The Garden State

I went to New Jersey over the weekend to see some family. Thanks again to my sister & brother in law for making that happen. I confirmed that my niece is the smartest and cutest little girl in the state. I also got to watch football and eat barbecue with some old friends on Sunday.

Sunday was my first day of football as I was at the Camel Races last weekend.

Football Thoughts

The Patriots will make the playoffs. Starting running back Lawrence Maroney might loose his job to Sammy Morris. The Patriots are going to have to score some points on defense this year.

The Giants are loaded at running back.

I liked former Giant Michael Strahan on Fox's NFL Sunday.

What happened to the Browns? They may right the ship yet, but they looked anything but a playoff team. How long before the fans start clamoring for Brady Quinn.

Colts running back Joseph Addai really misses his starting center Jeff Saturday.

Why didn't one of Ed Hockale's fellow refs step in during his blown call in the Chargers Broncos game?

Is Chargers running back Ladainian Tomlinson out of gas or is he just off to another slow start?

Did Oakland owner Al Davis really think the Raiders would be good anytime soon?

Did Brad Childress really think quarterback Tavaris Jackson was the answer?

I think enlarging the NFL Schedule to 17 or 18 games is a bad idea. Two more regular season games makes winning the Super Bowl a war of attrition.

Steelers quarterback Ben Roethlisberger really didn't want to talk about his shoulder after the Steelers win over the hapless Browns.

Will St. Louis Rams head coach Scott Linehan make it through the season? His week two post game press conference was a classic tirade. Unfortunately, I couldn't find a clip on the web.

Travel Notes



A liter of water in Newark Liberty International Airport is $3.49. A gallon of gas was $3.47 in Hoboken, NJ. I pointed that out to the sales clerk and received a dirty look.

More evidence that the next wars will be fought over food and water.

I think the bottled water companies and the TSA are in cahoots. I'd like to see what a bottle of water was going for on the other side prior to the liquids ban. If I'm not allowed to take water through the security check point then there should be filtered water provided on the other side so I can fill my bottle.

My flight was delayed an hour due to the Ike related airport closure in Houston. We had to wait for two flight attendants.

Once on-board the flight crew apologized profusely for the delay. There was no offer of free booze or FF miles.

Overheard:

Man in a charcoal suit: "George W. was one of the worst students I ever had."
Woman in a yellow suit: "Student, where?"
Man in a charcoal suit: "Harvard, and I don't say that politically."

I have no idea if the man was a professor or not. He went on to mumble something about everybody deserving a drink now and then but . . .

Mother to her children (who had just returned from spending $50 in Borders) after discussing their frequent purchases on amazon.com.

"I don't want you using my credit card anymore. If you need something I'll buy it for you."

Umm, why did you give your kids the credit card in the first place? In the children's defense at least they're spending mom's money on books.

Waiting in the jetway:

"We had a workforce reduction last year."

You mean some people were fired?

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I read a piece on Lance Armstrong, in the October issue of Men's Journal.

Here's a quote.

"I'm glad I'm not cycling anymore. It was fun while it lasted, and I liked it, but I'm so focused on other things now that I never think about it."

The interview was done on May 13th, LiveStrong Day.

Armstrong announced his return to professional cycling via his website on September 9th.