Jeter, Bush and Mantle

An employee at Topp's after my own heart inserted images of George W. and Mickey Mantle into a new Derek Jeter baseball card.

Here.

NFL Draft Guys Dot Com

Congrats to Sigmund Bloom on his launch of NFL Draft Guys.

From the Press Release:

Football junkies have a new home.

NfL Draftguys showcases:

* Accessible, in-depth, year-round college
scouting.
* Decisive fantasy projections for your rookie
drafts.
* Insightful commentary that goes deeper than the
stats.

Cecil Lammey.
Sigmund Bloom.

The stars of The Audible and Footballguys.com know the
game.

The offseason is the new season of NFL football, and
everything that's anything related to the draft can be
found right here. Our scouts attend every major event
from the Shrine Game through the draft, and they don't
mince words when it comes to their projections. You
want informed opinions? You got 'em. In spades.

But our coverage doesn't just start when the players
hang up their helmets -- NFL Draftguys updates player
profiles and rankings constantly throughout the
college season.

So bookmark it.

Post for Monday Morning

SHAME

Leaguers, only a small fraction of you bothered to wish Reed a happy birthday. I am ashamed of you.

Reed has been a vital part of this blog for many years, and all you had to do was post a birthday message. But, apparently, you're too busy. Apparently, you're too good for Reed. I had no idea this was the sort of snobbish audience the League had grown to cater to.

I shame myself and I shame the good name of The League if I can't get you to post a "Happy Birthday" message to Reed.


SUN

We finally got some sun today. It's been cold and wet since last week sometime, so a little break in the weather was a welcome change. We didn't manage to take as much advantage of the weather as I would have liked, and I didn't make it home until after dark, so I didn't go running, which I'm feeling sort of badly about.

We've got another wintery blast scheduled to come through (cold, but not a freeze), and then we should have sunshine again on Thursday. So, right now, I'm holding out for Thursday.


PLAY-OFFS

We're not even done with the 1st quarter of the NE/IND game as I watch this, but I did see the end of the Bears/Saints game. I suppose I must now make Superbowl plans. No matter what, I suppose I shall cheer for the team that is NOT the Bears, unless I am given a compelling reason why the Bears should curry my favor.

I've been fairly dispassionate about pro-Football this year, and have already snuck over and watched a few NBA games (although I am reminded that the NBA coverage in Austin is abysmal in comparison to what we had in Arizona. My kingdom for an NBA Season Pass on Time Warner Cable).

Peabo was right about one thing in life, and that's about the inherent superiority of College Football over Pro Ball. I cannot get onboard with the anti-NBA plank of his platform, although I understand his argument.

***UPDATE***

Holy SMOKES, man!!! Was that ever a game! Holy cow!!! COLTS are AFC CHAMPS!!! Whoooo!!!!

(sorry, we like Peyton Manning at League HQ and have been waiting for him to have his shot at a ring for a while.)


GHOSTRIDER

I've never been a huge fan of the Ghost Rider comics. I sort of think the idea begins and ends with character design, and you can get more out of an 80's-era Iron Maiden poster than you can out of the average Ghost Rider comic. GR's not actually terribly scary or anything, so I'm not really clear on the point of the guy. I actually think he would be handled better as a DCU Phantom Stranger/Spectre-type character, but that's just me.

Now it's a movie. So far, the most interesting thing in the trailers has been Eva Mendes. And my deep love for paying to see very bad movies.

Who am I kidding? I'm going to see this movie. I sort of wish I could figure out a way to see it with Randy, because I bet Randy is going to love this flick. Somehow the idea of dragging Harms to such quality, low-brow entertainment is equally appealing.


Norbit

Is this movie just about making fun of fat girls? Am I really supposed to pay money to see that?

Eddie Murphy.... You used to be beautiful, man.


John Wayne

So the other day I watched all of "The Sons of Katie Elder", which I had never seen before. Darn good Western, and one could clearly see where they'd lifted some moments for Silverado. I did not know this, but 2005's "Four Brothers" was a sort of homage to "The Sons of Katie Elder". Only, with Marky Mark instead of John Wayne.

Last night, after watching "Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid", I watched a good chunk of "The Undefeated". I've got "Rio Grande" in my DVR queue. Either I, or TCM or AMC am on a John Wayne kick. Given the amount of John Wayne on TV everyday, I am inclined to think it's me.

Sure, me and Mr. Wayne might not have agreed on too much had we ever met each other, but I love a good John Wayne movie. I think, partially, because I respect Wayne's ability to make any nonsense that comes out of his mouth sound like God's own truth. And he's not above having a good laugh at other people getting slugged in the head in many of his films.

Oddly, I've not seen too many of John Wayne's non-Westerns, such as "The Green Berets", "Donovan's Reef", or "The Flying Leathernecks". Luckily, I have DVR and basic cable, so it's just a matter of time.


Hope everyone had a good weekend.

Make sure you wish Reed a happy birthday.

Football PodCast

hey all,

Friend of the League, Sigmund, has begun a fulltime career as a sports journalist. He's focusing on a Football themed podCast called "The Audible", I believe.

You can sign up for Sigmund's podcasts at the Applestore, here.

Beckham

Whoo hoo!

David Beckham is headed to the US to join the LA Galaxy. I just watched a softball interview with him on CNN and he is coming. For $250 million. Pretty good for a guy on the downside of his career.

It's honestly a little weird to see a guy like this slumming in US soccer, but he sees it as an opportunity to grow American soccer, and that ain't a bad idea. Further, there are some good players coming to the end of their pro careers who could really add a lot to the MLS (Ronaldo, my fellow weight-fightin' brother, the Dynamo needs you).

As Leaguers might guess, this is a bit of a novelty, and, honestly, The League doesn't know much about soccer. But, as Mary Jo Mitchell has said, Beckham could "bring it to the big stage".

two things

Congrats to Univ. of Florida. They played an absolutely great game, dominating OSU for the vast majority of the game.

Also, about a week ago Jamie and I were driving past an empty shell of one of the Albertson's grocery stores that had pulled out of Austin. "We should open something in that," Jamie said.
"Okay."
"What could we do with superheroes?"
"Well," I said looking at the decaying grocery. "I have no idea. It's about 20 times larger than a comic shop."
"We could do, like, a superhero place," Jamie said. "Like, we could throw superhero birthday parties and have a super hero restaurant, and sell superhero stuff. Like capes and shields and other superhero gadgets."
"Wow. Well, that sounds pretty good for kids, but..." the idea of running something that complicated sounded like a bit of a nightmare.

But maybe these guys in Brooklyn have done it right. Maxwell, I'm dispatching you to check it out.

Thanks to RHPT for the link.

OU, I am sorry

I really thought you would win. I sincerely did. You played your heart out, especially Mr. Peterson. Dang.

But that proposal... that was pretty sweet. That's a dude who knows how to utilize a moment.

more here