Sports Trifecta

The confluence of sports comes together in September: NFL regular season, NASCAR final chase to the Nextel Cup and NHL pre-season. There are never enough screens to monitor them all!

In case you're at all interested, this is my starting line-up for Cheeseheads this week.

P. Manning (IND) QB
R. Bush (NO) RB
D. Rhodes (IND) RB
M. Harrison (IND) WR
D. Driver (GB) WR
L. Coles (NYJ) WR
H. Miller (PIT) TE
R. Gould (CHI) K
Seattle Seahawks DEF

UPDATE (Packers vs. Lions): Win #1! Favre scores #400, #401 and #402. This week's observation concludes that it is not realistic to expect Packer offense to score and then negate it by weak Packer Defense. Defense must come up with bigger stops and get better on not allowing so much yardage on first and 10. The offensive line looked better; Favre was not sacked this week. Running backs must hang on to the ball, thankfully their late half fumbles did not result in points, but that was lucky.

UPDATE (FFootball Cheeseheads): As I mentioned last week, the final FFootball score/ratings aren't final until Tuesday. However, it's not a good sign when your eight benched players have scored more fantasy points than your nine starters.

Observation

I wasn't able to watch the game on Sunday; however, DIRECTV® has NFL SUNDAY TICKET™ SuperFan, which offers commercial-free game replays, showing every play, in 30 minutes or less. It's a neat feature. Anyway, it allowed me to watch the plays of the game. Among many things, I noticed there was a substantial number of dropped balls. Way too many. Rookies, yes, but if this team has any chance of turning itself around, they need to step up their game.

On another note, I received my annual notice of my Green Bay Packers season ticket waiting list. I moved up to #56,267 from #57,027. I guess that means I have approximately 74.035526315789473684210526315789 years before I'm eligible for my season tickets.

Consolation

There is usually very little consolation for a Packer loss. However, this week, it is the fact that my inaugural season Fantasy Football team, Cheeseheads (very original as I've been teased), is winning (so far). I am undefeated so far. Okay, so there's only been one game this season and I tied against the other team I played last week. But, I'm hoping for a win this week. So far, I'm currently leading, but the official score/ratings aren't final until Tuesday.

This football season, I was invited/cajoled/encouraged to join a friend's Fantasy Football league. After many years of ignoring this fad, I succumbed and am managing the Cheeseheads. There may be some drop/adds coming up. For any given week, I have 9 starters and 8 backups. Here's my current line up, as of the second week.

P. Manning (IND) QB
D. Bledsoe (DAL) QB
B. Favre (GB) QB

R. Bush (NO) RB
C. Portis (WAS) RB
T. Henry (TEN) RB
D. Rhodes (IND) RB

M. Harrison (IND) WR
D. Driver (GB) WR
TJ Houshmandzadeh (CIN) WR
G. Jennings (GB) WR
L. Coles (NYJ) WR

H. Miller (PIT) TE
V. Davis (SF) TE

A. Vinatieri (IND) K

Buccaneers DEF
Seahawks DEF

UPDATE: I'm a loser! My FFootball team lost 126-128 in week #2.

A‧BYS‧MAL

a‧bys‧mal [uh-biz-muhl] - dictionary.com defines it as "extremely or hopelessly bad or severe" although after this week's Packer game, you may see a new definition. I saw the first 10-0 before having to fly to Ft. Lauderdale on business. It was enough. Thereafter, it was just painful to hit the refresh on the BlackBerry to get the last play.

In Remembrance

As I have mentioned previously, the company I work for is headquartered directly across the street from where the World Trade Center towers stood. Although, I did not work for my current employer five years ago, I take this moment to remember the eleven employees that lost their lives that day.

As you reflect on the day, I hope you'll also join me in remembering those eleven people too.

Ocean View

Along with the NASCAR experience, I was treated to a Labor Day weekend ocean view getaway. We spent the weekend in North Myrtle Beach. The weather has been picture perfect. We had a gorgeous room, ocean view and a huge balcony. My favorite is the sound of the ocean; it's such a soothing sound.

Day Jobs

So, instead of Kahne, Johnson and Stewart, it was Sterling Marlin and Dale Jr. We strapped into the #40 and #8. Needless to say, we broke no time records and probably scared our instructors out of the car. As you can see, we were modeling the latest in fire-proof jumpsuits. Of course, helmets are important and should be worn at all times, especially when driving with us!

Seriously, it was a fun, exhilirating experience. Driving a few "hot" laps with the instructor when you're really going 150+ mph was quite a rush. It's not as easy as it looks. There's a lot more than just "turning left." You have to watch your line, hit your marks, know when to accelerate, decelerate, actually steer towards the wall, watch the flag-person, keep an eye on your gauges, passing, being passed, accomplish all of that going more than 150 mph and not hit anyone on pit road.

Anyway, we had a great time, but we've been asked to keep our day jobs!