. It turns out we're a tad too heavy fully loaded. We can't take any people or luggage off this flight, so what we're going to do is remove the fuel from the plane and put a little less back into it. Don't worry, we will have PLENTY of fuel!" This is very similar in my opinion to someone telling me that maintenance is on board the plane fixing an issue. It doesn't make you rest easy. Less fuel than intended? Are we going to make it? Delta, you are amazing! You know how to make everyone feel at peace!
It becomes clear quickly that they're telling people they won't make their connecting flights and making people hotel reservations. This line is going nowhere fast. Obviously, no one in the line is in a good mood, including myself. I've never been stuck like this before, it looks like my streak was coming to an end. Meanwhile, there's 1 Delta attendant at the next gate over looking for different airlines to get people out on time and hopefully still catch the connecting flight. She's asking people if they are flying to certain cities to come see her at that desk, everyone else just stay in line. Funny, no one's going over to see you, how about taking some of the load off of this line? No? Ok, just checking. Eventually she wanders back over to our terminal, as no one is taking what she has to offer. Thirty minutes later, it's my turn at the gate. As soon as I get up to the front, another attendant comes out of nowhere and tells me to meet her over at the other gate the other attendant was just at. Perfect! This circus just keeps getting better by the minute. Meanwhile I'm telling my traveling companions that we're probably staying the night either here or in Atlanta and to get the proper people notified.
The attendant promptly tells me it's not looking good. She really knew how to talk straight with me. Her final suggestion was to go to Atlanta and see somehow if we could make our connecting flight, as that flight was a little delayed leaving its destination. It still showed leaving on time at 9:40, but nevertheless it's worth a shot! If not, we could see some of the finest lodging Atlanta had to offer. All I had to do was get their "I'm stuck here and don't have my luggage" kit when we got there, and I would have necessary toiletries to get me through the night and a fresh t-shirt. Awesome, I hope they have a XXL kit. Maybe the shirt says "I got stuck in Atlanta and all I got was this stupid t-shirt." I'd go for that. She talks me into going to Atlanta, and we're all set. After doing a "quick turnaround", we are all on board from the late arriving plane and ready to take off. I stand up to get something and hear 2 attendants behind me attempting to do something they are obviously struggling with. I turn around and notice they are trying to put a ceiling panel back into place. Great, the roof is falling off inside the plane. Delta, perhaps it's time to update your fleet a bit? Oh well, it's just a ceiling panel. The attendant promptly asks me if I could help them out as they are both about 5'0" on a good day, and well, I have a little height to lend to the cause. "Sure," I said, "I'll put the roof back together for you." Let's roll!
So we take off at exactly 8:30, flight's still scheduled for 9:40. Flight's scheduled to be an hour and ten minutes. The captain tells us we have a 50 minute flight ahead of us, which gives us just a small glimmer of hope. This will be nothing short of a miracle if we make it. Now we will be landing at approximately 9:20 at gate B4. Luckily, we were moved from row 40 on the plane to row 16 due to all of the people cancelling and just trying again tomorrow in J-ville. We all know how fun it is de-boarding a plane. It can take 10-15 minutes just to get off of the dang thing. We get off the plane into the terminal at approximately 9:30, and quickly discover our departing gate is B34. B4 to B34, we're not out of the woods yet. Remember previously what I said about Atlanta being the busiest airport in the world? Even at 9:30 at night that theory holds up. We had to make like a bakery truck and haul buns down to B34 as the attendant at B4 was screaming at us telling us to hustle, they were waiting for us at B34. Do you know how hard it is to run with your shorts falling off your waist? I wasn't fully prepared to be running, as I had not put a belt on. This did not help any.
About 3/4 of the way to B34, we come upon a gentleman dressed in a captain's uniform. He was at approximately B26 and he yelled out to us, "Are you going to Phoenix?!" To which we promptly replied, "HOPEFULLY!" He retorted back with, "Well they're not going anywhere without me, so you're ok." We instantly slowed down just a bit to a very brisk walk. As we got within eyesight of B34, the attendant was out in the hallway screaming at us like a drill sergeant, "GO GO GO, come on Phoenix!" I instantly thought to myself, 'Why are they trying so urgently to get us on the plane when Captain Fantastic back there is either getting a biscuit to eat, going to the bathroom, or getting a magazine for the long flight to Phoenix?' Amazingly enough we were walking onto the plane at 10:39. They even waited an extra 5 minutes for what looked to be other passengers, but I think the real story was Captain Fantastic doing God knows what in the terminal. They promptly closed the door after the 5 minutes and we were backing out. I was only half paying attention but I never did see the Captain come back on board. I'm half convinced that guy was just some crazy old man that dresses up in a captain's costume and walks around giving false hope to passengers in a frenzy. Nicely done, sir.
We had done it! The impossible! We were on the way to Phoenix! Man what a relief, and man was I warm from running through the halls and jumping onto a stuffed plane. Let me just reach up and get that air vent on me... That's weird, there's no air vent? First time ever I've been on a plane with no personal air vent. Maybe there was some technological advance out there that made it possible to not have the personal vents, I could feel the air blowing, it was doing ok. No sooner do I think this to myself then I hear a guy 2 rows in front of me asking where the vent is because he's warm. The flight attendant promptly responds to him "Yes sir, this plane was built BEFORE the invention of the personal air vents, I'm sorry about that." Holy cow, are you serious?! We are on a dinosaur plane, maybe this plane is grandfathered in and they will let us smoke on it, because I might need a cigarette to get us through this flight. Once again Delta, you have put me at ease knowing the metal can I'm flying on is as safe as a newborn in his mother's arms. NOT... A 4 hour plane ride in a plane that was built BEFORE they made personal air vents. How many of those have you been on? Unreal Delta...
Safe to say we made it back to Phoenix at about 10:45 p.m. The streak is still intact, and I didn't have to spend the night in Atlanta. Maybe next time... Delta sent me an apology letter earlier this week for all of the mishaps that went on that glorious evening. They even were generous enough to give me an extra 1,000 frequent flyer miles for the inconvenience. Thanks Delta! Not quite sure I want to be using what I have now dubbed the "Dinosaur Airline". But we'll see, who knows what the future holds. Riding on a plane that was invented before air vents, watching them try to fix another plane for 2 hours with no luck, and riding on one that the ceiling panels were falling off doesn't make me feel like jumping right back on the next flight. Yay flying!
Thursday, July 8, 2010
Thank You For Flying With Us...
Alright, look. I don't really know where to start here, but somehow I will get this out. I recently just returned from a fabulous vacation in the lovely city of Jacksonville, FL and had a wonderful time. Visiting some family and basking in the Florida sun (and rain) was one of the best vacations I've had in a while. Possibly ever if you count a vacation as only being when you actually go away from where you live for an extended amount of time. The action fired up as soon as we arrived and didn't let up until the minute I returned to Phoenix. Let me just list a couple of the events and you will understand: NASCAR race in Daytona, fishing for anything that would eat a shrimp in the ocean (sharks), eating seafood by the pound, swimming in the immaculate Atlantic Ocean, watching fireworks in the channel by St. Augustine on a boat... You get where I'm going here, it was nuts. I barely remember sleeping there was so much going on. Only 2 things happened that brought this trip to its knees: the flight to Jacksonville, and the return flight home to Phoenix.
Let's start with the flight to Jacksonville, it's amazing how 1 airline practically intentionally tries to ruin your trip singlehandedly. So we depart at 6:05 a.m. which means we arrive at Sky Harbor at approximately 4:30 a.m. You feel like you walk into the set of a zombie movie when entering this airport at this hour. I'm pretty sure no one's really awake there, they are just going through the motions. Surprisingly doing the early check-in has benefited us and we are through security with bags checked by 4:45 and are waiting for the flight which is ON TIME. Score, who said this trip was going to be full of peril? Nothing like catching the first flight of the day out of this frying pan.
So we're all standing around waiting for the first set of the "elite" passengers to board when I glance over and see a woman with a small baby walking my way. She's on her own this flight, and has that smile on her face like "my baby is the coolest thing since sliced bread, why don't you all look at him and comment on how precious he is". This did not bother me because I'm sure some day I will have a kid and will want the whole world to see him/her. So she decides to walk over to within about 5 feet of me and waits to board, no big deal... I glance back over one more time as she makes some googly talk to the baby, mainly because I was laughing at her talk when I was blind sided by the mother of all awkwardness. The broad was breast feeding like she was the only one in the airport. Now ladies, breast feeding is no doubt a very necessary/critical whatever you want to call it way of feeding a newborn child hands down. But have you no shame woman?! If you want to make a dude feel awkward in a public scenario, start breast feeding your kid with no cover. Sure there's the perverts that probably think it's awesome, but even they have to ask themselves "Is this right?" Are you trying to attract the perverts? Do you not realize what you're doing here? Cover it up! I can't think of anything close that compares with what I could do that would be in parallel with this except throwing my pants down in the corner of the terminal and going #1. Who wants to see that? Yeah I know it's a boob, but we don't have to be dirtbags everywhere we go, right? Ladies, don't expose yourself to the filth of the world like that!
It gets worse, guess who sits down in the same row as me on the opposite side of the aisle. You guessed it. My first thought was, "well at least she got the feeding out of the way before she boarded". Nope, she wasn't even close to done. She had a 3 hour flight and she was planning on using ALL of the flight time wisely. As soon as the plane got to elevation and the captain made the electronics are OK announcement, she was back at it before I could plug my headphones into my phone to listen to the Avett Brothers. It took every ounce of me to not say "COME ON LADY!" The guy next to her was really enjoying it though and no he wasn't traveling with her. I just closed my eyes and tried to sleep like a sardine sleeps in a sardine can for the rest of the flight. I'm sure you can imagine me sitting in coach on a 757 Boeing. It's not the most normal sight you've ever seen. Only 3 hours and I was in Atlanta, 3/4 of the way to vacation!
I'm not sure that everyone knows this, but I read a fun little tidbit that said that the Atlanta airport (Hartsfield-Jackson International) is the busiest airport in the world. Don't ask me why, but upon arriving I would not disagree. There's 5 terminals and an underground tram/walkway that takes you to each different terminal. At least it was easy to lose the breast feeder... We arrived at terminal C and luckily had to work our way up to terminal B. A short 5 minute walk, plenty of time to spare. Upon arriving to our gate in the B terminal, we realize we have plenty of time as they are just now unloading passengers off of the arriving flight from La Guardia that will take us to JAX. Thank goodness, everyone had time to go pee. The first thing the gate attendant says over the intercom is "We are unloading the passengers now, and the mechanical staff is on board trying to diagnose an issue, we should be taking off approximately 30 minutes after our scheduled takeoff." Ok, if you tell me that mechanics are investigating an issue on a plane I'm about to get on, you're not doing me any favors. First of all, you don't want to tell them to hurry up because that would be bad. Secondly, I do not want to watch a bunch of wrench monkeys work on my plane and keep me in the busiest airport in the world any longer than need be. This is where you realize the mechanics might have the crappiest job in the airport. You can't win for losing. Oh well, at least I had a little time to charge up my now nearly dead phone. Little did I know my phone would be fully charged before we left that god forsaken airport.
An hour and a half AFTER we were supposed to take off, amazingly the plane's pilot comes out and decides to give us his 5 cents worth. He begins explaining how there's an air control module that shifts oxygen from one side of the plane to the other in an emergency situation and blah blah blah.. We get the point man, we want that fixed before it takes off. Low and behold, they've already replaced the part and it's still not functioning properly. This does not bode well. We should have been in JAX by now feeding our faces with shrimp and scallops. He thanks us for being patient, as always like we have a choice, and goes back to the plane. The anxious crowd continued on watching the wrench monkeys stare at the under belly of the plane pointing and gawking surely just putting on a show for us passengers at this point. They know they're not fixing this plane soon. Come on, man!
About 40 minutes later, the gate attendant tells us they are fairly certain this plane isn't going anywhere and they have started looking for a different plane for us to take to JAX. There's a novel concept, odds are in our favor as the ATL is one of Delta's main hubs. Just pull another one out of the hangar and let's rock! Easier said than done, I know. All of a sudden it was like a stampede of water buffalo running from a pride of lions from gate B01 to B24. The attendant tells us they have found a plane and we'll be boarding at that gate heading to JAX. Thank you, 3 hours later... So we get to B24 and it's not an "end of the terminal" gate, just one of your standard side pocket gates for lack of a better term. Talk about shoving 10 lbs. of fat into a 5 lb. bag. Now 300 people are swarmed around this gate like a lynch mob. Our new lovely gate attendant tells us that we will be boarding shortly as soon as the crew gets to the new plane and does their pre-flight checks. Let's do this! About 30 minutes later, the gate attendant tells us they've lost the crew and are "looking for them". How the @&%* does this happen?! They were on a broken plane sitting there all by themselves. Did they sneak out the back door on the dining truck? That's what I would have done...
Ten minutes later, the crew comes walking up and it appeared as if the crowd was ready to stone them all. The captain decides to get on the intercom for one last brief update. "Yeah ladies and gentlemen, sorry about that but they decided not to inform the crew that we were switching planes so we've been sitting on the broken plane for the last half hour wondering what's been going on. Sorry about that!" Hey nice job Delta! Talk about putting the cart before the horse, they almost got a crew killed that afternoon. Shortly after that we boarded and were in the air arriving in JAX at 5:30 as opposed to 2:30 as scheduled.
And this was just the flight TO the lovely town of Jacksonville. More to come in tomorrow's blog on the return nightmare flight home...
Let's start with the flight to Jacksonville, it's amazing how 1 airline practically intentionally tries to ruin your trip singlehandedly. So we depart at 6:05 a.m. which means we arrive at Sky Harbor at approximately 4:30 a.m. You feel like you walk into the set of a zombie movie when entering this airport at this hour. I'm pretty sure no one's really awake there, they are just going through the motions. Surprisingly doing the early check-in has benefited us and we are through security with bags checked by 4:45 and are waiting for the flight which is ON TIME. Score, who said this trip was going to be full of peril? Nothing like catching the first flight of the day out of this frying pan.
So we're all standing around waiting for the first set of the "elite" passengers to board when I glance over and see a woman with a small baby walking my way. She's on her own this flight, and has that smile on her face like "my baby is the coolest thing since sliced bread, why don't you all look at him and comment on how precious he is". This did not bother me because I'm sure some day I will have a kid and will want the whole world to see him/her. So she decides to walk over to within about 5 feet of me and waits to board, no big deal... I glance back over one more time as she makes some googly talk to the baby, mainly because I was laughing at her talk when I was blind sided by the mother of all awkwardness. The broad was breast feeding like she was the only one in the airport. Now ladies, breast feeding is no doubt a very necessary/critical whatever you want to call it way of feeding a newborn child hands down. But have you no shame woman?! If you want to make a dude feel awkward in a public scenario, start breast feeding your kid with no cover. Sure there's the perverts that probably think it's awesome, but even they have to ask themselves "Is this right?" Are you trying to attract the perverts? Do you not realize what you're doing here? Cover it up! I can't think of anything close that compares with what I could do that would be in parallel with this except throwing my pants down in the corner of the terminal and going #1. Who wants to see that? Yeah I know it's a boob, but we don't have to be dirtbags everywhere we go, right? Ladies, don't expose yourself to the filth of the world like that!
It gets worse, guess who sits down in the same row as me on the opposite side of the aisle. You guessed it. My first thought was, "well at least she got the feeding out of the way before she boarded". Nope, she wasn't even close to done. She had a 3 hour flight and she was planning on using ALL of the flight time wisely. As soon as the plane got to elevation and the captain made the electronics are OK announcement, she was back at it before I could plug my headphones into my phone to listen to the Avett Brothers. It took every ounce of me to not say "COME ON LADY!" The guy next to her was really enjoying it though and no he wasn't traveling with her. I just closed my eyes and tried to sleep like a sardine sleeps in a sardine can for the rest of the flight. I'm sure you can imagine me sitting in coach on a 757 Boeing. It's not the most normal sight you've ever seen. Only 3 hours and I was in Atlanta, 3/4 of the way to vacation!
I'm not sure that everyone knows this, but I read a fun little tidbit that said that the Atlanta airport (Hartsfield-Jackson International) is the busiest airport in the world. Don't ask me why, but upon arriving I would not disagree. There's 5 terminals and an underground tram/walkway that takes you to each different terminal. At least it was easy to lose the breast feeder... We arrived at terminal C and luckily had to work our way up to terminal B. A short 5 minute walk, plenty of time to spare. Upon arriving to our gate in the B terminal, we realize we have plenty of time as they are just now unloading passengers off of the arriving flight from La Guardia that will take us to JAX. Thank goodness, everyone had time to go pee. The first thing the gate attendant says over the intercom is "We are unloading the passengers now, and the mechanical staff is on board trying to diagnose an issue, we should be taking off approximately 30 minutes after our scheduled takeoff." Ok, if you tell me that mechanics are investigating an issue on a plane I'm about to get on, you're not doing me any favors. First of all, you don't want to tell them to hurry up because that would be bad. Secondly, I do not want to watch a bunch of wrench monkeys work on my plane and keep me in the busiest airport in the world any longer than need be. This is where you realize the mechanics might have the crappiest job in the airport. You can't win for losing. Oh well, at least I had a little time to charge up my now nearly dead phone. Little did I know my phone would be fully charged before we left that god forsaken airport.
An hour and a half AFTER we were supposed to take off, amazingly the plane's pilot comes out and decides to give us his 5 cents worth. He begins explaining how there's an air control module that shifts oxygen from one side of the plane to the other in an emergency situation and blah blah blah.. We get the point man, we want that fixed before it takes off. Low and behold, they've already replaced the part and it's still not functioning properly. This does not bode well. We should have been in JAX by now feeding our faces with shrimp and scallops. He thanks us for being patient, as always like we have a choice, and goes back to the plane. The anxious crowd continued on watching the wrench monkeys stare at the under belly of the plane pointing and gawking surely just putting on a show for us passengers at this point. They know they're not fixing this plane soon. Come on, man!
About 40 minutes later, the gate attendant tells us they are fairly certain this plane isn't going anywhere and they have started looking for a different plane for us to take to JAX. There's a novel concept, odds are in our favor as the ATL is one of Delta's main hubs. Just pull another one out of the hangar and let's rock! Easier said than done, I know. All of a sudden it was like a stampede of water buffalo running from a pride of lions from gate B01 to B24. The attendant tells us they have found a plane and we'll be boarding at that gate heading to JAX. Thank you, 3 hours later... So we get to B24 and it's not an "end of the terminal" gate, just one of your standard side pocket gates for lack of a better term. Talk about shoving 10 lbs. of fat into a 5 lb. bag. Now 300 people are swarmed around this gate like a lynch mob. Our new lovely gate attendant tells us that we will be boarding shortly as soon as the crew gets to the new plane and does their pre-flight checks. Let's do this! About 30 minutes later, the gate attendant tells us they've lost the crew and are "looking for them". How the @&%* does this happen?! They were on a broken plane sitting there all by themselves. Did they sneak out the back door on the dining truck? That's what I would have done...
Ten minutes later, the crew comes walking up and it appeared as if the crowd was ready to stone them all. The captain decides to get on the intercom for one last brief update. "Yeah ladies and gentlemen, sorry about that but they decided not to inform the crew that we were switching planes so we've been sitting on the broken plane for the last half hour wondering what's been going on. Sorry about that!" Hey nice job Delta! Talk about putting the cart before the horse, they almost got a crew killed that afternoon. Shortly after that we boarded and were in the air arriving in JAX at 5:30 as opposed to 2:30 as scheduled.
And this was just the flight TO the lovely town of Jacksonville. More to come in tomorrow's blog on the return nightmare flight home...
Monday, June 14, 2010
World Cup Woes
Ok, so I was just as excited about the World Cup firing up as the next person. I will be the first to admit I haven't been the biggest follower of soccer since about after 6th grade, but for some reason Olympic Soccer and the World Cup seems way more intriguing to me. Living in the USA doesn't help in trying to follow soccer. Recently, however, I have been able to follow what is probably one of the "best" leagues competitive wise in the English Barclay's Premier league via a channel on satellite dish plus XM radio for my listening pleasure. This has helped me learn a tremendous amount about the world of football in quite a short time. It really can be very intense, and lots of action can happen. It is quite amazing when a goal is scored, there are so many ways it can happen. Kind of like snow flakes, no 2 goals are the same. But I digress...
The World Cup fired up last Friday and I was ready for hours of intense action. These are the best footballers in the world and the action was going to be intense from beginning til end of every 90 minutes! Maybe because I thought this way, I let myself down a tad. It's now the end of day 4 and 11 games have been played. That's 22 teams that have competed. Out of those 22 teams, exactly 3 teams have scored more than 1 goal. As stated previously, I am not the hardened soccer viewer, but that seems a little low to me. I know most of these guys just kind of joined together and haven't gotten a chance to gel in the matter of a month or so since most leagues just ended across the world. I have watched parts of at least 4 or 5 games over the weekend, and the action seems to be less than stellar for the most part.
I'm starting to have flashbacks of the 2004 men's "dream team" disaster that happened in the Olympics. All of these guys get together at the last minute, practice a couple of times, then go out and try to dominate the world. We all know how that ended. They were almost dubbed the "disaster team". No one will deny the NBA has some of the greatest talent in the world against most of the other countries as far as American players go. If you can't be committed to playing as a team and practicing together and getting into a flow, it's obvious you can be beat. As we've seen so far in the World Cup, a lot of world powers are struggling out of the gate. It turns out there's not enough time in the tournament to bond as a team because if you lose a game in the pool play, you might be done before you can get started. Heavily favored teams are getting by by the skin of their teeth in these matches, some are losing. If you're not at peak performance come day 1 of the Cup, you could be hosed.
Do these guys need more time to bond together before they hit the pitch in the tournament? If you watched any Friendlies before the tournament started, there were quite a few head scratchers that left you wondering how well some of the better teams would do. I didn't know what to expect from Team USA, as the English were heavily favored. The effort put forth by the English, however, was less than stellar. Dang near all of these guys play in the "NBA" of soccer over in Europe. They are the best of the best. They looked like they hadn't played a match together in their life. You may have seen my bold statement on Facebook about whoever won that match would get my loyalty throughout the tournament. After that it was impossible to show loyalty. Yes the English were heavily favored and walked away with a mere tie, USA looked to be playing lights out but really couldn't get much done. And let's be honest with ourselves, that goal the Americans got was all but gift wrapped. It seemed the Americans had 1 legit shot in the 2nd half that was about ten times harder to defend against, and England's goalie did a pretty good job of shutting it down. After that performance, it was impossible to pick a team to support. Don't get me wrong here, I'm American through and through, but I am also a realist and know that in the end good soccer will prevail and that's what I want to see. I thought I was positive that the red coats would be a dominating force and be easy to root for as when was the last time USA came home with a trophy? I'm just setting myself up for heartache rooting for them aren't I? Now only another match will tell, so I have to hold off until Friday to see if a real team shows up.
I know not all of the best teams have played yet, but come on. Germany scored 4 goals in a match! They're not the powerhouse of this tournament are they? Maybe as of teams that have played so far they are it. I just don't know any of the players on Germany, so I find it tough to root for them. It's kind of like rooting for team Slovakia in Olympic basketball. Who plays for them? Even if they were on fire, how fun is that? Do people really live in Slovakia? Oh wait, is Goran Dragic from there? He's cool. South Korea scored 2 goals. I'm surprised they were allowed to play in the tournament. And the Netherlands scored 2 this morning against Denmark. Not 2 countries that come to mind when you think of a football powerhouse.
Italy won the 2006 Cup if I do recall, and they barely squeaked out a 1-1 tie against the awesome country of Paraguay! Paraguay? It took me a minute to remember that country is actually on the South American continent. I know there's some stellar South American teams out there, but Paraguay doesn't come to mind in the top 2 or 3 countries from there.
I'm not sure what the remedy is here, but maybe the World Cup is too soon after most seasons end around the world. The players keep complaining about how exhausted they are. That's never a good sign. You have to exert a little energy while playing soccer, and when you're exhausted it's no fun. Tomorrow we have Brazil playing, they're bound to take it to North Korea, right? Well maybe Kim Jong Il will have the crazy Koreans fired up tomorrow, but Brazil should have the ways & means of thoroughly spanking them. If that ends up 1-0 or 1-1, I may just throw the World Cup in the toilet. Please don't make me go back to watching the Diamondbacks, because that's the only option I have left right now. Maybe the College World Series, that would work better. Time to get it fired up World Cup!!!!
Tuesday, June 1, 2010
Most Excellent Chain of Events In A Long While
You know how you have one of those days where a lot of actions take place that tend to revolve around a certain person/object/place, whatever? One of those times where things start out so high and end so low or vice versa? No? Just me? Well today was one of those days for me and a certain object of mine. The highly coveted (NOT) Xbox 360 went from good to worse as they day progressed, leaving me with no choice but to voice my opinion to my trusty followers. I know, it sounds kind of lame, but bear with me as I'll try to make it slightly entertaining. The overall goal here is to show you how awesome Microsoft (maker of said Xbox) really isn't, and hopefully help you avoid problems like this in the future.
So I purchased my Xbox 360 in February of 2007. No I did not retain that in memory, I was told that by the lovely Microsoft support agent I talked to on the phone. The original purchase including another game I wanted at time of purchase came out to roughly $400 when it was all said and done. The 360 itself I believe was $299 plus tax, but a couple of games I had to have were tacked on at $60 a piece. You get the hint here, not a cheap investment for something that could keep me entertained with awesome gaming while doubling as my DVD player. It was thought that it would last me for years!
About a year and some change later, I began experiencing problems with the machine, it would not be able to read discs randomly to the point where I couldn't watch a movie or play a game, it would just lock up on me. So I called Microsoft support only to find out that the Xbox has a 90 day limited warranty and my issue was not covered, but if I sent it in to get repaired for $100, that would get me a new 1 year warranty and an awesome 1 month subscription to Xbox LIVE! Gold account. Xbox LIVE! is where you can go online and play against others out on the interweb. Not something I was too keen on doing, but I finally gave in and sent the machine in to be repaired for $100. One other note about Xbox LIVE!, this is not a free service. In order to play against others online, Microsoft charges you a measly fee of $50 for a year's worth of access. Not too bad you think until you realize Sony's Playstation 3 and Nintendo's Wii will let you play games online free of charge. Microsoft at its finest. I'm still not sure to this day what Microsoft thinks their competitive advantage is that lets them think they can charge people for online access, but that's Microsoft. They don't really need a reason.
About a week later I received my "repaired" Xbox, which in doing some quick investigating, I was dang near positive they just sent me a refurbished unit as the very next day after they received my unit, another one was promptly shipped back to me. This after being told it could take 2-4 weeks to diagnose the problem and figure out what was wrong. Thanks for the prompt service Microsoft! You look like heroes! All the while sending out someone's previously broken hunk of garbage that you dolled up to be in working condition with a couple new parts in it. I didn't care, I was just glad to have the console back and working. Total price to own this machine now $500+. But I have a new 1 year warranty, sweet!
Fast forward to early 2010. The wonderful invention of Netflix has just given me the ability to watch movies streaming online. If only I had an Xbox LIVE! account Gold subscription for the $50/year price tag. I'm already paying for Netflix, and on top of this I need to pay Microsoft $50 of access for a year so I can access my Netflix account. Oh, and I don't have an internet connection at my TV which means I need wireless capability. Oh wait, the 360 doesn't come with wireless capability. I have to buy the Microsoft wireless adapter, retail value is about $75 these days I believe. It used to be $100. I finally break down and buy a gently used one on ebay for roughly $50 to get internet access. Once again, PS3 and Wii have built in wireless connections. Microsoft being Microsoft part two. Ok Microsoft, you win in the nickel & dime game, I will buy this dongle, but I'll show you! I won't buy it brand new and save some money and the proceeds will go to some 15 year old who got grounded and his mom forced him to sell his adapter on ebay and go outside. Thanks childhood obesity nightly news reports! New cost of owning said 360 now a whopping $550.
Upon arriving, I promptly plugged in my freshly purchased wireless adapter and found that sweet ticket Microsoft sent me for my $100 contribution to their fund. The 1 month Gold LIVE! account, to try out all of the sweet amenities they had to offer. I would be watching Netflix and gaming online with FIFA 10. How sweet life is... This was about the end of April.
About 2 weeks ago, I was playing in the middle of an intense FIFA 10 match (not online), when all of a sudden the TV made a god awful noise and froze up. I wasn't quite sure what happened, but I thought nothing of it and rebooted the machine, it's Microsoft right? Just reboot. Upon rebooting it did the exact same thing making the same awful noise dang near deafening me. Being in the computer industry somewhat, I knew something was instantly wrong. My heart sank a bit, I knew my 1 year renewed warranty had expired. What do I do next? Google it! Heck yes! Instantly found my problem online and was told the hard drive might be going bad, and to try and reformat it. Now if only I could boot it up and let it last long enough to reformat without freezing up on me. After a couple of tries it was success! It was fully functioning again! Although, I lost every game I had ever played and saved progress in. That was a little disheartening, but small price to pay for said investment.
Everything worked great, for about a day. Then the same problem again, I had come to terms with the fact the hard drive was probably shot and would need a new one. Ebay never looked so good. Again...
Today was the day, it turns out a new hard drive with the same capacity as my old one runs about $25 used on Ebay. No problem, I won the gem and instantly paid for it. With shipping, $27 running my cost of the 360 to a tad shy of $600. What we won't do for entertainment... I also acquired a year of Xbox LIVE! activation card today and was ready for the hard drive to arrive. I would be watching Netflix and gaming with that kid who was no longer grounded in no time! Hopefully he found another wireless dongle somewhere... Sucker.
So today I get home and decide what the heck, I'll fire the 360 up and see what happens. Everything worked normally for about 5 minutes and then I got the deathly screech and freeze up again. Game over, man.... I try the trusty Xbox trick of removing the hard drive and seeing if it works normally, which would confirm the rumors of the hard drive going bad. I remove it and turn it back on. Xbox 360 fail... This time it didn't even boot, it made the awful noise and I got the infamous Red Ring of Death. Long story short, that means the hardware inside the Xbox is shot and it needs to be repaired. Don't pass go, don't collect $200, you get the drift. I also knew that this problem is an issue they've been fighting since the 360 came out a few years back and Microsoft had been so generous to give an extended warranty for this exact problem. Awesome, call them up!
Before I could dial the phone, I got an email from paypal stating the payment I made to the person for the new hard drive was refunded with the seller comment "Item is broken." Awesome, thanks for the heads up! I thought to myself, 'I'll deal with that later, now I need to get this piece back to Microsoft.' Once on the phone with Juan, I was promptly informed that the extended warranty was only good for 3 years from the purchase date which was Feburary 2007, which means my extended warranty expired February 2010! I said, "But Juan, I sent my machine in about 2 years ago and you sent me this handy dandy refurbished unit the very next day. This isn't my original machine!" Juan promptly replied, "Yes sir, but it is 3 years from the original purchase date, that is all I can do. I can submit a repair request and for $120 we will do the Microsoft dance on your hunk of junk and send you another crappy refurbished unit with a 1 year warranty and 1 month of Xbox LIVE! for free." Price of Xbox would push it up over the $700 mark. At this point I bow out, "No thanks Juan, you just lost a Microsoft customer for life" and hung up the phone.
In the blink of an eye I lost my gaming system, my online access to Netflix, and my DVD player. Now I have no way to watch Netflix, guess that means I have to cancel my Netflix account! Done and done. Thanks for nothing Microsoft. I always thought that whole joke of "you buy something and it breaks the month after the warranty expires" was only a joke. Well this one made it approximately 3+ months before it decided to give out. So I'm sorry Netflix, but I had no choice but to get rid of you. Microsoft, if you're listening, I'm not sorry and I'd love to see the numbers of lost sales due to your crappy products. Or how about the numbers of people who bought your products then promptly switched to the alternative?
To everyone else listening, my advice is don't buy Microsoft. They nickel & dime you to death for crap that's already outrageously priced. This pretty much rings true in their software world as well as their hardware world, and no one should have to go through this. Sony, you just won yourself a new customer. Now I just need to be able to afford you...
So I purchased my Xbox 360 in February of 2007. No I did not retain that in memory, I was told that by the lovely Microsoft support agent I talked to on the phone. The original purchase including another game I wanted at time of purchase came out to roughly $400 when it was all said and done. The 360 itself I believe was $299 plus tax, but a couple of games I had to have were tacked on at $60 a piece. You get the hint here, not a cheap investment for something that could keep me entertained with awesome gaming while doubling as my DVD player. It was thought that it would last me for years!
About a year and some change later, I began experiencing problems with the machine, it would not be able to read discs randomly to the point where I couldn't watch a movie or play a game, it would just lock up on me. So I called Microsoft support only to find out that the Xbox has a 90 day limited warranty and my issue was not covered, but if I sent it in to get repaired for $100, that would get me a new 1 year warranty and an awesome 1 month subscription to Xbox LIVE! Gold account. Xbox LIVE! is where you can go online and play against others out on the interweb. Not something I was too keen on doing, but I finally gave in and sent the machine in to be repaired for $100. One other note about Xbox LIVE!, this is not a free service. In order to play against others online, Microsoft charges you a measly fee of $50 for a year's worth of access. Not too bad you think until you realize Sony's Playstation 3 and Nintendo's Wii will let you play games online free of charge. Microsoft at its finest. I'm still not sure to this day what Microsoft thinks their competitive advantage is that lets them think they can charge people for online access, but that's Microsoft. They don't really need a reason.
About a week later I received my "repaired" Xbox, which in doing some quick investigating, I was dang near positive they just sent me a refurbished unit as the very next day after they received my unit, another one was promptly shipped back to me. This after being told it could take 2-4 weeks to diagnose the problem and figure out what was wrong. Thanks for the prompt service Microsoft! You look like heroes! All the while sending out someone's previously broken hunk of garbage that you dolled up to be in working condition with a couple new parts in it. I didn't care, I was just glad to have the console back and working. Total price to own this machine now $500+. But I have a new 1 year warranty, sweet!
Fast forward to early 2010. The wonderful invention of Netflix has just given me the ability to watch movies streaming online. If only I had an Xbox LIVE! account Gold subscription for the $50/year price tag. I'm already paying for Netflix, and on top of this I need to pay Microsoft $50 of access for a year so I can access my Netflix account. Oh, and I don't have an internet connection at my TV which means I need wireless capability. Oh wait, the 360 doesn't come with wireless capability. I have to buy the Microsoft wireless adapter, retail value is about $75 these days I believe. It used to be $100. I finally break down and buy a gently used one on ebay for roughly $50 to get internet access. Once again, PS3 and Wii have built in wireless connections. Microsoft being Microsoft part two. Ok Microsoft, you win in the nickel & dime game, I will buy this dongle, but I'll show you! I won't buy it brand new and save some money and the proceeds will go to some 15 year old who got grounded and his mom forced him to sell his adapter on ebay and go outside. Thanks childhood obesity nightly news reports! New cost of owning said 360 now a whopping $550.
Upon arriving, I promptly plugged in my freshly purchased wireless adapter and found that sweet ticket Microsoft sent me for my $100 contribution to their fund. The 1 month Gold LIVE! account, to try out all of the sweet amenities they had to offer. I would be watching Netflix and gaming online with FIFA 10. How sweet life is... This was about the end of April.
About 2 weeks ago, I was playing in the middle of an intense FIFA 10 match (not online), when all of a sudden the TV made a god awful noise and froze up. I wasn't quite sure what happened, but I thought nothing of it and rebooted the machine, it's Microsoft right? Just reboot. Upon rebooting it did the exact same thing making the same awful noise dang near deafening me. Being in the computer industry somewhat, I knew something was instantly wrong. My heart sank a bit, I knew my 1 year renewed warranty had expired. What do I do next? Google it! Heck yes! Instantly found my problem online and was told the hard drive might be going bad, and to try and reformat it. Now if only I could boot it up and let it last long enough to reformat without freezing up on me. After a couple of tries it was success! It was fully functioning again! Although, I lost every game I had ever played and saved progress in. That was a little disheartening, but small price to pay for said investment.
Everything worked great, for about a day. Then the same problem again, I had come to terms with the fact the hard drive was probably shot and would need a new one. Ebay never looked so good. Again...
Today was the day, it turns out a new hard drive with the same capacity as my old one runs about $25 used on Ebay. No problem, I won the gem and instantly paid for it. With shipping, $27 running my cost of the 360 to a tad shy of $600. What we won't do for entertainment... I also acquired a year of Xbox LIVE! activation card today and was ready for the hard drive to arrive. I would be watching Netflix and gaming with that kid who was no longer grounded in no time! Hopefully he found another wireless dongle somewhere... Sucker.
So today I get home and decide what the heck, I'll fire the 360 up and see what happens. Everything worked normally for about 5 minutes and then I got the deathly screech and freeze up again. Game over, man.... I try the trusty Xbox trick of removing the hard drive and seeing if it works normally, which would confirm the rumors of the hard drive going bad. I remove it and turn it back on. Xbox 360 fail... This time it didn't even boot, it made the awful noise and I got the infamous Red Ring of Death. Long story short, that means the hardware inside the Xbox is shot and it needs to be repaired. Don't pass go, don't collect $200, you get the drift. I also knew that this problem is an issue they've been fighting since the 360 came out a few years back and Microsoft had been so generous to give an extended warranty for this exact problem. Awesome, call them up!
Before I could dial the phone, I got an email from paypal stating the payment I made to the person for the new hard drive was refunded with the seller comment "Item is broken." Awesome, thanks for the heads up! I thought to myself, 'I'll deal with that later, now I need to get this piece back to Microsoft.' Once on the phone with Juan, I was promptly informed that the extended warranty was only good for 3 years from the purchase date which was Feburary 2007, which means my extended warranty expired February 2010! I said, "But Juan, I sent my machine in about 2 years ago and you sent me this handy dandy refurbished unit the very next day. This isn't my original machine!" Juan promptly replied, "Yes sir, but it is 3 years from the original purchase date, that is all I can do. I can submit a repair request and for $120 we will do the Microsoft dance on your hunk of junk and send you another crappy refurbished unit with a 1 year warranty and 1 month of Xbox LIVE! for free." Price of Xbox would push it up over the $700 mark. At this point I bow out, "No thanks Juan, you just lost a Microsoft customer for life" and hung up the phone.
In the blink of an eye I lost my gaming system, my online access to Netflix, and my DVD player. Now I have no way to watch Netflix, guess that means I have to cancel my Netflix account! Done and done. Thanks for nothing Microsoft. I always thought that whole joke of "you buy something and it breaks the month after the warranty expires" was only a joke. Well this one made it approximately 3+ months before it decided to give out. So I'm sorry Netflix, but I had no choice but to get rid of you. Microsoft, if you're listening, I'm not sorry and I'd love to see the numbers of lost sales due to your crappy products. Or how about the numbers of people who bought your products then promptly switched to the alternative?
To everyone else listening, my advice is don't buy Microsoft. They nickel & dime you to death for crap that's already outrageously priced. This pretty much rings true in their software world as well as their hardware world, and no one should have to go through this. Sony, you just won yourself a new customer. Now I just need to be able to afford you...
Sunday, May 23, 2010
Robin of the Hood
Sitting here watching the Suns try and snatch defeat from the jaws of victory, watching Robin Lopez reminded me that we went and saw "Robin Hood" last night. I put the name in quotes only because when I left, I double checked to make sure that was the movie I went too, because I was pretty sure I was watching a remake of Braveheart. Doing a quick double glance at my ticket, I was assured we were watching Robin Hood. I guess it was the "Beginning of Robin Hood", but that wasn't exactly made clear to me before or during the movie, only after. It kind of reminds me of Dumb & Dumberer: When Harry Met Lloyd. This gem of a movie came out AFTER the original Dumb & Dumber was release, because I'm sure most of you, like myself, were dying to know where these 2 knuckleheads came from. Just me? Oh ok...
I've always envisioned Robin Hood, or Robin Longstride as we knew him in this glorious movie, as being a bow & arrow craftsman and at the beginning of the movie, he didn't disappoint. But it went quickly downhill after that... I'm trying to remember how much sword all previous versions of Robin Hoods wielded during the course of a movie, and I'm pretty sure from the cute Disney Fox to Kevin Costner, there wasn't much sword involved at all. I'm not sure what the deal was here, but I was at one point begging for him to pull the bow & arrow back out as a sword didn't suit Crowe all that well in this role. I'm not sure about all of you, but when I go and watch a movie like this that I've seen different renditions of throughout my life, there's certain key actions & settings I'm looking to pick up on to gain familiarity with the previous characters. Robin hood and a sword confused me like the first time I saw a football bat. Yes you read that right, and no I really have never seen one, but it sounds screwed up doesn't it?
It took me over an hour to have my suspicions of who Little John was to be confirmed. Only because some dillweed asked him at one point, "Why do they call you Little John?" Horrible character building movie when you're familiar with a bunch of characters. Fryar Tuck was easy, he's always the short fat guy with the funny hairdo and the robe. Maid Marion, or Marion Loxley, confused me a bit, but the name there was obviously a giveaway. The always profound Sheriff of Nottingham finally showed himself 2/3 of the way through the movie, announcing who he was. What a joke role that was. Why even have him? He was a wuss.
And who is this headhunter guy they found? Never even heard of him before! Isn't the Sheriff supposed to be looking for Robin Hood? And when did the passive French get so involved?! I feel like I'm taking crazy pills here! Did anyone even see Sherwood Forest? Was that the forest those creepy kids were roaming around in all movie long? Speaking of creepy, the mask that kid was wearing made it seem like a bad rendition of The Village or something. The only "Robin Hood" moment I saw was when they cut the troops off taking the grain away from Nottingham. That lasted all of about 3 minutes. What happened to robbing from the rich and giving to the poor? At least Nottingham was able to make more corn after the Children of the Corn took all of their grain.
Had I known that this was the "beginning story" of Robin Hood, maybe I would have understood a little better, but that was a major downfall of this movie. It was so confusing and ho-hum, at one point I looked across and my lovely date was sitting comfortably sawing logs. I think I may have joined her at one point for a few minutes. Pretty sure I blacked out at one point. Not sure if it was from the movie, or my butter/oil flavoring induced coma. I do enjoy that stuff...
When I came to, I kept looking for Mel Gibson to make a cameo appearance in a flashback or something of Braveheart. All Russell was missing was the awesome face paint. This movie left me longing for the days of Disney and Robin "the fox" Hood, and Balloo's brother as Little John. The lion and the snake made a lovely combo of the the evil side. And how could you not like the rooster singing "Oodelaly, oodelaly, golly what a day" with the whistle? Come on! That's Robin Hood! Rescue Maid Marion, don't come to some town and assume the ID of her dead husband. That's just lame!
Robin of the Hood, or whatever the sheriff called him at the end of the movie, left a lot to be desired. Maybe they left it open for the Robin Hood we all know & love, but if they make another one, it had better be him pillaging the rich and giving to the needy in the beautiful Sherwood Forest. No more fighting on the cliffs of Dover. Should have seen Iron Man 2....
I've always envisioned Robin Hood, or Robin Longstride as we knew him in this glorious movie, as being a bow & arrow craftsman and at the beginning of the movie, he didn't disappoint. But it went quickly downhill after that... I'm trying to remember how much sword all previous versions of Robin Hoods wielded during the course of a movie, and I'm pretty sure from the cute Disney Fox to Kevin Costner, there wasn't much sword involved at all. I'm not sure what the deal was here, but I was at one point begging for him to pull the bow & arrow back out as a sword didn't suit Crowe all that well in this role. I'm not sure about all of you, but when I go and watch a movie like this that I've seen different renditions of throughout my life, there's certain key actions & settings I'm looking to pick up on to gain familiarity with the previous characters. Robin hood and a sword confused me like the first time I saw a football bat. Yes you read that right, and no I really have never seen one, but it sounds screwed up doesn't it?
It took me over an hour to have my suspicions of who Little John was to be confirmed. Only because some dillweed asked him at one point, "Why do they call you Little John?" Horrible character building movie when you're familiar with a bunch of characters. Fryar Tuck was easy, he's always the short fat guy with the funny hairdo and the robe. Maid Marion, or Marion Loxley, confused me a bit, but the name there was obviously a giveaway. The always profound Sheriff of Nottingham finally showed himself 2/3 of the way through the movie, announcing who he was. What a joke role that was. Why even have him? He was a wuss.
And who is this headhunter guy they found? Never even heard of him before! Isn't the Sheriff supposed to be looking for Robin Hood? And when did the passive French get so involved?! I feel like I'm taking crazy pills here! Did anyone even see Sherwood Forest? Was that the forest those creepy kids were roaming around in all movie long? Speaking of creepy, the mask that kid was wearing made it seem like a bad rendition of The Village or something. The only "Robin Hood" moment I saw was when they cut the troops off taking the grain away from Nottingham. That lasted all of about 3 minutes. What happened to robbing from the rich and giving to the poor? At least Nottingham was able to make more corn after the Children of the Corn took all of their grain.
Had I known that this was the "beginning story" of Robin Hood, maybe I would have understood a little better, but that was a major downfall of this movie. It was so confusing and ho-hum, at one point I looked across and my lovely date was sitting comfortably sawing logs. I think I may have joined her at one point for a few minutes. Pretty sure I blacked out at one point. Not sure if it was from the movie, or my butter/oil flavoring induced coma. I do enjoy that stuff...
When I came to, I kept looking for Mel Gibson to make a cameo appearance in a flashback or something of Braveheart. All Russell was missing was the awesome face paint. This movie left me longing for the days of Disney and Robin "the fox" Hood, and Balloo's brother as Little John. The lion and the snake made a lovely combo of the the evil side. And how could you not like the rooster singing "Oodelaly, oodelaly, golly what a day" with the whistle? Come on! That's Robin Hood! Rescue Maid Marion, don't come to some town and assume the ID of her dead husband. That's just lame!
Robin of the Hood, or whatever the sheriff called him at the end of the movie, left a lot to be desired. Maybe they left it open for the Robin Hood we all know & love, but if they make another one, it had better be him pillaging the rich and giving to the needy in the beautiful Sherwood Forest. No more fighting on the cliffs of Dover. Should have seen Iron Man 2....
Friday, May 7, 2010
How Dare We!
Arizona has come under a lot of scrutiny lately. Ever since this immigration bill was passed, you'd think we are trying to start World War 3. We have people from all aspects of the nation chiming in with their opinions and it's quickly spiraling out of control. Most of the news has been around the "How dare AZ do this!" crowd. I initially promised myself in my 28 years on earth that I would not get in a politically charged debate, but I guess everyone has their breaking point. I am already tired of hearing the people that are against this bill, but can't state what the bill even says.
Let's start with some AZ residents. Plenty of people oppose this bill, but if you don't live in AZ, do you really know what might happen if this bill were in effect? I'll start with the "in crowd" in AZ. Since the NBA Playoffs are in the front of most Suns fans, let's talk about the Suns' principal owner Robert Sarver. He said that Arizona’s harsh new illegal immigration law calls into question “our basic principles of equal rights and protection.” To show his support the Suns wore their famous, or infamous, "Los Suns" jerseys on Cinco de Mayo. Ok Mr. Sarver, I always had an inkling you were about the Suns being a business instead of a sport, and this just solidifies it for me.
First of all, sports and politics should never mix. Are you kidding me Sarver? Equal rights and protection? So you're telling me that the person sneaking across the border ILLEGALLY, and my large 6'6" frame born in the fabulous city of Seattle, WA deserve equal rights and protection? You just stated out loud that someone breaking the law of the United States of America is equal to a loyal, upstanding citizen as myself. What do you think is going to happen here exactly Mr. Sarver? Are police going to just start walking down sidewalks & streets in AZ looking for anyone that is of Hispanic descent and demanding to see their paperwork and checking to see that they are legal immigrants? If that's the case, then maybe they should set up some sort of "checkpoints" all over the state and make all races show some sort of proof of residency. But let's get real, I believe officers of the city/county/state have plenty of better things to do than stop every Hispanic in their way asking for proof of residency.
I think the outspoken people who are against this don't even realize all of the costs that are incurred by these illegals sneaking across the border. Steve Nash, I think you are the greatest point guard the Suns have ever had. You are probably in the top 3 of best point guards of all time, but why are you against this? Because you're liberal? Seriously, let's hear a reason. Oh wait here's what he has to say:
"I think it's fantastic," Nash said after Tuesday's practice. "I think the law is very misguided. I think it's, unfortunately, to the detriment of our society and our civil liberties. I think it's very important for us to stand up for things we believe in. As a team and as an organization, we have a lot of love and support for all of our fans. The league is very multicultural. We have players from all over the world, and our Latino community here is very strong and important to us."
The league is very multicultural? Let me ask you this Nash: How many Hispanic players are there in the league? Name more than 5 players. After you do that, name those who are here illegally. To the second half of his statement, are you worried that there aren't going to be enough Suns fans if every illegal Mexican was deported? Don't worry Steve, US Airways Arena will have no trouble filling up for a great NBA game, and we'll save some money in the process. Jerseys will still probably sell, unless you keep wearing the "Los Suns" jerseys.
For the next quote I found, as far as sports icons go, Alvin Gentry I think said it best when asked about it: "I'm not trying to duck it," Gentry said. "I don't know enough about it to really comment on it. I would think that if it had anything to do with racial profiling, then obviously as an African-American I would not be for anything that had any hint of racial profiling."
Amen, brother. I think most of us as Americans can agree we aren't for racial profiling. That doesn't do anyone any good. Does SB1070 state anywhere that the state of Arizona is going to do any racial profiling? I think not. Do I want officers in this great city/county/state to spot all Hispanics and pull them over on a sidewalk/street/freeway/trail/whatever and make sure they're legit? Of course not. I just want justice where justice is due like any good upstanding citizen should.
What do you think happens when an illegal sneaks into the country and tries to start his/her new life? Do you think they go and find a full time job with benefits? Do you think they try to legally purchase a vehicle and get themselves transportation to their new full time job with benefits? Do you think they purchase automotive insurance to protect themselves in case of a problem? Do you think they apply for and get a Social Security Card so they can be in the system and have to pay taxes like you and I do? If you answered yes to any of these questions, then you and I probably never got along to begin with. They don't do any of the above. What does that mean for us upstanding LEGAL citizens of the united states? In as few words as possible: higher health insurance, higher auto insurance, higher taxes. Again, if you are for any of the 3 previously mentioned items, you and I probably never got along to begin with.
How about we ask some immigrants who actually did it the right way? Do you know someone who came to the U.S. from a foreign country legally? If so, ask them how sympathetic they are about people sneaking across the border illegally who get caught and deported. It doesn't matter if you're Hispanic, German, Irish, Scottish, or Canadian, because I know Canadians are trying to sneak across the border daily due to harsh weather conditions up north. That's a joke. A recent report from Glenn Beck interviewing immigrants who came here legally shows that they show no sympathy towards illegal immigrants getting deported. People doing it right have to go through a long, rigorous process that may take months or even years to complete so they don't have to worry about being "caught" and sent back to where they came from.
Imagine working 4+ years for your college degree and spending thousands of dollars to earn that degree, then hearing that the guy you sat next to at an Applebee's one night was telling his buddies how he hacked the computer systems at the local university and instantly made himself a graduate and printed himself off a diploma to put in a frame. Shoot, we don't want to rock the boat! That guy deserves everything the person spending 4+ years and an absurd amount of money deserves! He hacked the system, he must be a genius! He didn't need 4+ years and a ton of money! B.S. I say....
Obama, your health care plan speaks for itself. Not to mention your popularity rating. When was the last time you were in AZ? Have you ever been a resident here? I don't think you know what's best for this state, let alone for this country. I can't wait to see what your popularity rating is after year 2. I don't care who you are, if you're not a resident of AZ, you shouldn't even be allowed to voice your opinion via the media. Why do I pay twice the amount of auto insurance for Maricopa County than anywhere else in the state? Yes, because there's more claims per capita than anywhere else. Why would that be?
Back to sports for a bit. A few days ago, the Arizona Diamondbacks were in Chicago for a series against the Cubs. This one I didn't suspect, but it happened. Some witty fan said: Outside Wrigley, Connie Andersen, dressed in Cubs gear, said of the Arizona law, “This is a speedy path to Nazi Germany fascism.” Signs were also present comparing Arizona's new law to the Nazi's back in the day. Wait, are we putting illegal immigrants in concentration camps? Are we putting them in gas chambers? Are we executing them whenever and wherever we feel it is necessary. Oh wait, we're trying to secretly take over Mexico, I forgot. WRONG!
I saw a news cast just last evening showing what happens to illegal immigrants. The section just happened to be on illegal Guatemalans that were being deported back to Guatemala. The news channel I was watching happened to get on the plane that sends deported Guatemalans back to their country. The news reporter got permission to board the flight, that's right the flight, back to Guatemala City. They had a camera on the flight and it appeared to be a U.S. Airways flight from Phoenix to New York City. There was a stewardess and everything. The reporter was interviewing individuals being deported. The one they focused on happened to be a business owner in New York City who became involved in a fight at a bar one evening and got arrested for the altercation. Upon further review, they found out this person was here illegally. Do not pass go, do not collect $200. Back to the motherland! By the way, they said the flight cost over $600 per passenger on a plane that's equivalent to a 737 that was full. This flight also ran to Guatemala 4 times a week. How much is that? I have no idea how many seats are on a 737. Please, someone get that number for me. Then multiply it by 4. Then multiply it by $600. Then multiply that by 52 to see how much it costs us to deport one small section of illegal immigrants each year. Who do you think pays for this? Guatemala? Hardly... But we don't want to upset rights here in the wonderful state of AZ in the country of opportunity!
Not to get too off track, let's take it to the next level. During game 2 of the Phoenix Suns' infamous "Los Suns" jerseys, the amazing Al Sharpton decides to lead a march against the new AZ law. Al Sharpton? What has this guy done? Watch this. Let's let an African American tell us what Hispanics that are here illegally should be entitled too. Come on, man! Lead your march right on out of town. Tell me you're not in this for TV time. Get real Sharpton.
My point is this, read the immigration law that has been passed by the state of Arizona. If you have ever lived in AZ or are living in AZ currently I would love to hear your thoughts. If you haven't, I don't care if you're from Chicago or live in the White House, don't tell me, an AZ resident, that this law is wrong. Don't tell me I'm a Nazi for believing that this bill is the right thing. You have no idea. If you think we're going to start racial profiling, then get a grip. We have better things to worry about then Hispanics walking down the sidewalk and wondering if they are legal or not. Stay tuned for Part 2 if this gets any better or worse...
Let's start with some AZ residents. Plenty of people oppose this bill, but if you don't live in AZ, do you really know what might happen if this bill were in effect? I'll start with the "in crowd" in AZ. Since the NBA Playoffs are in the front of most Suns fans, let's talk about the Suns' principal owner Robert Sarver. He said that Arizona’s harsh new illegal immigration law calls into question “our basic principles of equal rights and protection.” To show his support the Suns wore their famous, or infamous, "Los Suns" jerseys on Cinco de Mayo. Ok Mr. Sarver, I always had an inkling you were about the Suns being a business instead of a sport, and this just solidifies it for me.
First of all, sports and politics should never mix. Are you kidding me Sarver? Equal rights and protection? So you're telling me that the person sneaking across the border ILLEGALLY, and my large 6'6" frame born in the fabulous city of Seattle, WA deserve equal rights and protection? You just stated out loud that someone breaking the law of the United States of America is equal to a loyal, upstanding citizen as myself. What do you think is going to happen here exactly Mr. Sarver? Are police going to just start walking down sidewalks & streets in AZ looking for anyone that is of Hispanic descent and demanding to see their paperwork and checking to see that they are legal immigrants? If that's the case, then maybe they should set up some sort of "checkpoints" all over the state and make all races show some sort of proof of residency. But let's get real, I believe officers of the city/county/state have plenty of better things to do than stop every Hispanic in their way asking for proof of residency.
I think the outspoken people who are against this don't even realize all of the costs that are incurred by these illegals sneaking across the border. Steve Nash, I think you are the greatest point guard the Suns have ever had. You are probably in the top 3 of best point guards of all time, but why are you against this? Because you're liberal? Seriously, let's hear a reason. Oh wait here's what he has to say:
"I think it's fantastic," Nash said after Tuesday's practice. "I think the law is very misguided. I think it's, unfortunately, to the detriment of our society and our civil liberties. I think it's very important for us to stand up for things we believe in. As a team and as an organization, we have a lot of love and support for all of our fans. The league is very multicultural. We have players from all over the world, and our Latino community here is very strong and important to us."
The league is very multicultural? Let me ask you this Nash: How many Hispanic players are there in the league? Name more than 5 players. After you do that, name those who are here illegally. To the second half of his statement, are you worried that there aren't going to be enough Suns fans if every illegal Mexican was deported? Don't worry Steve, US Airways Arena will have no trouble filling up for a great NBA game, and we'll save some money in the process. Jerseys will still probably sell, unless you keep wearing the "Los Suns" jerseys.
For the next quote I found, as far as sports icons go, Alvin Gentry I think said it best when asked about it: "I'm not trying to duck it," Gentry said. "I don't know enough about it to really comment on it. I would think that if it had anything to do with racial profiling, then obviously as an African-American I would not be for anything that had any hint of racial profiling."
Amen, brother. I think most of us as Americans can agree we aren't for racial profiling. That doesn't do anyone any good. Does SB1070 state anywhere that the state of Arizona is going to do any racial profiling? I think not. Do I want officers in this great city/county/state to spot all Hispanics and pull them over on a sidewalk/street/freeway/trail/whatever and make sure they're legit? Of course not. I just want justice where justice is due like any good upstanding citizen should.
What do you think happens when an illegal sneaks into the country and tries to start his/her new life? Do you think they go and find a full time job with benefits? Do you think they try to legally purchase a vehicle and get themselves transportation to their new full time job with benefits? Do you think they purchase automotive insurance to protect themselves in case of a problem? Do you think they apply for and get a Social Security Card so they can be in the system and have to pay taxes like you and I do? If you answered yes to any of these questions, then you and I probably never got along to begin with. They don't do any of the above. What does that mean for us upstanding LEGAL citizens of the united states? In as few words as possible: higher health insurance, higher auto insurance, higher taxes. Again, if you are for any of the 3 previously mentioned items, you and I probably never got along to begin with.
How about we ask some immigrants who actually did it the right way? Do you know someone who came to the U.S. from a foreign country legally? If so, ask them how sympathetic they are about people sneaking across the border illegally who get caught and deported. It doesn't matter if you're Hispanic, German, Irish, Scottish, or Canadian, because I know Canadians are trying to sneak across the border daily due to harsh weather conditions up north. That's a joke. A recent report from Glenn Beck interviewing immigrants who came here legally shows that they show no sympathy towards illegal immigrants getting deported. People doing it right have to go through a long, rigorous process that may take months or even years to complete so they don't have to worry about being "caught" and sent back to where they came from.
Imagine working 4+ years for your college degree and spending thousands of dollars to earn that degree, then hearing that the guy you sat next to at an Applebee's one night was telling his buddies how he hacked the computer systems at the local university and instantly made himself a graduate and printed himself off a diploma to put in a frame. Shoot, we don't want to rock the boat! That guy deserves everything the person spending 4+ years and an absurd amount of money deserves! He hacked the system, he must be a genius! He didn't need 4+ years and a ton of money! B.S. I say....
Obama, your health care plan speaks for itself. Not to mention your popularity rating. When was the last time you were in AZ? Have you ever been a resident here? I don't think you know what's best for this state, let alone for this country. I can't wait to see what your popularity rating is after year 2. I don't care who you are, if you're not a resident of AZ, you shouldn't even be allowed to voice your opinion via the media. Why do I pay twice the amount of auto insurance for Maricopa County than anywhere else in the state? Yes, because there's more claims per capita than anywhere else. Why would that be?
Back to sports for a bit. A few days ago, the Arizona Diamondbacks were in Chicago for a series against the Cubs. This one I didn't suspect, but it happened. Some witty fan said: Outside Wrigley, Connie Andersen, dressed in Cubs gear, said of the Arizona law, “This is a speedy path to Nazi Germany fascism.” Signs were also present comparing Arizona's new law to the Nazi's back in the day. Wait, are we putting illegal immigrants in concentration camps? Are we putting them in gas chambers? Are we executing them whenever and wherever we feel it is necessary. Oh wait, we're trying to secretly take over Mexico, I forgot. WRONG!
I saw a news cast just last evening showing what happens to illegal immigrants. The section just happened to be on illegal Guatemalans that were being deported back to Guatemala. The news channel I was watching happened to get on the plane that sends deported Guatemalans back to their country. The news reporter got permission to board the flight, that's right the flight, back to Guatemala City. They had a camera on the flight and it appeared to be a U.S. Airways flight from Phoenix to New York City. There was a stewardess and everything. The reporter was interviewing individuals being deported. The one they focused on happened to be a business owner in New York City who became involved in a fight at a bar one evening and got arrested for the altercation. Upon further review, they found out this person was here illegally. Do not pass go, do not collect $200. Back to the motherland! By the way, they said the flight cost over $600 per passenger on a plane that's equivalent to a 737 that was full. This flight also ran to Guatemala 4 times a week. How much is that? I have no idea how many seats are on a 737. Please, someone get that number for me. Then multiply it by 4. Then multiply it by $600. Then multiply that by 52 to see how much it costs us to deport one small section of illegal immigrants each year. Who do you think pays for this? Guatemala? Hardly... But we don't want to upset rights here in the wonderful state of AZ in the country of opportunity!
Not to get too off track, let's take it to the next level. During game 2 of the Phoenix Suns' infamous "Los Suns" jerseys, the amazing Al Sharpton decides to lead a march against the new AZ law. Al Sharpton? What has this guy done? Watch this. Let's let an African American tell us what Hispanics that are here illegally should be entitled too. Come on, man! Lead your march right on out of town. Tell me you're not in this for TV time. Get real Sharpton.
My point is this, read the immigration law that has been passed by the state of Arizona. If you have ever lived in AZ or are living in AZ currently I would love to hear your thoughts. If you haven't, I don't care if you're from Chicago or live in the White House, don't tell me, an AZ resident, that this law is wrong. Don't tell me I'm a Nazi for believing that this bill is the right thing. You have no idea. If you think we're going to start racial profiling, then get a grip. We have better things to worry about then Hispanics walking down the sidewalk and wondering if they are legal or not. Stay tuned for Part 2 if this gets any better or worse...
Wednesday, May 5, 2010
Is There Something On My Face?
So I'm watching the great "rivalry" of the Suns & Spurs on TNT, although I have to agree with Alvin Gentry when he says "This ain't no rivalry until we win some. Rivalries are when they win some and we win some." Well said because as we all know, the Spurs have just owned us the last 5 or 6 years in the playoffs. Not really much of a give & take relationship from what I've seen. Although I must admit, I do like our chances this year. The Spurs are definitely a different team from a couple years ago even. No "Big Shot Bob" Robert Horry, worst nickname ever given. What is he, Sideshow Bob's cousin? Silent Bob's brother? Needless to say, I hated that guy. He's caused the Suns nothing but grief and is a cheap, dirty player. Gone are also the days of the grisly Bruce Bowen who also was a very easy to hate individual. He definitely knew how to get under the skin.
What is left for the Spurs though is what they are referring to as the "Big 3". This includes the wonderful trio of Tony Parker, Tim Duncan, and Manu Ginobili. Tim Duncan might be the biggest whiner in basketball currently. If he puts up a shot and it doesn't go in, and sometimes even if it does go in, those gigantic eyeballs look like they're going to pop out of his head and his hands go up in the air like "What?!" I know he's a good player, but come on man, just because you missed doesn't mean you got fouled. Just shut your mouth and let the refs do the reffing. Sound fair? Not a good combo to be the most boring basketball player of all time and also the whiniest. Reason #58 why I can't stand the Spurs.
Tony Parker is actually a decent guy. There's really nothing I don't like about him. He plays hard nosed, straight up basketball and will take you to the hole every time. He's not a dirty player, doesn't complain, and is actually pretty entertaining to watch. Parker, I wish you were on my team. Stay strong homey. Much love. Just get away from the Spurs when you get the chance, because you're a good apple in a bucket of bad crab apples.
That brings me to the subject of this blog. I don't know if you've been watching the Suns/Spurs series at all, but if you haven't you're missing out on this treat. Manu Ginobili. Yes you love to hate him, but he's very similar to Parker in that he normally just plays hard nosed basketball (no pun intended). Speaking of nose, Ginobili has got one that won't quit. Unfortunately, he broke it in the previous round of the playoffs and was supposed to wear a mask to protect it from being injured any further. Instead, he opted out and decided to go the route of the splint. Now I'm no expert, but that thing on his face reminds me of the furthest thing from a splint. Haven't seen it? Click here. I'm pretty sure if that's a splint, then it's sponsored by Kotex, because I figured he had that on his face to stop the bleeding. Turns out, it's meant to protect his face. He has it taped on with what appears to be a half roll of scotch tape. Ginobili, you truly have no shame. I would wear a face mask in a heartbeat over the maxi pad look.
I can just see the conversation in the training room now before the first game he played after the injury. The head trainer comes in "Ok Manu, try this face mask on. I know it'll be a little uncomfortable, but it's the best we can do until we get one made that will fit your face perfectly."
Manu puts on the face mask and in his Eastern European voice says, "This is way too uncomfortable, what else have you got over there?"
Head trainer: "Uh.... Well I have this splint, but... I don't even want to show it to you, just try the facemask for a while. Let it grow on you."
Ginobili: "Let me see the splint, there's no way my nose will fit in this mask. I can barely breathe, plus it won't help with any bleeding I may incur during a game."
Trainer: "Ok, fine. But don't say I didn't warn you. Have you no shame?"
Maybe I'm the only one that is likening that thing to a "sanitary napkin" as the old timers call it, but I'm just wishing the front of it said "Brought to you by 'Tampax'" because any company that rented that space would make a killing with all of the close ups they do in the course of an NBA game. If I had to take a second guess, I would bet money that Ginobili wore it just to spite the Suns in hopes that it would distract them. Your average guy feels a little awkward when he's staring these certain feminine products down eye to eye, or eye to nose if you will. More power to you Manu. Just knock it off with the European flop already and you'd be a pretty fun guy to watch as well. Did you go to the Vlade Divac school of flop? It's cheap and weak.
That leaves me with one last gem to discuss in my Spurs rant. The always constipated looking Gregg Popovich. Granted, he obviously knows what he's doing because he's won a few NBA titles in his day, but he is like the Adolf Hitler of the NBA. The most hated and feared coach to face in the course of the post season. I don't think his mom hugged him enough when he was young, because the guy never looks like he's having fun. Of course it'd be tough for me to have fun if I was constipated all the time I guess. But how about a smile or a handshake? After the Suns' beat-down of the Spurs in Game 1, Popovich wasn't even kind enough to go shake the hand of his once assistant Gentry. He just gave him a quick wave like I would wave at the guy in the office who I want to do everything to avoid talking to, but I don't want to act like I'm ignoring him at the same time. You know who you are weirdo. Well, maybe you don't. Popovich, you are nothing short of a mess. It seems to be a miracle if your hair is halfway combed.
This is quite a good game going on tonight, and I hope you take the time to watch. This could definitely be the year the "rivalry" begins. If nothing else, check out maxi pad man. You'll be glad you did.
What is left for the Spurs though is what they are referring to as the "Big 3". This includes the wonderful trio of Tony Parker, Tim Duncan, and Manu Ginobili. Tim Duncan might be the biggest whiner in basketball currently. If he puts up a shot and it doesn't go in, and sometimes even if it does go in, those gigantic eyeballs look like they're going to pop out of his head and his hands go up in the air like "What?!" I know he's a good player, but come on man, just because you missed doesn't mean you got fouled. Just shut your mouth and let the refs do the reffing. Sound fair? Not a good combo to be the most boring basketball player of all time and also the whiniest. Reason #58 why I can't stand the Spurs.
Tony Parker is actually a decent guy. There's really nothing I don't like about him. He plays hard nosed, straight up basketball and will take you to the hole every time. He's not a dirty player, doesn't complain, and is actually pretty entertaining to watch. Parker, I wish you were on my team. Stay strong homey. Much love. Just get away from the Spurs when you get the chance, because you're a good apple in a bucket of bad crab apples.
That brings me to the subject of this blog. I don't know if you've been watching the Suns/Spurs series at all, but if you haven't you're missing out on this treat. Manu Ginobili. Yes you love to hate him, but he's very similar to Parker in that he normally just plays hard nosed basketball (no pun intended). Speaking of nose, Ginobili has got one that won't quit. Unfortunately, he broke it in the previous round of the playoffs and was supposed to wear a mask to protect it from being injured any further. Instead, he opted out and decided to go the route of the splint. Now I'm no expert, but that thing on his face reminds me of the furthest thing from a splint. Haven't seen it? Click here. I'm pretty sure if that's a splint, then it's sponsored by Kotex, because I figured he had that on his face to stop the bleeding. Turns out, it's meant to protect his face. He has it taped on with what appears to be a half roll of scotch tape. Ginobili, you truly have no shame. I would wear a face mask in a heartbeat over the maxi pad look.
I can just see the conversation in the training room now before the first game he played after the injury. The head trainer comes in "Ok Manu, try this face mask on. I know it'll be a little uncomfortable, but it's the best we can do until we get one made that will fit your face perfectly."
Manu puts on the face mask and in his Eastern European voice says, "This is way too uncomfortable, what else have you got over there?"
Head trainer: "Uh.... Well I have this splint, but... I don't even want to show it to you, just try the facemask for a while. Let it grow on you."
Ginobili: "Let me see the splint, there's no way my nose will fit in this mask. I can barely breathe, plus it won't help with any bleeding I may incur during a game."
Trainer: "Ok, fine. But don't say I didn't warn you. Have you no shame?"
Maybe I'm the only one that is likening that thing to a "sanitary napkin" as the old timers call it, but I'm just wishing the front of it said "Brought to you by 'Tampax'" because any company that rented that space would make a killing with all of the close ups they do in the course of an NBA game. If I had to take a second guess, I would bet money that Ginobili wore it just to spite the Suns in hopes that it would distract them. Your average guy feels a little awkward when he's staring these certain feminine products down eye to eye, or eye to nose if you will. More power to you Manu. Just knock it off with the European flop already and you'd be a pretty fun guy to watch as well. Did you go to the Vlade Divac school of flop? It's cheap and weak.
That leaves me with one last gem to discuss in my Spurs rant. The always constipated looking Gregg Popovich. Granted, he obviously knows what he's doing because he's won a few NBA titles in his day, but he is like the Adolf Hitler of the NBA. The most hated and feared coach to face in the course of the post season. I don't think his mom hugged him enough when he was young, because the guy never looks like he's having fun. Of course it'd be tough for me to have fun if I was constipated all the time I guess. But how about a smile or a handshake? After the Suns' beat-down of the Spurs in Game 1, Popovich wasn't even kind enough to go shake the hand of his once assistant Gentry. He just gave him a quick wave like I would wave at the guy in the office who I want to do everything to avoid talking to, but I don't want to act like I'm ignoring him at the same time. You know who you are weirdo. Well, maybe you don't. Popovich, you are nothing short of a mess. It seems to be a miracle if your hair is halfway combed.
This is quite a good game going on tonight, and I hope you take the time to watch. This could definitely be the year the "rivalry" begins. If nothing else, check out maxi pad man. You'll be glad you did.
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