11/24/08
R&R - Rants and Rambling
In the description I said that this blog would be about a wide-range of topics, not just sports but also current events and technology and pop culture and so on. Therefore I present the first (of hopefully many) installments of R&R. So let's see what's been going on in the world in the past week or so.
Tony Romo returns to the Cowboys and leads them to two straight victories.
This proves that you can't overstate the importance of a quarterback to a good football team. Look at this Cowboys team when they lost Romo, and look at them when they got him back. The difference is greater than Lindsay Lohan pre-Mean Girls and post-Mean Girls. Romo comes back, and this team instantly looks like a team that can challenge the NY Giants for the NFC East.
The NFL sees its first tie six years, followed by the McNabb uttering the worst sound bite heard in six years.
Donovan McNabb has been bashed insistently for the last two weeks about this, so I won't spend too much time on this. Let me just say this though: It is absolutely inexcusable for McNabb not to realize there are ties in the regular season. To have your quarterback, your quarterback that is the leader of your team, your quarterback that was in the league the last time there was a tie, for him not to realize that the game was going to end after the 5th period, well that should turn more heads than if Megan Fox walked into the room. I've been a McNabb fan for a while. I always thought one year he'd break through and take the Eagles to the promise land, but I'm seriously starting to question how long he's going to stay with Philly. Those fans will only take so much of him, and I think he's starting to wear out his welcome.
Blackberry Storm is introduced by Verizon
I really dig cell phones. The guy in the new Sprint commercials (allegedly Dan Hesse - CEO of Sprint) is right when he says these devices can do a lot. Even magic apparently. The Blackberry Storm is a touch-screen smartphone, but adds this wrinkle: the touchscreen clicks. When "buttons" on the touch-screen are pressed, the screen clicks down, giving the user feedback and letting them know that, indeed, the button has been clicked. Blackberry has addressed the problem that most touch-screens haven't, in that people don't know when a button has been pressed on most touch-screen phones. Some say it isn't a big deal and you get used to it, other phones send a little vibe shiver when buttons are pressed, but none actually click. I like this feature in the Storm, but think it lacks a key feature that its competitors (read: Palm Treo Pro, iPhone, HTC Touch Diamond and HD, Blackberry Bold, HTC G1) have. Mainly Wi-Fi connectivity. Being able to connect to Wi-Fi is a big deal, considering the amount of public areas that are being outfitted with public Wi-Fi, but since the Storm does have a large 3G network, it still has a high-speed (yet slightly slower) connectivity option).
Somehow those commercials advocating High Fructose Corn Syrup are still on the air.
If you've seen one of these commercials in the last few weeks, you'll know what I'm talking about. If not, the basic premise of the commercials goes like this:
There are 2 friends talking, and one of them tries to serve something with High Fructose Corn Syrup (HFCS), the other says something like "Don't you know it has HFCS in it?", to which the other "friend" responds, "There's nothing wrong with it, it's made from corn, nutritionally the same as sugar, and fine when used in moderation." At the end of the commercial you see that the add was put out by the "Corn Refiners Assiocation" (the people that make HFCS) and there's a website where you can "learn" more.
I couldn't hold any more disdain for this commercial. In a country where obesity is the greatest disease, HFCS is as big a contributor as any fast food chain. I'm no scientist, so feel free to fact check me, but there is plenty wrong with HFCS. The main reason food producers use HFCS is that it is cheaper than sugar, and helps keep consistency better than sugar. Also, HFCS act differently in the body than sugar. Yes, nutritionally it is the same, but HFCS have the ability to trick the human body into thinking it is still hungry. The fructose in HFCS does not stimulate insulin, which is a hormone that regulates the body and makes it feel full. As it takes longer to realize you are full, you eat more than you need, which depending on your lifestyle, leads to adverse effects. The worst part about HFCS is how widespread the use of it is. Cheaper than refined sugar, HFCS is one of the primary ingredients in nearly everything Americans eat on a daily basis, including, but not limited to, soft drinks, fast food, condiments, cereal, bread, juice, and canned fruits.
Just my two cents. I'm not trying to preach or tell people how to eat/live their lives so do your own research if you care about HFCS. If not, just ignore this then.
Taylor Swift's new album dropped; Kanye's comes out tomorrow.
Just a little more than a year after Kanye's last album, Graduation, hit stores, Kanye's release another album that looks like it'll be just as big a hit. I give him credit. The man has been hard at work, except when he's playing Connect 4.
Rich Rodriguez tells Michigan fans "get a life"; proceeds to lose to Ohio State by 35 points.
Maybe Rich Rodriguez doesn't understand how important this rivalry is. Since being in Michigan hasn't been enough to fill him in, let's see if we can help him understand what it means from the Ohio side.
Last week I flew out to Columbus on Wednesday to visit a buddy and see the OSU/Michigan game. He told me to bring a video camera and get ready to go out on Thursday night for "something special". I'm not familiar with Ohio State, but for anyone is, they know what comes next.
Thursday night around 11pm, we went to a place on Ohio State's campus called "Mirror Lake". Mirror Lake is a small man-made pond in the center of campus, usually inhabited by some 20-odd ducks. Students usually pass by it on their way to class, or stay for a minute to feed to ducks or watch the fountain, but this time of year most students don't because of how cold Columbus winters are. What I saw that night will forever change what it means to be fan in my eyes.
When we got there that night, what used to be a pond filled with ducks, became a small swimming pool filled with students. From 11pm to 1am I would have to guess that at least 10,000 students came by and jumped in and out of Mirror Lake. My buddy tells me that the traditions is about 20 years old, and every Thursday before the Michigan game, students come and jump-in to pledge their allegiance to the Buckeyes. It's tough to describe the atmosphere that night, but try and imagine swimming in the ocean in April. The water is probably 50-60 degrees, and you think it's cold. The temperature last Thursday in Columbus was a high of 36 degrees, and the jump took place at midnight. Unbelievable. I can't even put it into words. Take a look at this video for a better idea of what its like. If that doesn't show Rich Rodriguez how much this rivalry means to the other side, well perhaps Rich should go back to West Virginia.
0 Have an opinion? - Click Here to Comment!: to “ R&R - Rants and Rambling ”
Post a Comment