UB2SF

I represent that remark. Sincerely, A Complete Idiot

Obvious indeed! Living in the Bay Area, I saw most of Marshawn's college games at Cal on local TV. Honestly, the first couple times I saw him in action, I wasn't sure if he was an RB or a WR, because in Jeff Tedford's pro-style offense, Marshawn would often line up in the slot or out wide. The guy's got lots of experience in that hybrid role. And with Fred's productivity catching the ball in relief of Marshawn last year, he's obviously got a knack for it too.

Actually, it was posted here before. That's how I found out about Donte's blog. Donte's attitude rocks!

Early indications from this summer are that Marshawn and Fred are going to be used more in the passing game, and not just on screens and swing passes, but downfield as well. By "early indications", I'm referring to two things in particular: 1. In Donte Whitner's blog on Yardbarker (an entertaining read, by the way: click here), he says the following: "this yr it wont just be Marshawn, Freddie is one of the hardest workers I've ever seen so look forward to a two headed RB/WR duo and thats all Im going to say about them you'll have to just wait and se it on your own". RB/WR duo?? 2. In the camp reports, there have been lots of mentions of Trent hitting Fred and Marshawn downfield (10 yards, 20 yards, 30 yards). I don't know what Turk has in mind, but I'm picturing both ML and FJ lined up in the backfield from time to time, with various possible plays to be called. A run to one or the other. One or both of them releasing on pass patterns. Play-action to one and a pass to the other. Sounds like a nightmare to defend, which could soften up the middle of the field for post patterns or crossing routes to Evans, Hardy, Parrish, Schoumann, etc. by forcing linebackers or safeties to spy on ML and FJ. Thoughts?

Maybe I was the only one who missed that when he was drafted? Impressive stats: "Selected 147th overall out of Iowa State, Bowen was a three-year starter and an All-Big 12 Conference first-team selection in both his junior and senior seasons. He led the nation with 155 tackles in 2006 and finished with nine sacks in 46 career games." The guy's obviously got a nose for the ballcarrier. I'm looking forward to seeing him on special teams this year. And who knows -- maybe in the starting LB corps in a couple years?

This awesome story has a great local angle for me, because the offensive star for Fresno State (OF Steve Detwiler, 4-4 with all 6 RBIs in the final game) went to high school in my neighborhood (San Rafael High School in San Rafael CA). People are pretty fired up around here. Just realized I shouldn't use that figure of speech given all the wildfires burning in Northern California right now.

Nope, cuz I didn't see it

Puerta Vallarta is super-touristy, so if you're looking to get out of the tourist rat-race, I'd highly recommend the town of Sayulita, about an hour north of PV by car. It's a small fishing/surfing village, with a bunch of good restaurants, and bars on the beach. One of the best canopy tour/zip-line places (I can't remember the name, but went there) is just outside Sayulita, so you could combine the two into one day-trip. I spent my honeymoon there, and I definitely have to go back sometime. Sorry, got lost in a daydream for a second there.

I saw the movie on Sunday. My wife works for Lucasfilm and there was a sneak-preview premiere for employees here in the Bay Area, followed by a private party. What the heck -- I might as well provide a brief review of the movie AND the party. I think the movie is going to be a huge hit among people who liked the original Indy films, but I don't think it will get traction with teens and young adults who weren't around for the first three installations in the series. As an <ahem> older person myself, the movie felt pleasingly familiar from the very first scenes. Harrison Ford is great, and seems way more comfortable in this role than he has in any other action movies since the third Indy film. Translation: IMHO, he's better as Indy and Han Solo than in any other action-star roles. The dialogue was witty, the performances by the other actors in the cast, espeially Shia Labouef (sp?), were solid, the score by John Williams was rousing, and the action sequences were exciting. Just as the positives were throwbacks to the earlier Indy films, the negatives were too. My biggest problem with Crystal Skull, just like with the earlier films, was the constant requirement to suspend disbelief. And I'm not talking about suspending disbelief about ancient tombs or paranormal forces; I'm talking about suspending disbelief about basic human nature and basic laws of physics. Every action sequence is way too long, primarily because of the dumb things the characters choose to do (or not to do) and because the physical laws of the universe just don't apply. The first thing I said to my wife when the lights came up was, "My disbelief suspenders are exhausted!" So, from my perspective, I found the movie very entertaining but it verged on insulting the intelligence of the audience one too many times. And that's one of the reasons I think the younger crowd might reject the movie -- we older folks are used to a different era of Hollywood when suspension of disbelief carried over to incredibly poor special effects (think Godzilla, as the obvious guy in a lizard suit), whereas "kids these days" have been trained to accept only the best and most believable movie effects. The private party afterward was quite the scene. None of the luminaries were there (the actors, Lucas, Spielberg) because they were all at the Cannes premier, which was the same day. But nonetheless, it was highly enjoyable because the Lucasfilm art and props departments re-created a number of sets from the movie inside the convention hall. The funny part was the secrecy around the crystal skulls themselves. Apparently, Spielberg is quite the stickler about preventing people from spilling the beans about the nature/origin/role of the skulls. At the party, guests were able to take pictures of whatever they wanted, except for a special gated exhibit showing the set from the climactic scene of the movie, featuring the skulls. Guards were literally checking people for cameras (even cell phone cameras) outside this one exhibit. Too much! But as a loyal member of the Lucasfilm family, I won't spill the beans here either. Phew -- I think this is the longest post I've ever written on TBD!

Thanks for saying this, JohnnyB. One of the most important people in my life committed suicide 18 months ago, and it was most definitely the product of brain chemistry gone awry. I can't even begin to describe how painful the aftermath has been for everyone. And the lingering conclusion is that there were dozens of people who would have stopped it from happening if they could have, so that the person could have gotten the medical help they needed.

The commercial for this week's episode seem to indicate that the Oceanic 6 will "become" the Oceanic 6 this week -- it shows the rear door of a cargo plane opening with the aforementioned 6 reacting as someone says "you're being called the Oceanic 6" or something to that effect. Do we really get to see them returning to the real world this week? (And for that matter, is the real world even real? )

I too like Marshawn's team spirit, but 10 exclamation points on the post title makes me wonder if this is a Bills board or a cosmetology board. SSSSSeriousssly! <with whistling s's> Not that there's anything wrong with that.

Very impressive highlight reel, indeed. But looks to me like a Division I caliber player against Division II caliber defenses. Line up Marshawn Lynch against the likes of Abiline Christian and Missouri Western, and he'd look like a character from Marvel Comics.

It figures that the day I post this (and reignite the debate), this item hits the news wire. From the Associated Press: FDA takes closer look at Lasik complaints

I shoulda known better to start this thread without searching first! BTW, the doctor I'm considering is one of the premier Lasik guys on the west coast (Dr. Ellis from Ellis Eye). He has multiple offices in the Bay Area but does all the procedures himself. He's done more than 35,000 laser-eye procedures. His reputation is one of the only reasons I'm considering this seriously.

After twenty years of glasses and contacts, I'm finally getting fed up enough to consider spending the money on Lasik. On Monday of this week, one of the lenses fell out of my prescription sunglasses and bounced under a massive soda machine. On Tuesday, I wore my contacts because I was planning to play hoops after work, but my allergies turned my eyes into sticky red orbs and rendered me almost unable to see out of one eye. On Wednesday, I decided I should explore Lasik.) I'm wondering who has had Lasik, and why or why not. Also very curious about the experiences of those who have had it, both in terms of the procedure itself and the long-term benefits/problems.

I was watching NFL Live (or whatever it's called these days) on ESPN last night, and my head almost exploded as the panel of blowhards went on an on about how the League's schedule-makers were giving advantages or disadvantages to various teams. This happens every year when the schedules are released, and thank yaweh that I have TBD to vent about it! The reality of schedule-making is that the selection opponents for each team is formulaic: each team in a given division will play each fellow-division team twice, all of the teams in one other division within the conference, and all of the teams in one other division in the other conference. Each AFC East team in 2008, for example, plays the other AFC East twice, all of the teams in the AFC West, and all of the teams in the NFC West. The only two games each season outside of this formula are actually formulaic too -- each team plays one game against an opponent from each of the other two Conference divisions. So the AFC East teams in 2008 play one game against the AFC Central and one game against the AFC South. The Bills get the Browns and the Jags; the Patriots get the Steelers and the Colts; the Jets get the Bengals and the Titans; and the Dolphins get the Ravens and Texans. Media blowhards go on and on about strength of schedule, but that statistic is mostly driven by the league's formula rather than some master plan to create parity or pick on certain teams. The main reason that the Bills typically have a "harder" strength-of-schedule, in terms of opponents' winning percentange, than the Patriots is because the Bills play the Patriots twice while the Patriots play the Bills twice. The Patriots typically-excellent W/L percentage inflates this statistic for the Bills while the Bills sub-.500 W/L percentage deflates the percentage for the Patriots. The Bills' strength of schedule for 2008 is a lot "less" than 2007 mostly because the Jets and the Dolphins sucked last year, and because the AFC West and NFC west were weak last year too. Most of you probably know this already, so I guess I'm just venting. But I ask that you help dispel this myth if you hear people promoting it.

I have to think location was a factor, too. Trent grew up in Los Gatos, CA. The Stanford campus is less than 20 miles from there. So he gets the opportunity to go to one of the top academic schools in the world, become the starting quarterback for an above-average D1 program (granted, they sucked last year, but they have had their share of greatness over the years; John Elway, anyone?), and stay close to his family (we know from Chris Brown's reports that he's extremely close with his family, especially his sister). Maybe it's just that I've lived in the SF Bay Area for almost 20 years and have been brainwashed about how excellent Stanford is, but I can't fault Trent one bit for his choice. Certainly didn't seem to hurt his chances of playing in the NFL!

Great post! If I had the time (or maybe just wasn't so lazy) I'd look at how this compares to previous/recent years. There's always so much hype about Round 1, when it seems like the reality is that Round 1 is often just as mediocre as Rounds 2 and 3 in terms of immediate-impact players. It's surprising to see how much production was generated out of 2007's Round 1. I'm just glad that our pick stands out among the top-tier of these great picks. Can you imagine if Mike Williams or Erik Flowers was on that list?

The thing that impressed me most about him in his rookie year was his range. He's runs with long-strides and therefore has good closing speed in the open field... a MUST in this defense, which so often puts Whitner near the line where he thrives. That said, Ko often had to use his closing speed in Year 1 because he was sometimes caught out of position and had to frantically scramble back into the play. What I was hoping to see from him in Year 2, which is now Year 3, is that his football IQ would catch up to his mad skills.

I'm with you. I used to love this show, but I'm getting burned out by having to follow so many twists and curveballs. By Thursday night, I'm usually toast from a busy week... so having to follow not only "legitimate" plot twists, but also intentional plot-twist fake-outs like Jin's flashback juxtaposed against Sun's flash-forward... well... I just don't have the energy. I literally let out a sigh of relief last night when the episode was over and I could switch over to the Warriors/Suns game (I'm a Warriors fan) to watch something that didn't require flip-charts and Visio flow-charts to follow. Then again, watching Matt Barnes and Grant Hill throw up brick after brick didn't exactly make sense either.

Wow! That was fantastic! Thanks for sharing.

American Idol Season 6 Air Date: 10-Apr-07 Guest Coach: Jennifer Lopez Latin Music night featured Jennifer Lopez as the guest coach. Am I the only one who, when hearing her say that American Idol keeps her “on the edge of her seat”, snickered a little? Anyway… First up was Ebony Neckless (Melinda), reminding us that she’s actually a retired postal employee with a face full-o-Botox, a titanium girdle, and a new ‘do from Wanda’s Wig-Wam. I mean, she’s at least 65 years old, right? She hit every note, but was so dull that -- and I’m not kidding about this -- it actually made my cats start brawling. Weird. But she’ll dominate the Geritol voting demographic and sail through for another performance, broadcast by satellite from the assisted living center. Next was La Quiche á Jones (Lakisha), going back-to-back with Ebony as the producers try to emphasize the Dumpy Diva Duel. As she hit the stage (and I mean “hit” the stage, because there was a perceptible shudder in Camera 6), her udders bounced and her back-fat rippled. Despite the fact that she needed speech therapy from J-Lo, like a stroke patient at Ebony’s assisted living center, in order to pronounce the name of the song, she sang relatively well, and will be voted through to next week based upon the swine-‘n’-bovine voting demographic. Up third was Justin Noseflute (Chris), who, week by week, is losing his grip on the future sponsorship deal with Flonase nasal spray. For a guy with so much nasal obstruction in the early weeks of the season, he’s sounding less and less like his name implies. Maybe it’s the physical effect of his trademark Snap-Your-Head-to-the-Right dance move? (Seriously, try this at home and you’ll do a perfect Justin Noseflute impersonation. Just look straight ahead, and snap your head to the right and then snap it back to center in one continuous motion, preferably on the “4” beat of a boy-band song.) The judges were right that Justin was less boring than the Dumpy Divas, which didn’t necessarily mean he wasn’t boring, but he will also be back next week. Next was Gams O’Do-me (Hayley), back for another night on the cruise ship, singing over the clanging of forks on Princess Cruise Lines china. With her lips sponsored by Coke (the same color as the judges’ cups) and, as Simon said, “wearing as least (sic) clothes as possible”, Gams continues to play to the only demographic still voting for her: college-aged males watching with the sound off. But not realizing that half of her demographic is on spring break right now, her shrieky performance threatens to, at last, send her back to singing at weddings and waiting for the job offers from the Weather Channel and Hugh Hefner. Up fifth was Paler Sailor (Phil), wearing a lid to cover his chemo-ravaged skull. With a total change in vocal technique this week, Paler channeled his long lost buddy, Lardy McBrillopad (Chris Sligh) and sang from his throat like a muppet. His voice cracking on every high note and his creepy eyes belying the panic in his heart, Paler danced on the precipice of elimination. Clinging to his last hope of surviving to next week, Paler informed Simon that his daughter has a stuffed-animal cow at home that she calls Simon Cow. This will bring in votes both from weepy post-partum moms AND the swine-‘n’-bovine demographic, and Paler might just be back next week. Next was Sparky Permasmile (Jordin), wearing snug-fitting high-waisted pants that clearly demonstrated what milkshakes can do to the hind-quarters of a 17-year-old girl. Her cheery charm is starting to peel away, revealing glimmers that in real life, she is actually annoying as !@#$. She carried the tune pretty well, but accented her delivery with an off-putting she-Daughtry vibrato. Nonetheless, Sparky will dominate the overweight-17-year-old-female voting demographic -- the single most powerful demographic in the history of human-kind -- and will easily make it through to next week. Up seventh was B’shicka-b’shicka-b-b-lake (Blake), wearing an outfit he stole from an octogenarian sitting on the front steps of a South Miami Beach apartment building, pit stains and all. As he hit the last note of his song, I wrote the words “abject hatred” in my notebook, because that’s how I feel after him going three consecutive weeks without any beatboxing. (Crap -- now I’m going to have to change his alias.) But despite my hatred, B’shicka sounded pretty good and will certainly return next week. The last performer was Sangria Shemale-akar (Sanjaya), doing his best Spahcy Lahteen Lubbair (spicy Latin lover) imitation, while looking more like a street urchin from the slums of Sao Paolo whose sugar daddy gave him twenty bucks for a new outfit, some hair gel, and a little somethin’ somethin’. The light and fruity Sangria finally found the key to his continued success -- singing in a different language -- and, dare I say it, sounded pretty good. (Shoot me now.) Who will emerge from the most boring episode in the history of the series, and who will go home? Will Gams O’Do-me’s spring break miscalculation send her straight to the pages of Playboy? Or will Paler Saler’s Sligh-homage sink his battleship? Find out tonight…after the break. (With a tip of the hat to USMC for having similar predictions and observations!)

First: Van Halen, Fair Warning tour (1981?) at the Rochester War Memorial. I was in 8th grade and the concert kicked my f'ing ass! I talked about it every day for weeks, until my friends were completely sick of me. Best: High Sierra Music Festival, with Jerry Garcia Band headlining plus Tower of Power and Bela Fleck opening, at the summit at Squaw Valley (Lake Tahoe). Had to take the tram up the mountain to see the show, although anyone brave enough to walk up (I think the summit is at 8,000 feet) got in for free.

American Idol Season 6 Air Date: 3-Apr-07 Guest Coach: Tony Bennett American Classics night featured Tony Bennett as the guest coach, looking resplendent in his shag carpet and the yellow blazer he first wore when guest-hosting Wide World of Sports with Kurt Gowdy in 1977. First up was B’shicka-b’shicka-b-b-lake (Blake Lewis), wearing the Salvation Army sportcoat he purchased for his interview at the temp agency last year. Seemingly channeling Sammy Davis, B’shicka laid on the Rat Pack charm and hinted that he’ll soon trade in his life as a temp for his new life singing in an off-the-Strip lounge in Vegas. Like last week, B’shicka shunned the beatboxing and made it feel like it was years ago, not weeks ago, that he was shredding fly tunes from the likes of Jamiroquai and 311. Despite the lameness, Ryan Seacrest attempted some kind of ghetto-meets-homo handshake/chest-bump, subliminally convincing America to invite B’shicka back for another week of beatbox-tease. Next up was Paler Sailor (Phil Stacey) reminding us why he usually wears a hat. Without the lid, Paler looked like he had just climbed out of his bed at the chemo ward, affixing a couple leeches where his eyebrows used to be. What a bone-chillingly freaky-lookin’ dude. (Coming soon to a theater near you: Paler Sailor vs. Freddy and Jason.) His velvety vocals were lost on the judges, and I’m afraid, lost on America too. Despite the moral support from his wife and what appeared to be two daddies in matching t-shirts in the audience, I’m afraid it might be back to the Navy for you this week, Paler Sailor. The third singer was Ebony Neckless (Melinda Doolittle), fresh off her victory in the 20-yard dash at the Special Olympics. The “shortbus prodigy”, as she is known in her hometown, once again sang like a champ. But this time, her doe-eyed humility schtick during the judges’ remarks was replaced by what appeared to be a fresh cocaine buzz. Scary stuff, but Ebony will sail through to next week. Next up was Justin Nosefulte (Chris Richardson), who appeared to have blown his nose before the performance, because his sinuses sounded remarkably free from obstruction. Laying down a jazzy groove accented by his trademark syncopated-snap-and-squat dance move, twinkly-eyed Justin took command of the stage and convinced tweener girls all across America to cast their votes. You’re safe again this week, Mr. Noseflute. Up fifth was Sparky Permasmile (Jordin Sparks), who, at a mere 20% of Tony Bennett’s age, seemed to think that singing with a breathy tone would add a touch of class to the American Classics. But alas, she sounded more like she forgot her inhaler. Worse yet, her baggy pants and converse sneakers screamed “I’m PMSing and feel fat today!” But with one quarter of America’s females feeling the same way last night, the PMS empathy voting demographic will propel her to the next round. Next up was ‘Gina (Gina Glocksen), who opened the performance sitting on a tall stool in a slit skirt that showed off her freshly-shaven thighs. With a hairstyle that looked like a braided comb-over, she expanded her tranny glam hag demographic to include the *balding* tranny glam hags. Good move, ‘Gina! But with crossed eyes and a facial expression that seemed to indicate that she had just had a stroke, ‘Gina failed to impart upon her voting public the extent of sheer panic she feels about going back to her waitressing job at Applebee’s. Whether it’s this week or next week, it won’t be long before ‘Gina returns to wearing at least 18 pieces of flair five nights a week. The seventh performer was Sangria Shemale-akar (the now-legendary Sanjaya), who apparently gave a little somethin’-somethin’ to Tony Bennett before their run-through, because Tony seemed positively smitten with the light and fruity Sangria. Wearing a white Travolta-esque leisure suit and with his priceless locks pasted to his skull with Miracle Whip, Sangria’s weekly middle-school talent show performance will certainly resonate with his fans, and he will continue unimpeded toward the producers’ worst nightmare: Sangria in the finale. The next-to-last performer was Gams O’Do-me (Hayley Scarnato), dressed in a tree-frog motif that showed us that, sadly, her stunning legs are far more attractive than her oddly droopy cleavage. But the future local-news weather reporter came across as totally believable with her song choice of Ain’t Misbehavin’, because for her, misbehaving equals the almost-taboo activity of scrapbooking pictures of Johnny Depp while drinking a 4-pack of Mike’s Hard Lemonade. But across America, college-aged males watched her performance with the sound off and then texted their vote to “0-8”, meaning that Gams will give another pageant performance next week. Closing the show was La Quiche á Jones (Lakisha Jones), clad once again in a wallpaper gown. With her massive udders swangin’ from side to side, and her frightening lips reminding us that collagen should be more heavily regulated by the FDA, La Quiche á nonetheless delivered a solid performance worthy of another week on the show. Will Paler Sailor really go back to humming Spice Girls songs in the Navy mess hall? Or will ‘Gina return to slinging jalapeno poppers to families in suburban Illinois? Or will Gams O’Do-me finally take those phone calls from The Weather Channel and Hugh Hefner? Find out tonight…after the break.