Keep It Simple, Stupid

Keep it simple, stupid -- or KISS -- is a pretty self-explanatory phrase. In presentations, the other term often bandied about is "Big, Bold, Beautiful."

In other words, a simple message - even if that's truly SIMPLE - is more effective than a complicated, complex message.

This is a lesson John Kerry has never, ever learned.

And perhaps Terry McAuliffe's new book is the first visual aid of this problem. McAuliffe, you'll recall, was the head of the DNC for years, and is now the Chief of Staff of Hilary for President. He's also the author of a new book which is called...something. And it's about...something. I can't really tell. Because THIS is the cover of this monstrosity:



My reaction to this is...what the fucking fuck is this?

I've never seen so many words on a cover of a book in my life. It's atrocious. It's hard to look at. I have simply no idea what the blurbs on the front say, I just know I don't want any part of it.

Political book covers aren't hard work - here are just a few of the more popular ones these days:



That's not hard, right?

All I can say is, there are a LOT of reasons I don't want Hilary Clinton to be the Democratic nominee...but now I've found a new one. Terry McAuliffe.

All I'm Asking For...

...is an even ten in a 12-month period. Of course, I'm talking about the number of Bengals to be arrested. The latest is Johnathan Joseph, who also spells his first name like an idiot:

Cornerback Johnathan Joseph was arrested early Monday and charged with possession of marijuana. Joseph was the ninth Cincinnati player arrested in the last nine months, but the first since Lewis announced three weeks ago that he was taking a harder line on player misconduct.

Seriously, I like Marvin Lewis a lot...but it's the old West out there in Cincy. If you count it by arrests (since Chris Henry has four all on his own), it's preposterous. Wait, it's preposterous even if you don't do that.

What an embarrassment. In some way, this HAS to be dealt with in the off-season. It will be interesting to see how it is addressed.

Holy F-ing S

Holy. Fucking. Shit.

I know that’s not the most erudite expression, nor full of regional charm like “Oh, my stars!” or “Golly gee!” But it’s still my reaction to yesterday’s Colts-Patriots game.

Holy. Fucking. Shit.

This is a game that at one point felt so rote that I left Matty’s house where I was watching it to go home so I could take care of stuff while absently watching the Patriots yet again walk all over Indianapolis. A part of me sort of enjoyed it, in the same way that watching Marty Schottenheimer collapse last week felt safe and comfortable. There are things you come to expect in life – Schottenheimer blowing it in the playoffs, sun in the summertime, and The Clash being The Only Band That Matters. On that same list was this:

Tony Dungy and Peyton Manning can’t win the big game.

So, imagine my surprise when they not only win the AFC Championship, and they not only do so against Tom Brady and Bill Belichek, but they do so by rallying from being down 18 points. EIGHTEEN! Numerous times, I thought they were choking – none more than Manning telling Jim Sorgi to “be ready” because his thumb was hurting. Who does that? I know it’s the team player in him, but as a (fat, on the couch) fan, I want my QB to never want to leave the game, even if his thumb is achy. And then…he did it. He threw a beautiful pass to Dallas Clark and marched the Colts straight through the Patriots defense.

I’ll be rooting for the Colts in two weeks, not just because it would be nice to see two good guys win a ring, but because the Bears are just a totally uninspiring team. Who on this team do you actually LIKE? Cedric Benson is talented but possibly a mental case; Rex Grossman makes some of the worst passes I’ve ever seen, and I live in the Bay Area where Marc Wilson used to quarterback; Tank Johnson is under house arrest for essentially creating his own drug militia…the list goes on. The Bears are obviously the best team in the weak NFC, but they really shouldn’t win a Super Bowl with this squad. If they do, hats off to them – but I’d rather see it go the other way.

Here then, are a few of the things I won’t be looking forward to in the next two weeks:

• Discussions about the history being made with two African-American head coaches in the Super Bowl


• Interviews with any and all of the Manning family.


• The insane amount of times it will be pointed out that no dome team has ever won a Super Bowl, which is rarely if ever couched with the fact that like 10% of teams at all even play in a dome.


• The fact that there are, in fact, TWO WEEKS before the Super Bowl. Remember when they actually switched back? And the world didn’t stop on its axis? Get it done, people.


• People talking, at all, about the Super Bowl halftime show.


• People talking about Prince, who will sing at the halftime show, as if he’s still someone to be taken seriously as a musician.


• Wardrobe. Malfunction. Sigh.


• Stories about a Super Bowl quarterback persevering through hardship…and they are about Rex Grossman.

Look, I love football. LOVE IT. And I know that when the 49ers were in it, it didn’t matter that the game was hopelessly mismatched in their favor (the beat down of the Broncos was completely enjoyable to me, even if no one else watched the fourth quarter). I will watch the game, for sure…but the hype is not even annoying. It’s boring.

What’s more interesting to me as a football fan is this – who is going to coach the Cowboys next year? Why, exactly, did Bill Parcells cut and run? Does this mean Terrell Owens will be in Dallas? If so, even easier to continue loathing that franchise.

With Cowher and Parcells both “retiring” this year (I’d expect Cowher to ‘decide’ to come back in about a year, and wouldn’t be shocked if Parcells does likewise), the coaching landscape is really changing. And that’s a good thing. There are a whole bunch of young coaches in the league and a fresh set of eyes on things is always good for the future. It’s a great time to be a football fan…even with all the hype of XLI.

Dry Drunk Emperor

In steadying for the State of the Union next week, instead of watching President Bush repeat the same idiotic platitudes of the past, or making faux apologies while he backtracks on every promise he's made about listening to his advisors and generals (See: Iraq Study Group)...it's probably worth getting yourself a copy of TV On The Radio's "Dry Drunk Emperor."

baby boy
dieing under hot desert sun,
watch your colors run.

did you believe the lie they told you,
that christ would lead the way
and in a matter of days
hand us victory?

did you buy the bull they sold you,
that the bullets and the bombs
and all the strong arms
would bring home security?

all eyes upon
dry drunk emperor
gold cross cross jock skull and bones mocking smile,
he's been standing naked for a while!
get him gone, get him gone, get him gone!!
and bring all the thieves to trial.

end their promise
end their dream
watch it turn to steam
rising to the nose of some cross legged god
gog of magog
end times sort of thing.
oh unmentionable disgrace
shield the childrens faces
as all the monied apes
display unimaginably poor taste
in a scramble for mastery.
atta' boy get em with your gun
till mr. mega ton
tells us when we've won
or what we're gonna leave undone.

all eyes upon
dry drunk emperor
gold cross jock skull and bones mocking smile,
he's been naked for a while.
get him gone, get him gone, get him gone!!!
and bring all his thieves to trial.

what if all the fathers and the sons
went marching with their guns
drawn on washington.
that would seal the deal,
show if it was real,
this supposed freedom.

what if all the bleeding hearts
took it on themselves
to make a brand new start.
organs pumpin on their sleeves,
paint murals on the white house
feed the leaders L.S.D
grab your fife and drum,
grab your gold baton
and let's meet on the lawn,
shut down this hypocrisy.

TV Roundup

It’s about time to do a TV roundup, for no other reason than I want to.

SUNDAY

The Amazing Race was one of the most entertaining seasons yet, fully rebounding from the horrorshow of the Family Edition two seasons ago.

The Apprentice: LA The first episode was pretty solid, all things considered. I really had been waning on this show entirely as the last few seasons were pretty boring. But we watched it and while it certainly didn’t need to be 90 minutes, it wasn’t half bad. The new gimmicks don’t seem all that interesting but we shall see. And Ivanka is just fine as an upgrade from Caroline…but where’s George?

Battlestar Galactica - We’ve finished the first two seasons on DVD and a marathon will air on Monday (MLK Day) which means we can catch up. This show is PHENOMENAL, and when I heard people say that, I didn’t listen. It took until maybe ten people had mentioned it that I gave it a chance. It’s funny, dark, compelling…and the acting is universally great.

MONDAY

24 -- It would be embarrassing to admit how excited I am about Season 6 starting up this weekend. Seriously, it’s pathetic.

How I Met Your Mother -- This show is genuinely funny, and generally good for a few out loud laughs, which is more than I can say about most other ‘comedies’ on TV. The next time I get sick, I’ll have to remember that I’m not actually sick, my nose is just full of awesome.

Heroes -- Once I got into this show, it’s been very fun. The show seems to know where it’s going, and it’s just cheesy enough to be fun and still genuinely interesting. Still not sold on the stripper with super strength story, but everyone else is pretty fun to watch.

Studio 60 on the Sunset Strip -- This show is very frustrating for me. On the one hand, I do like it, and there are very clever things about it. Matthew Perry, Bradley Whitford, Steven Weber and Amanda Peet are all great, seriously. But the show is just so maniacally preachy, so sanctimonious that it’s annoying. And I actually agree with their side of the argument. If the show could actually be about a comedy show, it could actually get great.

TUESDAY


Veronica Mars - Just a thoroughly enjoyable show that you have to watch to appreciate. It’s well written, funny and compelling and the actors are good across the board.

WEDNESDAY

Friday Night Lights -- I’ve only seen a few episodes of this but each and every one is fantastic, and now I finally have a Season Pass set up. It’s incredibly well written, seemingly very honest and the acting and direction are about as good as it gets. Just a great, great show.

America’s Next Top Model -- I’ve almost completely lost interest. Next season is up in the air for me.

Beauty and The Geek -- On the other hand, this show is great. The contestants don’t seem quite as hopeless this season, but the first episode was great and it seems like the premise is holding up.

Lost -- Very excited that the show will restart with a lot of fresh episodes, but that first part of the season was very iffy for me. It’s time to start actually getting a few answers – just a few.


Top Chef -- Still a very good show, I can’t quite figure out why it’s not ON more often. And I do take a smidge of offense that they moved it from San Francisco. [sniff] It’s a great second season of this show – I’m assuming no one but Sam or Cliff can actually win this, but it will still be fun to watch.

THURSDAY
Survivor -- Just worth reiterating that this past season was one of the best of all time. Well done.

The Office -- This show gets better every episode. For my money, there’s nothing funnier than Ed Helms singing “The Rainbow Connection” in Pig Latin on the banjo.

Ugly Betty - I haven’t watched it all that often, but when I’ve seen it, it’s actually pretty entertaining and an interesting kind of show you don’t really see. Not totally my thing but I get why it could be for folks.

30 Rock - It does generally make me laugh…about once a show. That’s what keeps it on the TiVo, mainly due to Alec Baldwin. I still don’t “get” Tracy Morgan.

Scrubs -- I just started watching this, and thought the recent episodes were amusing enough to watch some reruns – which I actually quite enjoyed. The newer ones aren’t as good – for some reason, it seems that Zach Braff’s voice has changed for the worse – but it’s a good show.

FRIDAY and SATURDAY
Um, nothing.

Yeah, I watch too much TV but there really is a lot of good stuff on these days.

The Sports Guy

As almost any of my friends know, I'm a huge fan of Bill Simmons, who writes as The Sports Guy for ESPN. (Nice brand, by the way...THE Sports Guy.) He's funny, grew up watching the same bad TV and movies as I did, watches a lot of the same things I watch now and is obviously a huge sports fan. He's funny and knowledgeable and seemingly not much of a douche, and that's a rare combination.

I think, if anything, this sums up what's good about him. In today's ESPN chat, this exchange occured:

Alex (St. Louis): How could you hate Paul O'Neill? In a day and age where all people want is money, he played team ball with passion.

SportsNation Bill Simmons: (12:58 PM ET ) Because he was a dick?

Classic. I don't even dislike O'Neill, except reflexively since every Yankees fan worships him and Yankees fans generally suck.

Thoughts on a Friday

You want frustrating? How about this -- last night at about 8:50 PM, while watching Wednesday’s excellent episode of Top Chef -- excellent not just because of the lovely Ms. Lakshmi -- our TiVo sort of shorted out. It’s happened once before that we know about and immediately started rebooting. Annoying, to be sure – but much, much moreso when we realized that we were losing minutes (minutes!) from the episode of The Office, which was being taped right then.

And then, as we watched it…we realized it was worse than that, because we were going to miss the climatic moment(s) of the episode. Today, I read on two separate websites about how “the scene” with Jan and Michael was amazing, as well as the scene with Dwight and Pam.

Didn’t see them. Missed them entirely. Sigh.

We think the reason the TiVo shorted out was that our power strip for the TV doesn’t seem to have a surge protector, and I do hope that’s the reason. Sort of. Because if – and I stress, this is purely hypothetical – if the TiVo is dead, there’s no reason we wouldn’t replace it with a Series 2. 80 hours instead of 35? (Or…gasp…180 hours? My god.) Scheduling recordings from the web – e.g., work?


Now…ideally, the next box we buy will be a combination DVR with a DVD burner. Naturally, if we had 180 hours, it’s less necessary to have that option since we could just store it – and also, the Series 2 seemingly comes with the ability to “easily transfer shows to your laptop…” which I assume means we could burn it to a DVD from that device.

ANYHOW…Top Chef rules, and it was great to see that it’s been renewed for a third season. No reason for that show not to be a staple – it could get old, but the personalities they keep getting make it compelling stuff. Marcel is a turd, but as Jace at Televisionary pointed out, he certainly does keep his calm. He obviously is completely irritating, but it’s also just as obvious that everyone else on the show responds to him by acting like a five year-old. Completely disappointed with Ilan, who aside from looking disturbingly like Ted from Queer Eye (who again was on the show, and again no one said this on camera) acted juvenile and produced inferior product. At this point, it looks like Sam and Cliff are the only two candidates who can both cook and command enough respect to run a kitchen.

In suprising news, the Raiders fired Art Shell – it’s not suprising because of his record and ability, as Shell’s coaching performance this season is probably a strong candidate for “Worst. Coaching. Ever.” as the comic book guy from the Simpsons would say. But what it really says is that Al Davis still doesn’t get how little talented coaches want to come to Oakland, because working for Davis is a joke. I suspect that the next coach will either be another bad retread or a youngster who otherwise wouldn’t get a job for five-plus years.

It certainly won’t be Bill Cowher, who is now available after resigning from the Steelers. After winning a Super Bowl in 2005, he certainly has the pedigree to go with his reputation as one of the great coaches. I’m of mixed mind about Cowher – anyone who sticks with a guy like Kordell Stewart as long as he did doesn’t get off scot free – but naturally I recognize he’s a great coach. If he comes back to the NFL, I think it will be somewhere where he gets paid gigantic sums of cash and gets to run everything. In any event, Pittsburgh should be interesting next season.

NFL playoffs start this weekend and it should be great. Can’t wait!

Now that's just funny

You have to love the gumption of someone like this:

The party Sen. Joe Lieberman created to mount his independent re-election campaign has been seized by one of his critics, and the secretary of state's office said Wednesday that it won't challenge the takeover.

After the senator's Nov. 7 victory under the Connecticut for Lieberman Party banner, John Orman switched his party affiliation from Democrat to Connecticut for Lieberman and voted himself chairman.

Orman, a political science professor who ran briefly against Lieberman last year, said only critics, bloggers and anyone named Lieberman can join the party, which he said would be a watchdog of the senator's actions.

Speaking of gumption, I'd be remiss to not lose a little portion of my mind over the new talking point that DEMOCRATS need to be more bi-partisan, and not stuff bills with pork. That's the essential point of an Op/Ed written by President Bush (which is a bizarre sentence to write), arguing that "...exhorted Congress to 'end the dead of night process' of quietly tucking expensive pet projects into spending bills."

Sigh.

Continuing, "If the Congress chooses to pass bills that are simply political statements, they will have chosen stalemate," Bush wrote. "If a different approach is taken, the next two years can be fruitful ones for our nation. We can show the American people that Republicans and Democrats can come together to find ways to help make America a more secure, prosperous and hopeful society."

Of course, this is maddening because he's talking about actions the Republicans took every single day while they were in power, and never once did President Bush complain. Why should he have? It served his purpose then. No matter then that the Democrats were pushed to the side, arms twisted and opinions ignored -- because then, it was good for the White House.

Now, all of a sudden, the White House sees that working WITH the other party is the only way they can have a voice. What's sad is that this gets reported on as if it's news, and not blatant, pathetic hypocrisy.

Items of Interest

Just a few things I've noticed that I thought were worth noting...

The hypocrisy of sports writers

Bill Simmons, always the best sportswriter out there (or at least one of them), wrote a compelling article this morning about how awful the Hall of Fame voting is going to be now that folks like Mark McGwire are eligible. The sanctimonious hypocrisy of sportswriters everywhere will be monumental, and certainly not fun to watch:

These people have now become the self-proclaimed moral arbiters of baseball, and they need you to know that Big Mac cheated, disgraced the game, deceived the public, tainted the record books and pushed the sport into a spiritual free fall. They rush to tell you that they can't vote for McGwire because their conscience won't allow it. San Jose Mercury News columnist Ann Killion wrote that she can't vote for McGwire because she wouldn't be able to explain it to her kids.
She concluded her column with this: "All I can do is cast my own vote judiciously. And be able to look my kids in the eyes when I do it."
Ann, I'm glad you're such a thoughtful mom. Seriously, that's great. But a vote for McGwire isn't exactly an endorsement of drug use. And anyway, part of our country's problem is the shortsighted way we "protect" our kids from life's harsh realities. Janet Jackson's nipple slip was such a traumatic moment for Americans that some live sporting events now run on tape-delay, and Howard Stern fled to SIRIUS to escape the clutches of the increasingly fascistic FCC. Meanwhile, any kid can glimpse Britney's crotch if he or she is even remotely familiar with Google, and anyone can be slandered anonymously on a blog or message board.
Look, our country is screwed up. Whether we like it or not, people will always gamble, use illegal drugs, drink and drive, cheat on their spouses, cheat on tests, lie and steal, ditch their families, swear and fight, use performance-enhancing drugs. Banishing Mark McGwire from Cooperstown isn't going to make any of that go away. Let's stop pretending that the Baseball Hall of Fame is a real-life fantasy world -- a place where we celebrate only the people and events we can all unanimously agree deserve to be celebrated -- and transform it into an institution that reflects both the good and bad of the sport. Wait -- wasn't that Cooperstown's mission all along? Shouldn't it be a place where someone who knows nothing about baseball can learn about its rich history? Isn't it a museum, after all?

Touche.

Short Timers Disease

I’ll admit that when I’ve left jobs in the past, I’ve reached a certain point where I just don’t take as much care with my remaining work at the old job. It isn’t a conscious thing, but there is some element of “let’s leave it for the next guy.” Again, not boasting about this – it’s not really very good behavior, but it’s the truth.
And I found the following comment in Dan Froomkin’s White House Briefing particularly telling in this context. It is in regards to President Bush’s ‘decision’ to escalate in Iraq, despite the fact that the majority of the public and Congress is against that. Why would Bush do this, Froomkin wondered? A reader possibly provided the answer:

“I fully expect for him to continue to assert that we can have success in Iraq, in spite of any evidence to the contrary, until the day he leaves office. He will stall, patch things together, anything to avoid the appearance of an acknowledgment of failure. He knows that Iraq is a failure, but if he leaves office still maintaining that we can 'win' or 'succeed' there then history will not judge him so harshly.
Obviously we will have to change course, but he's not going to be the guy to do it. He will then maintain that someone else 'lost' Iraq because they didn't have the courage and determination to stick it out. As with everything in his life, from his National Guard service to his serial failures in business and life in general, it's all about him - not the country, not the job, not our reputation in the world or our hard won and universally admired heritage of concern for basic human rights. He's not trying to save this country or Iraq, he's trying to save himself and his 'place in history'. He's completely wrong of course, but given his history of privilege and never having to suffer the consequences of his long record of bad decisions, it does kind of make sense.
"We assume that, like most Presidents, he connects his self-image with actual success or failure in the real world. I increasingly am drawn to the conclusion that, regardless of the facts on the ground, he will consider himself a success as long as he never admits that his ill-fated adventure in Iraq can't succeed."

There are probably a few things I would have said differently, but I think the sentiment is right. Bush is incredibly selfish and is “leading” our war effort solely in a way that frames his own legacy, steadfastly refusing to believe the facts on the ground if they differ from what he wants the truth to be. That’s 3,003 dead U.S. soliders and countless other casualties, both American and otherwise, that have gone to soothe W’s ego. Fantastic world we live in.

Delicious Irony

One of the most frustrating things about the past few years, where the Republicans dominated all of Congress, was their bullying of Democrats - their refusal to caucus, their insistence on controlling all pieces of legislation, etc. Essentially, the Democrats in Congress were just seat fillers and relatively inconsequential.

So it's particularly amusing to hear about three House Republicans whining about the new face of Congress. From The Washington Monthly, Reps. Patrick McHenry (R-NC), Eric Cantor (R-VA) and Tom Price (R-GA)have 'introduced' a Minority Bill of Rights, with the intent of establishing some ground rules to make sure that their voice is heard in Congress.

The irony, of course, is that they didn't write this measure - Nancy Pelosi did, and it was not only not passed, the Republicans refused to even acknowledge it.

The measure has some good points, and certainly bi-partisanship should return to form...but it takes some relatively gigantic stones to suggest this when (McHenry in particular) it was laughed out of Congress when the shoes were on the other foot. The hypocrisy here is mind bogglingly stunning.

Part of me hopes that Pelosi and company reject it out of hand, while practically speaking it probably makes good sense. I wish that Republicans would learn that lesson for the next time they run Congress, but somehow I doubt it. And therefore, why SHOULD the Democrats "play fair?" This kind of game theory approach to politics should prove interesting over the next few years, to be sure.

Pick 'Em Wrapup

What an unbelievable end to the regular season – for our Pick ‘Em, it was no less so. Seth Ruthen completed a back-to-back win with 12 wins this week. It was enough to move him into fifth place…which is right out of the money.

And for the second year in a row, we have a tie at the top of the standings! Mark Underwood’s Blitzburgh, the leader for the last few weeks, had some good but not great performances and Lee Hawk’s Saints and Todd Shriber’s Team T moved up the standings. Mark and Lee share 1st, while Todd stands alone in third place. Bryan Dorfler’s Van Buren Killers take fourth place – having finished just two points out of first, Bryan has to be beating himself up a little about his Week 16 performance of just six correct picks. (And if you don’t know Bryan, just trust me on this – he’s apoplectic about it.)

In the “real” NFL, what could have been an even more exciting Sunday was mitigated somewhat by Tiki Barber and the Giants on Saturday night. I saw what Tiki did, I know they are in the playoffs…and I just can’t wait to bet against them. What a joke that team is – Eli Manning is probably no better than Alex Smith right now, and while I like Smith, I haven’t bought his jersey yet. The rest of the team puts the funk in dysfunction, and while Tiki is great and can obviously carry the team, the playoffs are the playoffs.

But by getting in, it sealed up the NFC Playoff teams – Chicago, New Orleans, Dallas, Seattle, Philly and the Giants. The NFC East is obviously over-represented here, and while I could see the Eagles going on a crazy streak without Donovan McNabb, they are just way too fragile here. Chicago looks so horrible on offense and their defense has become suspect – the NFC is definitely up for the New Orleans Saints taking if they want it.

In the AFC, things were more unsure – San Diego, Baltimore, Indy and New England were all in (and who among us thinks any of those NFC teams can beat any of the above consistently?), and on Sunday, the Jets moved to 10-6 to earn a slot. Similarly, the Chiefs won which gave them a spot if the Broncos lost to the 49ers.

And yes, they did. That was a great game, of which I’m obviously biased. When a team gets eliminated from the playoffs, they can either lie down or try to play with respect and make other teams earn it. I know that Denver coach Mike Shanahan said publicly that he wanted KC to win to force Denver to get in the playoffs the right way – think he still thinks that? Think he (and the Denver media) aren’t maybe wondering if Jake Plummer would have got them one more regular season win, and a playoff seed?

That game was also remarkable for another reason – in a bad way. Tony Siragusa was in the booth with two other guys (which, yes, makes it awfully cramped). In the middle of an utterly useless diatribe on Frank Gore (your NFC rushing leader), he just…stopped talking. The other two announcers gave him some room, but finally one jumped in and said, “Yes, Tony? You were saying?” He then said, “Hold on, someone’s talking in my ear.” Which, of course, happens all the time if you are a professional announcer. Just awful. Awful, awful, awful.

Which is the same I could say about Dick Clark last night. I know he’s old and possibly had a stroke or something – his voice is insanely wobbly and genuinely hard to listen to. Not sure what it was like anywhere but the West Coast, but he not only sounded like the Crypt Keeper, he GOT THE COUNTDOWN WRONG. He was just too slow for it, and kind of made up for it at the actual moment it became 2007, but seriously…if I could pick an emotion to count down the end of the year with, it wouldn’t be “cringed embarrassment.” Let the guy retire on a big ranch with ponies and whatnot. That was just wrong.

So folks, here’s the payouts that I will owe folks:

Seth Ruthen - $50 for this week’s win.
Bryan Dorfler - $50 for fourth place.
Todd Shriber - $110 for third place
Lee and Mark - $495 apiece, for second and first place combined.

All those checks have been sent, with the exception of Lee – whose email I don’t have. (The one on the Pick ‘Em site doesn’t work.) So anyone who knows Lee, please send me his valid email.

So that’s a lot of coin, ain’t it? However, and I know that I do this every year – I think I learned something from Michael Lang. In his league, it’s heavily weighted to weekly payouts – and having won a week there this year (yes, it’s true), I can say that it’s a lot more fulfilling to get a good payout, especially knowing that the end of the year thing isn’t always in sight. So I’ll be changing that for next year (really! I promise!)

In the meantime, since my pre-season prediction of Denver-Carolina in the Super Bowl isn’t going to happen, I’m going to take the easy route here and say San Diego-New Orleans, with the Chargers winning it all. Yep, that’s predictable which means it won’t happen…but that’s the way I rock it.

Happy New Year!