Definitely a Random Thoughts Day

I've got some work to do, so its definitely not a day for a long drawn out entry..

News and Notables:

- Raiders DT Warren Sapp has apparently really slimmed down in the off-season. I've run hot-n-cold about Sapp in the past. I didn't like the Bucs, never really have, and wanted him to shut up a lot, but he was good, and I enjoyed his banter with Brett Favre, that was just two competitors out there on the field having a good time. I will tell you two things that strike me about the story: 1) he knows he's a leader for the Raiders D and they have a brand new coach. What better way to lead by example than to work hard in the off-season, buy-in to the new regime (especially when you had a pow-wow with the owner about the problems with the old one), and visibly dedicate yourself to the team (shedding 50 lbs is a big deal for a DT).
2) Maybe its the distance or the fact that I don't follow the Raiders that closely, but consider the contrast between Sapp and prima donna malcontent WR Randy Moss. Both played for a NFL-Worst 2-14 franchise, but they might as well have been on separate planets. Sapp anchored (ed.: almost literally, playing at 334 lbs) a defense that kept the Raiders competitive in the majority of the games, and provided the lone glimmer-of-hope for a wretched team. Moss anchored (ed.: as in literally dragging to the depths) a offense that produced a beyond-anemic 12 touchdowns (ed.: are you joking Micc? 12 TDs in 16 games??? That is mind-bogglingly pathetic, someone call Matt Saracen and Smash Williams from the Dillon Panthers those boys need help). And all the while Moss bitched and griped and whined and pouted and occasionally ran a route and caught a pass, finding the endzone 3 times I think (hey, that's 25% of the offense, ed.). You know what? I never heard Sapp complain. He just worked. I never saw the Raiders D openly rip into the offense (maybe they did, and I am wrong, but I never heard of it) and for that I credit the leadership on the Raiders D, and Sapp is a part of that.

Hmmm, so much for the short entries....

Ok short and sweet (ed.: let's see how this works....)

The Phillies crumbled again. Sigh...I envision this happening all summer long, spurts of good/decent play followed by just enough losses to keep the Phillies from ever actually catching up to the leaders in the NL East....sorta like the road-map the Phils have followed for a the last 3 seasons.

The French have a conservative President, Nicolas Sarkozy, who says that his "American friends that they can rely on our friendship ... France will always be next to them when they need us." What sort of alternate reality did I wake up in this morning? Do we have to like the French now? (well maybe not, he did say friends can think differently and called for the U.S. to lead the fight against global warming, btw you're getting better at keeping things short, I'm impressed). Better him than some socialist turd who wants to turn France into a welfare state. (oops, already there, ed.)

Don't fuck with the Scots: A funny story from the UK as a Scottish wife puts dog poop in her hubbies' curry - talk about "Bone appetit" (lame, ed.)

Clemens the mercenary is returning to the Yankees. Yea - so he can be a big hero and try and save New York, am I the only one who doesn't care?

Goodbye, Don Ho.

-fin