A Thanksgiving Feast

Ahh, Thanksgiving! What a wonderful holiday it was. I got to spend my time stuffing my face while selecting from a smorgasbord of tasty treats. You better believe I ate some turkey, mashed potatoes and gravy, stuffing, green bean casserole, broccoli cheese & rice casserole, salad, sourdough rolls, orange cranberry chutney, and two slices of apple pie, with plenty of glasses of coca-cola to wash it all down.

I also got the chance to watch football, because what is thanksgiving without football, right? It’s a tradition that has been going on for years. To be truthful however, the games were just ok. All four games turned out to be complete slaughter messes.

What I noticed after watching 3 different NFL football games throughout the holiday, was that the winning team in each of those games were just as hungry as I was, being that each winning team "feasted" on their opponent.

- The first game that appeared on television was the morning brunch game on CBS between the Tennessee Titans and the Detroit Lions.

Before the game you would’ve thought that both teams were as hungry as the starving kids you see on those “give a child a penny a day” commercials. The Titans threw up all the good stuff they had churning in their stomachs by losing their first game of the season, at home, to the NY Jets a week ago. Meanwhile, the Lions had just never gotten fed period. They had yet to claim a victory in the season, and were looking to treat their sell-out home crowd to a gourmet first win. Something had to give…

It was the Titans who proved to be hungrier in that game, as they speared for some Lion meat early on and never stopped eating. The Titans scored 21 points in the first quarter, and RB’s Chris Johnson and LenDale White each rushed for 100 yards and two touchdowns en route to a 47-10 scoffing in Detroit.

- The next game on the tube was the afternoon special, the early-bird dinner contest on FOX between the Seattle Seahawks and the Dallas Cowboys.

Coming into this game, it was plain obvious that a bird such as a seahawk is nowhere near capable of attacking a cowboy. Cowboys are rough, tough, and have guns, like the kind in the Pace Picante commercials. They can easily shoot down a seahawk to snack on for dinner, and that’s just what they did…

Cowboys QB Tony Romo was sending missiles in the air to bring down the seahawks. His accuracy was on the money, as he went 22 of 34 for 331 yards and three touchdowns. The Cowboys were celebrating their last thanksgiving game ever at Texas Stadium, and they wanted to make sure that their fans didn’t leave the game with an empty stomach. They gave their fans a meal and then some, as they beat the Seahawks 34-9.

- The last game featured on television this year for thanksgiving was the late night desert match-up on the NFL Network, the battle of birds as people like to call it, between the Arizona Cardinals and the Philadelphia Eagles.

This game was the most interesting of them all. There were the Cardinals, who in games previous had munched on little worms, but struggled against top dogs. And then there were the Eagles, a team who in their previous game were devoured by the Baltimore Ravens. In that game, the Eagles made controversy by replacing their most-known item, the Big Mac-Nabb for a Quarter Pounder with Kolb. After the game Ronald McDonald himself, Eagles head coach Andy Reid, solved the quarterback situation by saying that for the thanksgiving contest he will go back to the Big Mac, and he couldn’t have made such a better choice for his franchise…

Eagles QB Donovan McNabb bounced back after being benched a week ago, as he chomped down and consumed as much "cardinal red" meat as he could. McNabb went 27 of 39 throwing for 260 yards and four touchdowns in what was a huge win at home for the Philly Faithful, 48-20, as the Eagles kept their playoff hopes alive.

So there it is, not only did I have a feast with my family, but the winning teams on thanksgiving also had big-time meals.

Hope all of you had a Happy Thanksgiving!

FOOD + FAMILY + FOOTBALL = THANKSGIVING TRADITION

Thanksgiving will finally be upon us come Thursday. For me, the holiday will give me the chance to make a cool little trip back to the Bay Area to spend time with my family, feast on some great food, and watch a whole lot of football.

The greatest thing about Thanksgiving, or really any holiday that my family celebrates, is the tradition that comes along with it. The schedule of events is the same, year in and year-out, and that’s something that I never get sick of.

This is how my Thanksgiving is going to shake out…

The holiday will get an early start Thursday morning as my family will have to wake up around six in the morning to shower up, get dressed, and take off on the journey that is my house in Brentwood to my nana’s house in San Francisco.

Once on the road, there are a couple of pit stops that are necessary to the holiday achieving tradition status. First, we stop off at the Raley’s supermarket down the street in order to pick up the Thanksgiving feast that my mom ordered.

(Not your typical homemade thanksgiving feast, but my nana can’t make a whole meal anymore. Plus, Raley’s does it right with their sides).

After Raley’s, we’ll stop off at Chevron to fill the truck up with gas and get something to drink before we hit the highway.

On the highway, my mom will be tripping out due to the traffic, as she can’t stand car rides longer than 30 minutes. A couple of bad accidents have ruined her for life. Luckily, I know the surefire trick to get her mind off the road, just talk about football.

She loves when I get her take on the Thanksgiving NFL games. Her picks are the same every year due to the fact that the same two teams always play home games on Thanksgiving. These are her picks…

- Detroit Lions over whoever they play, because I was a Liberty Lion
- Whoever plays the Cowboys, because my family hates any sports team from the city of Dallas

After all that talking we have already driven through the Caldecott Tunnel and over the Bay Bridge into “the city”. Those are the two parts of the trip that freak my mom out the most.

We finally arrive at my nana’s house at around 8:30am. We usually spend an hour just talking in the kitchen while my mom starts getting the food prepared.

The Detroit Lions game gets going at 10am and so my dad, Mike (my brother and law), and I head for the TV. My mom, my nana, and my sister will talk some more while the food is being cooked; only this year, they’ll have another lady joining their crew, my beautiful 3-month old niece Hayley.

After the first quarter, the Lions will be losing in what will look to be a blow-out from the Tennessee Titans. That’s when my dad, Mike, and I, go outside to play football. We’ll then get interrupted after some time, as my sister will yell out the window that it’s time to come inside to eat.

Once I see the table, and everything that is there, one can’t help but to go hog wild and want a little bit of everything…

- Salad with tomatoes, lettuce, carrots, and cucumbers with an oil and vinegar dressing
- Green Bean casserole
- 3 slices of Turkey, and a big spoonful of mashed potatoes, with a lot of gravy poured on top of both
- sourdough bread stuffing with apples and onions
- 5 rolls
- Cranberry orange applesauce
- And of course, a slice of apple pie

By the time we finish the feast, I am stuffed.

Everyone then goes into the family room to see that the Detroit Lions made it a closer game than we thought, as we switch the channel to the Cowboys game to root for the Seattle Seahawks. We watch as much as we can until we are succumbed by the eating of turkey to take a nap.

That’s how my thanksgiving ends up every year!

The six game losing streak

After losing six straight games, the San Francisco 49ers finally for lack of better words, got their asses in gear.

QB Shaun Hill was nearly perfect doing the little things to help us get the win. He went 15-20 with two touchdowns and no interceptions, using his mobility to set up nice plays. RB Frank Gore rushed 18 times for 106 yards and two touchdowns, helping us dominate the first half of the game. Even the defense came thru with two interceptions. For the 49ers, it was an easy and well-needed 35-9 home victory against the rival St. Louis Rams.

What’s important here is that the 49ers got the victory, but what’s even more important is that the six game losing skid is over!

It was starting to become sickening to see the 49ers lose week-in and week-out. This six week journey I’m about to flashback to has been my suffering until today…

The six-game losing stretch started with a trip to the south to take on the New Orleans Saints. The 49ers defense had some success in the 1st quarter, but that was it. Overall, Deuce McAllister let loose with a 70-yard ground game which included a touchdown. However the real damage was delivered via air. Drew Brees threw the ball for 363 yards to go with three touchdowns. Two of those touchdowns were of 30 yards plus in a saints 31-17 smashing of the 49ers.

The 49ers then returned to, what is supposed to be their comfy confines, Candlestick Park. On this two game home-stand they were set to take on two east-coast teams. But home provided to be anything but comfy in those two challenges.

First, they were asked to take on the AFC East New England Patriots. Without QB Tom Brady, the 49ers had a chance. J.T. O’Sullivan threw for three touchdowns, but with the good came the bad. He also threw three interceptions. The defense never seemed to get off the field that day, and an unknown celebrity, K Stephen Gostkowski, sealed the deal with three field goals of 35 yards plus, en route to a 30-21 Patriots victory.

Then came the NFC East Philadelphia Eagles, who, just like the opponent the week before, had their star player, RB Brian Westbrook, sitting out the game. This was probably the most crushing loss to us 49er fans in the losing streak, because the 49ers blew a 26-17 lead going into the 4th quarter. A passing touchdown, three field goals, and a 55-yard interception returned for a second touchdown later, while being uncontested by the 49ers offense, led to an Eagles 40-26 comeback conquest.

After losing to the Eagles, we then had to travel to New York to confront another NFC East team, last year’s Super Bowl Champions, the New York Giants. The game was not as the close as the score suggested. The Giants used Brandon Jacobs to force the ball down our throats for two scores, while controlling the clock with over 34 minutes of TOP in a 29-17 win.

The day after losing to the Giants, head coach Mike Nolan, was given the Donald Trump treatment, as he was fired. That’s when Mike Singletary, the former 49ers linebacker’s coach and associate head coach up until then, was acclimated as the new head coach of the 49ers.

Six days later, Singletary would make his head coaching debut against the Seattle Seahawks at home. Singletary did not disappoint, however the team did. Singletary stayed true to himself. He showed what can happen if you do not perform for him. He benched “Mr. Turnover” QB J.T. O’Sullivan and also kicked “Mr. Penalty” TE Vernon Davis off the field. Still, sternness doesn’t win the game, ability does. The 49ers ability to win was not shown on the field after a 34-13 Seahawks shellacking in San Francisco.

After his the Seahawk game, Singletary led an explosive press-conference, in which he expressed his need for players that want to win and finish. The 49ers had a bye-week before the next game, a primetime Monday Night Football bout against their division leading foe, Arizona Cardinals. 49er fans felt that Singletary’s seriousness over a two-week break would result in a strong 49er performance.

So here comes what was last Monday night’s meeting in the desert with the Cardinals. The 49ers had played a steady game leading 24-20, but then in the 4th quarter the defense let some scores go. At the end, there was still time for a miracle comeback. The 49ers marched down the field only, to be screwed by the refs in the final seconds on a tackle call. Singletary was scrambled with what to do with four seconds left in the game. He called for a run up the middle to try to win the game from two yards out. Arizona’s defense stuffed the run and the rest was history in a 29-24 Cardinals comeback.

Singletary took some heat this week from the bay area sports radio stations on how he managed the game against the Cardinals, but his players picked him up this weekend with a home blowout against the Rams.

Hopefully, we can keep winning and not have to get subdued to a six-game losing streak ever again. Go 49ers!

We Finally WON the Causeway

In the words of Sam Cooke from his song “A Change is Gonna Come” in 1964 “It’s been a long, a long time coming, but I know, a change is gonna come”, as the Sacramento State Hornets football team reversed misfortune that had been plaguing them for quite some time in the annual meet-up with their foes, the Aggies of UC Davis, by beating them for the first time in the Causeway Classic Rivalry game since 1999, 29-19.

The game took place at the beautiful infant, and by that, I mean the 1-year old, still brand-spanking new home of UC Davis Football, the Aggie Stadium, for the first time in the rivalry game’s history. But even Davis’ home field advantage was nowhere in comparison to the pent-up aggravation, desire, and hunger, that oozed out of the hornets on both offense and defense, which led to the hornets long-awaited victory.

Speaking of that pent-up aggravation, there has been so many big time events that have happened since the day September 18, 1999 in which Sacramento State last beat UC Davis, that I have decided to make a list of the things that our world has gone through in history, before we captured a momentous victory for the Sacramento State hornets, let alone, Marshall Sperbeck.

- October 12, 1999; the world reaches a population of 6 billion
- January 1, 2000; the millennium turns
- November 7, 2000; George W. Bush starts his 8-year presidency
- September 11, 2001; Terrorists attack America
- November 25, 2002; Department of Homeland Security is established
- June 4, 2003; Martha Stewart indicted of counts of fraud (she’d eventually go to prison)
- October 20, 2004; The Boston Red Sox win the World Series & break the curse of the Bambino (first time a team trailing 3-0 came back to win a series- ALCS vs. Yankees)
- August 29, 2005; Hurricane Katrina strikes Louisiana and the rest of southern states
- June 19, 2006; Carolina Hurricanes win the Stanley Cup (Carolina’s first professional championship)
- April 16, 2007; 32 people killed in Virginia Tech shootings
- June 25, 2008; Fresno State wins college world series (lowest ranked team to win championship in any sport
- The Patriots won 3 super bowls (2001, 2003, 2004)
- The Spurs won 3 finals (2003, 2005, 2007)
- Ron Artest made his short-lived appearance in Sacramento
There were many more events, but those are some of the big ones.

The bottom line is this: Hopefully we won’t have to be compelled to make a list like this ever again!

The Sacramento State Hornets are a team that with this win against UC Davis became more respected and well-known in the Sacramento region. Head Coach Marshall Sperbeck pulled off the impossible and is steadily building quite the program as far as football is concerned on the campus of Sacramento State.

If they can rifle off two more victories against Northern Colorado and Idaho State, the Hornets will finish above .500 for the first time since 2000.

Oh no, not another list…

The Food Revie: Malabar

If you’re looking for a place to eat with a trendy ambience, and a different take on your somewhat classic entrée’s, then look no further than Malabar, it will fulfill your adventure and your taste-buds.

THE AMBIENCE

As mentioned, I had always seen Malabar from the outside, but had never been inside. When opening the door to the restaurant, welcomed by a beautiful hostess at a desk to your right. One can’t help but notice a long winding staircase which leads to a special room up top, which our waitress let us know is a banquet room for special events, but also one can’t help but notice the trendy / modern look that the restaurant is aiming for.

The staircase is outlined and lit up with Christmas tree lights as it is very dark inside the restaurant. Near the bar/ lounge area, on the wall behind the hostess desk, there is a metal art-piece, and on the opposite wall, there are lights that change color and reflect off of the metal art. Keeping up with the modern art theme, the table we sat at a neat red light over it, a deep red couch to sit on, and a funny, sugar dispenser for iced teas. There are nine flat-screen TV’s in the restaurant, and on this day, only one TV was showing a college football game, compared to the eight TV’s that were showing CNN’s results of the election.

THE SERVICE

Our waitress was Miriam, a young, blonde-haired woman with a kind smile that was great at doing her job. She always made sure that our drinks were re-filled and that our food was correct and most importantly, she gave me 3 lemons for my water, when I had told her that I wanted iced water with extra lemon. Normally, waitresses mess up that simple request. Also, at the end, she made sure to split the bill up between the 5 of us who attended Malabar for this food review.

THE FOOD

As far as the food is concerned, there were plenty of choices to choose from. There were different kinds of soups, salads, sandwiches, entrée’s and pasta dishes, which all were slightly different from your average American grill type of menu choice, due to the ingredients used in them. It was almost as if they were American grill items with a world-like influence.

Our group started with an order of Malabar’s garlic cheese bread to start off, and for the price it was alright. The appetizer was about $3.95 and came with two decent sized half-loaves. The garlic bread wasn’t the best I’ve had, but the quantity was cool.

When it came down to ordering my main meal, I ordered the Malabar steak sandwich, medium, with the garlic mashed potatoes, and I was not disappointed. The steak was very tender, and had somewhat of a teriyaki marinate to it. Miriam told me that the tenderness was due to the fact that they marinate the steak for 24 hours. The mashed potatoes were good too but just a little dry, so I asked for a side of the mushroom gravy to accompany them and that made them fantastic.

Then to polish off this feast, Suzie wanted to know if anyone wanted to split a desert with her and I agreed to do so. We ordered the cheesecake, which on the menu had mentioned that it came with a raspberry sauce. Well, first off the cheesecake itself was heavenly, for Suzie, it was lightweight orgasmic, but when the cheesecake came, there was only a thin squiggly line of raspberry sauce designed on the plate as a garnish. That wasn’t going to do for Suzie and I. So we asked for an extra side of raspberry sauce and poured it all on top of the cheesecake. The cheesecake went from being good to being really, really, good, with that addition.

CONCLUSION

So, thank you, Fitz for making us do a food review, because without this assignment, I might not have been forced to check out Malabar, one of the best restaurants I have been to in the Sacramento Region.

The 55th Annual Causeway Classic

Alright college football fans, it’s time to get pumped, get juiced, and get ready as two rivals, the Sacramento State Hornets and the UC Davis Aggies, will compete for bragging rights in the Sacramento region as they will play in their 55th Annual Causeway Classic rivalry game.

The game will start at 2:05pm and will, for the first time in the rivalry game’s history, take place this year at the new Aggie Stadium on the campus of UC Davis. It’s not that the game has never taken place at UC Davis, but last year when the new Aggie Stadium was built, it was Sacramento State’s turn, in a switch-off every other year basis, to host the Causeway Classic at Hornet Stadium.

The new Aggie Stadium which wasn’t too kind to its home team in its inaugural year (UC Davis went 2-3 at home last year) has finally settled in and become quite the place to be on the campus of UC Davis, as it has become a cozy and comfortable place for the Aggies to call home (UC Davis is 5-0 at home so far this year). This game will be the Aggies’ fifth straight home game out of a six-game home-stand.

As for Sacramento State, being on the road has been sort of a bumpy ride. They had lost all 3 of their previous road games this season before finally picking up their first road victory this past weekend against Eastern Washington (November 1, 2008). This will be the Hornets second straight road game before returning home for their final home game of the season against Northern Colorado on November 15, 2008.

The Aggies have won four straight, and are coached by Bob Biggs, who has compiled an impressive 119-54-1 record in his 14 years as head coach of UC Davis. The Aggies, this year, are led offensively by their sophomore quarterback, Greg Denham (2,405 yards & 20 TD’s), and defensively by their junior linebacker, Mike Morales (47 tackles & 2 Interceptions). UC Davis’ largest victory in the rivalry’s history was a 51-6 score back in 1982.

The Hornets are looking to get back to.500 on the season with a win against their hated rivals, and are coached by Marshall Sperbeck who has earned the respectability of coaches all across the college football stage by changing the attitude and talent of a team that is used to losing. So far in his first two years as head coach for Sacramento State he has a record of 7-13. The Hornets, this year, are led offensively by their sophomore quarterback, Jason Smith (1,249 yards & 9 TD’s), and defensively by the Buck Buchanan Award candidate and two-time All-American, senior linebacker, Cyrus Mulitalo (72 tackles, 1 sack, 1 Interception). Sacramento State’s largest victory in the rivalry’s history was a 50-18 score back in 1980.

The all-time series between the two teams goes to UC Davis as they lead 39-16. And being that this year, the game is being played in Davis, the advantage once again goes to the Aggies as they lead the series 16-7 at home.

It should be an interesting game. UC Davis is once again a force to be reckoned with in the Great West Conference, while Sacramento State is an up and coming gritty team in the Big Sky Conference.

So get prepared and hopefully show up, to the 55th Annual Causeway Classic as the 4-5 Sacramento State Hornets will challenge the 5-4 UC Davis Aggies. And if you can’t show up to the game, listen to the game which will be broadcasted on www.kssu.com.

Singletary Makes A Statement

The football god’s must have read last week’s column about the downfall of the San Francisco 49ers. They gave me just what I had asked for during this past week, which was a new head coach! His name is Mike Singletary, one of the toughest linebackers to ever play the game, and already in his first game as a head coach, he made a big-time statement to the fans, the media, and most importantly, the team, on what it is he feels it takes to win.

These football gods made miracles, as to how quick they did it! My column was written last Monday afternoon and by Monday night the 49ers were calling for Coach Nolan’s head, while looking internally for a new leader.

The fans had been on their heels waiting for this move to happen, and ESPN’s Michael Smith reported a couple of weeks ago that a Mike Nolan firing would probably take place during the bye week which is set for this upcoming week. The reports must have had a strong influence on the 49ers front office, as they notified Nolan that he was going to be axed.

The replacement: 49ers Assistant Head Coach & Linebacker Coach, Mike Singletary.

He was an assistant coach in Baltimore with Nolan under former Ravens Head Coach, Brian Billick, and when Mike Nolan was hired to come to San Francisco as the new head coach of the 49ers in 2005, he brought Singletary along for the ride.
Mike Nolan had to inherit a team that finished with the NFL’s worst record in 2004, and to keep it real, he brought a little intensity and respectability to the team. He just never found a way to win or motivate his team in his three and a half seasons as the 49ers head coach.

So, in steps Singletary, waiting to be announced as the new San Francisco 49ers Head Coach at his press conference last Tuesday. Pretty much he thanked Mike Nolan for giving him a good luck blessing, as they have been friends for quite some time now, and also praised Mike Nolan for bringing back respectability to a once storied football team. Singletary stated that the team is talented and that it just needs direction, and his main focus was getting his team prepared for what was their game against the Seattle Seahawks.

Now to the game that was played Sunday at home against those Seattle Seahawks, Singletary’s head coaching debut. The 49ers lost 34-17, but Singletary made a strong statement about this team by getting rid of the bad apples in the tree.

First off, Singletary yanked QB JT O’Sullivan in the 2nd quarter. He had seen enough of O’Sullivan after the quarterback started off the game quite terribly as he has recently. He fumbled inside the red zone, which was recovered by Seattle and set up a score. And then the last straw came when he threw a horrible pass behind his receiver that was picked off and ran back for another touchdown for Seattle.

Secondly, he took matters into his own hands, after TE Vernon Davis gave the 49ers an unsportsmanlike conduct penalty for getting into it with a Seahawk defenseman after the play. Singletary sent Davis to the bench, and then eventually to the locker room early in the fourth quarter.

Last, after the game he made his presence felt in the press conference. He is showing the media, the fans, and his team, that he means business. As a 49er fan, I love it, and hopefully it will shape this shambled team up and make them play hard.

Check out this video

the forty-niners downfall

Will the San Francisco 49ers ever get back on the football god’s good graces?

The chances of that are starting to get as slim as Calista Flockhart…

What looked to be a pretty good finish for this year’s team in the offseason is starting to turn into something that is somewhat reminiscent of an old deteriorating building in which everything is going to shambles.

THE DEFENSE

The defense was probably the most promising of all the units that this year’s San Francisco 49ers had to offer. Even though they only had the 25th ranked defense out of 32 teams last year, the numbers don’t tell the story, because they had to be on the field for so long thanks to such a horrible offense, but we’ll talk about that later. Last year Patrick Willis earned the NFL’s Defensive Rookie of the Year, as he tallied 226 tackles! How do you get better than that? You add some key free-agents, such as a pro-bowl linebacker in Takeo Spikes (LB), a tumultuous defensive end from Cincinnati in Justin Smith, and a speedy cornerback / kick returner extraordinaire in Allen Rossum. These pick-ups were meant to complement the studs from last year…

However, things have changed as the defense as they seemed to have forgotten how to tackle. They have shown that they have no answer for a powerful running back, i.e. Brandon Jacobs (NYG), and Deuce McAllister (NO). Not to mention that the safeties, whether it’s Dashon Goldson, or Mark Roman, has been getting burnt like toast at a bad breakfast spot. That’s the least of the problems though!

THE OFFENSE

Oh boy, where do I start with this unit? This unit needed a lot of improving after last year, which ranked dead last in the NFL in ever major offensive statistic: Pts/ g, total plays, and Yards/ g; among many others. It didn’t help that their #1 pick from the 2005 NFL Draft, Alex Smith, was injured for a majority of the season, leaving Trent Dilfer to screw up and really show he needs to retire. So, what do you do in a predicament like this, we hire one of the smartest offensive minds in the NFL in Mike Martz to be our offensive coordinator. We then pick up some key free agents on offense as well, such as WR Isaac Bruce, OT Barry Sims, and RB DeShaun Foster. Not to mention we signed a journeyman by the name of JT O’Sullivan in which nobody knew before the season, although he had a great pre-season while starring in a fight for the starting QB spot. Well, he ends up winning the job, and suddenly, you think this offense could be real good…

Yet, that was before the season, and not where were at, 7 games into the season, like we are now. You can’t knock one of the best running backs in the NFL, Frank Gore, because he has done all he can this year. But you can’t run the ball all the time, not to mention, Martz is famous for his brilliant passing attack. The problem is that JTO has shown he’s not really starter material. He makes the wrong decisions at the wrong times. He holds on to the ball for too long, causing sacks, which in turn eventually leads to timely turnovers. Our receivers don’t catch the rare good passes he makes. It’s really bad.

MANAGEMENT AND CLOSING

I’m not one for firing head coaches, but Head Coach Mike Nolan should be fired! He hasn’t shown any kind of leadership. The players don’t trust him. He fails to execute the right plays when needed to.

This all stems from upper management, which in turn falls on the terrible people that own the team, the York Family. They are showing signs of doing whatever they can to run this team into the ground: bad drafts, bad personnel, and a wavering opinion on a new stadium. If they don’t do something quick, my forty-niners will get moved to LA and that would SUCK!

The clever comedian on sports: Ray Ratto

Are you looking for a great take on sports? Something that’s not sugar-coated and watered-down? Someone, that’s going to keep it real, while giving you a laugh at the same time? That’s what you’ll get from reading one of Ray Ratto’s sports columns, which can be found a couple times a week in the San Francisco Chronicle. And if you need more Ratto, which some people, I included, need at times, not only does he write for CBS’ sportsline.com, but he has also written for espn.com as well. Speaking of ESPN, he is also a frequent guest on ESPN’s Jim Rome is Burning sports talk show.

Ray Ratto, 52, has been a writer in the Bay Area for quite some time. He received his education at St. Joseph’s High in Alameda, before arriving and graduating at the best school for broadcast / journalism in Northern California, San Francisco State University. Ratto has been writing about sports for almost 30 years now, while being a sports columnist for about 20 of those years.

However, before getting his chance to write columns, Ratto had to, as many young bucks in the media business do, start his career by being a “staff reporter” for each of San Francisco’s two big papers, the Examiner and the Chronicle. After doing some good work for both papers, Ratto finally got his chance to become the column writer that he had been longing to be.

The first two papers that gave Ratto the opportunity to showcase his sports writing skills are no longer in service. He first wrote for a paper called The National, the short name for a nation-wide sports tabloid newspaper / magazine called The National Sports Daily. Although due to a lack of readership, and other misfortune, The National, which was started in 1990, came to a halt only 18 months later. After that brief venture, Ratto went on to write as a columnist for yet another paper that was on its way to becoming extinct by the time he had arrived. This paper was called the Peninsula Times Tribune. It was a small daily paper that started in 1962 which was owned and eventually closed by the Tribune Company of Chicago in 1992 due to its declining circulation. But with the bad, always comes the good as Ratto then got a job writing sports columns for San Francisco’s “second” paper, the San Francisco Examiner, which would in turn set up Ratto for his best Jefferson’s impression, as he “moved on up” to San Francisco’s #1 paper, the San Francisco Chronicle, jumpstarting an illustrious career.

Ray Ratto, to me, is the San Francisco Chronicle’s Sporting Green. Every remembrance of the Chronicle’s Sporting Green starts with a picture of his portly face and walrus-looking mustache. He’s quick with his humor, as he always has the right words to say. For example, this is what Ratto wrote when talking about Oakland Raiders’ kicker Sebastian Janikowski in the article written this past Sunday as the Raiders beat the Jets:

“He has been asked, over the years, to try some improbably long kicks that lower his rating - and no, we're leaving the 76-yard attempt against San Diego as Lane Kiffin's last middle finger to Davis rather than a serious attempt to score.”

There are plenty of good articles that one can bring up examples of, but then that would ruin all of the fun for you readers that have yet to experience one of his articles. So, if you have the time, and you like the combination of sports and comedy, check out Ray Ratto’s columns in the San Francisco Chronicle either in print or at sfgate.com in the sports section.

The Year of the Underdog

Whatever happened to teams winning the games they’re supposed to?

This question gets brought up not only because of what we’ve seen in college football lately, although that has heavily influenced the need for this question, but really, it’s this whole sports year in general which has had my mind boggled, bet-takers shutting their mouths and their bank accounts, and the word, UNDERDOG, becoming an everyday term of choice.

It all started with this year’s biggest sporting event, the Super Bowl, which took place on February 3, 2008. The NFL’s biggest game featured the matchup of the “no one can beat these” New England Patriots, the NFL’s newest version of a dynasty, a team that was looking to be the first to go a perfect 19-0, while setting multiple offensive records, taking on the “just squeaking by, kind of lucky” New York Giants, who had to win on the road three straight games including an overtime victory in horrible weather conditions over the NFL miracle man himself, Brett Favre, and the Green Bay Packers.
CONCLUSION: The Giants, the biggest Super Bowl underdog ever, wins 17-14, thanks to Eli Manning conducting what is known as “The Play”, in which he eluded pressure, shook off a sack, and launched a 32 yard missile which was cradled by David Tyree to set up the game winning touchdown.

The Upset Bug then struck once again at this year’s college baseball championship, The College World Series in Omaha, NE. The SEC conference Georgia Bulldogs, who featured sensational shortstop Gordon Beckham, the 8th overall pick in this year’s MLB Draft were supposed to shellac the weak little WAC team out of Fresno, the Fresno State Bulldogs, who had more losses than any previous champion in college baseball history. Fresno State had never won a championship in any of their men’s programs.
CONCLUSION: Fresno State went on to win 6-1, with their outstanding offensive outfielder, Tommy Mendonca taking the MOP (Most Outstanding Player) of the 2008 College World Series Tournament. They are currently the biggest underdog to win an NCAA championship in any sport.

Flash forward to where we're at now…

This year’s college football season has showed us so far that being of a higher rank doesn’t mean diddly squat. On September 25, 2008, 4 out of the Nation’s top-10 teams at the time, were upset including the #1-“can’t be stopped” USC Trojans, who were dethroned by losing to their PAC-10 “do it again” Oregon State Beavers on a Thursday night in Corvallis OR. The Beavers who upset the Trojans two years ago, the last time the Trojans made a trip to the campus of Oregon State, found ways to knock off #1 again 27-21 this year.

Then this weekend 3 of the then top 10 teams fell including a stunning surprise when #5 Texas took it to #1 Oklahoma in their annual Red-River Rivalry.
Having the title of “#1 in the Nation” means absolutely nothing during the regular season in college football anymore until that day comes when you actually win the glass shaped football signifying that you are the champion. Lower-Level schools have shown swagger and fearlessness as they anticipate big time matchups against teams that are supposed to cream them.

Basically what I’m saying is…don’t become a bookie. Business is as bad for bet-takers as it is for stock market traders. I wouldn’t be surprised if the Tampa Bay Rays, a team that has never made the playoffs in their 11-year existence until now, completes this crazy year, by going on to win the World Series, and proving that 2008 is the year of the Underdog, not the Rottweiler.

The United States Presidential Candidates

The United States Presidential Candidates


The big question that will be enforced on our society for the next month and a half is, who will be the next president? After watching tonight’s presidential debate, in my mind, there is still no candidate that makes me say, “Wow, this is our guy!” Both candidates really didn’t answer the questions too clearly, and both candidates just kept exchanging jabs back at each other, while relying on their past records. Who cares about the past? Let’s talk about the future!

ECONOMY

Obama started off by saying that we (the United States) are in the worst economy since the great depression, but where were the answers to solve it? All he did was allude to the fact that McCain and Bush have a “connection” when dealing with the economic crisis. Duh. They’re both republican. He also answers this by saying we need to lower taxes, crack down on CEO’s, and come up with an infrastructure to create jobs. HOW is this going to get done?

McCain was just as bad. He said that we need to stop the spending spree, yet at the same time he wants us to buy all of the bad mortgages. That doesn’t make sense! He also stated that he has a plan, yet he never really told us what the plan consists of?

Winner- draw


TREASURER SECRETARY CHOICE

Obama- Warren Buffet-CEO Berkshire Hathaway- philanthropist-financial advisor for Lebron James

McCain- Meg Whitman-CEO eBay-never heard of her until now

Winner- Obama


BAILOUT RESCUE

Obama said, “This is not the end of the process, this is the beginning.” And then went on to note what he will try to do for American families which to me sounded like fairy tale talk.
McCain was actually straightforward on this topic as he said that we need to stabilize markets and buy up the bad loans.

Winner-McCain


PRIORITIES

Obama- 1. Energy, 2. Health care, 3. Education

McCain- said that all can be taken care of adequately, never gave a prioritized list for those three topics.

Winner-draw; but more, Obama, for actually giving an order

LAST THOUGHTS

As mentioned, this debate was really a bunch of bull for an hour and a half. These guys stated what it is they want to do in order to take care of some of the problems facing our country, but yet, none of them took it a step further to really explain better to us regular folk of how they will take care of these issues. It seemed that they both took some swigs of the haterade, but McCain was drunk off it, as it seemed like 90% of what he had to say was Obama bashing.

Last but not least, to wrap this debate up in its the best form, both of these candidates must not have played red light green light when they were young. There was a traffic light kind of device used during the debate to help them recognize when to go, have final thoughts, and conclude. They clearly do not know what a red light means, as they kept talking. My advice to not be on the road with either of them. They’ll cause an accident!

The funniness of family guy

If you’re looking for a cartoon with random moments that will have you laugh so hard that you might piss your pants…than go to the store, pick up some Pampers, and make sure you’re back at your house before 9pm on Sunday Night, in order to catch the new season of Family Guy. Unlike Trix cereal, it’s not just for kids.

THE HISTORY

Family Guy was originally created by Seth MacFarlane in 1999 for Fox. It was cancelled a year later by the network and then was brought back in order to finish through to three seasons. After those three seasons, it was cancelled once again, and some thought for good.

Cartoon Network started airing Family Guy re-runs for syndication, on Adult Swim, the network’s more adult-oriented late-night block of television, and that fueled a family guy phenomenon. Fans of the show from when it was on Fox tuned into their beloved show again, and somehow, word started spreading about how funny the show really is. Ratings for Adult Swim increased heavily, and later on, once the seasons were released on DVD, those sales skyrocketed as well. The success that resulted influenced Fox to bring the show back to production for new episodes, and ever since, it has continued to stay strong. Fox has a deal for Family Guy to be produced until 2012.

REASONS TO WATCH

The show has had a lot of success because of the way it goes about its comedy. The characters are the heart of the show. Peter is the fat, always up to some crazy scheme, dad of the family. Louis, who loves sex, is the mom of the family. Chris, the oldest child is the stupid fat son, a direct result of Peter. Meg, is the ugly, often ignored middle child of the family in which everyone in the family, including the dog Brian, makes fun of. Stewie, who always has plans of world domination, and is quite possibly the funniest character in the show, is the baby in the family. He is always kickin’ it with Brian. They’re boys yet they’re enemies. And speaking of Brian, Brian is the smooth talking, yes talking, dog of the family who loves a good drink, and is up to no good, no matter who he kicks it with.

The show is built mainly around random and hilarious flashbacks and / or pop culture references that just totally catch you off guard.

The flashbacks most always start with something like, “that was worst than the time I…” and then they flashback to something that is so random and funny, that it just has you sitting in your chair, saying to yourself, “what the (expletive)?”
The cartoon, South Park did a spoof of how family guy gets their metaphorical or simile-like jokes when in one of their episodes, they said that Family Guy jokes come from manatees who pick different idea balls to construct a joke for an episode. The idea balls involved the themes of a date, Mexico, and Gary Coleman. Then you saw them refer to a made-up version of Family Guy in which Peter makes a joke about going on a date with Gary Coleman in Mexico.

The pop-culture references also make the show. For instance in the episode of Family Guy aired last night on Fox, the best was when they re-enacted a scene made famous in the movie, “Office Space”. In the movie, Michael and Samir, get so frustrated with a certain fax machine, that they take turns destructing it. Family Guy did their version of this scene with Brian and Stewie demolishing Peter’s “Bird Surf” album, in the exact same fashion as in “Office Space”. The music was the same, and so was the way in which both items were destructed.

The show is a classic, sometimes referred to as a cult classic. If you need some comedy in your life, Family Guy is the way to go.

How a man hug turned into a trip to the hospital

Have you ever been noticed by someone that you haven’t seen in a really long time? And you just tried to play it cool by giving that person a simple gesture? But then that person catches you off guard as they take your gesture and turn it into a “give me some love” types of gestures?

I know that’s a weird scenario, but please stick with me, as I have one of the craziest stories to tell, about how a man hug turned into a trip to the hospital...

It was the Sunday right before school started. My roommate and I were moving things from our old apartment to our new apartment. I was in the process of moving my posters from place to place.

My hands were tied up from carrying the posters, and I needed to bring some thumbtacks so I could hang up the posters. I couldn’t find the little box for the thumbtacks, and I wasn’t going to put the thumbtacks in my Jordan shorts’ pocket and have them prick at my knee while I was walking with the box to my new place.

(You’re probably thinking, “Walking, with the box? Didn’t you move to a new apartment?” I did move to a new apartment, just in the plushier part of the same complex. The apartments were within walking distance of each other. )

So, I put a couple of the thumbtacks in my mouth while I was walking with the posters. (You know, kind of like when you put a nail in between your teeth when you’re hammering something in?)

I know...stupid decision!

Well, I almost get to my apartment when someone from a distance yells out, “Mikey Smith?” At first, I’m thinking, “who the hell is that?” But finally as the silhouette draws nearer, I realize it’s this guy Joey DelChiaro, who I haven’t seen, for like, 4 years since senior year of high school.

I tried to give him a cool little hand shake and keep it moving as I was in the process of trying to move things. Well, he takes my hand shake offering and turns it into a man hug, and boy was I caught off guard! I still had the thumbtacks in my mouth, and on impact of the man hug, one of the thumbtacks got stuck in my throat! I started choking as I was trying to prevent the thumbtack from going down the pipes, but it was too late! I swallowed the thumbtack!

I was sitting in my room after, thinking, maybe I should go to a hospital?

An hour later, I manage to make my way to Mercy Hospital on J Street. After sitting in the emergency room, waiting, for what felt like an eternity, the doctor finally brought me in to take some x-rays. When we got into the x-ray room he admitted to me, “You, know when I first saw the incident report, and it said that you swallowed a thumbtack, I was thinking, and don’t take this the wrong way, ‘Is this guy mentally retarded?” Even the nurse had asked me earlier if I had swallowed the thumbtack as a stunt for you tube.

I felt like such a jack-ass. The hospital staff couldn’t believe the truth. Even my friends and family got a laugh out of it.

Throughout the week following, I analyzed every bowel movement to see if I had passed the damn thumbtack. To this day I still haven’t seen it! Who knows where it is?

Persistence pays off

It’s always been said that if you really want something, you have to work hard to get it. All J.T. O’ Sullivan has ever wanted was to play in the National Football League, but even more than that, become a starting quarterback for a team in the NFL. He is now the starting quarterback for the San Francisco 49ers, which have enjoyed a 2-1 start to this season, but saying that it has been easy for O’ Sullivan to get to this point, is a big understatement.

THE LOCAL START

O’ Sullivan’s career started off in high school as he attended Jesuit High School in Sacramento, CA. He had a good career in high school, but not something to ride away from home about, literally, as there were no big-time national colleges giving a look his way for a scholarship. The only colleges showing interest in O’Sullivan were the two nearby schools to his home, UC Davis and Sacramento State, and in order to continue his football career in college, both schools game him the proverbial line, you have to pay to play.

So, he was convinced by his high school coach, Dan Carmazzi, to check out the local, at the time Division II College, UC Davis. O’ Sullivan ended up attending Davis where, as a freshmen, he would have to red shirt and play 3rd fiddle, backing up Kevin Daft and Ken Kearns. Being a backup didn’t sit well with the young man from Jesuit, as he knew he had a bunch of talent. While red shirting O’ Sullivan worked his tail off, so that when the next season came around, it would be no competition as to who would be starting quarterback for the Aggies of UC Davis. There would continue to be no competition for O’ Sullivan throughout the rest of his time at Davis, and when it finally came time for his departure at the end of the 2001 college football season, he had amassed every quarterback record in Aggie history.

THE JOURNEY BEGINS

After a college career gone great, O’ Sullivan was now thinking about the big leagues. He declared himself for the NFL Draft in 2002, and was drafted in the sixth round by the New Orleans Saints. Once again, like his first year in college, O’ Sullivan was forced to add the bench as a residence, as he never saw the field in his two years with the Saints.

O’ Sullivan was eventually traded from the New Orleans Saints to the Green Bay Packers at the beginning of the 2004 season. He took some time in the off-season to get ready for his new team, as during the summer he played in NFL Europe (NFL’s version of minor league), and had the 2nd best passer rating in the league. It’s not like that would propel him to the starting role in Green Bay though, as they still had the legend, Brett Favre calling the shots. However, O’Sullivan did get to see his first action in the NFL that year, as he was summoned in to take a knee to end the game. The pack would let J.T. O’ Sullivan go after the 2004 season, and from then on it was a mountain made of a mo-hill process as he would be between making and breaking 5 different NFL rosters for the next 3 years.

In 2007, O’ Sullivan was scooped up by the Detroit Lions, where eventually, he would play in his 2nd NFL game, throwing a 7-yd td pass to Calvin Johnson. In Detroit, O’ Sullivan was under tutelage from one of the smartest offensive minds in the NFL, Mike Martz, the creator of the “Greatest Show on Turf” back with the St. Louis Rams. Mike Martz was canned after a 7-9 season in Detroit, and so too was J.T. O’ Sullivan. Martz was later signed by the San Francisco 49ers to be their offensive coordinator. J.T. was a free agent looking for a home.

A month after Martz’s arrival, the offensive coordinator swayed the 49ers into signing one of his old protégé’s from a year ago in Detroit. That protégé was J.T. O’Sullivan.

Upon arrival, O’ Sullivan already knew that the 49ers had two quarterbacks already worthy of starting: Alex Smith, the first overall pick of the 2005 NFL draft who was recovering from a season in which was spent on injured reserve, and Shaun Hill, who after getting a chance to start for the also-injured 2nd string QB Trent Dilfer, went 2-0 as a starter for the 49ers in two of their last three 2007 NFL contests. That didn’t bother him, as we used to being a backup in his previous 6 NFL seasons, it just made him work harder. O’ Sullivan worked hard with the receivers in the off season, and in Pre-season, he wowed both offensive coordinator Mike Martz, and head coach Mike Nolan.

He’s been a blessing in disguise for my 49ers as it never seemed as if we were going to do any better than Alex Smith. The hard work from O’ Sullivan has paid off, and as the starter for our season has allowed my 49ers to be back in the mix in the NFC.

Way to go J.T., keep up the season and take the 49ers to the playoffs!

Virginity for sale? Who Cares?

The latest news to shock the world recently has been about a girl who looks to “empower” herself by auctioning off her virginity. Her anonymous alias name is Natalie Dylan, and she is supposedly 22 years old. She made this announcement on an episode of Howard Stern’s radio show, which to me doesn’t come as a surprise, as Howie always has some girl pulling off a ridiculous stunt on his shows. And ever since the announcement was made, people all around this country, and especially here in Sacramento, being that she graduated from Sacramento State, have been very upset with Dylan’s choice to sell her virginity.
To me it’s absolutely ludicrous that people are getting so angered by this obviously sad and twisted girl’s decision to auction off her untouched vaginal area. Who should care about the decision she is making? She’s not auctioning off anyone else’s virginity but hers. The only thing women worldwide should be mad about is maybe the fact that they didn’t think of the idea first!
People in America just need to realize that a girl’s virginity nowadays doesn’t mean anything! That is probably a harsh statement, but let’s be real ladies and gents. How many people do you know, that have lost their virginity to that certain someone, and is still with them, or married to them? The answer is probably slim to none. That’s for fairy tales, not the 21’st century.
The new trend these days is for people to experiment sexual deviance in their adolescence so that they could be ready later on down in life for their future husband or wife. It’s all about losing it on a drunken, one-night-stand kind of escapade in high school or college to someone who might not even be the hottest person, but who was just there at that exact time and place that you felt you were ready.
With all the sexual images that are being portrayed so heavily in the media these days, I wouldn’t be surprised if young kids at the age of 12 are already doing it.
Having sex isn’t as sacred of an activity as it was back in the day when our parents and grandparents were growing up. Back then there weren’t so many men and woman pimping and slutting around. Back then, people were on that really romantic, meant-for-each other type of hype. Most couples waited until marriage to participate in the act of having sex.
Nowadays, it’s all about who bones who, and the numbers affiliated with the act of sex. Especially with men, all guys feel that they need to add up to some number so that they are deemed worthy of being known as a man to their peers. Who knows if girls play the same number game? They probably do, but in more of a discreet way. Ssshhh…
But back to Natalie Dylan, as we seem to have gotten sidetracked a little bit. Let her do what she wants! If she doesn’t want to have that nice intimate moment remembered for being special with the candles, and the rose petals, with R. Kelly’s “Seems like you’re ready” playing in the background, why should anyone have to feel the need to dictate how this woman should go about giving her virginity away? Just let her be the one who will always remember her first time as being probably rough and awkward with some man that paid an absolute insane amount of money just to say that he was the man that for a better lack of words “popped her cherry”.
She’s a beautiful young woman, who supposedly is selling her virginity to afford graduate school. Shouldn’t people be happy that she wants to continue her education. That’s what’s more important here. The girl obviously has a lot more learning to do throughout her life, and if one raunchy screw gets her into graduate school, so be it.

Farewell Yankee Stadium

It brings me such sadness to say that Yankee Stadium, one of the most well-known ventures in all of professional sports, will be closing its doors for good next Sunday night, as The New York Yankees will be playing host to divisional foe, Baltimore Orioles, in a game that will be nationally televised as the Sunday Night Game of the Week on ESPN. The game will start at 8ET, 5PT.
Isn’t it ironic that the Yankees will be finalizing their old stadium by playing a team that shares their former city and nickname? (The New York Yankees were originally founded as the Baltimore Orioles in 1901. They then moved to New York in 1903, with a new nickname, the Highlanders, before eventually becoming the Yankees in 1913. The present-day Baltimore Orioles were the result of a nickname and city change from the St. Louis Browns in 1954.)… Sure. There aren’t many sports teams that move to a different city, with a new nickname, and then later on have to challenge a new team that resurrected once again with the former city and nickname.
What’s even more ironic is the fact that this will be the first year in this decade, in this millennium even, where the New York Yankees will not be making any post-season plans.
My eyes have become so accustomed to seeing Yankee Stadium as a fixture, a symbol, as you will, throughout the playoffs for so many years in a row that this year’s Major League Baseball’s playoffs will not even feel like “real” playoffs to me. Yankee Stadium has hosted the World Series an unprecedented 37 times, the most of any baseball stadium! The Yankees were world champions 26 times. Coincidence? I don’t think so!
Let’s take a trip down memory lane and revisit the history of what could possibly go down as the greatest sports stadium on American soil…

THE OPENING
Before Yankee Stadium, The Yankees had previously played at the Polo Grounds in Manhattan, a stadium which they shared with the same-city rival, New York Giants. However, big-time Yankee slugger Babe Ruth was bringing more Yankee fans to the ballpark than the original owner Giants were, and in 1921, the Giants told the Yankees to find a new place to call home.
Yankee Stadium was built in the Bronx in 1923, right across the Harlem River from the Polo Grounds. The proximity of Yankee Stadium to the Polo Grounds was as if the Yankees were out to prove a point to the Giants on who the real New York team is, and will always be, in the sport of baseball. (The Yankees beat the Giants in 3 times in the World Series: 1923, 1936, and 1937. The Giants eventually moved to San Francisco in the year, 1958.)
Tabbed as “The House That Ruth Built”, Yankee Stadium definitely lived up to its name, as on April 18, 1923, the stadium’s opening day, Ruth did what he did best and that was hit a home run, the first home run in Yankee Stadium history. They shortened the right field porch to about 295 feet just for him. Ruth would later go on to hit a total of 259 home runs at Yankee Stadium.
In its 82nd and final year of existence, Major League Baseball decided to have the 2008 All-Star game played there this year. It was, all-together, the most memorable All-Star experience ever! In the Home Run Derby, Texas Ranger slugger Josh Hamilton, hit a single-round record of 28 home runs. One day later, the All-Star game itself set a record for the longest lasting All-Star game with a time of 4 hours and 50 minutes.

OTHER FACTS
- First tri-level sports facility built in the US
- Tied with Cleveland Stadium for hosting the most MLB all-star games (4)
- First venue in baseball with an instant-replay display
- Venue for the first televised boxing match in the U.S.(7-1-1939; Baer def. Nova)
- Most storied team in college football, Notre Dame, with a record of 15-6-3 there
- The NFL New York Giants played home games there from 1956 to 1973
- Bob Sheppard, PA announcer there since 1951 (known as “the Voice of God”)
- 3 different popes have celebrated mass there (Paul VI- 1965; John Paul II- 1979; Benedict XVI- 2008)
- Blind Yankee sportswriter, Ed Lucas, and fiancée, Allison Pfieffle, only couple to have a wedding there. (March 10, 2006; broadcasted on ESPN)
- Host to more postseason games than any other stadium in baseball history
- Yankees clinched 9 of their 26 World series titles there

As last words go, farewell, Yankee Stadium! You have given so many memories to sports fans everywhere of all ages. It will be sad to see you go, as your new big brother, The New Yankee Stadium, will soon replace you. But don’t worry you will only be replaced physically, never spiritually.

you know what really grinds my gears

You know what really grinds my gears? Laws! Of course, most laws are good as they can prevent crime and danger from happening in our fair country. Without laws there is no order or discipline. However, there are some laws in the State of California that are so absurd, they make you question if you are really living in a free democratic society.
Let’s start with the most popular law of late, the cell phone law. Basically the law states that the cell phone cannot be used while driving. Let me rephrase that… the cell phone can be used, but only through a hands-free device. As long as the phone is not being held by hand while still driving, then you’re okay.
Here’s where the problem arises. To me the big question is, “Why is there need for this rule?” If the government’s answer is along the lines of, the phone being a DISTRACTION that could alter a person’s driving skills, then they need to come up with more things to outlaw while driving…
The government should outlaw text messaging someone while driving. To me, text messaging is worse than someone dialing up a buddy and talking to them. Text messaging really takes the attention of the road away from the driver, being that the driver has to concentrate on what it is they want to text, let alone the problem of looking at the cell phone screen while trying to keep eyes on the road.
The government should outlaw, and ladies might not be happy about this one, putting on makeup while driving. Females, in the morning on their way to work or school, are notorious for putting on mascara, lipstick, and who knows what else to beautify themselves. Makeup isn’t necessarily a bad thing, but when it causes chicks to look at the mirror while trying to drive, bad driving decisions could be made, i.e. un-suspected stops and swerving.
The bottom line is this. The cell phone law is acceptable, as if you look at these numbers according to the Human Factors and Ergonomics Society; cell phone distraction causes 2,600 deaths and 330,000 injuries in the United States every year. Those numbers are real and understandable. However, along with holding and talking on a cell-phone being outlawed while driving, so should text messaging, and putting on makeup while driving too!

Sorry for going off on the cell-phone law, but that one just really irks me. On the other hand, the cell phone law isn’t the only law that grinds my gears in the state of California. There are others…
“It is illegal to set up a mousetrap without a hunting license.” Are you serious? You have to have a hunting license to kill a rodent roaming around in your living space. What if you’ve never hunted in your life? It’s not like setting up a mousetrap takes the expertise of a hunter. Since when did mice join the endangered species list?
“Peeling an orange in your hotel room is banned in California.” Once again, you’ve got to be kidding me? An orange, one of the most tastiest and well-known fruits produced by the masses in this state, and we can’t even peel them in a hotel room? Aren’t their hospitality oranges, apples, and bananas in bowls at hotels? What do they expect us to do, take an orange and peel it outside. What if we’re not trying to eat the orange until midnight or later, when we’re winding down in the oh-so-comfortable beds that hotels provide while, watching ESPN, and we don’t feel like getting up to walk out of the room to peel an orange?

That’s the law that just puts me over the edge here in this state, and that is what this column is going to end off with. Once again, laws help to provide stability and order in disciplining us, but some, are just taken to the next level. You know what they say though, rules are meant to be broken!

The beginning

Hello all, that has came upon my blog. My name is Michael K. Smith (I have to throw in the "K" to somehow seperate me from all the other millions of Michael Smith's there are in this world) and I am a huge sports fan. I am in my last year at Sacramento State, as I am studying to become a sports broadcaster. I am the sports director for KSSU.com, sac state's student-run radio station on campus, and my concentration is a major in Communications with a minor in journalism... which brings me to the reason for why I am now a member of blogger.com.

As an assignment for my Journalism 30 class, I will be writing blogs weekly covering big news in sports. My blogs will try to be humorous as they will be personal rant and raves on a certain sports topic that has gone on throughout the week and has had some effect on me, and might even have an effect on you! Hopefully, for whoever decides to gander at my blogs, you are entertained by them, and most definitely, let me know what you think of them, if there is a comment option available.

Take it easy everyone, as I look forward to having a good semester, and writing blogs that everyone will enjoy.