Mike’s Blog

Here are my choices for the Pro Bowl Ballot. I abstained from voting for offensive linemen and special teamers, because I don’t know enough to form an educated opinion.

QB
AFC: Peyton Manning (IND), Carson Palmer (CIN), Philip Rivers (SD)
NFC: Drew Brees (NO), Marc Bulger (STL), Alex Smith (SF)

RB
AFC: Larry Johnson (KC), Willie Parker (PIT), Ladainian Tomlinson (SD)
NFC: Tiki Barber (NYG), Frank Gore (SF), Chester Taylor (MIN)

WR
AFC: Laveranues Coles (NYJ), Chad Johnson (CIN), Andre Johnson (HOU), Javon Walker (DEN)
NFC: Anquan Boldin (ARI), Marques Colston (NO), Torry Holt (STL), Roy Williams (DET)

FB
AFC: Lorenzo Neal (SD)
NFC: Mack Strong (SEA)

TE
AFC: Antonio Gates (SD), Kellen Winslow (CLE)
NFC: Alge Crumpler (ATL), Jeremy Shockey (NYG)

K
AFC: Rian Lindell (BUF)
NFC: Robbie Gould (CHI)

P
AFC: Brian Moorman (BUF)
NFC: Mat McBriar (DAL)

CB
AFC: Champ Bailey (DEN), Rashean Mathis (JAC), Asante Samuel (NE)
NFC: Ronde Barber (TB), Walt Harris (SF), Charles Woodson (GB)

SS
AFC: Chris Hope (TEN)
NFC: Roy Williams (DAL)

FS
AFC: Kerry Rhodes (NYJ)
NFC: Ken Hamlin (SEA)

DE
AFC: Robert Mathis (IND), Aaron Schobel (BUF), Jason Taylor (MIA)
NFC: Aaron Kampman (GB), Leonard Little (STL), Julius Peppers (CAR)

ILB
AFC: London Fletcher (BUF), Zach Thomas (MIA)
NFC: Antonio Pierce (NYG), Brian Urlacher (CHI)

OLB
AFC: Keith Bulluck (TEN), Shawne Merriman (SD)
NFC: Lance Briggs (CHI), AJ Hawk (GB)

DT
AFC: John Henderson (JAC), Warren Sapp (OAK)
NFC: Fred Robbins (NYG), Kevin Williams (MIN)

KR
AFC: BJ Sams (BAL)
NFC: Devin Hester (CHI)

Articles like this bring a smile to my face.

When we destroyed them in the playoffs last year, Philly should have figured out that old and slow won’t cut it in the new NHL – but they did nothing to rectify the situation. Now they’re the worst team in the NHL, and firing the coach and letting the GM walk hasn’t helped either.

Couldn’t happen to a more deserving team.

Lately I’ve been hearing ads for something called HD Radio. It promises to be what HD is to television – amazing detail, improved clarity, etc.

Sounds great! Now I can listen to 15 minutes of commercials every 20 minutes in stunning hi-def!

Seriously people, I don’t need HD Radio – what I really need is for radio to stop sucking. Annoying, obnoxious DJ’s and overly long, too-frequent commercial breaks should be a thing of the past. There isn’t a single radio station in this town that actually plays what I want to hear without trying to sell me something every five minutes. And what’s up with a station that constantly refers to itself as “rock radio” yet has talk shows for nearly a third of the day? Give me a break.

Go to XM or Sirius, you say? No thanks. I have enough monthly bills as it is. I wish I had the money to add a proper iPod kit to my car. If that were the case, this post wouldn’t even exist. I’ve had very little luck with FM transmitters, and the power outlet in my car doesn’t even work anymore anyways.

As of a few weeks ago, I wasn’t even sure I was getting one…. but now, I must admit I’m getting Wii-eally excited about getting a Nintendo Wii. I can’t wait to be one of the millions waiting in line when it’s Wii-leased on the 19th. There will be plenty of games, new and old, to choose from; if I don’t feel like swinging the Wii-mote around, I can settle down with a Wii-make of a more traditional game.

I’m sorry, I got carried away there. That was totally uncalled for. I feel like such a Wii-tard now.

Sigh.

Time to show off my dog as well as my wife’s creative talents. If this isn’t the cutest thing you’ve ever seen, you must be a Leafs fan:

I haven’t written for over a month, so I guess I should put something here, right?

I just got back late last week from a trip to the Oracle Openworld conference in San Francisco. It was my first trip to the Bay Area, and I took a couple hundred pictures, some of which I may even put up later. I also got to visit my godparents, who live in Sacramento and made the 1.5 hour drive to see me. All in all, a fun trip but a tiring one – walking up and down those hills is quite a workout!

I still haven’t gotten around to installing those new hard drives yet. I tried Vista for a little bit, but due to some weirdness I’m going back to XP until I feel a bit braver. Application support, at least for the apps I use, isn’t quite there yet. For example, I can’t even run Firefox unless it’s as admin. So I’ve been researching an unattended Windows install CD that integrates the latest patches and drivers for things like RAID – that way, if I need to attempt the install multiple times, I can save myself some work. I need to hurry up on this, as the wife has been itching to be able to use iTunes and Photoshop again.

Hockey season is upon us, and with the Sabres getting off to a 11-0-1 start, I have nothing to complain about. We picked a good year to get season tickets Now if only I could afford a new jersey…

‘Tis all for now – I keep telling myself I need to stay on top of this blogging thing. Who knows if I’ll ever achieve that.