Today only: All Vegas fares half price on Southwest for travel through mid-March.
I actually sat here for a moment going "OK, $800 to fly the four of us... wonder what kind of hotel deal I could score."
You've probably heard this already, but: thanks to the Bucs and Bears losing earlier in the day, the Eagles and Cowboys met in Philly with a playoff spot on the line.
Final: Philadelphia 44, Dallas 6, with the Cowboys turning the ball over 5 times.
HA HA HA HA HA! BWAH HA HA! Heeeeeeee.
OK, sorry. So, the big debate in Iggles-land this season has been whether Reid and/or McNabb should be re-signed this off-season, and the fan base is quite evenly divided on both. This win may have rendered the point moot. I for one definitely want to see McNabb back. Yeah, he has fallen short of our mercilessly high standards on several occasions, but he's also given us a hell of a lot of good times. And franchise quarterbacks don't exactly grow on trees. Take a look at the QB spot for teams like Cleveland and Detroit this year. Unless you KNOW you're getting a grade-A, long-term QB in the draft (which is damn well near impossible--see "Leinart, Matt"), you don't kick a guy like McNabb to the curb. I mean, Kevin Kolb? Really? Nothing against the guy, I just don't think we know enough about him to say he's the answer.
Reid is a much tougher decision. Clearly the guy knows how to put together a winning football team. But his play-calling skills seem to desert him at critical moments. Look at the Eagles losses this year--at times he gets all too pass-wacky, passing on 75% of downs, but then tries to power-run on critical 3rd-and-4 type plays when he'd be much better off letting McNabb do his thing. Then there's the play calling in the Super Bowl a few years ago, which I will go over in detail with anyone who asks--the Eagles failed to take advantage of the early injury in the Patriots' secondary and the presence of a rookie safety. They ran exactly ONE play to exploit that position--the TD pass to Greg Brown. Shoulda run that play another half-dozen times.
So, I dunno. Again, I think you go with the guy who has a good track record, and hope he can overcome his flaws one of these years to get over the hump. With no heir apparent, you could get a string of Rich Kotite-esque goofballs again.
I went to the mall early this morning to finish Christmas shopping, and before coming back to the office I grabbed breakfast at McDonald's. Now I'm sitting at my desk, and reading the copy on the side of the bag:
A Great Story Has Two Sides
Take the McDonald's hamburger. It's sear-sizzled on the grill so both sides come out perfect every time. Whichever way you look at it, it's the one story that always has a happy ending.
I did not realize this was something I needed to consider. Is there a major fast food chain out there that only cooks their burgers on one side? Is that what White Castle does? I so don't understand marketing people sometimes.
As long as I'm posting about McDonald's, a response to August: as teenagers in Pennsylvania, we did in fact call McDonald's "Mickey D's" sometimes. As soon as McDonald's attempted to co-opt this name for themselves, of course, it ceased to be a cool moniker.
Regarding bourbon: It's not that she finds it unfathomable that I might like alcoholic beverages; it's that she associates bourbon with the Kentucky Derby and southern dandyism, and I don't exactly fit the profile.
Fair enough. I still think, in context, "I like to drink it" is the funniest thing I've said in a while.
A little bit of everything this week.
Politics: Automakers and their ilk claiming they can't make energy-saving innovations, lest it bankrupt them? Tough crap. Look at what happened with refrigerators once somebody put the manufacturers' feet to the fire.
Food: Consider the Lobster.
Sports: Caps' webmaster gets to be an NHL goalie for about half an hour. Also, I've donated to the Negro Leagues Baseball Museum the past couple years, but after reading Joe Posnanski's post on shenanigans with the NLBM's leadership, I may have to reconsider.
Music: two songs you should listen to are "The '59 Sound" by the Gaslight Anthem, and this here Motorhead vs. Gorillaz mashup.
...in which she is unable to acknowledge that I'm an adult, despite my being almost 40.
I am fond of Maker's Mark bourbon, and they have what amounts to a fan club called Maker's Mark Ambassadors. Every year at Christmas they send some branded trinket that's usually pretty good. This year it was a tube containing wrapping paper (pattern made of tiny Maker's bottles), along with ribbon and Maker's-shaped gift tags. My mom was at my house when I was marveling at this treasure received in the mail.
Mom: So how do you suppose they got your name on their mailing list?
Carl: I signed up for it.
Mom: Oh. Does this actually make you want to buy their product?
Carl: Why sure! This is awesome!
Kristin: He has two bottles of it right now.
Carl: Just one. I finished one last week.
Mom: Huh. Well, I suppose it would be good for cooking or something.
Carl: I like to drink it.
My mom is not a total prude--she goes to Italy every year, and I'm quite sure she samples the local wine while she's there. But apparently, drinking hard liquor is something imaginary people do.
In which she first elates, then depresses me.
Carl: So what'd you do in Odyssey of the Mind today?
Liz: We made a pretend restaurant. She asked us what our favorite restaurant is. First I said Tony's New York Pizza...
Carl: [nods appreciatively]
Liz: ... but then I changed it to Burger King.
Carl: [hangs head in shame]
Just a couple things. First, Rickey Henderson's case to get unanimously voted to the Hall of Fame. Second, I am SO glad to see that the FTC is cracking down on fake anti-virus software. We got infected by one of these at home, and it was a bear to get rid of.
Good item on right-wing pundits who think our troops are invincible. Does Bill Kristol really know anything about how to deal with Somalian pirates?
Going back to last week's Sarah Palin turkey carnage film, here's the quote of the week: "On the Scale of Rebelliousness, buying a turkey for Thanksgiving rates about a minus 1."
Also discussed previously: the part of the fabulous new Yankee Stadium that isn't getting enough press is how much tickets cost.
It's like deja vu around here! Jon Katz's farm stories are always wonderful, and this week he introduces his steer, Elvis.
Lastly, I like good beer, even though I don't drink as much of it as I used to. So I enjoyed this item on Dogfish Head and other so-called "extreme" brewers.