Triple Team

The debate is over; you lived through it with your sanity in tact. Now Senator Obama has increased his lead. Want to know what transpired and how his lead grew? Go over to The Stormy Present Politics page and read:

Debate Running Diary (by Jim)

Debate Running Diary (by Trey)

October 2nd , 2008 (post debate analysis by Jeff)

That’s right, the creators of The Stormy Present tripled teamed teamed the debate for your reading pleasure. So read those posts and enjoy.

Also at SP Sports you can read Jim’s thoughts on the Pac-10 and the Trojan’s loss to the Beavers (it’s 4 days later and the double entendre is still funny). By the way, from hence forth on this site the Pac-10 will be referred to as ‘the losers bracket’.

Post ideas in the incubator: status updates on facebook, how to pick an English Premier League team to become a fan of, baseball season recap (ie how my picks were pretty damn good), baseball playoffs preview (ie Go Cubs Go), and of course the VP debate and how it has the potential to be the funniest thing in politics since Monica saved a dress with splouge on it.

Debate Running Diary: Join Us for a Break from the Insanity

We will be posting a running diary of our thoughts on the debate over at The Stormy Present Politics page. We started this site so that we could have a space for insightful yet funny analysis of sports, society, and politics.

This debate offers us, and you, the opportunity to avoid the mundane political over-analysis that you’re going to get from pundits and media types. We hope that you’ll take the time to read our thoughts, we hope you’ll find them amusing, we hope you’ll find them thoughtful, and we hope that you’ll add your thoughts so that we can all talk about serious issue without having to turn to the “sage” like wisdom of people who are paid to yap about nothing and parrot talking points.

So stay up late tonight and wait with bated breath for our Debate Running Diary, which should be coming to you some time late tonight (when we will in all likelihood be drunk).

Do Not Cancel on Dave

Whole … E … wait for it … SHIT!

Last night Letterman lowered the boom on Senator John McCain. Watching it I felt like he hit the sentiment most people are experiencing right on the head. The Senator is undoubtedly a true hero and someone we all love and respect, but the things he’s been doing recently have all of us dumbfounded. Anyway, watch the video if you haven’t seen it already.

Also, if politics is your game, go to The Stormy Present Politics page and read Brad’s quick post about the bail out and Jeff’s video of Vice Presidential nominee Sara Palin. Also, know that if there is a debate we will put up our thoughts in some shape or form (probably a running diary sort of thing), so be on the watch out for that.

And if politics ain’t you thang, go to SP Sports and read my post about how Fred Merkle might be cursing the Cubs.

Since the stock market is going to pot and our leaders are suspending campaigns and not debating you might as well gamble on the NFL. It’s just sound finance. So here are the spreads, which of course I get from Bill Simmons’ podcast with Cousin Sal (free on iTunes, [please don’t sue me]). My guess at the spread comes first and the real spread is in parentheses.

ATL @ Carolina – C 5 (Carolina by 7) –> I don’t bet on Carolina, but this game epitomizes a weekend of bad games

Arizona @ NYJ – NYJ 2 (NYJ by 3) –> Two teams I can’t figure out, stay away #1

Cleveland @ Cincy – Cincy 1 (Cincy by 3.5) –> People in Ohio, I feel your pain, stay away #2

Minn @ Tenn – T 4 (Tenn by 3.5) –> Tennessee’s been making me money so far, why not rid ‘em again here

GB @ TB – GB 2 (TB by 1) –> I’ll take GB because last week’s offensive output by TB was all smoke and mirrors

SF @ NO – NO 5 (NO by 6.5) –> The Saints defense is too bad to risk this one, stay away #3

Houston @ Jacksonville – J 6 (Jacksonville by 7.5) –>Seems like a lot, but Houston sucks on the road

Denver @ KC – D 10 (Denver by 9.5) –> Yes, KC is that bad, give me Denver

Buffalo @ STL – B 7 (Buffalo by 9) –> Not buying Buffalo, stay away game #4 even though STL is the worst team ever

SD @ Oakland – SD 8 (SD by 7) –> How is this only 7, take SD

Wash @ Dallas – D 9 (Dallas by 13) –> Too high, or is it, stay away #5

Philly @ Chicago – P 5 (Philly by 3) –> Philly, money game because this spread is too low

Baltimore @ Pitt – P 3 (Pitt by 7.5) –> like both teams, but without Parker and with a banged up Big Ben, I’ll take the Ravens who have been making me money so far

The Tip of the Sword

Week 5 of our Total Consciousness College Football Picks is up over at SP Sports. So go over there and make your picks.

Also, entertain your self with some thoughts and a video that Jeff posted at The Stormy Present Politics page.

And since I added a link to Deadspin in the sidebar (funny site, check it out) I thought it would be funny to post the video of Buzz Bissinger, author of Friday Night Lights and someone over 50, berating Will Leitch, the editor emeritus of Deadspin, on Costas Now. Bissinger thinks all blogs everywhere are just spewing vitriol and using poor writing skills in the process. He makes this point by being extremely inarticulate and saying Leith is “full of shit.” I would point out that this situation is ironic, but since I’m writing on a blog I clearly don’t have enough understanding of the English language to know how to identify irony.

This happened a while ago, but it remains funny and I suppose it is relevant since we are apparently contributing to ‘the problem’ according Costas and Bissinger. To watch the whole video click here. By the way, Brad has a great post on the future of sports media, which deals with the idea of sports blogs, over at SP Sports. So read that after watching the video.

So Long Thabo

At this moment South Africa doesn’t have a President because his party basically fired him. I should probably write something about that given my educational background and the fact that I’ve spent a great deal of time in that country (I’m too lazy to add up all the months that I’ve been there, but it has to be around 2 years of accumulated time), but the whole situation is just so damn absurd and odd and confusing that it’ll take me a day or two to wrap my head around it.

Until then, you can visit the politics page to see the format changes that I’ve suggested for Real Time with Bill Maher. The gist of it is to only have two guests on the panel so I don’t have to hear people like Will.I.Am talk nonsense. By the way, one of the funniest things I’ve seen in the past month was Will.I.Am rapping the words to an Obama speech at the Democratic Convention. Is he too lazy to even come up lyrics? Seriously, all former members of the Black Eyed Peas please cease and desist all attempts at music.

Also, at the society page you can read another old curmudgeon rant by yours truly about how I find it annoying when people have way too many friends on Facebook. Just to give you an idea of the tone of that piece the title is “Don’t be a Social Whore.”

I’ll leave you with that bit of sound advice.

Take Your Pick

I’ve been oddly busy recently so I’ll get around to some more substantive post soon. Until then you can entertain yourself with a very interesting post by Brad concerning the future of sports media and sports reporting. That’s over at SP Sports along with the list of games for Week 4 of our Total Consciousness College football picks.

Over at the Politics page there is my half-hearted explanation of the Zimbabwean power-sharing agreement as well as my disappointment in Senator Obama’s decision unleash the liberal 527s. Plus, at the Society page you can watch a video of some obscure pop singer turning the National Anthem into a farce. Josh Howard would be proud.

Ok, here goes the NFL lines for Week 3 of the NFL season, which I get from Bill Simmons, aka the Sports Guy, on his podcast which is free on itunes or at ESPN (I’m not going to get sued for this right?). Simmons and Cousin Sal try and pick the spreads for the games and then bet accordingly. I play along because I am lame. My guess at the spread comes first, then the real spread for the game is in parenthesis. I did horrible this week. Enjoy:

Arizona @ Washington – W2.5 (W3.5) –> Like the Skins in this one

Chiefs @ Falcons – F4 (F4) –>Nailed the spread, stick with the Falcons

Cincy @ Giants – G8 (Giants by 13.5) –> Way off on my guess, still will take the Giants

Miami @ NE – NE8 (NE by 13) –> Another poor guess, still will take the Pats

Houston @ Tenn – T6 (Tenn by 5) –> Love Tennessee in this game

Carolina @ Minn – M1 (Minn by 3.5) –> If I did bet on Carolina, I’d take them, but I don’t bet on them

Oakland @ Buffalo – B5 (Buffalo by 9.5) –> Not sold on the Bills just yet, stay away #1

TB @ Chicago – C1 (Chicago by 3) –> Who cares? Stay away #2

NO @ Denver – D4 (Denver by 4) –> Nailed the spread, should be a good high scoring game, but stay away #3

Detroit @ SF – SF1 (SF by 3.5) –> Wow, this is a bad game, stay away #4

St L @ Seattle – Seat5 (Seattle by 10) –> The Rams are God awful, but Seattle sucks too, so I’ll be daring and take the Rams to beat the spread

Pitt @ Philly – Philly3 (Philly by 3) –> Nailed the spread, good game, but stay away #5

Cleveland @ Baltimore – B3 (Baltimore by 2.5) –> Love this Ravens team, hate Cleveland’s team, take Ravens

Jack @ Indy – Indy3 (Indy by 6) –> Urg, I suppose you have to take Jacksonville to beat this spread

Dallas @ GB – GB2 (Dallas by 3) –> I was WAY off, so I’ll go with my guess and take GB

Jets @ SD – SD4 (SD by 9) –> Interesting MNF game, but stay away #6

I Love My Country

… but I think we should start seeing other people.

I saw a bumper sticker that said that and thought it was funny.

In related news, a number of conservative pundits are claiming that the Tina Fey skit on SNL, which we’ve all seen (look at post under this one), is sexist. Meanwhile, greed has run our economy directly into the toilet as asshole Wall Street people continually invested in overvalued stocks, properties, and whatever else.

But what are you going to do other than go over to The Stormy Present Politics page and read about why a pundit driven media is absurd, why I’m disappointed in Senator Obama, and cap it off with my take on the long awaited Zimbabwean power-sharing agreement.

Then you can head over to the Society page to see some pop ‘star’ turn the National Anthem into her own personal American Idol audition.

Lastly, and most importantly, I’ll have the slate of games for Week 4 of the Total Consciousness College Football Picks Challenge up shortly at SP Sports.

We’ve All Seen It

It’s always fun when old people and the mainstream media finally get around to connecting the dots that the rest of us figured out long ago. ‘Hey, Tina Fey looks like Sara Palin.’ Yes Grandpa, we made that connection a while back but thanks for checking in. Anyway, here’s the link to the video of the Tina Fey as Sara Palin skit so we can watch it anytime we want. But after watching it go over to the Politics page to see the Daily show expose how pundits are retarded and read about my take on Senator Obama’s ‘enough is enough’ statement.

This Shit Just Got Real

… Real Stupid that is.

Brad Wright is back with a new post on all the ‘lipstick on a pig’ shenanigans over at The Stormy Present Politics page. Read that and then vent your frustration as Jim and I have done in the comment section. And once again, let me encourage you to view the post under Brad’s and click the links in it that connect you to Foreign Policy’s analysis of the 10 worst ideas of each Presidential candidates. It will save your sanity, remind you that there are still some good journalists out there, and make you more informed. So go to the politics page for all of that.

Meanwhile, at the Society page I basically rail against the younger generation and their sexual outlook like the old curmudgeon that I am. So read that, have a laugh, then find the youtube video where Taylor Swift essentially takes a shower on stage at the CMT awards show.

Now, as per last week I give you the NFL spreads for week 2, which I get from listening to the Bill Simmons podcast (free on itunes or at ESPN). As he and his buddy Sal guess what they think the spread will be I do the same. They then reveal the real spread and gamble according to what they think the spread should’ve been. It is gambling genius. I swear that I don’t cheat by looking up the spreads online prior to listening to the podcasts and 90% of the time I am able to get my guess down before Bill gives his guess. That said, last week all my guesses were close to the real spread but this week I only nailed one spread dead on and picked the wrong team twice. So here they are with my guess first and the real spread in parenthesis:

NE @ NYJ – NE4 (Jets by 2.5) – I forgot this will be Favre’s first home game for the Jets, Stay Away Game #1

Oak @ KC – KC2.5 (KC by 4) – stay away game #2, seriously don’t even watch this game

Chicago @ Carolina – Car4 (Carolina by 3) – I still refuse to bet on Carolina

NYG @ St Louis – NYG6 (NYG by 9) – don’t fully trust Eli yet, stay away #3

NO @ Washington – NO3 (NO1) – you have to take the Saints in this one, right?

GB @ Detroit – GB5 (GB by 3) – does Vegas know something I don’t?

Buf @ Jacksonville – J4 (Jacksonville by 6) – two teams that confuse me, stay away #4

Indy @ Minn – Indy 1 (Iindy by 2.5) – total toss up, stay away #5

Tenn @ Cincy – T2 (Cincy by 1) – um, did you people not see last week’s games?

SF @ Seattle – Seattle 3  (Seattle 8.5) – wtf! I know the 9ers suck, but so does Seattle. How is this spread so high? Money game, take San Fran.

ATL @ TB – T6 (Tamba by 9) – no thank you, stay away #6

SD @ Den – SD2 (SD by 2) – nailed the spread but it’s stil a stay away game #7

Baltimore @ Houston – H2 (Houston by 4.5) – Houston looked awful, Baltimore looked great, I think the Ravens beat the spread

Miami @ Arizona – A5 (Arizona by 7) – stay away game #8

Pitt @ Cleveland – P5 (Pitt by 6) – I say again, Cleveland is going to suck this year, take Pitt

Philly @ Dallas – D3 (Dallas by 7) – awesome MNF game, but too risky, stay away #9

 

Your Political Fix

First and foremost, we will have the Week 3 slate of games for our Total Consciousness College Football picks up shortly. So check SP Sports for that.

Until then, bide your time at The Stormy Present Politics page with two posts by Jeff, “The Sky is Blue” and “Supply Side Economics.” I also put up a post on the politics page relaying two articles from Foreign Policy. Read that stuff and enjoy being entertained and informed; something the mainstream media is unable to give you.

Some other things I’d like to pass along:

Dickie V’s Preseason Top 40

Keith Olbermann and Chris Matthews got taken off election coverage