God Has A Sense Of Humor

Yeah. Real f*cking funny.

"Barbaro's Status Is Finally Downgraded To Glue"

Title taken from Fark. Thread here.

So they euthanized a horse.

A HORSE.

It was the lead story on ESPN, ESPN.com and on the 'Motion' section of ESPN.com, it was the lead TWO stories. It was ahead of who won the Miss America pageant on JSOnline, ahead of a story about N. Korea's nukes on FoxNews. One of the pieces from ESPN was a retrospective piece done by Jeremy Schaap with the orchestra music in the background.

"Here finally, was a horse that might stand alongside Secretariat, Seattle Slew, and Affirmed. In the wake of his triumph at Kentucky, Barbaro's story proved irresistible to millions."

Millions? Really? He won ONE GOD DAMN BIG RACE. He was an underdog, for sure, but long-shots win races every once in a while. That doesn't mean the horse becomes a national hero.

We're talking about a HORSE.

The piece continues at Pimlico where Barbaro breaks his leg.

Announcer: "Barbaro is out of it!"
Schaap: "The race continued, but all eyes were on Barbaro."

I'm thinking the hardcore betters that didn't have money on Barbaro didn't much pay attention to him for the rest of the race.

"But now Barbaro is gone. He will live forever in the memory of the millions who were moved first by his greatness, and then by his struggle. He leaves no offspring, but his legacy is clear. In his moment of anguish, Barbaro touched a nation. More than anything else, he was a horse that affirmed our humanity. (emphasis mine)

Millions were moved? By his greatness? Of winning one race? How did THIS horse touch a nation???? ESPN is so full of themselves, they make shit up and push it on the masses.

Now don't get me wrong, I love animals. I find it nice, that the owner was willing to spend ALL that money to try to save the horse, even knowing he'd never race again, and the investment in the horse went down the shitter the millisecond the leg broke. You could argue that the money and resources could have been spent on better things - but that's not the point here. The owner did what he felt was best for the animal, and I like that.

But it's still an animal. A HORSE. Not a person. It wasn't even a super-special horse. It won ONE important race. Yes, a famous race... but a race lots of other horses have won before him, and will win after him. He didn't set a course record. He couldn't juggle, talk like Mr. Ed, do magic tricks, drive a car, read a book, help keep children off drugs, or find a cure for cancer.

He could run really fast, and eat lots of grass. And he would have done that for just a year or two more, and then he would have banged every philly in the stable like a screen door in a hurricane. His offspring would have been sold for WAY over market value, and in all likelihood, 99% of them would never compete for the Triple Crown.

But to say a horse "affirmed our humanity"? Screw you ESPN. It's a HORSE! Dale Breitlow is someone who affirms our humanity. Mr. Breitlow was an associate principal at Wauwatosa West High School, who was shot and killed in the hallway of the school in 1993. Mr. Breitlow was very active in the little league program in Wauwatosa, and one of the biggest supporters of Tosa West HS athletics. But it is actual people that reaffirm our humanity. That's why they call it "humanity". Take Jason McElwain, or the blind and crippled kid on the Louisville marching band. Patrick Hughes has been blind and crippled since birth, and his dad works the graveyard shift at UPS, so he can push Patrick around campus for class, and band practice. Patrick says in an interview,

"God made me blind and unable to walk. BIG DEAL. He gave me the musical gifts I have, and the great opportunity to meet new people."

That's some inspiration. Watch this piece... get some tissue first. I'll wait for you to get back.



That's life. Two legs, even if they don't work.

I Miss It Already

As always, click on a picture for a bigger image. I've got the rest of the pics up to a Flickr account. You can find them here, with some descriptions, and a slideshow feature.

Is It Wrong That I Didn't Want To Come Home?

I got a TON of pictures from Hawaii. I'm not going to post all of them here, but I'm gonna create a Flickr account so those of you that are interested can check them all out. But here's three for you guys to hold you over till I get them all resized. This first one is a sunset over the two mountain tops that were across the bay from our hotel. Click on any of the images to show a bigger version of the image.


This next one is from the torch lighting ceremony they held on the beach one evening.


And someone got a little color early on from the sun. This one's for Will and Nort... well... cuz they're just Will and Nort.

More pics to come, details about the trip, and my comparison of first class airfare travel. Sadly, a friend of ours isn't going to like my review of his company. Lets just say it rhymes with "Font-inental" Airline. Not that it was horrible, just not up to the standard he lead me to believe.

Oh, and I'm freezing my ass off right now, and from what I heard, it's gonna get alot worse. I knew I shouldn't have left paradise.

Safety Tips

I know I haven't posted much lately. And when I did, I mailed it in with video clips and pictures. Hopefully after the vacation, I'll come back recharged, and make an effort to post everyday.

Although I did try that for a while... so we'll see how this next go-round works.

Before we get to the actual "Safety Tips", a shout out to B.O.B., who started his own blog. Go check it out. Btw, the pic of the kid fishing, is a pic of me and my grandfather.

Now, on to the next installment of my 'mailing it in'.

• It's 9:15 pm right now, and I'm blogging instead of packing for vacation.
• I'm actually really, really tired ( to the shock of some, I got a crapload of work done today ), so packing should be a pretty good adventure tonight.
• Well, I guess the real adventure won't begin till I get to Hawaii and realize that I packed a remote control, a couch pillow, the garage door opener, and silk boxers.
• Hot damn, that collection of items would have made for the greatest MacGuyver episode evar!

We pause now to bring you the following conversation that occurred during the production of "Safety Tips".

Will: On the website I can bet on the next Pope.
Will: And who Lance Bass might date next.
kuflax: SWEET
kuflax: *****.com?
Will: Yup.
kuflax: i'll have to check it out when i get back
Will: Sure.
kuflax: lance bass and................
kuflax: ?
kuflax: that's a tough one
Will: Dude... stop
kuflax: it's gotta be one of the real long shots
kuflax: not an odds on favorite
kuflax: i'd stick $3 on Seacrest - that'd pay out like 1500-1
Will: lol
Will: Clay Aiken
kuflax: and in the end, would it really surprise anyone?
Will: Not really.'
kuflax: see now, i'd think aiken would be a 5-1
Will: Sure.
kuflax: that's why you gotta dig deep in the pool
kuflax: see now, you have to go to the page for me, and list some of the odds
Will: I will not. I refuse.

Back to the action.....

• Thanks to the aforementioned B.O.B. - we're going to Hawaii tomorrow morning. First class airfare, and staying HERE. I don't think I've been this excited for a day to get here since the girls in high school would wear their pom-pom outfits on Fridays, and Julia H. would sit directly across from me in physics class.
• Maybe that's why I like physics so much as an adult.
• On a science note, I'm making the DVR record alot of shit on the discovery channel, especially the HD Discovery channel. OMFG. There was one on the other night about life on the ocean floor. THE OCEAN FLOOR. Where pressures exceed 250 pounds per square inch, they found life living around hydrothermal vents. The water temperature exceeds the boiling point there, but because of the great pressure, it doesn't actually boil. These hydrothermal vents are caused by magma leaking up from the mantle, and forms new plates on the ocean floor. The magma, when it comes in contact with the water, releases very toxic chemicals, like sulfates and the like. And yet, it's teeming with life. Check some info out here. The footage was absolutely stunning. There's no way that it compares to ANYTHING else on this earth - it really looked alien. But there's a strong case that situations like this is what brought life to earth, and that's where it all started. Some cool shit, huh?
• Jason, a coaching colleague of mine did a new site for the upcoming track season. Sorry Will, there's no pictures of the girls on there.
• In my other life, apparently after I signed the fat contract, I didn't care as much, and didn't put as much effort on the field. And apparently I'm shorter, and I went to West Point. Not a bad alter ego I guess. That league looks like a wet dream for Nort, however.
• In more football news, Mike Vick, aka Ron Mexico, got busted at the Miami airport, for trying to board with POT in a water bottle that had a secret compartment. How f*cking dumb do you have to be?? Once touted as the person that was going to revolutionize football, now he's maybe not even the best QB on his team. Schaub could start for half the teams in this league, and deserves a shot at starting on his own team. Vick's talents have dropped off immensely the last few years, and he relies on his legs way too often. The diminutive quarterback that I've played with for the last few years has better accuracy than Vick does. You'd think for 100 million dollars, you could lay off the pot for a few hours while you board an airplane. Sweet Jeebus.
• Well end this nonsense with a feel good article for you about the impending end of civilization.

Alright peeps - off to pack. I'll think off all of you while I have some fun in the sun, and as you await my triumphant return!

Love teh Intarweb

I'm sure that's been out for a while, but I just saw it for the first time.

Wow.

Quite A Catch

Robyn's cousin Ashley came to visit for a few days after x-mas. She was here for new years eve, visiting from Texas. We snapped this picture at the bar, and the plan was to send it off to her mom, and tell her that Ashley got engaged while she was here. We never did send it off, but I still have the pic. I love my friends.

All Grows Up!!

kuflax: where we goin nort??? where we going??
Nort: sorry, no place tonight.... what are you doing for the Bears game on Sunday?
kuflax: don't know yet
kuflax: what do you mean no place tonight??
Nort: I'm not going out
kuflax: who are you?
Nort: I'm still me, but I've got Kerie coming over
kuflax: "Kerie"???????
Nort: yea
kuflax: "Kerie"?
kuflax: seriously, who are you??

This Is Why They Watch The Sport...

Patrick and I were talking about this the other day... enjoy.





And one more for fun...



I only had it happen to me once, while I jumped a year in college. Left a mark on my leg like the first one. Not alot of fun. But a helluva thing to watch in person, which is really why I think so many people watch the pole vault at meets.

On Wisconsin

With the bowl season now over, something that we here in Wisconsin can enjoy till spring training is the Badger basketball team. They have their highest ranking ever in program history, at number 3 in the coaches poll. That stock will soon rise, as tonight, they beat the fifth ranked Ohio State Buckeyes ( who just can't catch a break at that school. The basketball team just lost to the Gators, and with the beatdown the Gator football program put on OSU, I'm sure that no one in Columbus wants to see blue and orange for a while ).

Now I'm not as savvy on basketball as Will is - and he's more of an NBA guy - but I love college sports, and do enjoy college basketball. But I'm not really here to talk about the ins and outs of the game, just wanted to share a couple of pictures with you. The first is of my new favorite sideline reporter, Erin Andrews. She does college football games, and worked the OSU - UW game.




Between her and Rachel Nichols, ESPN is finally doing something right. Here she's interviewing a UW player... so either she's tall... or is wearing some rockstar heels.

And now on to a picture that has me wondering. The star player for Ohio State is Greg Oden. He is going to be the number one overall pick in the NBA draft this summer - and would have been last summer when he came out of high school - but the new NBA rule doesn't allow high schoolers to jump straight to the NBA anymore. So Oden is a college freshman... but when have you EVER seen a college freshman that looks like this??? ( he's the one on the right )



18, 19 years old??? C'mon. Let's see a birth certificate. A guy with that many folds on his forehead, and that much facial hair was playing against high school kids last year?? I thought LeBron looked a little older than he should have for a high school kid at the time.. but Oden?? Look at him! That's a 30 year old man playing for Ohio State! Sweet Jeebus.

Flash, But No JavaScript...

There's supposed to be two weather thingies to the right, but the code that weather.com gave me isn't working.

We're going to Hawaii on the 20th, so in addition to the countdown clock, I tried to add an icon of Milwaukee weather vs Lihue weather.

I've spent a half hour on it, and well.... f*ck it for now.

There's a college football game on tonight, so it's gonna have to wait.

Go Buckeyes.

Who Says You Can't Go Home Again??

Well, the journey continues. I'm about to make a commitment to a fourth team in my seven year career. I started out playing ball in 2000 with the Badger State Vikings ( now called the Kenosha Vikings, I think ), and after one season, I left them to help start the Milwaukee Travelling Circus. At the outset, of course, we didn't think it would be such a circus.

( on an unrelated note, Lids tells me today that they have ousted from the Circus the man that is responsible for the phrase "Know What I Mean?", and that they've demoted the Bitch Slappin' Coordinator. More posts on this once I have some details. )

I was with the Circus for four and a half seasons, before joining the Muskego team in the IFL. I was with them for the last two seasons. Although, it was almost like my time with the Muskego team was really with two different teams. In 2005, everything went very well. So well, in fact, that Willy even came on board. 2006 saw a much different team, attitude, and level of play on the field, and about the only similarity to the prior year was the uniforms.

So due to a situation that doesn't need re-hashing, I now find myself about to join another team. Part of me is really excited for a new opportunity... but it would have been nice to find a home by now. I'm being actively recruited by this team, and everything I've been told has been promising so far. But three other teams have taught me that honeymoons are short in football. I can't fully believe everything they are telling me now - which isn't fair to them, but I'm getting pretty tired of false promises at this level, or even worse, just telling me what I want to hear.

But maybe this time it can be different. It better be, or it's the end of the road. The positives I have going into this year are that they've said they're not happy with the previous QB play... current players have told me that the staff is pretty good about playing the better player, regardless to how long someone has been on the team... and then there's the playbook. I already know it. That's going to make mini-camps and preseason A LOT easier. And that's what the title is about... going back to an offense I know... NOT going back to the Circus.

So I'm looking at an 'and one' situation. If it works out, I'll be back for a 2008 season. If not, maybe there will be another picture like above. ( props to Fuzz for snapping that picture btw, but he needed help from the love of my life to notice that it was a good picture opportunity ) Patrick is on me to continue playing baseball, but it's too time consuming to do both. The sad part about it all, is that I'm a better baseball player than I am quarterback. But I have more fun playing football. Baseball is easier for me, but there's something about the six seconds... the three right before the snap, and the three after. That's another post sometime too.

And yes, I know it's only January, and I'm getting excited for the upcoming football season. Why can't I have a normal hobby, like Nort and his AJ Hawk fetish, or Will and his midget porn?