Another game won by the Buckeye...Offense???

That's right! This time the offense rose up to the occasion and won this weekend's game at Minnesota. Troy Smith passed well to all of his receivers and tight ends, the running game heated up with Antonio Pittman busting a ruge run for a touchdown, and special teams chimed in when Tedd Ginn brought a kick off back 100 yards and took it to the house! The scary part, Minnesota's offense actually out played the defense during the first half. The Silver Bullets allowed more running yards in the first half then they had in any previous total game. They made some adjustments in the second half and were able to shut down the Gophers, allowing the offense to take over and run up the points. The game wasn't as close as the 45-31 score indicates. Yes, it was a 17-17 tie at the half, but OSU took over the second half (the last Minnesota TD was scored against the second team defense. Now the Buckeyes are tied for the Big Ten lead with Wisconsin and Penn State. Penn State has the tie breaker since they topped OSU a few weeks ago. So, what we need to have happen is Wisconsin needs to beat Penn State this weekend, then Iowa needs to beat Wisconsin next weekend, and Ohio State needs to beat Illinois and Northwestern at home and M*ch*g*n in that pit they call a stadium. Then we will have an all out Big Ten title. If the offense can keep things going, Ohio State has a good chance to win their remaining three games.

Some pictures....

Here are some pictures for you. The first two are the 'before' pictures of our dining room. As you can see, they used it as a formal living room. We repainted over the Barney purple and added my grandparent's dining room furniture. The third picture is the final results. The fourth picture is of our jack-o-lanterns, and the last one is of Alydia. She's such a cutie pie! I'm going to be in trouble in 15 years.

31 ain't no thang

Well, another year, another year older. I am officially 31. I know, it's not as big of a deal as turning 30, but I can't say that I'm just 30. Now, I'm a 'thirty-something'. It's OK though. I never really feel any older. When I'm no longer interested in playing games and need Viagra, THEN, I will feel old. I did have a bit of an old moment when Nirvana's "Smell Like Teen Spirit" came on the radio and realized that I first heard it was in high school, 15 years ago.

We had a pretty good day. Jessica stayed home to make me a birthday cake (carrot cake with cream cheese icing. YUM) and we went to lunch at Ruby Tuedsay's, then to target to get some things that we needed for Alydia. Then, Jessica made me my favorite dinner, schnitzel, which is breaded pork, fried, and topped with dill sauce, along with mashed taters and asparagus. (Double yum!) After that we went back out to get some Halloween decorations. In between, I cleaned out my garage finally so that I can park the car in there. I know, you aren't supposed to do stuff like that on your birthday, but it needed to be done. I'm going to close the evening with some drinks and relaxation in front of the TV. Oh, for a present, Jessica got me a cool Brutus pen holder for on my desk. I'll add pictures tomorrow, if I get the time. I also need to post the kid's jack-o-lanters. Alydia's is cute, but Gabriel's and Noah's are sorta scary. We designed them ourselves.

Thinkgs to look forward to:

OSU has four games left this year. Seems like the season has gone by really quickly.

10/29 at Minnesota 12:00 PM
11/05 Illinois TBD
11/12 #21 N'western TBD
11/19 at #25 Michigan TBD

Illinois should be a W, but Minnesota, Northwestern, and Michigan are all big games for the Buckeyes. Northwestern worries me after they handled Michigan State. At least we have them at home. The Big Ten race is still up in the air. Penn State is definately on top of the Big Ten being 7-1, but they stil have Purdue, Wisconsin, and M. State. I'm amazed that Jo Pa was able to turn them around so quickly. Well, I don't mean this to be a fooball post, so I'll drop it for now.

Back to the subject at hand, the thinks I am looking forward to in the near future:

11/01/05 - Star Wars III is out on DVD. I liked most parts of this movie. The two things I can remember that irritated me were when Obi Wan rode that big lizard like a cow boy and when Darth Vader, the baddest of the bad, screams 'NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO' when told that Padme died. I never hear James Earl Jones' voice sound wussie before. I think it would have been better to have him stand in a silent rage and have the Force shake stuff instead.

11/05/05 - Poker Night. I am going to have a poker game at my place. It's a Saturday and I'm starting up around 7:00. Let me know if you want to come.

10/28/2005 - We are going up to Toledo for the weekend. I'm hoping to catch up with my buddy Ben. He and his new wife live about five minutes from my parents. Plus, my mom said that she'd watch the kids so that Jessica and I can go out Friday night. Byblos baby! The best food ever. Plus, we may try to see Serenity finally.

11/18/2005 - Harry Poter and the Goblet of Fire hits the theaters. The book was great. I'm hoping that the movie is just as good, but I fear that they will need to cut alot of details to make the movie short enough to show. I hope that they will do what they did with The Lord of the Rings DVDs and add extra scenes that had to be deleted. The trailers look good though.

11/19/2005 - OSU vs Michigan. No matter what the records are for these teams, it is always the game of the year. I would rather both teams be undefeated going into this game because it adds a bit more excitement, but no matter what, the game is huge.

11/24/2005 - Thanksgiving. Normally, this is not a huge deal, but this year we are going to have the big dinner at out place. It is the first time ever, only because it is the first time that we have had enough room. We'll have my parents, Jessica's parents, and probably my aunt, uncle, and grandma and Jessica's grandma. Our brothers may come too, but I don't count on it.

11/22/2005 - The new System of a down cd, Hypnotize, will be released. I love SOAD. They rock! I have read the first song off of the album, also called Hypnotize, in concert and on the radio. It's pretty good.

12/06/2005 - The new Korn cd, See You on the Other Side, will be released. I have heard the released song, Twisted Transistror, on the radio. It's different, but good.

Well, that's about all for the next month or so. Lots of things to look forward to.

My Weekend

It was sort of a busy weekend for us. First, I had to work, so that takes up most of my day. On top of working, several of Jessica's family members were in town to celebrate her grandpa's birthday. So, this means a family dinner on Friday night and then a big party Saturday night. Don't get me wrong, I like Jessica's family, but I tend to get over loaded with too much family contact. Friday was ok. We had a pot luck type dinner. It was pretty good. The idea of playing some poker came up, so I ran home and got my chips. We only had four players, but it was pretty fun. Mostly because I won. Poker can always change a dull evening to a good time. One thing that we weren't too happy about is that Jessica's aunt brought her kids, who were 25 and 17 (he brought a friend). That's not the problem. The problem was that the 17 year old was allowed to drink beer. I know under aged drinking goes on. I drink in college when I was 19, but I was out on my own and responsible for my own actions. Oh well, what can you do? Another problem is that the entire family if a bunch of chain smokers, so we smelled like ash trays when we left.

Saturday was ok too. More people, more smokers, and more cards. It was another four person game. I would have probably won, but we called it after getting down to two players and just split the money (I am still up $50, so I didn't mind). Saturday had a larger variety of wierd people. There were a lot of gay folk there. I don't have a problem with that, but sometimes gays and lesbians can be a bit off. I really like Jessica's dad's friend George and Joe. Especially George. He is quite funny. It seems like the lesbians are more off than gay men. They always seem very full of themselves. At least that is my observation from last night and from my aunt's 'friend' Ann. She was always really sarcastic and kind of negative. Anyway, it was definately a different scene from what I am used to. It is definately an interesting experience going to a party with Jessica's dad's friends, who are mostly all gay, and Jessica's dad's family, who are mostly rednecks.

About half way through the party, a older man (late 50' or 60's) and a younger woman (late 30's or 40's) arrived together. Let's just say that the woman had 'look at me' syndrome. She was attractive, but was wearing a open middle shirt and jeans that should have been on a girl shorter and smaller than she. I think I saw her ass crack twice (no panties apparently). I don't mind seeing ass crack, but she just seemed to be trying entirely too hard. I tried to walk through the room she was in (it was her dancing alone and two men talking) to get to the dining room and she tried to make me dance with her. Apparently, she didn't notice my wedding ring or my fiesty wife that would beat the crap out of both of us. I declined. If she would have asked me three years and one wedding ago, I may have accepted. As I mentioned, she was attractive. I was bothered again when, not only were the 17 year olds allowed to drink, but there was a pot somking room upstairs that they frequented as well. I guess I'm just not a cool parent because I would NOT allow my children to drink, smoke, or do drugs while living in my house. When they move out, they can do whatever they want. They had just better not expect me to bail them out if they act stupid.

A happy note about Saturday: Ohio State CRUSHED Indiana. The defense was incredible again. The offense was pretty good too. One negative was when Tedd Ginn was stripped of the ball and IU scored a touchdown. It seemed to me that he was down due to the fact that his forward progress had stopped, but the officials didn't agree. Tedd Ginn had a punt return for a touchdown ans a 97 yard kick off return that was called back for a illegal block. He is so fast. After he turned the corner on the punt return, you could tell when he slowed down a bit and he was still going as fast as his blockers. Wow.

Worst Game Ever.....With the Best Ending

I went with my dad to the OSU vs. Michigan State game this past Saturday. I usually go with Jessica, but she had to work. I was going to go with my buddy Jesse, but he had to work too. And since Bryan already has a press pass, I decided to take my Dad. It was pretty fun. It's funny how worked up he gets about bone head plays, and there were a LOT of bone head plays by the Buckeyes. I am now a firm believer that Troy Smith should be benched. There was a point when the OSU faithful were booing him. It started off with poor offensive possessions and the OSU defense getting picked apart by the MSU quarterback. The defense did well on first downs, but second down plays usually netted enough yardage for MSU to get a first down. Luckily, the defense tightened up enough to hold MSU to relatively few points. The write up I book marked above makes it out as Smith being the hero of the game. In reality, he missed wide open Ted ginn Jr about three or four times and taking a sack or throwing incomplete passes, and he missed Gonzales wide open and fumbled, again. The Buckeyes turned the ball over 4 times. How they won, I don't know. On top of all things, Santonio Holmes muffed two kick returns ( he was able to recover one of them) and Ted Ginn Jr. muffed one as well. When Holmes finally caught a punt, the crowd gave him a very sarcastic cheer. Why did Ohio State win? 1. Because of the MSU screw up on the last second field goal atempt. The special teams coach sent the field goal unit out when the head coach wanted them to spike the ball to stop the clock first. The confusion enabled OSU to block the kick and run the ball back for a score, making it a 3 point game instead of a 13 point MSU lead. 2. Smith finally started to hit wide open receivers for long scores. First, he hit Santonio Holmes and then Tedd Ginn Jr. Finally, another TD to Holmes finished it. I have been saying all year that I wanted the offense to throw some long balls to the to wide receivers. One of the plays, both Holmes and Ginn were easily ten years behind their defenders. 3. The crowd at the end of the game was probably the loudest and most intense I have ever heard it. In the fourth quarter, with MSU trying to get back into the game, the crowd was so loud that it hindered the MSU offense and lifted OSU defense to a new level. It was amazing. The defense played so well in the last two MSU possesions that it was like a different team. The QB was hit more times than a punching bag. I wish I could forget the first half of that game, but am glad I was there for the final six munites or so. Hopfully the offense can solve some issues this coming Saturday against Indiana.

Another thing about the game is where our seats were. We were directly above one of the student sections, and let me tell you, the coeds at OSU are still very easy on the eyes. Oh, and I forgot sun screen, so I have horrible burns on my legs, arms,and face. OUCH!

Bowling Woes

Some of you may know that I am in a bowling league that meets on Thursdays. It is an all male league with four bowlers per team. I'm a fair bowler and carry around a 180 average. Well, so far this year, my team has been getting used like a five cent whore on coupon day. Are we bowling bad? Not really. It just seems like when we are a little off our game, the teams we are bowling against are staying at their averages and when we are average, the teams we bowl against are hot. The way our league scores is that each game is worth two points and the final series counts as one point, so seven points per week. So far, the best that we have managed in a week is three points. To be a contender in the league, a team needs to take five to seven points per week. As a result we are at the bottom of the barrel. We still have a good time, but it would be better if we would win a few more games. Last week we won one game by a lot and lost the other two games by a total of about 30 pins. Last night we won one by a lot and lost the other two by a total of about 30 pins. For those of you without calculators, that's 6 out of 14 points. The silver lining about last night is that I was on fire. 209, 189, 235. It's the best I've done in a while. The funny part is that, if you read one of my prevuious posts, I hurt my foot/ankle on Saturday. Like a man, I played through the pain. I know that women do that too, but the statement loses a bit if I say 'like a woman, I played through the pain'. To say 'like a true athelete' would imply that bowling is anything more than a reason to get out of the house and drink. I suppose that ESPN carries it, thus making it a sport, but something that a 500 pound man can do as well as a 100 pound woman, raises the question as to whether or not bowling is truely a sport. No, I do not weigh 500 pounds. I was making an exaple. I guess I could pose the question as to whether or not ESPN is even a sports channel any more. They carry poker and I once saw the Scrabble championship on ESPN. Scrabble?? I am gatting off the topic. The woes in 'Bowling Woes' is that, dispite the fact that we bowl alright, we are still getting beaten too much for my taste.

Speaking of getting beaten too much, I have tickets to the OSU game tomorrow (nice seguay, eh?). I have to admit that I am not as excited about the game as I would be if the Buckeyes were 5-0 instead of 3-2. The bottom line is that they let go two games that they could have won. It's very irritating. Well, I will still go to the game, I will still cheer for the Buckeyes and the Band, and I will still have fun. I just won't pick any roses any time soon.

I'm never going to have another OSU cookout...

Every time I have a cookout for an OSU game, they lose. Wisconsin twice and now Penn State. Watching a losing effort by the Buckeyes causes the atomosphere of the party go from good, to tense, to plan bad. The defense was great. They did everything they needed to to keep Ohio State in the game. It wasn't until the last few minutes of the game that I became truly worried because I knew that the defense would get the ball back to the offense. Now, the offense blew chunks. More specifically, Troy Smith blew. He missed wide open receivers and took bad sacks for losses. Then, he throws the interception that leads to the winning touchdown. Everything else in the game was dead even. At one point the yards gained by each team were almost exactly even. To be honest, I've never been a Troy Smith fan. Yes, he made plays, but he'd rely on his legs rather than making passes to his open receivers. Saturday's game seemed the exact opposite. He'd stay in the pocket waiting to pass when he should have run. Or, he'd miss open receivers and make bad passes. Plus, they can't seem to get the bal to Ted Ginn Jr. I guess Penn State's defense did a good job of shutting him down, but it seems like he's just not getting the ball at all. I guess I need to give Penn State credit. They had a good game plan and shut down the Buck's offense. Plus the crowd was loud and full of energy, making it a truely hostile place to play. It is so frustrating that we can put up so many points against Iowa, and then suck so bad after a bye week. Well, I guess there's always an outside possibility of winning the Big Ten title. Penn State needs to lose a few and Ohio State needs to win out. It probably won't happen, but we can hope.

On top of the Buckeyes losing, the kids that were over DESTROYED my basement. There is crap all over the place. That's the thing I hate about having other people's kids over. You can't really yell at them and the parents don't really do much to keep them in check. The party ended after the little kids started throwing things at each other and one of them took a blow to the head. There was blood and screaming. It's really no one's fault because I'm sure they were just playing a dumb game, but the older kids should have put a stop to it or told an adult what was going on before someone was hurt. Well, we had fund until the Bucks lost and the kids got out of control. Oh! and then on top of it all, I took the trash out and stepped badly on the edge of my driveway, twisting my ankle and falling on my ass. It HURT. Nothing like laying in your driveway in the light rain unable to stand up. I was finally able to hobble inside and wallow in my agony.

Don't worry. Just because I'll never have another OSU game cookout doesn't mean that I'll never have another cookout. Maybe I'll make it a spring cookout or maybe an OSU bye week cook out. Then people can just gather to have fun and won't get angry when the Bucks lose. I have tckets for this weekend's game. I'll probably go, but I am not as excited about it as I was on Friday. It is against Michigan State, so it should still be a good game. Maybe they'll put Zwick in and see if the offense can get going with a better passer at the helm.

Another HUGE game....

Ohio State travels for the first time this year as they head out to Happy Valley and play Penn State. The Lions are undefeated so far this season and are ranked 16th. Being in Penn State and a night game makes this a bit of a challenge for the Buckeyes. I think I am as nervous and excited about this game as I was for the Texas game. It's supposed to be wet in Happy Valley, do this will likely beome a defensive battle. If that is the case, I need to give the nod to OSU to come out on top. Ohio State has only allowed 51 points in four games, 25 of them to Texas. That's a pretty good defense. Kick off is at 7:45 tonight. hopfully the OSU defense and special teams will make a big enough difference that the Bucks can come home with a win.

A bye week and up 2....

It was an interesting week in college football. As my title indicates, OSU had a bye week this past weekend and moved up 2 positions in the polls. LSU lost on Monday and Florida got stomped by Alabama on Saturday. I filled the void of an OSU football free weekend by watching the Michigan vs. Michigan State game. It was a good one. At first, it looked like Michigan was going to roll over MSU, but the Spartans came back. It ended up going to OT where Michigan took the game with a field goal. I had thought that MSU was going to be the team to beat in the big Ten, but now I'm not too sure. It's up in the air again. One thing that scares me a little is how badly Penn State beat Minnesota. Penn state is now undefeated so far this year and the Buckeyes head out to Happy Valley this weekend. I was feeling confident about the game, but the Penn State win gives me reason to worry a bit. I still feel confident that the Buckeyes can win, but the past two years, OSU has lost a night game immediately following a bye week. Two years ago they lost to Wisconsin, and last year they lost to Northwestern. Hopefully it is not a pattern. One thing that is obvious is that the rest of the Big Ten doesn't play very much defense. The average total scores of the 5 Games played by Big Ten teams is 61 points (both teams added together). Granted, one of the teams playing was Notre Dame, but they put up 49 points on Purdue. I am pretty confident that the OSU defense can carry the team to the Big Ten title. The problem is that Wisconsin is undefeated, and OSU does not play the Badgers. If both teams win out, Wisconsin would have the better overall record and win the title.

Speaking of the upcoming OSU vs. Penn State game, we are having a cookout this weekend for the game. It should be a pretty good turn out. My bowling team is coming and bringing their wives and some other people are going to stop by. I hope everyone will be able to come out. I know it's hard for out-of-towners to make arrangements for places to stay and all that. It's a late game, so it's not like you could drive all the way to Columbus, watch the game, and then head home. I do have some room for people to stay, but not a whole lot. It should be a good time though. Food, drink, cards, whatever. We always make too much food and usually have left overs for the week. Yummy junk food left overs...mmmmmmm.

I thought 'What the Heck'

While I was falling off the Best Buy wagon and buying some technological needs, I also passed by the DVD section where I saw the Battlestar Galactica DVD set. The new series, not the old one with Lorne Greene. I liked the old show as a child, but if I see them now, I realize how corney some of them were. If I remember correctly, the kid on the show had a pet 'dagget' (let me know if that is not what it was called) which looked like a Halloween costume gone bad. A person is dressed up as a cyber dog/teddy bear. Anyway, I picked up BG because I remembered Woody referencing it a few times and I got the impression that it was good. He doesn't blog about it as much as he does Firefly, but after watching and liking Firefly on his recommendation, I thought 'what the heck?' and bought the BG DVD set. I started watching it last week and am done with the entire series already. They were incredibly good. Everything that I wish the old series could have been. The effects are great (except for maybe when they show the robotic Cylons running), the acting is good, and the story is supurb. It basically follows the old story, but with a few changes. In case you've never seen the new series, I will not spoil anything. The biggest change, however, is that the Cylons are able to look, feel, and act like humans. That doesn't spoil anything since it is something that you learn in the opening sequence of the debut mini series. This is the best change because it adds a level of intrigue and suspense that the old show lacked. Back in the old series, humans were good, Cylons were bad and looked like robots. It was very black and white. Honestly, I am suprised that this new series hasn't been picked up by one of the big networks. It is an excellent show and is far better than some of the crap that's on these days. I really want to see season two. Does anyone know if it is airing already? If so when?

Something I find amusing about the human appearing Cylons is that the male Cylons look gruff and like they could be bad guys, but the female cylons are beautiful women. They put the blonde in all sorts if skimpy outfits and have teaser shots of her half nude and the Asian woman is equally attractive, though they do not play up her sexuality as much. Fellas, in case you are paranoid about being duped into having sex with a Cylon agent, be aware that when they get it on, their spines glow red through their skin. So, I suggest different sexual positions with your lady so that you have a view of her back occasionally and can easily identify if she/it is human or Cylon. Just don't let on that you suspect that she is a Cylon. They are quite strong and will most likely whup on you if discovered. Just a little advice from me to you.

System of a Down Concert Rocked

The playlist:

SOLDIER SIDE
BYOB
REVENGA
KNOW
NEEDLES
DEER DANCE
SUGGESTIONS
PSYCHO
CHOP SUEY
KILL ROCK N ROLL
SAD STATUE
VIOLENT PORN
MR. JACK
CIGARO
COCAINE
BOUNCE
ATWA
FOREST
LOST IN HOLLYWOOD
QUESTION!
WAR?
PRISON
AERIALS
TOXICITY
SCIENCE
SUITE PEE
SUGAR

They also threw in Hypnotize, the title song of their upcoming CD, claiming that it was the first time they ever played it live. It was a bit of a mello song, but was still good. In a nut shell, System of a Down kicked ass!! Soldier Side pumped everyone up because we all knew that BYOB was going to come right after it. I would have prefered that closed with newer music, but Suite Pee and Sugar are two great songs. I was a bit suprised that more of the music wasn't from Hypnotize, but what they played kicked ass. My ears are ringing and my voice hurts from screaming. They played almost every song I could have wanted them to play. The stage performances were a little different here and there, like when the guitar player used a voice synthesizer durning War?. A little strange, but a good effect. If I wanted them to play everything exactly like on the CD, Why bother going to a concert?

The Mars Volta was pretty good. I don't know that I'd pay to see them as a headliner, but they had moments when they kicked ass. The guitar player and singer bounced up and down a lot and were all over the place. The crowd went a little crazy when one of the band members took up a flute, circa Jethro Tull. It seemed like no one ever heard a flute played before. He played it well though. I think that I would have liked them more if I was more familiar with their music. It was like a jam session mixing aspects of Led Zepplin, Pink Floyd and Rush (Caress of Steel).

The worst part of the whole show was the opening band, Hella. THEY BLEW CHUNKS!! I have no idea where they were dug up from. It started out with the drummer coming out and playing a bit of a solo, then the guitar player came out and joined in. It sounded like the grand finale of an 80's rock show. Only, it wasn't a finale, it was the show. After about five minutes of guitar solo and drum solo grotesquely combined into a level of musical hell that I never experienced, (and I was in a garage band for a few years) more band members came out with more instruments and they all started playing solos. Only they were all on top of each other adding to the musical chaos, and my head ache. The singer, if you could call him that, started wailing and screaming about genocide or something like that and maybe poop, we couldn't tell. The show ended in an reverse order from the beginning. The band members left, the guitar player left, and finally, (after a few more minutes if drum solo) the drummer left. Honestly, I am giving Hella more of a write up than they deserve. It was aweful. There were boos, and then cheers when they finally left the stage. The drummer was really the only good part. He had some serious chops. He had to, he played a fast paced drum solo for the entire show. Whatever happened to keeping time for the music?

All in all, I am SO glad that I went to the show. It would have been the best show I've seen (aside from Rush, who will forever be number one in my book)if the opening band wasn't so aweful. I think the Korn show I saw ranks a little higher, only because Staind opened for them. I seriously wanted to leave during Hella.

Going to concerts always makes me feel a bit dirty. The girls that go to these shows are all too young and dress too sluty. Sure you can say, "well don't look, perv," but it's impossible unless I close my eyes, only because they are everywhere. What's wrong with parents letting teen girls wear pants that barely come up to above their ass cracks and tops that a little more than bras? One girl was wearing a top so small that her boobies were already popping out, and then half way through the show she took her top off and was only in her bra. (She was sitting in front of us, I wasn't stalking.) I just hope that the style changes before Alydia is a teen. I'll certainly do my best to make her think that frumpy sweat suits are in. I don't want guys like me looking at her in that way.

Good game, but not great

OSU rolled over Iowa yesterday, 31-6. A blow out yes. Should it have been a bigger blow out, absolutely. The defense was awesome. Iowa was forrtunate to get 6. The offense looked pretty good too. Troy Smith looked like the QB the OSU has always needed. He was mobile and accurate and the offense made short work of the Iowa defense. Why, you ask, do I say 'good game, but not great?' Well, there were three huge mistakes by OSU, or the game would have been 52-6. The Bucks fumbled twice inside Iowa's 10 yard line and Ted Ginn finally ran back a punt that was called back because of an illegal block. Essentialy, these mistakes took 13 to 21 points off the board for OSU. Still, Ohio State completely dominated Iowa. If they would have played this well against Texas, they would be undefeated right now.

I Ohio State is off next weekend, so I have to hold myself over by watching Michigan at Michigan State. Right now, Michigan is not looking good, so Michigan State could very well be the team that Ohio State needs to beat to claim the Big Ten title this year. Minnesota beat Purdue, Wisconsin beat Michigan, and Ohio State clobbered Iowa. Purdue, Iowa, and Michigan were supposed to be the elilte teams in the Big Ten this year. Michigan State rolled up 61 points on Illinois. Are you kidding me? That's a point per minute. Now, M. State, Penn State, Wisconsin, and Minnesota are all undefeated this season and Ohio State plays all but Wisconsin this year. Now, remember that Penn State has been warming up on smaller, less talented programs so far, so when the Buckeyes roll in to Happy Valley on the 8th of October, it could be a bit of a wake up call for the Nittony Lions. Well, from what I have seen, Ohio State is playing the best football of all of the Big Ten teams. Of the seven games lefft in the season, the teams to watch out for are Penn State, Michigan State, and scUM. The team up north are always a threat to the Buckeyes, no matter what the standings are at the end of the year. I have a pretty good feeling that the Bucks can win out and play in a BCS game. It may not be the title game, but I don't know that I would feel that good about playing USC in the title game. I suppose that I had the same feeling when they played Miami and that turned out pretty well. Maybe the Nation's top defense can handle the nation's best offense. It'd sure be a pretty good game to watch.

Que Es EL Mars Volta?

Did I pick up the wrong version of the CD? I only ask because it's half english and half espanole so far. Se hable espanole un poco, but it's not my strong suit. I checked the CD case and it didn't say anything about being a Spanish version, but I am a bit dense, so I may have missed something. So far, I am a bit torn on my opinion of the CD. When they rock out in what is obviosly a song, I like it, but when the fo 4 or 5 minutes with just wierd filler stuff, I start to lose interest. Right now it sounds like birds chirping. I can go outside to hear that. And now it sounds like a psychodelic acid trip with a bird chirping in the background. Now, trumpets. It definately has a Pink Floyd vibe to it, cerca Dark Side of the Moon. Well, the jury is still out on this one.....I just wanted to give them a try before seeing them open for System of a Down tomorrow. It's going to ROCK.

So, I'm offically working from home now. I brought my computer home and got it all hooked up. They asked me, "do you feel comfortable setting your system up by yourself?" I answered, "Do you mean 'Do I feel comfortable plugging an ethernet cable in the back of my computer? Em, I think so." It's amazing how little some people know about computers though. Thankfully I am not one of those people. It was either doing it myself or waiting until Monday when someone could come do it for me. I'll do it myself thank you very much. I couldn't bare another weekend at that place. Now I have a good sterio to listen to and a TV to watch. "Wow, that would be great to put six packs of Be..uh soda in." A Tommy Boy reference
indicating that I have access to adult beverages if I get too overwhelmed. Just kidding. I won't drink on the job. (much) :-)

The Buckeyes have Iowa at home today. It should be a good game, but it has lost some of it's national importance since both teams have lost a game. Iowa Lost to Iowa State and Ohio State lost to Texas. Before that, both teams were ranked in the to ten. This is still a match up between two top 25 teams, but the chances that either of them will play for the National Title has decreased greatly. For Ohio state, they will need to win out and Texas will have to lose (probably). Thanks to the BCS, Ohio State could leap frog Texas, even if the Longhorns win out. Their strenght of schedule is not as good and Ohio State's. It is, of course, possible that if USC loses a game, Ohio State and Texas could be matched up in the Rose Bowl. I would love that. Back to Iowa, they would need to win out and alot of teams would have to lose for the Hawkeyes to have a chance to go to the Rose Bowl. Well, it should be a good game today. It have been raining, so hopfully Ohio State can get their running game going. If not, it could be a long game with bad results. Hopfully, Ted Ginn Jr. will be able to break into open field today. He's been relatively quiet all year.

GO BUCKS!

Should I forgive Best Buy?

I haven't shopped at Best Buy for over a year. Why? They have bad customer service, they pissed me off, and I hold grudges. I won't get into it much except to say that they wouldn't replace my cell phone when the battery stopped holding a charge just because the screen was cracked. Apparently a cracked screen negates their replacement plan. Never buy those by the way. They are a rip off. The usually only last a year or so and the manufacturers warranty will work just as well. The only thing a replacement plan will do is pad the bottom line for the retailer. Anyway, I need to get some computer related stuff. I could go to CompUSA or Circuit City, but they are a bit out of my way now that I'm in Hilliard. Plus, Best Buy was my all time favorite store until the above mentioned phone incident. they have everything that you would need in the line of electronics. Plus, movies, CDs, books, Xbox games, the list goes on forever.

What I need is a hub so that I can have RR internet on my three computers. I also need an ethernet cable. While I'm there I was thinking about buying a DVD player for the basement, a home theatre speaker system for the living hoom, a CD, and an Xbox game. Could I go to Target and get these things? Maybe. The selection would be smaller and I may not be able to get exactly what I need. Actually, banning Best Buy for live may be a good thing for me. I need two things from the store and look, I add four more items.

I got angry yesterday. I wrote out a long post about the upcoming game and some other stuff. I had links going to Woody, and Bryan. Then, when I came back from lunch my computer was off and I lost the whole post (I was in the middle of it). Pissed me off. I'll try to rewrite it again tonight or tomorrow. I have too much to do today.

Sports in general

Yes, two blogs in one day. What can I say? I feel productive today.

Well, the Buckeyes rebounded and won their game this weekend over Sand Diego State. I believe the final score was 27-6. Really it was a bit of a dull game. It started off a bit scary with SDSU ripping off an 80 yard TD pass on their first play. They then held off Ohio State for a while before the offense started moving. Honestly, the offense is looking a lot like they did last year, and that is not too good. There were more dropped passes and fumbles. The game would have been a lot closer if SDSU hadn't turned the ball over on their own one yard line. The Bucks were able to punch it in for a touchdown. The TV guys kept going on about how Troy Smith was doing so well and talked about the yardage he was gaining, but to be honest, he didn't really impress me too much. Zwick came in on the last series and threw 6 of 7, or something like that, while they were running out the clock. I really hope that the guy that replaces the Smith/Zwick QB pair in a few years is better than the both of them. The running game looked pretty good with Pittman hitting some holes. The thing that bothers me is that every other team to play San Diego State this year has scored 40+. I know Tressel doesn't run up the scores on other teams, but it would have been nice to see that the Buckeyes could score at will against a weaker opponent. It may be that they were a bit flat after the close loss to Texas, but with Iowa coming to town this weekend, they can't afford to be flat. Iowa is going to bring their A game this Saturday. I have to admit, after the last two games, I am a bit worried about Iowa. Yes, they lost badly to Iowa State, but playing a Big Ten team always seem to fire up the players. Hopefully, they will turn it around and put up big offensive numbers to match the defense.

The Browns won their first game this year. I may not have to keep my Browns shirt in the closet after all. They got destroyed by Cincinnati last week. This weekend they played Green Bay and were able to win by two. It is a bit scary how badly the Cleveland defense can play at times. I didn't see the whole game, but the Browns went up by 9 in the waining moments of the fourth quarter and still only won by two. I hate to say it, but Bralen Edwards showed that he is the real deal by catching a long TD pass. It was actually a rather short pass, but his speed was too much for the Packers DBs to catch. If the defense could stop teams from scoring, they may actually have a decent year.

The Columbus hockey team (The Bluejackets) had a preseason game last night. I think they lost 2 to 3. I am not a huge hockey fan, but I do enjoy going to a game every once in a while. Nationwide sell thier employees discounted tickets since they own the arena. It was a bumer that they had that hold out all last year. I am more of a hockey fan then I am a baseball fan, so I usually follow the season and watch the playoff games. I am a Bluejackets fan first, but also like the Red Wings and Penguins. I don't follow the Pens as much since they got rid of my favoriet player, Yamir Jager. Well, hopefully, the Jackets will win enough to compete for a playoff spot this year.

Cleveland in looking well in the playoff picture in baseball. (I'm mildly interested, remember?) They are 1 1/2 game up on the Yankees for the wild card and 3 1/2 behind the White Sox (?) to win their division. They have been on a bit of a win streak lately. I may actually pay attention to the baseball playoffs if the Tribe makes it in. It seems like in the past few years, they have been finding ways to screw it up.

Harry Potter preview

I was watching TV last night and while flipping to Lord of the Rings :Two Towers, I caught a new preview for the new Harry Potter movie. It looks really good. I probably won't like The Goblet of Fire movie as much as I've liked the other movies because I am reading the book right now. For the past movies, I had either seen the movie before reading the book or read the book long enough before seing the movie that I forgot details. Since I am reading (re-reading, actually) The Goblet of Fire so close to the release date of the film, the details will be fresh in my mind. Already I have a few complaints, mostly about the casting:

Made Eye Moody - In the movie, doesn't look how I picture him from the book. He is supposed to be scarred and gnarled, but the actor looks a little too cartoon character. Plus he is supposed to have a magical eye that can move 360 degrees in any direction, but in the movie it acts like a normal eye.

Fluer - She is supposed to be half Veela (a magical siren type woman who is supposed to be irresistible to men. The actress is pretty, but not as pretty as she should be (according to the discription in the book)

Viktor Krum - In the book, he is supposed to be surley and brooding. In the previews, he looks as thought he could be a stand in on the OC. Too pretty.

Madame Maxime - She is supposed to be big like Hagrid. In the preview, she is tall, but skinny. Not quite what I imagined.

It is disappointing that, after nailing the casting on so many of the charactors, they seem to be slipping on how they cast new charactors. Harry, Ron, Hermione, Hagrid, the Weasley's, Snape, Malfoy, everyone looks like the book discribes them. Now, I'm not saying that the casting is terrible, it's just not as dead on as it has been in the past. Another thing that bothers me is that the layout of Hogwarts is different in the different movies. The first two movies kept the layout rather similar, but the third movie was very different. The biggest difference that I noticed was that Hagrids house moves from right next to the castle to the bottom of a big hill. I know it's due to the new director and all that, but I would think that they'd try to keep the background the same from movie to movie.

Anyway, I am excited about the movie coming out in November. I will enjoy it, but will probably be disapointed in some aspects of the film.

Help!

Well, it's Friday. I have this weekend off, so I get to try to catch up on some sleep. I say try because it greatly depends on if Gabriel and Alydia let me. I really need to try to get the garage organized too. It'd be nice to park in the garage come winter time.

Bowling went well last night. It was the first wee of our new season. I usually bowl out of my mind on the first week and set an average that I can't possibly hope to keep. I think I had a 215 one year. I started off pretty well with a 193 and 198, but then tanked out with a 161. I can keep a 183 average. I need to get some new shoes. My current bowling shoes are starting to fall apart a bit. We won't know if we won any of the games last night because our handicaps haven't been figured out yet. What a handicap does is level the playing field a bit. It is based off of 90% of the difference between your average and 210 pins. For example, my average is 183, so you'd subtract 183 from 210 (27) and then take 90% of that number. So, my handicap is 24. You then add your handicap to the total pins you bowl each game. It is supposed to make things more competative so that a team that has a bunch of 130 bowlers can keep up with 190 bowlers. Make sense?

You may be wondering why I titled today's post as 'Help!' Well, today is Jessica's birthday and I have no idea what to get her. I thought about some earrings, but if I keep getting her jewelry, she will start expecting it. Any ideas? I think I may just take her out shopping or something. That way she can get what she wants. Unfortunately, she and I a both people that buy whatever we need or want whenever we get the chance. It makes it hard to give people gift ideas. I'll make her dinner and get her a card and flowers too. Is that enough? I already made her a cake. I just like going overboard sometimes, I guess.

Bowling night

My bowling league starts tonight. Now, before you go thinking that bowling leagues are only for overweight drunks that just want to get away from thier families, remember, there are some skinny guys in my league too. It is nice to have a night to get out and hang out with the guys. It is a bit of a bummer because the kids are usually in bed before I get home, but it is a great way to blow off some steam. Our team name is 'Big Knockers'. You may think that it is a reference to large breasts (which it is a little bit) but in reality, it is based off of Major League (the movie) when Cerano crushes the ball and the manager says 'big knock baby, big knock!' We consider a strike to be a 'big knock'.

A few bummers about this year though, my buddy Jon has quit the team. He is a great guy and I really like hanging out with him. He's in a relationship with a woman that like him to stay at home a lot. We think that she's a bit controling, but the bottom line is that he's happy with her.

The second bummer is now I live 20 minutes away from the bowling lanes instead of the five minutes away I was before our move. That means less drinking. Or, after much drinking, going to Roosters for a late night snack and sobering up. That means being out super late though. It's ok to do that sometimes, but too many times I feel bad for leaving Jessica home alone with the kids. And I miss them too. It won't be as bad after I start working from home because I will be able to see everyone throughout the day.

One of the fun aspects is that Jesse, a guy on my team, and I always put a $20 bet on who will have the highest average by the end of the year. I usually win, but it adds a little spice to the mix. We both love to trash talk with each other.

We also have a small poker game with every game we bowl. Basically, everyone puts in a dollar and for every strike or spare you get, you draw a card. Split pick ups and rolling a turkey (three strikes in a row) earn you a bonus card and if you roll a gutter ball on your first ball of the frame, you add a dollar to the pot. At the end of the game, whomever has the best poker hand wins the pot. It adds a bit more fun to the night.

This year my goal is to bring my average up to 190. I've been around 175-180 for the past few years, but I think I'll be able to get up to 190. Some guys in my league average over 200 per game. There have been a couple guys that have rolled perfect games too. There are some crappy bowlers too. A couple guys averaged under 100. My biggest problem is consistancy. I can roll a perfect ball, but not every time. It's frustrating.

In Buckeye News, apparently, Troy Smith is going to be the all time starting QB for the Buckeyes. Although I think it is good to have one guy all the time, I don't think that Zwick got a fair shake. He turned the ball over less that Smith and had a lot of his passes dropped. Well, hopfully things will get back on track this weekend against San Diego State. In all reality, the Buckeyes should crush them. I just hope that they figure out how to 1. get the ball in the end zone and 2. get the ball to Ted Ginn. He didn't touch the ball nearly enough against Texas.

In more personal news, I am leaving work early today to go have a chat with Noah's teacher. He hasn't done anything wrong (that we know of) we just want to meet with the guy to ask some questions and try to get some help from him. Noah was not a very good studant last year. He didn't do half of his work and his grade cards were crap. So, we held him back in the fifth grade. There is no way that he'd be able to keep up in sixth grade in a better school district. His math skills are severely lacking. We figured that it would be better for him to repeat this year in the new school district rather than moving on and possible failing and having to repeat sixth grade. So, we are just going to chat with the teacher and see what he can do to help us monitor Noah's progress and motivate Noah to work to his potential.

Jessica's birthday is tomorrow. I have no idea what to get her. Maybe I'll just cop out and get her some flowers and a card. Maybe I'll take her out if we can find a sitter. She'll be 30, so I wanted to do something nice. I guess nothing will beat her 27th birthday when I bought her her diamond ring. I would get her a bowling ball drilled for my hand and hith my name on it, but that would just be too obvious.

I've been seeing Serenity commercials on TV. That makes me glad because the producers are thinking that it will be good enough tat they actually want to promote it. Of course, they also promote movies that are crap, but the previews for Serenity look great. I am much looking forward to going to see it.

I'm ok now....

I'm better after fuming for a few days over the OSU loss to Texas. It was a bullshit loss, but we've got more games in front of the Bucks to look forward to. The boy in Scarlet and Grey just need to win the Big Ten Title so that they can get into a BCS game. I think it will be possible to win out the rest of the season. The othe Big Ten teams that OSU will play have some definate chinks in their armor. That's all I have to say about that.

So, the house is coming together a little bit more. It's so hard to get things unpacked when Jessica an I have both work. It's near impossible to do anything while watching two kids all day. I'm starting with my office in the basement now. My parents got me a desk for when I start working from home. I would be working from home by now, but they want me to train some people on how to do my job. So, I need to put the desk together and then start decorating. We also need to go through everything and figure out where to put stuff. The kitchen and out bedrooms are mostly finished now, but the garageis still full of boxes. That will be my next project. We are getting some stuff unpacked at least. My drive way looks like a grave yard for boxes. I need to figure out what to do with them all. Probably try to find somewhere to recycle them.