Saturday, August 16, 2008

The First Step is to Admit You Have a Problem!

Brian is laughing at me. I am switching between the Redskins vs. Jets game and the Olympics on TV, and have the Packers vs. 49ers game on Sirius radio, NFL.com, and the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel's Packers blog.

It only gets worse in September as pre-season hockey starts!

Hi, my name is Ellie, and I'm a sport-aholic.

Yep, That's What it Looks Like

Photo by Jeff Zelevansky/Getty Images

Friday, August 15, 2008

Legg Mason Tennis

Playing a little hooky to watch tennis! Not really, they're company tickets because of our sponsorship. It was a beautiful day for tennis: a bit overcast with a rain sprinkle and a light breeze to keep us comfortable.

Wednesday, August 13, 2008

A Bagel Save

With a few extra minutes on the way to La Guardia today, I stopped at Ess-a-Bagel to pick up bagels. Mmmmmm

I have a bad habit of not putting my seat belt on right away when I'm in the back seat of a car service. So we took off and a few miles down the road, the driver had to jam on the brakes.

Did I worry about my neck and shoulder blade muscles that has been bothering me since I slept on it the wrong way more than a week ago?

No, instead, I reached out my arm instinctively to protect the bagels sitting on the seat in a bag next to me. I hope they're worth it!

Sunday, August 10, 2008

This is Just Going to be Weirder-er

Photo by J. Conrad Williams Jr., Newsday

Thursday, August 07, 2008

Football Fatigue?

Tired of hearing about Favre, Packers and football? The season is just beginning!

"I've always wanted to be a Packer, I think I always will be a Packer"

Favre had a "how did things end up like this" look throughout the press conference. Although he said "excited" six times, he looked about as excited as someone having a root canal.

I think this was the quote of the press conference. It was in response to: What would you tell Packers fans, Favre fans? How can fans move on?
"Well, I can't answer that for them. All I can say is I've always wanted to be a Packer, I think I always will be a Packer. Sixteen years is hard to forget for everyone and I'd like to think those 16 years people will say, 'Best 16 years I've ever watched.' It was a lot of fun for me."

This is Just Going to be Weirder

Photo by Antonelli/News

Was it Fate?

I like to tease Brian by saying, perhaps the Favre trade to the Jets was destiny after all!
http://brianandellie.blogspot.com/2008/01/green-and-white.html

This is Just Going to be Weird

Photo by Moore/AP

Jet Set

End of an era. It's a sad day in Packer land. Both sides ultimately got what they wanted: the Packers wanted to move on and Favre wanted to play football. However, I'm not sure either side can claim "success."

Here's the statement from Packers President/CEO Mark Murphy and Executive Vice President, General Manager and Director of Football Operations Ted Thompson:
"Brett has had a long and storied career in Green Bay, and the Packers owe him a tremendous debt of gratitude for everything he accomplished on the field and for the impact he made in the state. It is with some sadness that we make this announcement, but also with the desire for certainty that will allow us to move the team and organization forward in the most positive way possible.

"We respect Brett's decision that he could no longer remain here as a Packer. But there were certain things we were not willing to do because they were not in the best interest of the team. We were not going to release him nor trade him to a team within the division. When Brett ultimately decided that he still wanted to play football, but not in Green Bay, we told him that we would work to find the best solution for all parties involved. We wish Brett and his family well.

"We appreciate the tremendous passion shown by our fans. We, like them, always will see Brett Favre as a Green Bay Packer and our respect for him never will change. Moving forward, we are dedicated to delivering a successful 2008 season for all Packers fans."

Sunday, August 03, 2008

Welcomed Back with Open Arms

Okay, maybe not exactly. Here's the Packers' statement. Just a few not-so-subtle hints of unhappiness.

Statement By Packers President/CEO Mark Murphy
Sixteen years after Brett Favre came to the Packers, he is returning for a seventeenth season. He has had a great career with our organization and although we built this year around the assumption that Brett meant what he said about retiring, Brett is coming back. We will welcome him back and turn this situation to our advantage.

Frankly, Brett's change of mind put us in a very difficult spot. We now will revise many actions and assumptions about our long-term future, all predicated on Brett's decision last March to retire. As a result of his decision, we invested considerably in a new and different future without Brett and we were obviously moving in that direction. That's why this wasn't easy. Having crossed the Rubicon once when Brett decided to retire, it's very difficult to reorient our plans and cross it again in the opposite direction - but we'll put this to our advantage.

Brett will be in camp tomorrow. Although there has been uncertainty regarding Brett's return, Ted Thompson and Coach McCarthy had previously discussed this and have had a plan in place. Coach McCarthy will talk to the team and the quarterbacks about the plan moving forward, and after he has done that we will share it publicly.

No matter what, I look forward to another successful season for the Packers and our fans. This has been a tough situation, but the Packers will make the most of it.

Saturday, August 02, 2008

Pro Football Hall of Fame

I watched the Pro Football Hall of Fame Induction this evening. It got me thinking about how players are chosen.

So, in the category of "I'm sure you could care less," here is the Hall of Fame selection process.

Charged with the vital task of continuing to be sure that new enshrinees are the finest the game has produced is the Pro Football Hall of Fame's 44-person Board of Selectors (see list below).

The Board consists of one media representative from each pro football city with two from New York, inasmuch as that city has two teams in the National Football League. A 33rd member is a representative of the Pro Football Writers of America and there are 11 at-large delegates.

With the exception of the PFWA representative who is appointed for a two-year term, all appointments are of the open-end variety and can be terminated only by retirement or resignation, as long as the member continues to attend meetings regularly.

The Board of Selectors meets annually at the time of the Super Bowl to elect new members. There is no set number for any class of enshrinees but, the Board's current ground rules do stipulate that between four and seven new members will be selected each year. The 1973 and 1976 classes of three were the smallest ever named.

Every candidate is carefully scrutinized and must receive at least 80 percent approval of the Board at the annual meeting before he can be elected. A scale of negative votes for elimination that will vary depending on the number of Selectors in attendance is used.

When the Selectors meet in Arizona next February to name the Class of 2008, they will have before them a roster of 17 final candidates, along with detailed biographies on each. To assure that older players will be considered along with the younger breed, the Seniors Committee - made up of nine veteran members of the overall Selection Committee - have named two nominees from the pre-1983 era to be included on the final list.

The other finalists will be the survivors from a preliminary list of candidates that the Board will have screened by mail ballot. That original list will have been in part provided by the fans themselves.

A slight modification to the bylaws in August 2006 resulted in an increase to 17 finalists based on 15 modern-era candidates and two senior nominees being named. In the past, the finalists numbered 15 that included 13 modern-era candidates and the two senior nominees.

Any fan may nominate any qualified person who has been connected with pro football in any capacity simply by writing to the Pro Football Hall of Fame. The only restriction is that a player and coach must have last played or coached at least five seasons before he can be considered. For example, a candidate for the 2008 class must have concluded his career not later than the 2002 season.

There is no mandatory retirement period for a contributor. Every nomination received will be processed and forwarded to the Board of Selectors.

It is important to emphasize that the Hall of Fame itself has no say whatsoever as to who is or is not elected to membership. The only function of the staff is to process the nominations as they arrive and to coordinate the annual meeting.

From Pro Football Hall of Fame http://www.profootballhof.com/

For His Glory and Our Greater Good

Last week's sermon was really a perfect reminder as I think about family and friends going through some painful circumstances in their life.

The sermon's theme was "God has the freedom to work in our life for His glory and our greater good."

There were two points in last week's sermon that stood out for me.
  1. Trusting in circumstances only sets us up for disappointment. It's never about how much faith we can have but what is the object of our faith.
  2. Faith by grace: Know that God will bestow faith on us without us ever earning it.
Read more at Emmanuel Presbyterian Church:
www.emmanuelarlington.org/pages/page.asp?page_id=35418&articleId=2584

Brian always phrases it, God doesn't need our permission to work in our life.

We need to remember that these circumstances we find ourselves in are for our greater good. But, "our greater good" as defined by God.

Too Old or Too Good?

Once again, I'm sure that no cares about my opinion on the Favre-Packer stand off. However, over the past couple of days, I'm falling closer in the camp that have been voiced in two recent articles: the Packers can't have it both ways. You can't think he's too old to play for the Packers, but too good to play for another team. Watching Favre for 17 years, I never thought it was about the money for him, it was about playing, and the love of the game. So, I hope he's able to play. However, don't get me wrong, I will be the first to cringe if it's for a team in the NFC North.

The New York Times
As Hall of Famers Reunite, an Insult to a Future One
By William C. Rhoden
Brett Favre deserves better. This is not conduct worthy of a franchise like Green Bay, certainly not on a weekend when players who have given so much to the game are being honored. Given Favre’s tenure and stature, the Packers should have had a what-happens-if-he-changes-his-mind contingency plan that would accommodate his return.
[...]
Favre has insisted all along that this is not about money, but about a mixture of honor and glory and the love of the game.

You can’t fault Favre if he takes the money, but hopefully he will tell Thompson and Murphy to keep their millions. He wants to play football.
Read more

The Washington Post
On Favre, Packers Can't Have It Both Ways
By Michael Wilbon
If you don't want Favre, if you think he's washed up and ready to be bronzed, then why would you care if he winds up with the Vikings or Bears? If you don't want Favre, why would you care who he plays for in the limited time he has left?
Read more