So, I noticed a report that Hurricane Kenna is hitting Mexico pretty hard and seeing that they had got to "K" with the names this season, I was immediately launched into action. Unless you're new to the alphabet, you know that "K" comes after "J," and every year I try to keep track of Hurricane/Tropical Storm names to see if "Jake" or "Jacob" will come up, so that I can cheer on "my" storm. Some of you may think this is sick and wrong, and well... umm... you're probably right... but that's not the point.

Having not heard anything about a storm named "Jake" or "Jacob" this year, or for that matter any "J" storms, I found this NOAA website (two sidenotes here: 1. isn't Google just the best, and 2. the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration is fast becoming my favorite governmental administration. I mean, how can you not like NOAA? Check out their home page here) which tells you all you need to know about Wordlwide Tropical Cyclone names. I did find "Jacob" in the Western Australia Region, so I guess I should plan to take that Australia trip when Hubert or Isobel is beginning to stir.

I also noticed, in my web searches, that FEMA has a "kids" website (I know I would want a plucky hermit crab to teach me everything I need to know about surviving disasters) and that hurricane names are often "retired" when there is a real hum-dinger (and check out the handy chart, don't you just love USA Today?).

Just for grins, somtimes I do this kind of shit just to see what the results will be. It usually (okay, always) turns out to be a compendium of bullshit, and this is no different. Okay, aren't my heart number and image number just a bit contradictory? But then again, I suppose we are all paradoxes, aren't we? Better yet, for the above, I entered "Jacob" as my first name. For this one, I entered "Jake." My personality varies dpending on what moniker I use. For added, I entered "Eddie Furtz," one my many alter-ego names, and this came up.

If listening to "I Still Haven't Found What I'm Looking For" by U2 doesn't make you want to head down to Vegas and wander around Fremont Street, or at least just go downtown and wander around, then you just aren't alive.

Well, whadya know, the infamous greater D.C. area "sniper" suspect has a local connection. Now I'm just waiting to hear if he attended Tyee.

But we can grow 'em around here, can't we? Ted Bundy, Green River Killer (Gary Ridgeway, apparently), now this guy. The only question that remains is, is yours truly one of them. Yep, that's right, do I fit the profile of a deranged killer. In the interests of public safety and the Scott family of Arlington, WA, lets break it down:
moody, tempermental NW resident
attented Tyee High School
spent some time in Bellingham
displays obsessive behavior patterns
perfectionist and detail oriented
alleged stalker of otherwise innocent young crime victims
likes to hide in the bushes with sharp things

OK, so I made that last one up (so don't call the police) but I think the evidence is clear. If I were you, I'd watch your back around me.

(disclaimer: the preceeding is, of course, humor, even if You don't think its funny... and hell, I can hardly blame you for that, I mean, it isn't really something you should joke about, and making light of people who got stabbed in the neck by their ex-boyfriends isn't really something you should do, you know, and its kind of pathetic and all of me to... uhh... what the hell was I talking about? Anyway, uhh, so, like, don't freak out and get your dad to call me up and threaten me, or notify the local authorities or anything... unless, of course you think I'm only telling you that becasue you believe I'll come after You next. AHH!)

It's Football time! today's rant, to accompany my "Pick 'Em" picks, is entitled:
Why its never been better to be a Cougars fan, and never been worse to be a 'Hawks fan.

But first, I want to make a clarification blurb. One thing that has always bothered me is Husky honks complaining about WSU getting "equal" coverage in the local papers and TV broadcasts (and by "equal" it usually means about 2/3 - 3/4 of the actual coverage at best). To me, the Purring Pussycats from the Palouse ARE a "local team." How else do you describe a major university (and, make no mistake about it, despite it's unfortunate remote location, WSU qualifies as a "major public institution") that has at least 2/3 of its alumni/student base from this side of the state. The attempt to make the UW-WSU rivalry a "west vs. east" thing is an illusion. WSU is more akin to the younger brother banished to the other side of the state.

What I'm saying, of course, is the Kitties need our love too.

Why I'm a Cougar fan is a little harder to describe, but I'll attempt to do just that anyway. I was about 7, or maybe 8, or possibly even younger, and it was '82, I'm reasonably sure, although it could be a year either way. Anyway, I was just forming my sporting consciousness. I knew, and followed to the extent a 7-year-old could, the Seahawks and Sonics. I had a notion of the Huskies, but wondered why I should really get so fired up about them like a lot of other people because they were just a college team (I guess I had a lot to learn). I had no idea the WSU Cougars even existed.

I remember a local sports report in the week leading up to the Apple Cup that year. The Huskies were rolling to another Rose Bowl berth, and only had to head over to Pullman and beat a hapless Cougars team to clinch it. This report was focusing on the "does WSU even have a chance" angle and I asked my dad what this was all about.

"You should root for the Cougars," he told me, "they can knock the Huskies out of the Rose Bowl, and my dad and brother went there."

And so I did. And the Cougars pulled off one of the biggest upsets in Apple Cup history that Saturday.

And that's about it.

And right now, it has Never been better to be a Cougars fan. Sure, '97 was a "miracle season" (although there was really no miracle about it, that year WSU had a tremendously talented and experienced group that had been getting their butts kicked for three years), but last year saw WSU go 10-2, stay ranked pretty high all year, win a bowl game (sure, it was only the much-maligned Sun Bowl, but in Cougar country bowl wins are rare) and finish with a top-10 BCS ranking. This year, they have established themselves as the "team to beat" in the PAC-10, and are ranked 7th in the first BCS rankings released last Monday. They are the best among the "non-undefeateds" in a system that values strength of schedule as strongly as won-loss record.

It may only be October... but are you kiddin me?!

Of course, Cougar fans don't want to jinx anything. No one wants to talk about how good they might be. No one wants to discuss the possibility of running the PAC-10 table to a 11-1 record and playing in the Rose Bowl with a top-5 ranking. Hell, I'm worried I'm jinxing them by writing this. There is this numb feeling that has descended over Cougar-dom. Like going back in time, where you don't want to touch anything or affect anything, becasue even the slightest thing could change the course of history.

Just sit quietly and behave, and hope they don't Coug it. And by the way, it's not too late to jump on the bandwagon. WSU @ Arizona, Sat night at 7 on Fox Sports Net.

PAC-10
WSU over Arizona
ASU over UW
UCLA over Stanford
OSU over Cal-Berkeley
USC over Oregon

I don't want to belabor this point: but it's new stadium, new unis, new era... er, except it's Flores/Behring Hawks all over again!.

How bad is it? Check out the latest ESPN.com NFL power rankings.

Is Emmit Smith a lead-pipe cinch to get the rushing record (he needs only 93 yards against a run defense that gives up 189 a game!). Is it any fucking wonder the Cowboys decided to give their backup QB, Chad Hutchinson, who is coming off of four years of minor-league baseball and has never thrown a pass in an NFL regular-season game, the start in this one. C'mon. The 'Boys play a tough, scrappy style of defense -- one of those teams that makes the game sort of an ugly slop-fest.

Smith has a bad ankle, and that is the only thing I see keeping him from setting the record this weekend. Despite all my negativity, the Hacks Can win this game. The 'Boys passing offense will probably be virtually non-existent, and if the 'Hacks offense can avoid turnovers and come up with just a couple big plays they can escape with a win. More defense/special teams scores won't hurt either. So, they Can win, but will they?

Indianapolis over Washington
San Fran over Arizona
Philly over NY Giants
Kansas City over Oakland
Dallas over Seattle

(hey, at least I put the Hawks loss in the "4-point" slot!)

Johnny Knoxville:
14:58...14:59...15:00...15:01...15:02...
now please go away

It's cheesy quiz time!


i'm a bird.what kinda pet are you?
quiz made by muna

I'm a SPORK! take the "Kitchen Utensil Test" test at Unparalleled!

you have an ominosity quotient of three. you are barely ominous. you should try harder. href="http://www.likeisaid.com/ominosityquiz.html"> find out your ominosity quotient.

now I feel like a poseur

I think this is a mis-diagnosis



What Psych-Ward do you belong to?


big surprise here



Take the What High School
Stereotype Are You? quiz, by Angel.

about right

I am 25% Happy! take the "How Happy Are You?" test at Unparalleled!

yep

Well, I, too, have joined the Lemur and the, uhhh "Traveling Man" and signed up for NaNoWriMo.

My working title is "Long Shadow Days." Don't ask

So, Robin and Maynard are no longer on KZOK. They will land somewhere, or that's what "the word" is, but KZOK decided not to renew their contract.

I could smell trouble coming from last October, when the "Twisted Radio" show with Bob, Spike, and Joe (who made their fame on KISW) debuted on KZOK as the "new" morning team. Robin and Maynard had switched to their "old" (going back to the KXRX days) "afternoon drive time" 3-7 pm time slot a month earlier. But with "Twisted Radio's" unfortunate "all-talk" fomat -- and I Insist that if they would adopt the more usual Robin and Maynard-esque "sure we blab a lot but at least we spin some tunes," which is more common for morning radio, they would be Much better -- and Robin and Maynard's conventional morning-style show now switched to the afternoon, something Had to give.

I.E., not nearly enough tunes. Listeners would complain, management would be forced to make a move.

And, unfortunately, they went with "Twisted Radio," a show that Can't keep me interested for more than 10 minutes. Robin and Maynard I could listen to for the whole 4 hours, but Twisted Radio lost it when they went "all-talk."

I hope KZOK lives to regret this decision. Bob, Spike, and Joe are fine, they just aren't my thing, and really should be over on "The Buzz," that weird FM talk-radio station at 100.7 that carries some lame LA-based morning show, and Tom Leikus (sp?) in afternoon drive-time.

And I Really hope Robin and Maynard land somewhere in this market, without having to change their style.

Next Week's "Pick 'Em" games

NFL
(Sunday night) Indianapolis @ Washington
(Monday night) NY Giants @ Philadelphia
Seattle @ Dallas (and Emmit Smith is 93 yards from the rushing record)
Oakland @ Kansas City
Arizona @ San Francisco (the co-leaders of the NFC West go to battle!)

PAC-10
Arizona @ your BCS #7 ranked Kitttycats of WSU (I mean, can you believe that!)
UW Snarlin' Puppies @ Arizona State
Southern Cal @ Oregon
Cal-Berkeley @ Oregon State
Stanford @ Cal-Los Angeles (aka UCLA)

Send in your picks!!!
jake@ambiguously-disgruntled.com

"Pick 'Em" results from last weekend.
I was a bit disappointed with the lack of participation in this cheesy little "contest," then I remembered the general apathy that seems to rule my network of friends. I can hardly be surprised...

Also, for some reason, when I looked at the NFL schedule, i though Green Bay-Washington was the Sunday night game. Of course, due to the World Series, there was no night game. I would never have picked that game otherwise, opting instead for the far more interesting matchup of San Diego vs. Oakland. My bad!

Jake (that's me!)
NFL: 24 (63)
PAC-10: 11 (73)

Tyler
NFL: 25 (60)
PAC-10: 13 (94)

DanG
NFL: 19 (51)
PAC-10: 19 (84)

And DanG (PAC-10) and Tyler (NFL) are weakly weiners!

"We're going through a bit of a learning curve. When you get knocked down, you've got to get back up. When it all clicks, it'll be a wonderful thing.'' -- Seattle Seahawks head coach, general manager, and vice-president of football operations Mike Homlgren after today's 37-20 loss to the St. Louis Rams.

Uh, okay, Mike, whatever you say.

This is the worst the 'Hacks have been since they were a 2-14 team in the infamous 1992 season. That year marked the "height" of the Tom Flores/Ken Behring era, where the franchise, by many standards among the most succesful in the NFL in the 80's, was driven into the ground to such an extent the team was later moved to Anaheim for day or so in the winter following the '95 season.

Of course, they were "saved" by Paul Allen, who bought an option to buy the team. His actual purchase was contingent on the approval of a new stadium by the voters of Washington. It barely passed. The team was saved, and kept in town.

That didn't mean the Hawks were exactly popular. They were still recovering from the absolute suckitude ot the early-mid 90's that defined the Behring ownership and drove away the legions of once-passionate fans. But there was hope. There was an implied promise that things would get better with a new stadium. As Seattle sports fans, we had reason to believe this, given the unprecedented success the Mariners were having in their new home.

New stadium, new uniforms, new Seahawks... right?

Nope. In fact, it is worse than that. This franchise has been driven back into the hole 10 years. When the "newness" of the fantastic new facility wears off, the team will be playing in front of 2/3 full houses again. I have no interest in going to any games this year, not to see one of the 4 worst teams in the NFL.

Mike Holmgren has been a failure. The team he has put on the field, in his V.P and G.M. roles, simply isn't talented enough to be succesful in the NFL. He has drafted poorly. He has let good players go because of personality disputes and power trips. Mike Holmgren the coach, who is proving himself to be above-average at best but more often just plain... normal, uninspiring, run-of-the-mill, is too in love with his "system" to realize what a poor job he is so often doing. The Coach can't work the adequate magic to make the personel the G.M. put on the field at least competitive.

Worst of all, Mike Holmgren, the King of the franchise, seems unable (?), unwilling (?), too arrogant (?) to comprehend that he is flopping, big time. King Mike, who was then just the coach surrounded by a great staff, won a Super Bowl with Brett Favre and a very talented team in Green Bay that Someone Else made personel decisions for.

What do I hope for as a fan? That they can "turn things around and perhaps pull out nine wins, and come close to the playoffs again? That will be exceedingly tough, because this isn't a team that seems capable of going 8-2 the rest of the way. "Turning things around" is more realistically going something like 6-4 from here out -- and even that seems extremely opptimistic -- which means a 7-9 record, and 10 more weeks of football purgatory.

This begs the question. As a fan, can I root for an absolute disaster of a season -- something like 3-13 or 4-12 -- which means an obvious firing of Holmgren and a high draft pick. Blow it up and start anew, and give us something to Hope for... a truly new team.