Drafted, or How I Became a Browns Fan

Over the past two years my involvement in sports has grown. Not that I have suddenly become athletically inclined at 46, but watching it is soon becoming one of my favorite past-times. Take for instance all afternoon today on ESPN. There I sat, glued to the TV watching the 2007 NFL Draft, seeing which team would draft the top players. Of course my own home team Cincinnati Bengals drafted a Leon Hall in their first round. A Corner Back. Hopefully they did a background check on him.

Speculation was that Notre Dame's Golden Boy, Brady Quinn would go quick, like third or fourth, maybe even first pick. However he didn't go until 22nd pick. He was drafted by my hometown teams rival, Cleveland Browns. Brady will soon become the most famous thing that has come out of Notre Dame, since the Hunchback. With this pick I may soon become a Browns fan.

Now don't get me wrong, Cincinnati has a great quarterback and who knows maybe, just maybe they may get to the Superbowl before this decade is over. Carson Palmer is good, and somewhat attractive. But Brady? Now that the Cleveland Browns have, hopefully, a star quarterback that is not only a great athlete, but very good-looking as well. Watch out for the advertising sponsorships, soon Brady Quinn and Cleveland Browns will be all over the TV screen. And if he turns out to be the star everyone believes he is, we will be seeing Brady so much we will get sick of seeing him...

Well, not really. How could you ever get sick of seeing him?

It's not like he is Peyton Manning. Now, that I got sick of seeing.

Dreams, Dreams, Dreams

I have written on here before about the strange dreams that I have had, which often times come to reality. Well Friday I had a dream. Friday night. It was somewhat strange, as it was about my friend Veruca. I dreamed we were at a party and Veruca was all over this young girl. Major PDA, which I suppose is not strange, other than the fact that Veruca is of the gay persuasion. So he tells me in this dream that he wants kids, and this girl has agreed to marry him and have his children. Then a few minutes later I see Veruca on a sofa all over this really hot guy. Again, not abnormal. The girl then comes over and hits him over the head with a wine bottle and knocks him out and we rush him to the ER where he has to have his head sown up. Dream Over.

So on Monday I call Veruca, as his birthday is coming up and I wanted to take him to lunch next week. So I left a message for him to call me, and I mentioned that I had a dream I had to tell him about. So he returns my call, it went something like this...

"So what did you dream?"

I told him about my dream of him and the girl with the wine bottle...

"Do not EVER dream about me again."

"Why?"

"Well, Saturday morning I got up and was heading down the stairs when I tripped over the cat, and fell. I slammed my head and wound up getting knocked unconscious. Thank goodness I had a friend sleeping over on the couch and got me to the hospital. I have 5 staples in me head."

And they say dreams don't really mean anything!

Goodbye Sanjaya

I was never an Idol Watcher until this year. Why?, because according to what I have heard this is the worst year since it's debut. The talent is all poor caliber compared to previous years, or at least that is what I have been hearing from Idol devotees. Irregardless of the talent or the lack thereof and irregardless of the supposedly 38 million votes that were tabulated last night (a record per Ryan Seacrest) Sanjaya Maylakar was still there last night until the announcement was made that FINALLY he was gone.

As I have watched this program I realize that this is not a talent competition as it is advertised. If that was the case Sanjaya would have NEVER even got to Hollywood. It is also not a program where the winner and losers are voted by the audience. If that was the case Sanjaya would have been gone after the first week. Instead the producers have "rigged" this program so that people will continue to watch. Sanjaya was this years American Idol lackey. He brought in the audience not by his talent but by his antics and the fact he was the one to hate. I realized this was the case with American Idol a few years ago, I mean even I heard of William Hung. Unfortunately contestants like, Brandon, Jared, Chris Sligh, and Stephanie suffered because of it. I think Chris Sligh realized it and you could tell his attitude changed drastically when he saw the true American Idol.

Producers and the "BIG WIGS" of American Idol have already made their choice, and all the choices up to this point, and their choice is $$. Not talent, not competition but advertising dollars and a marketable product. For a few weeks it was Sanjaya, but when I heard after last weeks show that ratings dropped by 28%, I knew Sanjaya would be saying goodbye.

Will I continue to watch? Sure. Will I watch next year? Not likely.

Sporting New Wood

On my way to work this morning I decided to turn over to the AM station and listen to the local Talk Radio. As I turned over I hear...

"You always feel good, when you're sportin' new wood!"

Of course my mind immediately went south. What kind of commerical was this? An advertisment for Viagra?

What the commerical was referring to was the new year for the Cincinnati Reds. Not what I thought. But honestly I really think they need to change their slogan, how many players actually use a wood bat these days?

Judging is a Tough Job

Another long gap between posts. I know. But between my new job, the addiction to WoW and all the new DVD's that are coming out that I have to catch up on I've allowed my blog to suffer. Poor blog.

However, things are progressing quite nicely lately and no major catastrophes in my life, thank God!

Speaking of which, I went to church on Easter Sunday. Most of you know my background so I can say this. I felt that the services Sunday were like a bad episode of American Idol. Seriously. The choir was good, but nothing that would make you go "Wow, what a performance!" You know, just not memorable. The special music was a little lackluster and void of real emotion. They seemed like that they were just going through the motions. Maybe the song was a little too old for them. It wasn't as contemporary as you would think it should have been with the average age of the choir members.

The sermon was your typical Easter Sunday sermon. Nothing to write home about. But then again, who am I to judge it was the first time I had been to church this entire year. Yet, in all honesty I felt the entire congregation needed to get out of their comfort zones and take some risks, at least acting moved and motivated. The most touching part of the entire service for me was when the pastor introduced a young marine, home from basic training and heading to Iraq. The entire congregation stood and applauded.

Maybe I should take a clue from Paula Abdul and take little sip now and again next time I go to church. But anyway...

My brother turns 42 today and I want to wish him the best. He still looks good for 42. Better than me, but then again he's always looked better than me. However, his mustache does need a trim. Happy Birthday little brother and I am sorry about all those times I accused you of eating Dad's Nutter butter peanut butter cookies. I don't even like them, never did. I just ate them so you'd get into trouble.