Question 1: Did anyone else see some of the CRAZY finishes this past week? WOW! I have never been SO happy and SO ticked off within a matter of minutes in my life. If any one saw the Bears vs. Falcons game then you will understand exactly what I am talking about. The Bears scored a (what appeared at the time to be a winning)touchdown with just 11 seconds left. and then proceeded to allow the Falcons to throw a 22 yard pass to set up a game winning field goal. I could not believe it. I was absolutely stunned! The funny thing is that I was at the Seattle Seahawks game with a buddy of mine and we saw the Bears score the TD on one of the stadiums TVs. As we walked away from that TV to go and get some food from the concessions I turned to him and said how happy that made me and that I wasn't going to be upset the rest of the game. Little did I know how wrong I was. In line waiting for food I looked up at another TV screen and Fox had just cut back to the Bears game (which I thought was over by now) and to my amazement was showing the Falcons lining up for a FIELD GOAL! I just stared in disbelief. My buddy could only laugh. Needless to say I didn't have much fun the rest of the game.

Question 2: What happened in DC on Sunday? So I was all prepared to come on today and eat humble pie and apologize for how wrong I was about the Redskins this season. And then they go out and do the impossible! (or not so impossible if you believed me when I said they weren't that good) They lost to the RAMS!!! The Rams are horrible! Now I am willing to admit, that maybe the Skins are a better team then I gave them credit for, but they are not the GREAT team that everyone wanted to anoint them. The truth about them is somewhere in the middle. They are a decent team that has overachieved to start the season.  The Giants are the class of the league in my opinion. I know I know, "Jon they got beat soundly on Monday by the Browns." Yes they got beat, but by a pretty good team in my opinion. I still feel that the Giants are the best team right now, and they are allowed a down game or two. And until the AFC decides to step up and return to it's superior form, I am going with the Giants.

Peace I'm Out!  I have to go take a nap!

The most amazing thing happen to me this past weekend! I am talking HUGE!!! Bigger then me getting a job, bigger then my recent engagement, bigger then...ok I ran out of things to compare it to but... I watched my team (yes the Bears for all of you that don't know) beat the Colts on Sunday night! (I was just kidding about it being bigger then my engagement, love you sweetheart:) The amazing part of it was that I was expecting them to get beat by at least 14 points. I was just kind of hoping that they would keep it interesting through halftime. Not to mention the fact that I have both Peyton Manning and Reggie Wayne on my fantasy football team. But the Bears really surprised me, they played like they actually had a clue. After their abysmal 2007 season my expectations were very low for this year. But I guess the Bears win was just par for the course, when you look at the rest of week 1 in the NFL.

Where to begin? It was a first week full of upsets, injuries, and crazy finishes. Lets be honest, after that crapper of a season opening last Thursday night between the Giants and Redskins I was not really to enthused. By the way Chris, Jim Zorn... Get a clue man! I know you are a first year coach, and that you have a relatively young QB to work with, but your down by a lot, you have all three timeouts, and your handing the ball off in the fourth quarter instead of trying to make things happen through the air! Inexperience is one thing, straight up stupidity is a whole other thing. And on Thursday night Jim Zorn looked STUPID! (oh I should mention, it is not like I actually believed the Redskins had a chance of winning, or that they will be any good this year. Just because you add an over the hill defensive lineman who would much rather be Dancing With the Stars and making Hollywood movies, does not mean you have improved much over last year. The Sean Taylor emotional high is over, that may have carried them into the playoffs last year, but it will do them no good this year)

Then there is the New England Patriots. All I can think of is how all of football fan nation (excluding Patriots fans) let out a small smirk this week when they heard that the Amazing Tom Brady would be out the rest of the season with a torn up knee. AND NO THE PLAY HE GOT HURT ON WAS NOT DIRTY!!! IT IS FOOTBALL PEOPLE!!! Players get hurt, even super star ones like Brady! And Randy Moss (who by the way is also on my fantasy team, which kind of makes me ticked that Brady won't be throwing to him this season) just shut up! You admitted to the media that you were RUNNING DOWN FIELD when Brady got hurt, then with your next breathe you say "but from what I saw when it happened the play was dirty." HUH??!! Hang on, let me get this straight Mr. Moss. You are telling me that as you were RUNNING DOWN FIELD (eyes pointed in front of you I would imagine) you saw the "dirty" play? I must be crazy but HOW IS THAT POSSIBLE!!!!!!!!!!??????? Unless you have two eyeballs that the rest of us mortals do not have, you are feeding us a load of GARBAGE! Think before you speak my friend, think before you speak.

OK, who is next for this weeks firing line... "Paging MR. Young. Paging Mr. Vince Young" That's right one Vincent Young, QB of the mighty Titans decides to go AWOL this week and make his family report him as missing, at which point the police must get involved. All of this because Young decides he can't handle the pressures of a little booing from the home town fans. The guy stunk up the joint on Sunday and he was getting booed, HE DESERVED TO BE BOOED! Suck it up and take it like a man. So you got booed, and so you hurt your knee, you are a PROFESSIONAL ATHLETE, you get paid millions to play a contact sport! Go rehab the knee and get back out there. I do not need to be reading about how your confidence is shot and you are not committed to football any more because you can't handle the pressure. My goodness! Give me a break.

Peace I'm Out!

It is almost unbelievable that we are already getting ready for a brand new football season. But since training camps are opening up all around the country this week it is time to get back in the swing of things. My first thoughts for the preseason have to do with our friend Bret Favre. BRET ARE YOU SERIOUS!!!!????? You decide to retire, hold a press conference at which you start CRYING and say all this stuff about how you don't have the desire anymore and you have had enough, and now you are trying to force the Packers into releasing you so that you can play for another team! As a Bears fan I have always said that even though I hate the Packers I respected Bret Farve. But all of that has changed after the last couple of weeks. The Packers should under no circumstances give into Bret. He retired, they moved on, and they are not obligated to let him play for another team. If he really wants to play still then he will report to Packers camp and suit up as the back up to Aaron Rodgers. It is as simple as that. Anytime a player thinks he can hold a franchise hostage for a trade or more money I will stand behind the team.

The Packers cannot be held responsible for moving on once a player decides he no longer wants to play. So for them to try and bend over backwards just to make sure Bret it happy makes no sense. Sure he is probably one of the greatest QB's in NFL history, certainly the greatest Packer QB of all time, which is why they would be nuts just to let him go and play for another team. ESPECIALLY A TEAM IN THEIR OWN DIVISION!!! He has the audacity to believe they would ever allow him to be released and play for the Minnesota Vikings!  Bret Wake UP, you need to just go away and enjoy retirement, let the Packers retire your jersey and make your way to the local golf course.

Peace I'm Out!

It has been a REALLY long time since I last chatted with you all! Since the last time a lot has changed in my life. Let's see... Since the last article I have graduated from college, got hired for the job that I really wanted (in my area of study no less! I guess that is really hard for a lot of grads), said goodbye to all my friends and family, and moved out to Seattle, WA. WOW, just saying all that makes my head spin! But the truth is I love it out here. Seattle (the whole region for that matter) is beautiful, it is kind of a mix between Big City USA and Scenic Country.

Now I have never been married so please understand where I am coming from with this next comment: The greatest day of my life, certainly the most exciting and fulfilling, would have had to be graduation day. What a relief and relaxing day that was! I can not
tell you how sweet it was to sit through the very long, very boring, and unseasonably very cold ceremony four weeks ago. The whole time all I could think about was, "Wow, it's really over!" You spend all those years in school 12, 14, 16, for some 18+ years (if you choose to do graduate work) all the while it never seems like it is going to end. Rarely do you ever see the light at the end of the educational tunnel until you are right upon it. For me it was as if I had come to an end of a really long and at times nearly impossible marathon on May 3rd, and I could not have felt better about that fact.

Peace I'm Out!

So I was sitting at my desk playing some Super Snake on my computer when I realized, "I should probably right an update!" Then I was struck with another thought, "Am I really sitting here playing a simple computer game on Facebook?" For the 2 or 3 of you that have never heard of Facebook, WAKE UP!!!!!!! For the rest of you, what have our lives become when it is so much easier and more convenient to to keep in touch with friends and family through a social-networking website!? I mean I can understand its value when it comes to staying connected to people you haven't seen in a while or friends that you somehow feel out of touch with several years ago, but my goodness, I feel like I talk to my family and close friends more on-line then I do face to face or over the phone! And don't even get me started on text messaging!!! I am the biggest culprit of this, my dad and I seem to text more then we do talk, somehow it just seems easier that way, more convenient, but a whole lot more impersonal. It makes me laugh every time I think of my dad (who I love, don't misunderstand) typing away on his cell phone dozens of messages each day to me and my siblings. I thought texting was a generational thing!!! And by that I mean a young peoples generation, not intended for a 50+ crowd, I was wrong.

But this just goes to prove my point, social-networking through sites such as Facebook, Myspace, Friendster, ect., and texting have become the way of communication for all generations these days.  While the thought of your parents (or even you grandparents for that matter) using such ways of communication may seem strange, get used to it! WE ALL DO IT NOW! And that's not all, not only have we become a Facebook nation, but have you noticed how even with that we take short cuts. OK tell me, when did "I love you" become "I luv u", or "I'll talk to you later" become "ttl". Again I am just as guilty as the next person, my vocabulary as become as scrambled as anyones. I use new words like be4, lol, haha, and :) (to express my happiness). In closing here is my plea to all you Facebookers and texters out there: If you are not going to take the time to pick up the phone and talk to me or come visit me, at least TALK TO ME IN ENGLISH, IN GRAMMATICALLY CORRECT SENTENCES AND WITH REAL WORDS.lol  C U all next week, ttl!:)

Peace I'm Out!

YES that's correct, I said "after I graduate!" The amazing part of it is that it seems as if just last year I was getting excited over the thought of graduating from high school! Now five years later for the first time in my life I am not making plans for another year of schooling, or for what part time summer job I can get to save some cash for the fall semester. I'm sure many of you are going through the same things and are in the same place in your lives as I am, about to graduate, start a career, or are just going through some very major/tough transitions in life.

The one bit of advice or encouragement that I can offer (or my two cents if you will) is that through it all it is so important to have family and those who care about you and support you as you go through transition. To me the best thing about all these changes I am preparing for is that I have my families support. I have been asked several times in these past few weeks, "What does your family think about you moving away and getting the job?" And the thing is that I do not even have to hesitate with my answer. I can answer sincerely that they are completely supportive, and have my back 100%. And when I think about it, that is a major reason why when I am asked whether or not I am scared or nervous about the transition my life is in, I can say "No, not really." I don't have time to be nervous, I am way too excited, and a big reason for that is because I know my family loves me and is just as excited for me as I am. They share in my successes just as they have shared in my failures, struggles, hurts, and losses. And for that I am grateful.

While I know that I will look back on my college days with nothing but gratitude for the amazing experiences and great people I now call friends, I am very excited to see where this Time of Transition will ultimately lead me, and to begin to experience what the future holds for me.

Peace I'm Out!

Here we are it's only February 29 and already I can't stand any of the candidates for the presidency. In today's 24/7 world, where we have around the clock news coverage, CNN, Fox News, and dozens of other news sources, it is almost impossible to not suffer from political overload. Do we really need to hear from Barack, Hilary, and McCain every single day? Does their every single move and action need to be chronicled? If this is how I feel now can you imagine what it will be like in June or July when we are still 3 or 4 months away from the general election. Do me a favor and wake me up after the national party conventions, when we actually know which two candidates will be fighting it out.

Peace I'm Out!

Peace I'm Out!
(Rosemary Flores R.I.P. I love you mom)

Ladies and Gentlemen, for the thousands in attendance, and the millions reading around the world, LETS GET READY TO RUMBLE!!!!!! It's here! The single largest, most hyped, most anticipated, most watched, highest grossing American sporting event each year! Yup, you guessed correctly, it's the Super Bowl. Wow, I have really enjoyed this playoff season more then most past years. There have been some exciting games, intriguing match ups and stunning defeats. The Patriots have done exactly as they were expected to do, while the New York Giants continue to surprise and are on an improbable ride.

Now let me be clear, I had the Giants beating the Packers this past Sunday (obviously as a Bears fan anytime I can see the Packers lose is alright with me) but that doesn't mean I wouldn't have minded seeing a Patriots v. Packers title game. I can't stand the Packers but I do respect Bret Favre and what he has been able to accomplish (listen my team rarely is able to go through a single season with just one starting QB, this clown has not missed a start in over 13 YEARS!!!!!) I was reading somewhere that if the Packers had won, and were facing off against the Patriots it would have been the highest rated televised sporting event in history.

Obviously people will tune into just to see if the Patriots can seal the deal, but on top of that you would have had millions of others tune in just to see if Favre could have pulled off the improbable and have gone out as a champion. All that being said I am not shedding any tears for the NFL, the game they have been "forced" to settle for instead is not to shabby at all. Nothing like being stuck with having the team from the largest TV market in the country playing for the title! Let's just say that anyway it would have turned out this last Sunday would not have been terribly bad for the league or its fans. All the potential match ups had plenty of intrigue and great story lines built in.

Just imagine:
- Chargers v. Giants: Young Eli faces off against the team he spurned and demanded to be traded from on draft day.

- Chargers v. Packers: The old guy looking for his second title against a Chargers team stacked with young exciting players.

But alas here we are, one week away from the game getting ready to watch the showdown between the 18-0 Patriots and the over achieving Giants led by a suddenly clutch Eli Manning. I can't wait and am looking forward to a great game. More on the match up in Part 2 next Friday.