Big Hits

More than a little annoyed at the end of the Cowboys/Giants game, I got online to try to take my mind off it. I wasn't going to visit any of the rash of doom 'n gloom posts that have hit my reader and were being posted on the Cowboys website and Facebook pages so I decided I'd pop in here and check the stats, see who has been visiting and what they were looking at.

I'd noticed quite a few hits yesterday on my Cast Away posts and the movie must have played on TV and I didn't notice it in the listings. The Feedjit stats showed that, but don't tell the entire story; many people have the Do Not Track extension on their browser so their visits won't show up on it or have some other "stealth" application or add-on. Unless they have Blogger cookies blocked, however, it will show up on the Blogger stats. (and I've previously blocked some of the tracking stuff, but I won't be able to see the top navbar and have to go in via the dashboard to create a post or look at the stats) Looking at the day's stats, I noticed there had been quite an increase in traffic earlier.

As you can see, there was quite a few visitors, relatively speaking, that came to this blog. ("relatively", because ToTG doesn't get all that many visits.  200/day is fairly avg., sometimes more, sometimes less.) I have it set to not track my own page views or the visits would double on the days I have nothing better to do than come in here.

I decided to switch to the "day" mode on the stats and saw this:

90+ visitors in a matter of a few hours. Wow. Wish it would be like that all the time; I would put in some paying ads...which would probably drive the traffic away.  I also wish the Cowboys had put that many hits on Eli Manning.

I'm glad I'm not trying to make a living at this blogging thing.

Footie & Football Fouls

I've got a good online friend from England - her nickname is "Minnie". She's a devoted fan of the Chelsea soccer (footie) team. A long time ago when we were chatting on IM, she asked if I followed soccer and if so, what team did I like. I allowed as I really didn't like soccer all that much, but if I did, I might follow Arsenal because that was such a cool name for a team.

Oops, wrong answer. I knew soccer fans were...well, "fanatical" about their teams, but I didn't know about the hatred they could have for other teams. (I like American football, but have grown less and less interested in all sports as I've grown older. I do follow the Dallas Cowboys and have been a fan since I was a young boy, but I don't watch them if they're playing badly. Why would I want to suffer through that? Personally, I don't "hate" other NFL teams, but will admit to disliking Philadelphia mostly because of their obnoxious fans) It wasn't very long until I got a pkg. in the mail from my British friend; in it were two Chelsea jerseys, one white and one blue. My allegiance to a particular footie team had been decided for me!

Chelsea played Barcelona yesterday; I wasn't for sure what was at stake, but I did some research and found out it was an important match (the Champions League Semifinal) and that the team from Spain was the World Cup Champs. (was? were? The British form of singular/plural confuses me a little. Where Americans would say "Chelsea is a great team.", the Brits would say "Chelsea are a great team." I guess it's something to do with the former thinking of a team as a singular unit while the latter thinks of a team being individual players. Just always found that odd. It's almost like the USA being considered a union of individual states pre-Civil War - "The United States ARE..." and afterwards being thought of as a single entity "The United States IS....")

Anyway....I watched a little bit of the match, but was confused a little bit by the Barcelona squad being able to keep the ball near the Chelsea goal as much as they were. I then found out that John Terry, a Chelsea star player, had been given a "red card" - being ejected from the match for a flagrant foul on a Barcelona player, Sanchez. Here's a video of the infraction:




Good Grief, that wasn't much more than a love tap.  Sanchez deserved an Oscar for that acting performance.  Terry could have shot him with a pistol and he wouldn't have gone down that fast. 

As said, Terry was ejected from the match.  I didn't know that a team would have to play short-handed the rest of the game.  That doesn't seem right.  Chelsea went on to play great defense and eventually knotted the score at 2-2.  I know next to nothing about the game and even less about how that can be considered a win, but that's what happened and Chelsea moves on into the playoffs.

(I also don't understand how the various leagues work - my friend Min tried to explain it to me once but I was more confused after the explanation than I was before.  I remember thinking at the time it would be like trying to explain the game of baseball to one of those remote Amazonian tribes. I did catch on that the worst teams have to "drop down" into another league and that sounds like a good deal to me and wish they'd try it in the NFL.)

The Terry "foul" reminded me of another foul committed by Albert Haynesworth, then of the Tennessee Titans,  against Andre Gurode of the Dallas Cowboys from a few years ago.




What Terry did paled in comparison, wouldn't you say?

Note: Doing a little dab of research on this post has made me much more knowledgeable about soccer.  I still don't know much, but I know more than I did yesterday.  Now I need to find out what the fans sing during soccer matches.  I watched a bit of a Liverpool match (scousers!) a couple of years ago and heard them singing "You'll Never Walk Alone".   Odd. 

I haven't asked her, but I bet my British friend Min might think Liverpool should sing the chorus of "Hair Of The Dog".

So Far, a Lucky Week

This just hit my email inbox:

I forget why I entered the contest; I'm sure the Grand Prize was something I really wanted or I wouldn't have made the effort. A magazine subscription isn't too bad of a consolation prize - I love to get magazines and after reading, they're good to line my trashcan with or to tear pages out of and put under the Beej's water and feed bowls. I used to take my old magazines to the laundromat but they would get stolen within the day.

It's been a fairly lucky week for me; I won this magazine subscription, fifty extra points for correctly answering the movie trivia question at StartSampling and last night I won $12 on the Powerball lottery.

It was also a very lucky week for some young punk in a red car.  I was out earlier and about to turn onto a busy street.  The light was red and there was a car ahead of me.  I started slowing as I normally do, easing to a stop. (saves gas, saves brake wear) There wasn't but a few car lengths between me and the other vehicle when the red car zoomed around me and cut in front.  I had to slam on my brakes to avoid slamming into the car.  I saw him glancing in his rear-view mirror and I gave him the bird.  He didn't look back again.  I was itching for a fight- he had scared me and that just about makes me angrier than anything else.

As we sat there waiting for the light, I got more angry.  He wasn't saving any time, he had to wait anyway.  When the light changed, he sped off, zipping from lane-to-lane w/out signalling. He also ran a yellow light when he got to the next intersection and turned. 

I wasn't in a very good mood, anyway.  I had tried to drop off my vehicle insurance payment last week, but there was a sign on the office door "Be Back Soon". I went back by several times, but there was no one there.  I put the check and invoice on the passenger seat and forgot about it.  When I got in my truck earlier, I noticed it and remembered that it was due tomorrow.  I got to the insurance office and saw the same sign on the door.  I went to the Dollar Store, did a little shopping and dropped back by only to see the business was still closed.  I killed a little more time and went back - the sign was still up, the door still locked.

Fuming, I went home and called the after hours number listed on the door.  Nothing.  I then called the regular number and a woman answered.  I told her I had been trying to bring my payment by and wanted to make sure someone was there to take it.  "Oh, I stepped out for a little while." she told me.  Yeah, a week is a "little while" I thought, but didn't say it.  She then informed me that the boss was gone, had been for a week.  That made sense then - she was enjoying her four hour lunch breaks.   She's lucky I didn't lose my temper with her.  She's even luckier I didn't have to file a claim for rear-ending that red car.

I'm lucky to win the few things I have this week.  To be honest - I'm even more lucky I haven't stroked out.   I seem to be getting more and more angry at things here lately.  I got a little angry earlier at a reply to my license plate post on Facebook.  An old friend and schoolmate wrote "Why would I want a license plate with 'Mike' on it?"  It shouldn't have, but it hit me wrong.  I started to reply "Well, it would be just as well....'smartass' wouldn't fit."  I've been a little snarky on Facebook myself lately, though, and didn't want to be a hypocrite.

To top all that off, the stray cat I've been feeding has been in heat. (I thought she was pregnant, but she is just fat.  I've cut back on her food- all she gets is B's leftovers now) I love cats, but the only thing more disgusting than the smell of cat urine is a female cat in heat.  Thanks to her "condition", there has been a dozen tomcats hanging around.  I've been woken up a dozen times  this week by the caterwauling;  it's either her and a male cat or two males dueling for her affections.  I've discovered one thing about cats;  you can't tell whether they're fightin' or foolin' around by the sounds they're making. 

It would probably help a great deal if I quit frequenting political forums.  If the Republicans nominate Gingrich, then they will have to give up the "party of family values" label they brag about.  If they nominate Santorum, then they'll lose any chance of getting a gay person to vote for them ever again. Both of them are a little...let's say "ethically challenged".  The Republicans definitely need to stop touting that they're for limited govt. and need to quit pretending they're conservative. (and the TEA Party has allowed itself to be hijacked by the neocons) I'm lucky I'm too old for the draft, because we'll need one for the war machine if we take on Iran.

I know I lowered my blood pressure at least fifty points by not reading posts in Dallas Cowboy forums.  The "Tony Homo" posts infuriated me.  Probably Santorum supporters.

I Got a Kick Out of This

Checked my Google Reader a little while ago; most of the articles were uninteresting, so I hit the "Read All" button except for two Dallas Cowboy posts. One was from Blogging the Boys: The Bossness Of Dan Bailey.The article was about the phenomenal rookie place kicker for Dallas. He's already set several NFL rookie kicking records and will hopefully break the team record for most consecutive kicks made. From the website:

Dan Bailey is breaking records.

His 26 consecutive field goals this season is an NFL rookie record (the next best rookie mark is 14). His four game-winning kicks - defined by the NFL as kicks made with less than two minutes remaining in regulation or in overtime - are also a league rookie mark. And he tied an NFL rookie record with six field goals made in the Week 3 win against the Washington Redskins.

They had a poll on the site, asking the readers to vote for a nickname for Bailey.  Here are the options:

I voted for "Dan the Man", but as you can see,  "Steely Dan" was winning at the time I read the post. Now, I'm an avid Cowboys fan, but I also consider myself fairly knowledgeable about music trivia and while I love Steely Dan (esp. "Reelin' In The Years") I don't think it's an appropriate nickname for Bailey.

From the Steely Dan website FAQ:

With the core band recruited, Donald and Walter need a name for their group. Since both of them were avid readers of 1950's "Beat" literature, they decided to name the band "Steely Dan" after a dildo in William Burroughs' "Naked Lunch."

Yeah, that'd be a GREAT nickname. Uh huh. -snicker-

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rankle

rankle\RANG-kuhl\ ,verb;

1. To cause keen irritation or bitter resentment in.
2. To continue to cause keen irritation or bitter resentment within the mind; fester; be painful.

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Many things rankle me on the 'net - the idiots who say "Tony Homo" when referring to the Dallas Cowboy QB, so-called conservatives who call Ron Paul "RuPaul" and asshat trolls who like to post on message boards just to get a rise out of others.

Those first two types are really just specific examples of the third.

Not Silver and Blue, But Green

Since I fell asleep during last nights Cowboys-Chargers pre-season game, I went to the Dallas football team's website to catch up on what I missed.

In this article: Brewster Makes Most Of Starting Role, there's an embedded video of an interview with the Cowboy rookie. Here's a screen shot:



I'm not sure what that green "noise" is in the vid, but it sure looks strange! It sort of looks like my tv does now, only it's a reddish tint and I'm sure it's from imminent picture tube failure.

This would be a good place to put a related "green" video, something like "Green Grass of Home" by Tom Jones or "Green Green" by the New Christy Minstrels.

Nah.

foudroyant

foudroyant\ foo-DROI-uhnt \ , adjective;
1. Overwhelming and sudden in effect.
2. Pathology . (Of disease) beginning in a sudden and severe form.
3. Striking as with lightning.

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I've been hoping the Dallas Cowboys offense will be foudroyant - as in striking with lightning - but the word would probably better describe the sudden rash of injuries the team has suffered lately.

Cowboys Sign New Hampshire Sicko

It's true!

Cowboys convince undrafted TE Sicko to give NFL a try

Having an unusual last name myself, it's always funny to see someone with an even MORE unusual last name.

Besides, I couldn't pass on the headline for the post.

Texas Stadium Implosion

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Now, as long as the TEAM doesn't implode this year....

Farewell to Texas Stadium

The end of a Texas icon will come Sunday morning at 7:00 a.m. CST. View the webcam of the Texas Stadium Implosion. Read what former players and coaches have to say: Long Good-bye

Here are some stadium facts

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I've been to two Cowboy games in the stadium, both in the late 70's and both games were with the (then) St. Louis Cardinals; I don't remember the scores or which year was which, but Dallas won one of the games.

Listening to talk radio, I heard one talking head say there were no bad seats in the house, but I would have to disagree. I didn't care for where I was seated - about four/five rows above field level, but in the corner of the end zone. Each time the action made its way to me, the quarter ended and the teams changed ends of the field, putting them far away.

I do remember my g/f (soon to be wife, now my ex-wife) asking me to drive home from the second game we attended. She had experience driving in the metroplex traffic while I was a small town hick driver, but I gamely got behind the wheel and started to fight the traffic back to Denton (n. of Dallas).

It took about an hour to get out of the parking lot and on the freeway; I almost panicked as I was immediately surrounded by six lanes of traffic, all driving well above the speed limit. I kept my cool and thought that as long as I was heading north, I would wind up in the general vicinity of Denton...or even Oklahoma, but at least I would be on the right track.

Somehow I managed to make it to DFW Airport, a shortcut from Denton we always used to go to the football and baseball games, as well as the times we went to Six Flags. I paid the toll at the entrance to the airport and kept driving. I drove for about 30 minutes, thinking that the route looked familar, but in an odd way. Long story short, it wasn't long until I glanced over from the freeway and saw Texas Stadium again! I had made a huge circle and come back through the airport, only from the wrong direction!

Being a long-time Cowboy fan, I have many memories of games played at the stadium, some good, some bad, but this is one of my favorites.

George Teague lights up T.O. for disrespecting the star

denouement

Usually, I post the most interesting words from our Dictionary.com Word of the Day feed, but "denouement" is not from today's word; instead it comes from a post I read earlier this morning in a Dallas Cowboys forum. The subject was last night's Pro Bowl, and one poster had this to say:

"....if the Super Bowl is the climax I always thought the Pro Bowl made a good denouement."

I will admit to being ignorant of the word, but in the context of the sentence, I thought I understood the meaning. Still, I went and looked it up:

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denouement –noun [dey-noo-mahn]

1. the final resolution of the intricacies of a plot, as of a drama or novel.
2. the place in the plot at which this occurs.
3. the outcome or resolution of a doubtful series of occurrences.

In literature, denouement is the final action that completes the unraveling of the plot in a play, especially in a tragedy. Catastrophe is a synonym of denouement. The term is sometimes applied to a similar action in a novel or story.

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It wasn't so much the word I found unique to my reading experience; no, it was that someone used "denouement" in a sports forum.

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EDIT: I was going to make a reference to Dennis Miller when he was on Monday Night Football, but, as it is with any joke (and all MY jokes), it's not funny if you have to explain it... sort of like not knowing a word is humorous until you know the meaning.

The Top 14 Dennis Miller Monday Night Football Quotes

The Top 14 Dennis Miller Monday Night Football Quotes (Part II)

50 Years of the Dallas Cowboys

From the Josh Ellis blog on the Cowboys website:

Thursday Marks Cowboys' 50th Anniversary

It was Jan. 28, 1960 when original owners Clint Murchison, Jr. and Bedford Wynne were awarded an NFL franchise during the annual league meeting at The Breakers, a beach resort in Palm Beach, Fla. The Cowboys were to begin play the very next season.

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That's all I am going to post, I think. I may come back, add some more graphics, a personal story or two about my love/hate affair with "America's Team".

Then again, I might not make the effort.

Sort of how the Cowboys do some games.

perambulate

perambulate \puh-RAM-byuh-layt\ , intransitive verb;
1. To walk about; to roam; to stroll; as, "he perambulated in the park."
transitive verb:
1. To walk through or over.
2. To travel over for the purpose of surveying or inspecting.

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Many people perambulate to this blog, never to return.

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Also, when used as a transitive verb:

"The Vikings perambulated over the Cowboys."

Na Na Hey Hey Kiss Him Goodbye - Steam

Dedicated to the Dallas Cowboys

Scoreboard!

Let's Go Cowboys!

The game is fixin' to start!



...although that turkey looks more like a Redskin than a Cowboy.

That's all right; I sure hope Dallas isn't a turkey today.

Romo Says "No Mo"

Jessica Simpson Dumped by Tony Romo



A source close to Simpson confirms they broke up the night before her 29th birthday July 10. She was supposed to celebrate with a Ken and Barbie-themed party.

I'm just spitballin' here, but I'd bet a hundred bucks the Barbie party might have been the last straw for the Dallas quarterback. Breaking up with her was probably the only way he thought he could get out of it.

Now I'm hopin' the DallasCowboys.com message boards will maybe, just maybe, give it a rest.

On the other hand, maybe not; the cries of "Romo the Homo" will probably increase.

MartyBTV - Stadium Tour

High on the List

The official Dallas Cowboys website is posting a list of the Top 50 Cowboys, a nifty gimmick to keep up interest in the team during the doldrums between the recent NFL draft and the start of training camp.

Their first choice was one of my own favorite players, Mark Stepnoski.

From the website:


50. Mark Stepnoski
Position: Center
Cowboys Career: 1989-94; 1999-2001
Honors: Five-time Pro Bowl selection (1992-96); Second-Team All-Decade (1990s) pick by Pro Football Hall of Fame selection committee.
Highest Ranking From Panel: 37



When you think of the 1989 NFL Draft, automatically Troy Aikman's name comes to mind. But not only did the Cowboys find a star quarterback to go under center, they found the center as well. In the third round (57th overall), the Cowboys picked Mark Stepnoski, who went on to anchor an offensive line that not only helped Emmitt Smith win three straight rushing titles from 1991-93, but helped lead the way for the Cowboys to win consecutive Super Bowls.

Stepnoski was one of the first big-name players to leave the Cowboys via unrestricted free agency, signing with the Houston Oilers in 1995. He returned to the Cowboys for three seasons from 1999-2001, although the team won just 18 games in that span.

The selection committee for the Pro Football Hall of Fame placed Stepnoski on the Second-Team All-Decade squad for the 1990s behind Pittsburgh's Dermontti Dawson.

Stepnoski made five straight Pro Bowls - three with the Cowboys from '92-94 and then two with Houston in '95-96.

Most people don't realize "Step" is also featured on another website:



Since retiring from football in 2001, Mark has dedicated himself to reforming America's misguided marijuana policy. In addition to his role on NORML's advisory board, Mark recently served as President of Texas NORML.

Cowboys Practice Facility Collapse

Happened this weekend, but this was the first video I had seen posted:



I've seen lots of well-wishers posting on various sports msg. boards, but I've also seen plenty of jerks posting, making horrible comments. As far as I can tell, the offenders are mainly Washington and Philly fans, which comes as no surprise.

The scum of the earth are Redskins (racist nickname) and Eagles fans. (who will probably boo Jesus when He comes back)