This morning with my coffee- the episode featuring the rise of musical supergroup The Zack Attack and their hit single, "Friends Forever."

It's no California Dreams, though.

Good Week

"Um, yeah... I guess the shiny belt does draw attention to my big dick."


I've had a really good week. Thursday, I went to go see AA Bondy @ the Earl and caught up with a friend passing through town. It's funny that I barely knew this kid when I left Birmingham, but the past five years I've seen him probably more than anyone. Said traveling troubadour hooked me up with a couple of nuggets.

Saturday morning, I ran eleven miles on my group run, which was pretty sweet because we ran from Oglethorpe down Peachtree into Midtown, then turned around and ran back uphill. I showered up, ate lunch, got baked, and watched Alabama kick LSU's ass.

And yes, I do think Alabama kicked LSU's ass. I counted eight different LSU players that had to be carried off the field by trainers throughout the course of the game (Alabama had none to my recollection). To me, that is the essence of this year's Alabama team: like a heavyweight fighter, Alabama slowly breaks down its opponents through the attrition of the four quarters and by the end of the game, they are the last man standing. Alabama is big, tough, and deep. There's no style points to that, but that is how all truly good Alabama teams have played ball, and I love it. I'm not saying they're the best team in the country because I have not watched Texas at all and only seen Florida a couple of times, but Alabama has a really good team this year.

30 for 30

I don't know if anybody else has caught any of these one hour documentaries that ESPN has been playing for the series 30 For 30, but it's some damn good TV. Tonight I watched one on Len Bias, a few weeks ago was the story of how Donald Trump fucked up the USFL, and looking at their schedule I noticed they're doing one on Michael Jordan's time playing minor league baseball for the Barons. This is all some really outstanding TV.

Next week- Jimmy the Greek.

The only way someone cannot believe that is going to be an hour of incredible TV is if they don't remember or don't know who Jimmy the Greek was.

Other rapid fire sports tidbits:
-C'mon, Phillies! Do it for the National League! I believe!

-I'm nervous about the Alabama-LSU game. Sometimes the pressure of undefeated seasons makes it almost unenjoyable to watch.

- I was out sick for a couple of weeks, but I am back on track with my training for the Thanksgiving Half-Marathon. Three weeks and two days from now I will be running 13.1 down Peachtree and end up at Turner Field to break the ribbon as the glories and riches rain down.

That is, unless somebody bred to have bigger and higher thigh muscles complicates things.

In Sickness and in Health

Our trip to Hilton Head was pretty relaxing. I got up that Saturday morning and did my group run of eight miles, and much to my surprise, I ran the whole way. This was the longest I've ever run in my entire life, so I had a pretty righteous feeling about my health all weekend. The weather cooperated somewhat during our stay, and we got to tool around Savannah a little bit on that Monday. All in all a pretty good trip.

Thursday last week I go for a five mile run at Piedmont Park and the bottom falls out on me during my last two miles, leaving me a soggy ball of blubber on my way home. After that I attend a bankruptcy lecture happy hour, where I sit next to an older, extremely Southern gentleman sporting suspenders and hanging jowls. Said gentlemen seemed insistent upon delivering earth shattering sneezes every twenty minutes.Being that I have been exercising more than any point previous in my life, the thought that I would get sick from running in the rain or getting sneezed on never crossed my mind.

Silly me.

I have spent the last six days sick as a fucking dog. My wife caught it too, so we have been cooped up in the apartment for several days doing nothing but increasing corporate dividends for the makers of Nyquill and Kleenex. Amazingly, we still get along really well. I've realized though that my wife's version of a sick day is the same today as it probably was in sixth grade; she watches the Price is Right and plays Super Mario Bros. (Additionally, we've almost completed season three of The Wire, which is one of the greatest TV shows ever. It's like the Sopranos, but the story lines don't move so slowly.)All in all, I have felt completely sidelined and stir crazy, but I guess the fact that the Mrs. and I have been both miserably sick and stuck in the apartment with each other for the past few days and we still like each other is probably an appropriate way to celebrate our anniversary. Without being too corny, it an effective reminder that being with your spouse when things don't go as planned is honestly probably the best thing about being married.

Other than that, not too much to report. My Rockies and twins both got executed in the first round, so I guess I want the Phillies to win for the National League. The tide is still rolling, though I'm nervous about al the hype they're starting to get. Anything can happen on any given Saturday. Alabama should beat the shit out of Tennessee, but Jonathan Crompton did throw three TD's against Georgia... we'll see.

Other highly important news- my bathroom sink is clogged.

Tardy for the Party

I've been slacking about my blogging, and I know this has contributed profusely to workplace boredom (and simultaneously increased workplace productivity) in several cities throughout the fruited plains, so for that I apologize. I don't think I have too much to talk about that would be interesting, nor do I have any common thread to interweave my post, so I'll just do my lazy default list of things I'm into lately.

The baseball playoffs are in full swing and there have been some fantastic games going on. The Twins 163rd game that went 12 innings against the Tigers was the game at its absolute best. Comically though, I turned it off in the top of the twelfth because the Tigers has runners at first and third with only one out and I was extremely ready for bed. The Rockies split two in Philly and heading back to Coors this weekend to play in a game with predicted weather of highs in the twenties and good probability of snow. Ahh, Denver weather... how I miss thee.

Speaking of weather, the Mrs. and I are heading to Hilton Head this weekend to celebrate our second anniversary and the predicted weather is non-stop rain from the time we arrive to the time we depart. I don't care; it'll be nice to hear the ocean and unwind with my lovely better half. I don't know if this is lame or not, but my wife and I like to read while we are at the beach, and I've recently picked up a wicked awesome novel by Michael Chabon called The Amazing Adventures of Kavalier and Clay. It's a story about two Jewish cousins who are teenagers in Brooklyn in the late 1930's starting their own comic book. It has this whole backdrop of World War II and early American comic books and magic shops, which is not done proper justice by my description, but the writing style is superb. I wish I could write as fluidly as this guy.

As a final, unrelated note- the new Pearl Jam song is deliciously addicting; I listened to it about six times in a row yesterday. It reminds me of why I liked them so much when I was fifteen, and it made me realize something- Eddie Vedder may have the best "rock anthem" voice in the history of rock n' roll.

Roll Tide,
tMHR

Trip to Six Flags, Anyone?

Full disclosure- these photos are all off the Atlanta Journal Constitution website.


That's I-20 west of town.


Every single school in metro Atlanta is closed.


They say the worst of it is over, but it is supposed to rain heavily tonight, tomorrow, Thursday, and Friday.

Next week's supposed to be lovely though.

Monday

(It's a little wet here in the ATL.)

It's getting close to my favorite time of year- weather cooling off, baseball playoffs, the meat of the college football season, beer festivals, Halloween...it all gives me a boner.

Baseball- the Rockies rule. In a perfect world, the Rockies would go on a tear and win the NL West, the Braves would go on a tear and win the wild card, the Twins would pass the Tigers in the AL Central, and all would be right in the baseball world. But that's not realistically gonna happen. Barring disaster, the Rockies are in. The Twins have a shot. The Braves... should be happy about winning eight out of their last nine and parlay that into some motivation for next year.

The Rockies are my favorite team though, and the addition of former 'roid monster Giambi to the lineup will hopefully help them reach the Series again. Perhaps this time they'll have the extra bat in the DH position to compete with the AL. And for the record, I absolutely despise the designated hitter position. That is is the sole reason National League ball is pure and American League ball is tainted. The whole strategy of when to yank the pitcher for the pinch hitter is one of the great chess moves in baseball. I could write an entire essay about that, and I probably already have but just forgot.

College Football- I'm not gonna lie. I began the season with cautious optimism about the Tide, but as the season goes on and I see McElroy's passing ability... Alabama is pretty fucking good. They have an unusually deep team. Lots of games ahead though, so I won't run my mouth too much.

I can't really figure out Auburn. I will say this though, I despise their form of spread trickery based offense. I hate all of these new "check off at the line" formations, I hate the Wildcat formation that is the latest trend (Alabama sometimes included unfortunately), and I hate the scrambling quarterbacks. Watching that QB from West Virginia run around wildly holding the ball with one hand not even tucked works me up. That's like the type of shit we did in the backyard when we were kids. That's not athleticism; that's just sloppy football.

I realize I sound like Hank Hill here, but when it comes to sports, I am a curmudgeon. I like to see well executed fundamentals. What excites me in sports are the following: a huge hole opened up between between the guard and tackle and the fullback getting a good block on a linebacker and a big run developing; an open field tackle; a catcher throwing out someone stealing third; someone beating out an infield grounder because they actually ran to first base. These are the things that excite me.

God, I love October. Almost here...