The Season of Fantasy Leagues

Aiight, it's that time again, when NFL and PL fantasy leagues get into full swing, so here's the info:

Fantasy Premier League (soccer)
This is our salary cap style fantasy English Premier League game. it's a lot of fun, lasts until May. There's usually one game a week (like NFL) so it's not a ton of work. Join our league!

Homepage
League code: 39325-16153

NFL Pick'em Skins

This is our Pick'em Skins game, its costs $20 to play. The person with the most correct games wins the pot, week-to-week. All you do is pick a winner from each NFL game.

Homepage
Group ID#: 10352
Password: browns


NFL Survivor
This is a fun game where you basically pick just one team each week that you're sure is going to win. you can only pick each team once. Try to make it through the season without getting any wrong

Homepage
Group ID# (5657)
Password (browns)

Last Night's Dream

So last night i had a very vivid dream. I dreamt that i was near the ocean, it felt and looked like Monterrey or San Francisco and i was walking down to near the water with Addie. The area we were at was a little inlet and we had to walk over this little patch of land, maybe 10 yards long, to get to the side where we could walk along the water. Addie was running along the water and i was walking behind her, it was overcast and chilly, i was wearing shoes for some reason.

The water was starting to roll in a little higher than when we first started walking, so i concluded that the tide was coming in and looked back at our little land bridge to see that it would be covered by water soon. One of my biggest fears in life is water, more specifically murky water which ocean water always qualifies for. I began to panic a little and grabbed Addie and headed back to our land bridge to cross back to safety.

As i was starting to cross over the water was rising quickly, up to my knees now, and Addie was riding on my shoulders. I looked out towards the deeper water and noticed something swimming, sort of like when you see carp near the shoreline. This is another fear of mine, fish in the same water i'm in, freaks me out. But this wasn't a fish, it was very large, in my dream i thought it might be a hippo or something (sounds dumb now but i was freaked). All you could see was it's back as it went under water about 20 feet from us. I really panicked and started for shore in almost waist deep water when suddenly i felt something touch my foot.

I have never jumped out of bed so fast. Kassie apparently was readjusting and her foot touched mine, i must have flown 2-3' out of bed and gasped! I was breathing so hard, kassie was shocked. i told her what happened and she went back to sleep. i couldn't calm down and it took me another 15 minutes before my breathing was back to normal.

good times.

Books I Read in 2010

2010 was a year that re-discovered my love of reading thanks to an old friend of mine, Barbara, who recommended some awesome books. As you can see i enjoyed The Last Kingdom by Bernard Cornwell so much that i read the entire series. The book are fictional-history books about the West Saxon wars in England around 900 AD, most of the characters and battles are real, only the main character is fiction. It was a fun way to read about real history and i enjoyed the books, they were easy and quick to read.

I'm really enjoying Atlas Shrugged, i can't put it down.

Screwtape Letters - C.S. Lewis

The Count of Monte Cristo - Alexandre Dumas

Let Them In - Jason Riley

The Last Kingdom - Bernard Cornwell

The Pale Horseman - Bernard Cornwell

Lords of the North - Bernard Cornwell

Sword Song - Bernard Cornwell

The Burning Land - Bernard Cornwell

In Progress

Atlas Shrugged - Ayn Rand

Outliers - Malcom Gladwell

Next on Shelf

The Archer's Tale - Bernard Cornwell

The Last Jihad - Joel C. Rosenberg

Sacred Marriage - Gary Thomas

"You should of just asked"

I've been thinking about this lately and i've decided to throw my thoughts down on paper, er, keypad.

You know how when a friend of yours gets busted for a DUI, and you tell them "hey man, you should have just called me, i would have given you a ride." or maybe a friend of yours gets busted for stealing something small at a grocery story "hey dude, if you needed some food you should of just asked." Maybe your friend nabbed a few bucks from your ash tray, or from the offering plate, or the cash register at work and lost his job - "bro, you could of just asked me for a few bucks, i would have gladly given some to you. If you need some cash just ask me."

Yea, hindsight is always 20/20. of course now that your friend is in jail for a DUI, or lost his job for a measly $20 you would gladly have offered to change his course. Well why didn't you intervene before the problem got worse? Why did you wait until your friend asked for help?

If your friend calls you at 1225a and asks for a ride from some downtown bar would you shrug? probably. and that shrug is probably why your friend doesn't call you. If your friend never pays for lunch, you always get stuck with the bill, would you start avoiding eating out with your friend? that's probably why they don't ask you for cash. When you receive a real-life phone call on your cell (not a text, email, notification, DM...) do you avoid a real-life conversation and let the call go to voicemail? that's probably why your friend didn't call you when they needed some help or food, they never get a hold of you anyway.

Have you ever been in need? the first thing most people feel when they're in need is shame, or embarrassment. "crap, i don't have a well-paying job like my friends, i can't afford a house or a car like my friends. i don't have a nice little family and a great spouse like my friends." this friend already feels bad about their situation and now we expect them to also put aside their pride and approach us first and ask for a handout? no wonder they conclude "my house isn't that far and i'm only buzzed, it'll only take a few minutes to drive home. better than calling BMer at midnite and pissing him off."

If you're a caring friend you should welcome these situations. you should care enough about your friends to know whats going in their lives. you should be helping them out without putting them in their place, if they're in need they already know it. you should be pro-active about help, you should SHOW that you care enough to pick them up at midnight, or get them some supplies that might ease their weekly needs, instead of just SAYING that you would have done that, if only they asked.

Friendship is about loving one another, about truly caring about each other. stop wasting time poking friends on facebook, or retweeting them, and actually get involved in their life, and show that you're there for them all the time, whether they're in need or not. Next time they're in a tough spot they shouldn't hesitate to call you. Next time they're in need they should feel confident that they can rely on you without being reprimanded, judged, reminded, instructed, lectured...

in the midst of a tight-spot, the first thing a friend needs is support, you can worry about addressing the problems later.

join my Fantasy Football and Soccer leagues

Here are all of the different leagues i'm running this Fall. sign up for one of them, or all of them.

NFL Pick'em w/Skins

This is just basic Pick'em, pick all of the winners every week. We've added a Skins element where for $20 you can be eligible to win weekly cash. Each week is worth an amount of money, like $10, the person who picks the most games right wins the $10. If two or more people tie for the most right picks the money from that week rolls into the next week, making it worth $20. It keeps rolling over until there is an outright winner. Last year Kassie won $65 over 2 weekends! it's a lot of fun. You don't have to join the Skins part, you can just play the Pick'em in this league but you won't be eligible for the cash unless you choose to pay up-front!

Join Here

Group ID#: 862
Password: browns

Last years winner: Noah with 176 correct games

NFL SURVIVAL

This is a game where you basically pick one team to win every week. Once you pick a team you can't pick them again. No one ever makes it through the season perfect so you get three strikes. super easy and challenging.

Join Here

Group ID# (442)

Password (browns)

English Premier League Fantasy (salary cap style)

Basically you have a set amount of money to fill your roster, you can make changes every week, players value go and down based on performance. good way to learn about the EPL and which players are good, trial by fire!

Join Here - click "Leagues" then enter our league code: "300825-78876"

World Cup Game with Friends

okay, so a friend of mine just introduced me to this cool game you can play while watching the World Cup. If we can get 16 people together this will be a blast, with a pretty good payout.

Basically you throw all 64 teams into a hat, each player gets 2 teams by a random draw. If one of your teams wins the World Cup you win the Pot! i think we'll have smaller payouts too for the following:

$25 for most goals scored combined
$20 for the least amount of goals scored combined
$10 for second place in the Final

We'll say everyone pays in $10 and that way we'll aim for 16 people, $160. the winner of the World Cup will get $100 and the other $60 will be split above.

Player Teams (Total Goals)
DaveM - spain / italy: (0)
NoahV - south korea / chile: (2)
DerekM - nigeria / france: (0)
ScottW - germany / serbia: (4)
GregM - argentina / usa: (2)
BrianL - paraguay / netherlands: (2)
BMer - mexico / brazil: (1)
TravisM - japan / slovakia: (1)
AaronB - algeria / new zealand: ( 0)
Tahoe - ivory coast / portugal: (0)
ChrisC - uruguay / england: (1)
SeanN - greece / honduras: (0)
ScottH - ghana / cameroon: (1)
JeffS - australia / slovenia: (1)
JordanH - south africa / korea dpr: (1)
JoshO - denmark / switzerland: (0)

Josh Cribbs is like Birdman!

So in case you haven't been following the headlines surrounding the Cleveland Browns, our best player Josh Cribbs is asking for a new offer. This started last year after Cribbs established himself as the best kick returner in the league. This season he not only continued that, but he inserted himself into the offense as a WR, and the QB of the Wildcat Offense, showing that he could throw and run the ball in for points. No doubt that Cribbs was the best player on the Browns this season, but i think that is more telling of the lack of quality skill players, not so much Cribbs.

Cribbs is not a good WR, just like Devin Hester of the Bears is not a good WR. Cribbs was the default #2 WR after Braylon was traded because we don't have anyone else, you can't even name the Browns the WR's. Now Cribbs wants a new contract after he signed a relatively cheap one 2 years ago, that goes through 2013. Yes he has outplayed his contract, but what is he worth to the Browns?

I compare this situation to Chris "Birdman" Anderson of the Denver Nuggets. A great story no doubt, recovering from drug addiction (being kicked out of the NBA) and working his way back into shape and returning to his first team, the Nuggets. The Nuggets scored Birdman really cheap from the Hornets and last year he established himself as the fan favorite. He was playing out-of-his-mind for the 2nd half of the season, blocking shots and bringing the energy. After the Nuggets failed to reach the Championship, Anderson was a free agent. Everyone in Denver said to pay the man, but honestly, he doesn't do that much for the team. He doesn't score often, he is an average rebounder, he's slow in defense, and he blocks shots out-of-bounds instead of grabbing the ball for a turnover. But Kroenke and Denver caved and paid him good money. Now this season he's been hurt (he has a history of injuries) and hasn't played at nearly the level of last season.

This is why Cribbs is the new Birdman. Cribbs doesn't have much value. Do you remember want Dante "the X factor" Hall did after being dominate at kick returning for 2 seasons? nothing! What has Hester done in Chicago the last 2 years? nothing. consider this:

Recent history suggests that explosive kick returners (see Dante Hall and Devin Hester) don't maintain their productivity for much longer than three seasons, and Devin Hester's $5.45 million-per-year contract with the Bears has become something of a laughingstock. Hester hasn't returned a kick for a touchdown in two full seasons since signing his new deal. -Cleveland Frowns

Cribbs is "offended" by the Browns offer of $1.4 million, a raise from the $700K he's making now. Consider this from Cleveland radio host Will Burge on Twitter:

Players who made appx $1.4M in 2009:Dwayne Bowe $1.4M, Miles Austin $1.5M, DeSean Jackson $1.1M, Vincent Jackson $900K, Santnio Holmes $1.8M

Now tell me Josh Cribbs worth so much more than ANY of those WR's that the offer is insulting. You just cant do it...

I love Cribbs, but i don't think the Browns will break the bank for him, and they shouldn't. Just like how everyone now like coach Eric Mangini after he ended a terrible season winning 4 games in a row (against OAK, KC, JAC, and PIT), but i believe that new team president, Mike Holmgren, is going to still fire him, and he should.

Sentiment doesn't win games, it just costs a lot of money.

Why I Don't Listen to Movie Critics

I've often thought about this theory, but now it has affected me in a new way. I've never thought movie reviews by official "movie experts" were very valuable, they seem to be too close to their product. All they do is watch and critique movies, so they're looking at much more than the average person looks at. they're looking for themes, character development, camera work, plot, etc, whereas i'm usually just looking to be entertained for 2 hours. If i want to know if a movie is worth seeing i'd rather ask a few of my friends about it instead of looking up the review from the LA Times.

It's the same with "expert" reviews of books, food, music, video games, and tons of other stuff. I would rather hear from people who are more like me, the common blogger, message boards, people who enjoy these things as often as i do, rather than some elitist critic who is never happy. but everyone feels this way, why am i blogging about it?

Because i'm now the "expert" rather than the casual fan when it comes to Fantasy Football. I really enjoy fantasy football, i follow about 5 fantasy "experts" on twitter, i read numerous fantasy related articles every week, and i follow team beat writers for numerous teams just to have an edge. i love the information regarding NFL, and i'm more than ready to apply it to my fantasy teams.

I only play in 2 leagues each year, i've learned that having too many teams can ruin the whole season for you, but apparently thats not the only thing that can ruin it. This year i played in my friend Alan's league, which i've played in for the last few seasons. I prep for the draft, making my own lists and spreadsheets, reading everything i possibly can, scoffing at my opponents draft picks, drafting players that are "sleepers" while ignoring the obvious names, and everything else that makes me feel like i'm way ahead of these other dudes. well this season, that didn't work out so well for me.

This past weekend was the last weekend of the Fantasy Season in the "Roethlishotdog" league and after making a league-high 67 moves (picking up players from the waiver-wire, trades...) i finished in 8th place, out of 8 teams. But thats not all, our champion, Pete Deusterman made a league-low 17 moves, scored 1521 points (150 points more than 2nd place) and rolled through playoffs relatively easy. why is that impressive? well he didn't have access to our fantasy website almost all season. he would email me on tuesday morning and ask me if i could look on the page to see whether or not he won his matchup that week. The dude drafted a team of well-known players like Randy Moss and Steven Jackson and stuck with them. Meanwhile i'm drafting sleepers like Matt Forte and Calvin Johnson who were basically worthless this year.

Pete didn't get caught up in all of the hype around the players, he stuck with the players that most people know, his draft was what most average football fans would draft, and he owned our league. he didn't just survive and do alright, he owned us all, and i tried everything. i even offered him a trade that i thought would look good, but turn in my favor eventually, but no, giving up Joseph Addai midseason for T.O. hurt me even more! ouch.

This is a case of me trying to be too close to the product, and not just going with the obvious. it's like ripping Transformers for a lack of plot, yes it doesn't have much plot but hey, i was really entertained, and the movie is a hit!

2009 NFL Playoff Predictions

with one week to go i'm going to put my predictions out there so i can say "i told you so".

I have already made my picks for Week 17, so with that i can figure out who will be in the playoffs (the AFC is really confusing, but i tried my best to figure out the scenarios based on ESPN's playoff breakdown, so hopefully i'm right).

NFC

1. Minnesota
2. New Orleans
3. Philadelphia
4. Arizona
5. Green Bay
6. Dallas

Dallas @ Philly = Philadelphia
Green Bay @ Arizona = Arizona (i'll be rooting for GB though)

Arizona @ Minnesota = Arizona
Philly @ New Orleans = Philadelphia

Arizona @ Philly = Philadelphia (if this game is in Arizona i think i might still take Philly)

so the NFC representative in the Super Bowl is Philadelphia


AFC

1. Indy
2. San Diego
3. New England
4. Cincy
5. Baltimore
6. Pittsburgh

Pitt @ New England = New England (great game!)
Baltimore @ Cincy = Cincy

Cincy @ San Diego = San Diego
New England @ Indy = Indy

San Diego @ Indy = Indy

AFC representative is Indianapolis


Superbowl is Indianapolis vs Philadelphia with Indianapolis taking it all!

just my opinion but i think it'll be pretty close to this!

Tedy Bruschi is an Idiot

In case you missed it (and i did don't worry) the Patriots and Colts played on Sunday Night Football this past weekend. This is the best rivalry in football for the last 10 years, the teams have essentially split the series, playing each other at least once a season, they've both won Super Bowls and MVPs, and they're both playing great football again this season. Sunday night's match up was no different, the undefeated Colts hosting the streaking Patriots.

I watched this game, as a big fan of the Colts, until 6 minutes to go in the game, Manning just threw another interception and the Patriots jumped up to a 17 point lead. NBC showed a stat that the largest 4th-quarter deficit that Manning had overcome was 14 points, so i'm thinking that 17 points by the dominate New England Patriots would be too much.

i was wrong.

Apparently (since i read about it the next day), Manning and the Colts decided to get serious and with cool efficiency brought the team back within reach. The Colts score a TD with 2:23 to go in the game, down 28-34. The Patriots then get the ball back and fail to kill much clock time, leaving them with 4th down and 2, with 2:02 to go in the game on their own 28 yard line. At this point the Colts have scored 21 points in the last 17:00 of the game, so New England coach Bill Belichick decides to go for it, 2 yards, Tom Brady / Wes Welker / Randy Moss, instead of punting and giving Peyton Manning / Reggie Wayne / Dallas Clark a whole 2:00 to move down the field, again, and score the winning TD. His decision was right, although they didn't get 2 yards, and gave the Colts the ball back with a short field.

You can find more reading than you want about this decision and whatnot, you don't need me to point you to articles (first, try Google!). But one article i wanted to call out was former Patriot and now ESPN sellout Tedy Bruschi's.

Tedy says: "As a former defender on that team, I would've cared less about the result of that fourth-down attempt. The decision to go for it would be enough to make my blood boil for weeks. Bill Belichick sent a message to his defense. He felt that his chances were better to go for it on his own 28-yard line than to punt it away and make Peyton Manning have to drive the majority of the field to win the game...Sure, Tom Brady and the offense loved the vote of confidence that their head coach was giving them, but the message sent to the defense was loud and clear. It was a message of doubt."

so what you're saying Tedy is that the defense needed another chance? What about the 17 point cushion that the defense was given (by the offense)? All New Englands defense had to do was stop the Colts from scoring 3 touchdowns. not one TD, but 3. The defense knew that Peyton had to throw the ball, the defense knew they could give up field goals but not TDs, and yet the defense failed. Belichick had seen enough and decided 2 yards would be easier than letting the Colts score again. it didn't work out, but i don't think punting to the Colts and giving them 2:00 to operate would have worked either, it wasn't like the defense was stopping them before.

Tedy Bruschi, you're an idiot.

BMer's Midseason Rant

well, the NFL has reached it's midpoint, a time when predictions should be made, so i'll make mine.

I don't want to get too crazy here, but here are a few things that i'm pretty confident will happen the rest of the way. I'm having a terrible Pick'em year, and my 2 fantasy teams aren't doing much better, so maybe i don't have a good pulse on the league this season, but that won't deter me!

1. State of the Browns: Yes it has been a tough start to the season for my Brownies, but i'm not as discouraged as the most of the Brown Backers. Unlike 90% of the sports media out there i actually watch the Browns games, and i've seen a team that was better than Chicago, should have beat Green Bay, and shut down Minnesota until the 4th quarter. The Browns have 8 games left, 5 home and 3 road games. i predict they will go 4-4. They will go 4-4 with Brady Quinn the rest of the way, ending the season 5-11 and essentially saving Eric Mangini's job (and he won't be fired).

2. As for the AFC North, it feels like Cinci is going to win the division, they've already swept the Ravens and this weekend they will beat the Steelers again to end up 6-0 against the division. shocking, i can't believe it.

3. The Superbowl will feature Indianapolis. They are the best team in the league this season, and they will win the Superbowl. They'll have to go through New England and Pittsburgh, but i think they handle that.

4. The NFC representative won't be the Saints. I like the Vikings to get to the big game this year, they have good pieces and its seems like Favre's story keeps going his way, going 2-0 against Green Bay, and he seems to be playing better in Minnesota than he did in New York.

5. The Bronco's will win their division as well, but won't make much noise in the Playoffs, going out in the first round. Unlike most of the Denver fan base, i am not unsettled by the last two Bronco games, they played Baltimore and Pittsburgh, the standard for defense in the entire league. they'll be just fine.

6. No team from the NFC East is a contender, they'll beat each other up and none of the teams (NYG, PHI, and DAL) are solid this season. the best 3 teams in the NFC are Minnesota, New Orleans, and Arizona. The prediction? how about no team from the NFC East makes the NFC Championship game.

7. How about some upset picks for the next 4 weeks:

1. Seattle over Arizona (Week 10)
   
2. Kansas City over San Diego (Week 12)
3. Miami over New England (Week 13)

8. and lastly, my lovely wife Kassie will pick more games right this season than i do even though she missed a week when she was giving birth to our little man Mason. right now she's correctly picked 79 games, and I've picked 80 games right. In week 6 Kassie missed getting her picks in and went 1/14 that week. that's pretty incredible that she's still only 1 game behind me, and currently beating a few of my friends (Eli, Big Red, Nuccio, Chase Powers...).

It's almost time for the Browns post-season, which is full of Mock Drafts. Who should the Browns draft next season?

Hillary Clinton & Sarah Palin

I'm going to take a cue from my friend Aaron's blog and post something that i read that i felt would be interesting to you guys. This is an entry from the ESPN Tuesday Morning Quarterback, an intricate look at the past weekends football games, with some political/scientific/pop culture entries added in. i totally recommend reading this articles if you get a chance.

anyway, here's an entry about Sarah Palin and Hillary Clinton:

What Sarah Palin and Hillary Clinton Have in Common: Sarah Palin has an instant book out next month, and in keeping with the Unified Field Theory of Creep, it's already on bestseller lists though no volumes actually have been shipped from the warehouse. Is the real reason she quit the Alaska governorship that she wanted to be free to promote the book and keep the royalties? If so, that makes her sound like just another political phony.

Palin is presenting herself as the author of "Going Rogue," though a ghostwriter named Lynn Vincent is the actual author. It is perfectly respectable to use a ghostwriter -- so long as this is disclosed. George W. Bush's "A Charge to Keep" declares on the cover, "by George W. Bush and Mickey Herskowitz." John McCain's several books all prominently declare on the cover that the actual author is his longtime associate, Mark Salter. This is called honesty. To pretend to be the author of something you did not write is deceit, and indicates egotism. Celebrities and athletes pretend to be authors of books actually written by someone else. But they're airheads! People with important roles in public life should be honest.

When Hillary Clinton ran for president, she pretended to be the author of the books "Living History" and "It Takes a Village." The former was actually written by Lissa Muscatine, Ruby Shamir and Maryanne Vollers; the latter was actually written by Barbara Feinman, a fact the publisher even announced! Yet Clinton masqueraded as the author. Even today, Clinton's official State Department biography includes the phrase, "Secretary Clinton is the author of bestselling books, including her memoir, Living History, and her groundbreaking book on children, It Takes A Village." This statement is simply false, and has no business in U.S. government information. That the former governor of Alaska pretends to be something she is not reflects poorly on Palin; that the current secretary of state pretends to be something she is not reflects poorly on her. Both claims cheapen public understanding of the value of writing, and devalue honesty.

Palin handed in "her" manuscript to the publisher in August, three weeks after leaving the Juneau statehouse; Clinton signed to "write" her latest opus just after becoming a senator representing New York. This means that if they actually are authors, then they cheated the taxpayer. No one could possibly write a 432-page book ("Going Rogue") or a 592-page book ("Living History") while carrying out the duties of a governor or senator. To pretend for ego reasons to be what you are not is a worrisome trait in someone at a high level of public responsibility (Clinton) or who seeks an even higher level (Palin). That Hillary Clinton and Sarah Palin pulled the same self-aggrandizing stunt is distressing on too many levels to count.

Denver Sports Radio Sucks

So a long while back i ranted and raved about the sports scene here in my new home of Denver. I am still impressed these days, Denver is a great sports town, 5 major teams in every popular league in America (Broncos, Nuggets, Avalanche, Rockies, Rapids). Combine all of those sport teams with the highest concentration of micro-breweries in the country and you will understand why people are moving to Colorado in a hurry. This town is great!

My rant today though, was something i just couldn't ignore anymore. 5 years ago when i was impressed with the sports scene here, there were 2 fulltime AM sports station, one was purely local, The Fan, and the other was an extension of ESPN having some national shows, and some local shows. Since then though, the ESPN extension has left, and The Fan has taken over everything sports radio out here. And i hate The Fan.

The local talent here in Denver is terrible. Well at least the talent that is put forward. Apparently the masterminds that are pulling the strings behind The Fan, Altitude, and Fox Sports Rocky Mountains think that washed up former Denver notables are the people who should be telling me about the Nuggets. I'm sorry but Scott Hastings is an idiot. He is nothing but a blow-hard fan, he brings no new info to the table, doesn't keep tabs on the rest of the league (NBA) and talks more about his time in the league than anything else, and we don't care. But he's not the only one that sucks here, Reggie Rivers and Dave Logan could ride the train outta town as well.

Today though, The Fan reminded me why i turned off sports radio in Denver about 3 years ago. For some reason i decided to tune into The Fan for my ride home, apparently during the Alfred and D-Mac show, Tagline: "Former Bronco Alfred Williams brings his "A" game to afternoon drive. He played the game...He knows the game...He can even talk a good game...". The topic of the afternoon was whether or not the 3-0 Bronco's are for real. I'll get to my feelings on that in a minute, but first i want to touch on what got me all riled up.

A caller called in to rave about he believed in this Broncos team, and how their Defense is dominating. the Caller said that he looked at the paper and was "surprised" to see that the Broncos were leading the league in Points Against, giving up only 19 so far in 3 games. the next closest was the Jets with like 31 points. Alfred, who "knows the game", totally agreed and went on a 5 minute rant about how the defense was shutting teams down, dominating and whatnot.

Really?

The Broncos opened the season against the Bengals and the game was ugly. The Broncos defense was good, i'll give them that. but then week 2 was in Denver, against the Browns. The same Browns that hadn't scored 1 meaningful touchdown since November of last season. The Browns who are the worst team in the league, no question. The dominating Broncos defense gave up 3 points. congrats. Well i'll give you a free week, so who did they play in week 3? oh, Jamarcus Russell?! If the Browns are the worst TEAM in the league, then Jamarcus Russell is the worst QUARTERBACK in the league. His passer rating on Sunday was 22. he threw for 1 yard in the 2nd half. You think that was the Denver Defense?? c'mon!

Meanwhile, the 2nd best defense, according to Alfred, was the Jets, but they've given up a whopping 31 points!! who did they play? Oh week 2 against Tom Brady and the Patriots. The Jets shut the Brady/Moss train down! a real team. How about week 3? The Jets hosted the 0-2 Titans, a team coached by a top coach in Jeff Fisher, a team that went 13-3 last season and wasn't about to roll over this season. The Jets basically shut the Titans down in the last 5 minutes to seal the game and go 3-0. The Broncos haven't even played a real team yet.

These Broncos could be legit, and that's cool, but c'mon Denver, lets just be a little realistic. Until then i'll stick to Mike & Mike and continue to boycott the local media!

Empathy Event

As most of you know i have been trying to stay involved with the issue of human trafficking. It's a serious problem in the world today, and it seems like people either don't know about the issue, or are choosing to ignore it. Sometimes it's easy to ignore problems when they're not in your home/state/country but human trafficking and slavery are very present even here in the USA.

A few months ago Joy Orf and John Boyle from Calvary Bible Church asked me to join them while they met with an organization called iEmpathize. I was very interested and excited about this opportunity to present this issue to our church community.

After a few meetings and a lot of emails we've setup an Empathy Night to happen at Calvary Bible Church in Boulder. This will be a powerful night and i'm hoping to bring as many people as i can to the event.

iEmpathize is a group that matches up churches with in-field programs that are already in place. This event will not be a fundraiser, but it will be to learn about human trafficking. There will be plenty of opportunities to help and get connected during the event. There will be music, artwork, and a few quick speakers.

Please consider attending this event, if you need more info or you have questions please contact me.

EMPATHY ENCOUNTER: a worship and justice event.

An interactive night of

awareness, art, worship, justice, and prayer. Come see how you can engage and make a difference in the issue of child sex trafficking.

September 9th at Calvary Bible Church in Boulder at 7p

Here's a link to the information from iEmpathize's webpage

if you twitter:
@iempathize
@nowhere2hide
@not_for_sale
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Empathy Encounter Sept 9, 7pm @ Calvary Bible Church

2 children per minute are trafficked for sexual exploitation. Come see the iEmpathize Art Exhibit & Film on human trafficking where you can explore and engage in this issue of injustice in a profound way. This will be an interactive night of awareness, art, worship, justice, and prayer. Learn how you can engage and make a difference in the issue of child sex trafficking.

iEmpathize (iE) is an Arts and Advocacy non-profit (501c3) working on the behalf of vulnerable and victimized children. iE creates opportunities for people to explore and engage in issues of injustice. Our current efforts are focused on what we believe to be one of the darkest human rights violations to exist…child sex slavery. Through a movement of empathizers we join together to end this heinous crime against children and humanity.

Sympathy is feeling badly for the suffering of others. Empathy is diving into the suffering of others. It is active, compelling the empathizer toward action. Jesus is the essence of empathy. Empathy is the essence of iEmpathize.

Visit www.iEmpathize.org to explore our media, advocacy programs, blog, links, and more. You may also sign up for our e-letter, view the calendar, and contribute. Don’t forget to add us to your Facebook and Twitter.

God? Is That You?

i had a pretty eventful day yesterday. Actually, i've had a pretty wierd 2009 in terms of my health. anyone that knows me knows that i try to be pretty healthy, playing soccer and other sports, and staying active. But you also might know that i've had my share of health problems including multiple knee surgeries and heart surgery, all before turning 30! no big deal though, i feel great.

Yesterday, however, i experienced the worst pain i might have ever felt. that's a pretty big deal considering i've had knee problems forever, broken bones, stitches, concussions and turf toe! yesterday i had a toothache that was intense, there was no way to relieve the pain, no pressure points or pain meds could help me. no way to help ward off the pain or prevent it from happening. i had this pain a few weeks ago and went to the dentist on the spot (something i'm not fond of - dentist), i explained my pain and he determined i had a cavity and decided to fill it on the spot. i was not convinced, but he said it should feel better. well it didn't, and after 3 weeks i couldn't take it anymore. yesterday the pain got so bad that on a few occasions i had to bolt outside thinking i was going to throw up. i jetted over to the dentist again and got an on-the-spot appointment set for 2p. i hadn't slept much the previous nights due to the pain, and i wasn't eating because i didn't want to aggravate my tooth more.

As i sat in the waiting room, thinking i was going to die either from the pain, or from the anxiety that accompanies me on my dentists visits, i began to shake a little. i was just out of strength and i was shutting down. just then on the overhead speaker, very faintly, i heard a female DJ talking, she says "...if you're getting a root canal, don't worry, they're no sweat. i just had one and i'm back at work today, i was really nervous but it didn't hurt at all. i feel great, no problems!. and now back to 25 consecutive minutes of music..."

At first i thought it might be an in-house radio station, you know, like you might hear at a McDonalds or Starbucks. but no, this was KOZY 101, here in Denver, an oldies station.

Now just to give a little back story, my walk with Christ has been on fire lately. i have been reading a ton, and really getting into The Word, and as a result i've really challenged my self and my prayer life. After reading through most of Blue Like Jazz i realized that i had some pride issues that were preventing me from accepting the fact that i am loved, and that i need to ask for prayer for myself. i started emailing some really close friends asking for prayer about some of the things going on my life, and about my tooth. I was praying a lot yesterday, just for strength and for comfort knowing that i would be alright.

I really feel like this little incident with the radio DJ was God telling me that he's listening, and that i'll be alright. It could be a reach, or just a coincidence, or whatever you want to make of it, but to me it was my God letting me know he's here! This is the first time i've had an incident just like this, and its funny that i just told the story about being at a summer camp and having a similar incident happen to me, to Alan this summer, reliving the experience again.

I'm a skeptic just like most people, my wife has told me some amazing stories and i've always been skeptical, and i regret that all the time. People focus in too much on what or why would God do these things, and to be honest, we're never going to be able to figure that out all the way. It doesn't matter that God was telling me that a root canal is easy, the fact that He comforted me in that moment is what is important, at least to little ole me.

So, not to be more long-winded, but a few hours later a dentist was able to do my root canal on the spot. the procedure was really easy, and it was aided by the fact i got to listen to Comeback Kid on my ipod during it, really loud, drowning out the drills! I drove home and i have felt great ever since. i couldn't believe the pressure that was relieved on my head from the root canal. i feel awesome today.

Living in a fallen world is very tough sometimes, i feel like i've been dealing with a variety of dramas and stressful situations lately, stuff that might make someone else fall apart or want to just take timeout and hide. i'm feeling encouraged that my God is there for me, love me for who i am, and has surrounded me with awesome awesome people that support each other no matter what, starting with my amazing wife that has to deal with my failings more often than she deserves.

thanks everyone for the prayer and for being great people in my life.

Vick vs Stallworth

There seems to be a ton of opinion being thrown around about the outcome of the Donte Stallworth DUI / manslaughter case. If you haven't been paying attention, Cleveland Browns wide receiver Donte Stallworth has been given a 30-day jail sentence after he struck and killed a 59-year old pedestrian in Miami. Stallworth was over the legal limit and was tagged with a DUI on top of the accidental manslaughter charge.

You should already know everything you want to know about Micheal Vick, he served a 2-year prison sentence for the felony of running an illegal dog-fighting ring, transporting dogs over state lines, and killing dogs in the process. he is also in trouble for lying to investigators and not being cooperative.

Typically, when news like these stories hit and seem to get the same reaction from everyone, which in this case seems to be (as my buddy Nuccio puts it): "Vick gets 2 years in prison for killing dogs and Stallworth gets 30 days for killing a human?? WTF?!" . When this happens i try to go against popular opinion and figure out the other perspective.

In this case, i wanted to know why Stallworth got such a short sentence, as of today the judge has allowed him to train for football during his house-arrest, he's trying to play this season for the Browns. After a little research i came across this article, and instead of trying to re-word it, i'm just going to point you to it.

Look At The Facts

"The reality is they're [the two cases] apples and oranges," Alex Levay, a top Virginia criminal lawyer, told me on Thursday. "One is an accident [Stallworth] and the other [Vick] is a conscious decision to engage in an illegal act."

Humbled

This past weekend i had the pleasure of attending the Sonshine Festival in Wilmar, Minnesota with my good friend Alan. We took a pop-up camper and camped out for 3 days and enjoyed a heavy dose of Christian music, most bands of the metalcore genre. it was awesome.

Some of you might know that i have a tendency to be judgemental, not so much to people's face, but judging of style/musical choices. i love to pick apart people at shows, even the bands, and do it from a distance. You might say that a Christian music festival is the pinnacle of targets to be judged from the youth-group leaders to the "cool" parents to the young awkward kids. This past weekend was no different, as the first night of metal bands were playing i stood there with my arms crossed and critiqued each kid's choice of shirt, or tight-pants, or dancing "style", or a band's tendency to by a little preachy, and so on. at one point during this, Alan and i got a chance to sit down and relax while waiting for the next band. We were talking about our history getting into music and whatnot, and i started to criticize some more kid's choice of style when Alan asked me a most impactful question:

"Were you always so cool?"

...uh...

i doubt Alan knew the impact of the question at the time, but i couldn't stop running the question through my head the whole night. Why did i think i was so cool? when i was in high school i started developing my "style", based off of bands that i enjoyed at the time; H20, Sick of It All, punk bands. I took a lot of criticism from everywhere, youth group, adults, fellow classmates, for sagging my shorts and wearing longer shorts that some said looked like capri's. i didn't care though, i was comfortable and confident.

and so are most of these kids at the shows, who am i to judge? here i am 27 yrs old going to metal shows with a bunch of 15 yr olds!?

so after a lot of thought i decided to let my criticism go, these kids love these bands and that's what mattered. after that first night i was really able to enjoy the weekend, worshipping with the Glorious Unseen and David Crowder, hardcore "dancing" with August Burns Red and Norma Jean, gettin' low with Big Al, even enjoying the Sunday morning church service at my wife's home church that is a little charismatic (and i've hated on a few times here and there). It was a great weekend, very humbling yet i felt so much better, and honest.

thanks Alan!

Can You Handle It?

so let me first say that i really enjoy being a part of the social-networks; Twitter and Facebook. i love connecting with friends from High School and staying involved with people's lives. i also love having an easy medium to share my thoughts/work/ideas with people i think would be interested in the content.

One of the elements i've noticed about being on Facebook is that you start to understand what type of character your friends have. it used to be that i only saw so-and-so a few times a month/year, maybe an email here and there and whatnot. it was a little difficult to fully judge what kind of person so-and-so was from those infrequent visits, but now with Facebook and multiple status updates, i can really get a feel for my friends personalities.

is this good or bad?

none of my friendships have really changed due to Facebook, but i am starting to think that they might in the future. on the negative side, i've discovered that i have a friend who is on the Debbie Downer level of pessimism. I have a friend who is not clued into the real world. i have a friend who is elite-ist, and they think they're better than everyone else.

I've also been connected to friends from the past who have great qualities, and i've "socialized" with them more than i thought i ever would. But i guess my question is this; can my friends handle the truth? if i told them that i thought they were overly negative would they break-down, would they get super defensive and fire a flaw right back at me? would that end the friendship? should it end the friendship?

I know i have many flaws, no doubt about it, but i don't have too many people in my life that will just come out and tell me whats up. apparently i'm that person for a lot of people, good or bad, i usually let my emotions show, i'm usually easily offended (apparently), and i have said things to my friends that were a little blunt. i still have the same core-group of friends that i've had basically since i got married so maybe that's a good sign!

would you want someone to tell you if they thought you were making terrible financial decisions or would you rather them mind their own business? I feel like i need my friends to let me know when i'm being distant, or offensive, or stupid, or irresponsibly, but i don't know if they ever really do tell me that. i love to critique things; music, sports, stories, whatever and i feel like i would like someone to do that for/to me to let me know where i stand.

what do you think? if one of your friends told you that based on your "tweets" that you're a whiner, how would you take it?

Buy Coffee - Help stop human trafficking

the International Justice Mission has teamed up with Storyville Coffee to help raise money against human trafficking.

The IJM is one of my absolute favorite organizations and Gary Haugen's team does great great work helping those who are oppressed in third world countries.

Storyville Coffee has decided that 100% of the revenue they collect in May will go to IJM! so not only do you get some great coffee, you get to help a great cause. please take a minute and check it out!

Here's my stuff (i ordered on May 1st, coffee roasted on May 4th, sent priority mail which they do with every order, received May 6th.  pretty awesome turnaround time!)

RANT: Spoilers

Okay, so i'm gonna rant a little here.

We've all known about Spoiler Alerts for awhile, and basically it's in bad taste to spoil a movie or whatever for someone else, especially if it's something that doesn't have a set date, for example, a movie. people can go see that movie anytime, whereas a sporting event happens on a certain date or time.

With the popularity of Facebook, Myspace, Twitter, and social networking it is very easy to find out the results of an event, maybe even before you want to. here's a hint, if you don't want to know who won a game, who got voted off American Idol, who won the Presidential Election - DON'T GO ON FACEBOOK.

If you are DVR'ing, Tivo-ing, recording an event, and you don't want to know what happens, YOU need to put out the effort to stay away from places where you might find the result, like the internet, or a phone call from a friend who likes the same event, or co-workers. You can't blame somebody else for ruining it for you.

We've learned this a lot in this day-and-age, with so many reality TV shows like American Idol, Top Chef, Dancing With the Stars, etc that you just cannot go on Facebook or Twitter because most likely one of your friends have updated their status with "I can't believe that Danny Gokey just won Idol, yes!!".

Unfortunately for me, i follow European Football, which takes places right about noon our time, so it takes a lot of effort to make it half a day at work without most of the Internet. then getting home, ignoring my soccer friends, and firing up the DVR about 8p (since Addie could care less about soccer). but its something i have to do if I want to watch something "live".

Do you get it? don't blame me if i post an update with the result of something you're trying to hold out for, especially if my status update starts with ***SPOILER***. sheesh.