ZuDfunck

Mike Singletary Will Drop His Pants To Win

Who Wouldn't? Give 'em Hell Mike! I wouldn't mess with that dude, I remember his playing days and he was one mean...

NFL Announcing Schedule Week 9

Here's your maps and schedule thanks to the The 506 & Awful Announcing

NBC Sunday Night Football: New England at Indianapolis
ESPN Monday Night Football: Pittsburgh at Washington (Mike Tirico, Ron Jaworski, Tony Kornheiser)

FOX 1pm:

RED: Green Bay @ Tennessee - Kenny Albert, Daryl Johnston, Tony Siragusa
BLUE: Detroit @ Chicago - Sam Rosen, Tim Ryan
GREEN: Arizona @ St. Louis - Thom Brennaman, Brian Billick
ORANGE: Tampa Bay @ Kansas City - Ron Pitts, Tony Boselli

FOX 4pm:

RED: Dallas @ NY Giants - Joe Buck, Troy Aikman
BLUE: Philadelphia @ Seattle - Dick Stockton, Brian Baldinger
GREEN: Atlanta @ Oakland - Matt Vasgersian, J.C. Pearson

CBS:

RED: NY Jets @ Buffalo (1pm) - Jim Nantz, Phil Simms
GREEN: Houston @ Minnesota (1pm) - Dick Enberg, Randy Cross
ORANGE: Baltimore @ Cleveland (1pm) - Kevin Harlan, Rich Gannon
YELLOW: Jacksonville @ Cincinnati (1pm) - Gus Johnson, Steve Tasker

BLUE: Miami @ Denver (4pm) - Greg Gumbel, Dan Dierdorf

Sports Links for Sports Blogs

» Awful Announcing

» Boston Sports Media Watch

» Deadspin

» Newsday's Neil Best

» Sports Media Watch

» The Big Lead

» The Hockeycaster

» Darren Rovell

» Tom Hoffarth / Los Angeles Daily News

» Fang's Bites

ZuD relies on these Blogs to keep him Worthy

Blogs Put A Spin on Boomer Esiason Vs. Troy Aikman

Esiason to Aikman: "I do apologize" 3:30 PM Wed, Oct 29, 2008 Barry Horn

I won't even try to put my own spin on this. Newsday's Watchdog blog, recently named one of the most influential in all of blogdom, got the inside scoop on the sitdown between Troy Aikman and Boomer Esiason. The rest of the world will have to wait until 10 p.m. Dallas time for the big news.

Here's what Neil Best is reporting.

Peace for our time! Troy Aikman taped Boomer Esiason's show this afternoon - it debuts at 11 p.m. Wednesday on MSG - and they opened with Boomer apologizing for the recent unpleasantness between the two.

To review: Esiason had accused the Fox analyst of leaning the Cowboys' way during a recent Pokes-Cardinals game. (Note to Neil: Nobody in these parts refers to the 'Boys as the Pokes!)

Here was the opening exchange:

Boomer: "All right, joining us now is my new bias, I mean best friend, Troy Aikman from Dallas. First let me say this publicly Troy, in front of everybody: I do apologize for our little tiff about two weeks ago. I'm sure your week has been a little calmer than it was two weeks ago."

Aikman: "Yeah, you know it was a bit calmer and hey, I appreciate it. We both know we've been in the business long enough, we say things we regret, maybe wish we hadn't have. I will tell you though, for a couple of old, washed-up, has-been quarterbacks, it was kind of nice being back in the headlines again."

Boomer: "Yeah, it made us relevant, for all the wrong reasons, though."

Esiason And Aikman Kiss And Make Up

Troy Aikman made an appearance on Boomer Esiason's MSG show last night and the two former QBs wasted no time in addressing the topic of their feud over the past few weeks. Via Barry Horn at the Dallas Morning News....

Well isn't that special? See how boring things are when people are nice to each other??? Get back to talking trash and the accusations you two! Seriously though, I'm surprised that Aikman isn't holding a bit of a grudge because in the broadcasting world, the homerism claim is about as serious as it gets. He's a bigger man than I.

I'll also try and find the video at some point to see if there was actual kissing. Glad that's over....I can finally get some sleep.

In ZuD's humble opinion Boomer is a Jerk and Troy is one of the best 'analyzer' on TV, even he works for Rupert...

No Nicotine Day One or NoNic1 for Short

Which is to say No Nicotine
Which is to say I will be more crazy than a hoot owl by the time Noon comes round!
But it is what I need to do to save myself some coin
Save myself from the World
How can you blame the world for getting addicted to Nicotine?
When I was growing up that's all I saw was cigarettes
In everyone's mouth, a Cigarette
I just followed what I thought was the course for a strapping young stud

I Smoked

Fast forward to 1996 after a heart cath, you smoke again you'll need a heart bypass!
OK I don't want one of those and so far I haven't had to have one.

But what I do have is a jones for anything with Nicotine in it
Gum, Patch, Nose Spray, Lozenge
If it has Nicotine in it, I like it and so that what this day is about

The first day I wont do any of that stuff.
I'll check back with you later in the day to let you know what is up,

Why Classified Ads in Newspapers Don't Work

See if you can find my ad for clicks in today's Metro Times?
Took me quite some time after finding this page...
It's Blogads for me, Old school no workie!

Global Financial Crisis may hit Hardest Outside U.S.

WTF!

It's a measure of the global economy's current frailty that the prospect of a financial meltdown in nuclear-armed Pakistan is almost getting lost amid an ever-lengthening list of countries in trouble.

In Europe, Hungary and Ukraine require multibillion-dollar International Monetary Fund rescues while Standard & Poor's lowers neighbor Romania's credit rating to junk status. Argentina's government is trying to close a financial gap by putting private pension funds under government control. And Asian nations with unsustainable finances such as Vietnam and the Philippines are braced for harder times.

Like tremors before an earthquake, these financial ills hint at the tangible economic toll to come in lost jobs, income and factory orders. "What has not even started is the effect on the real economy. … The situation is going to get very, very dire," says Marino Valensise, chief investment officer for Baring Asset Management in London. Source

Its getting so, you hate to read the daily news sites anymore...

I know its bad, but DAMN!

Kwame Kilpatrick Please Call Isiah Thomas On Your Pay Phone

Here's an Idea, Compare Notes and enter into a Pact and save us all, a lot of Aggravation...

Seismic Change in Politics and Weather Approaches

Woke up to the leaf blower-Parking lot cleaners
with nuclear powered mobile vacuum trucks
3 in the morning a little hard to comprehend
Surely there are laws.

Got to get the leaves swept up
Before the snows of November begin
And then don't end til March

The time change is near
Get an extra hour soon
Before the one o'clock kick-offs
How sweet that is

Makes you want to have warm cider
Dip your donut in it
Stay under the blankets longer
Curse the coming greyness
That lifts far too seldom

Yep Winter in Michigan is upon us

They'll be a new president in a week
And with a whole new smell to politics
Will it be fresh & new
Or just a redux
with monsters lurking close behind?

Is the country ready for change
Or was it all some tease
From a lame game show host
On a show we've seen before?

Mini ZuD Still Going Strong

Focusing on Sports Media, Tech Stuff & Alaskan Pop Culture. Mini ZuD does what others Won't.

A Blessed Time for TV Sports Addicts

Wrote this last week but it is especially true with the NBA Season debut tonight:

This is truly a blessed time in a TV Sports addict's life
The World Series
College Football being off the hook at its mid season form
The NFL- uh, not so hot. But my fantasy team is doing well
My intention to go into sports betting at a fine pace

Auburn is playing like the Detroit Lions
So that bums me out
But if they fire enough of their coaching staff
Maybe they will realize it is time to move the team to San Antonio
And I can have Doubleheaders every Weekend!
At Auburn, they drive 'em out in the middle of the country and
do god knows what to 'em.

But I digress

SEC football is still the rage
And we have some slobber knockers still to come!

Now Phil Simms said the other day on Imus that
the big college games usually become blow-outs but
I think were getting into the do or die stage of the
season when nether team will rollover-
They can't!

Least way- That's my Hope
May the best team win and War Eagle!

No One Wins, When It's All An Act

Dude got 21 years last nite
He's an asshole now
But he used to be cool
Used to be funny and charming
But the years or his girl have soured him.

Used to be in the skilled trades, hanging drywall
But he became a broker, then a realtor
Can't still be doing that
But maybe
I asked him, he gave me that trademark evil charming sinister smile
And said he was
Always wonder whats behind that smile.

You never know 'bout some of the folks you meet at meetings
they talk all this righteous trash
And ya know its from years of doing it
So how do you know its real?
But then you realize it doesn't matter
Its all an act-

Knew a girl once
Moved in and everything
In seven months she had me nailed
It's an Act!
I just just smiled and moved out-
Left the key, when I did
Blew her away with that
Didn't see that coming, did you bitch?

You May Think You Know What's Happening Here

But You Don't...

Black Friday Coming Today As Fear and Greed Kicks In

Anyone who knows anything will tell you the Stock Market is based on Fear and Greed.
This may be the World Series of Fear and Greed today!
Don't panic, please...

LA Times sportswriter Mike Penner Becomes Christine Daniels

ZuD missed this originally last year but have now become aware of a LA Sportswriter who changed his sex. Caught up with this USAToday blog entry that tells the tale. The post concludes with this:

When Penner/Christine wrote a coming-out column last year the Times gave it huge play and for a period had Penner/Christine blog about his transition and his covering events as a female reporter.  Rick Reilly also wrote a Sports Illustrated column on Penner -- his old pickup basketball pal from when both were at the Times.  And it was reported that Penner's story accounted for about 25% of the Times' web traffic on the day the Drudge Report headlined it with: "L.A. Times Shock: 'I am a Transsexual Sportswriter.' "

Somewhere in all of this, it should be mentioned that Penner has done some danged fine sports writing over the years.  Alas, we're pretty sure Hallmark doesn't make a "Welcome Back" card for this kind of occasion.

The opening of the coming-out column from the LA Times:

FIRST PERSON

Old Mike, new Christine

By Mike Penner, Times Staff Writer
April 26, 2007

During my 23 years with The Times' sports department, I have held a wide variety of roles and titles. Tennis writer. Angels beat reporter. Olympics writer. Essayist. Sports media critic. NFL columnist. Recent keeper of the Morning Briefing flame.

Today I leave for a few weeks' vacation, and when I return, I will come back in yet another incarnation.

As Christine.

I am a transsexual sportswriter. It has taken more than 40 years, a million tears and hundreds of hours of soul-wrenching therapy for me to work up the courage to type those words. I realize many readers and colleagues and friends will be shocked to read them.

That's OK. I understand that I am not the only one in transition as I move from Mike to Christine. Everyone who knows me and my work will be transitioning as well. That will take time. And that's all right. To borrow a piece of well-worn sports parlance, we will take it one day at a time.

Transsexualism is a complicated and widely misunderstood medical condition. It is a natural occurrence — unusual, no question, but natural.

 

Celebrating the Dickheads

I had the honor of knowing some guys back in the eighties
they were collectively known as the dickheads
And we met regularly to tell of our woes, trials & past
I didn't think we all told the truth
But when we did it was pretty special

You could always tell when the truth was being told
and the surrounding silence was deafening

The words and truths would stay with you after
And the lesson was always clear
like a good meal that satiates your soul
A good truth and lesson
Worth all the bullshit before it

We used to compete to tell the best truth
We'd spend the whole day
Grappling with the words
And though when we spoke we had no aids to guide us
But there was something choosing our words

Sarah Palin's Travel Expenses Draw Scrutiny

ANCHORAGE (AP) — Gov. Sarah Palin charged the state for her children to travel with her, including to events where they were not invited, and later amended expense reports to specify that they were on official business.

The charges included costs for hotel and commercial flights for three daughters to join Palin to watch their father in a snowmobile race, and a trip to New York, where the governor attended a five-hour conference and stayed with 17-year-old Bristol for five days and four nights in a luxury hotel.

In all, Palin has charged the state $21,012 for her three daughters' 64 one-way and 12 round-trip commercial flights since she took office in December 2006. In some other cases, she has charged the state for hotel rooms for the girls.

Alaska law does not specifically address expenses for a governor's children. The law allows for payment of expenses for anyone conducting official state business.

As governor, Palin justified having the state pay for the travel of her daughters — Bristol, 17; Willow, 14; and Piper, 7 — by noting on travel forms that the girls had been invited to attend or participate in events on the governor's schedule.

Source

Self Talk from day2 of Down, But not Out, in Michigan

So we are in day2 of ZuD’s Down, But not Out in MI

There isn’t a lot of feedback as yet and we are in 5 MI blogs at this point via BlogAds. I had to put up the Mariah pic just to get clicks, so welcome newbie.

This will be a forum for my new self-awareness that time is running out on this great state. Reading a few articles this morning about what General Motors is up to helps to crystallize for me the dilemma that is killing us all and that is that the great motor city/state is in perilous condition and even the fixes suck.
How are we to work our way out of this hole when everything we do just gets us deeper in that hole?

Which is why I am here. Not that I have solutions, hell if I had the solution I wouldn’t be dinking around here I would be in the big time, farting into silk underwear and living in Key West. No, no solutions, just me stating the obvious and awaiting your concurrence in the comments.

The best we can hope for is getting out the vote and hope the new boss ain’t the same as the old boss! Just 14 days till the election and boy are we ready. I’ll never forget that election when I woke up Wednesday to realize we would have a Hollywood actor leading the free world. So after that shock and depression I don’t think anything can match that blow my psyche.

The Best Motown Song of all Time

Although always a source of great debate, what may or not be the best song from Motown.
A song that has stood up over the years and still gives me chills when I hear it is the Miracles, Track of my Tears. The opening guitar riff, Smokey's voice and then the mix of strings and horns build as that falsetto pleads and wails. Damn!

If you haven't seen it, in the movie Platoon the best scene in that movie except for Sergeant Elias's scenes, when the soldiers sing and dance to that fantastic falsetto of Smokeys.

This Story Will Spoil Your Day

By Steve Sternberg, USA TODAY

One day last October, Eric York lugged the carcass of an adult mountain lion from his truck and laid it carefully on a tarp on the floor of his garage.

The female mountain lion had a bloody nose, but her hide bore no other signs of trauma. York, a biologist at Grand Canyon National Park in Arizona, found the big cat lying motionless near the canyon's South Rim. He was determined to learn why she died.

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Because the park lacks a forensics lab, he did the postmortem in his garage, in a village of about 2,000 park employees.

Epidemic experts can only speculate about what happened next. When York cut into the lion, he must have released a cloud of bacteria and breathed in. On Nov. 2, York was found dead, a 21st-century victim of plague, the disease that in the Middle Ages turned Europe into a vast mortuary. He was 37.

Source