Well, thanks to the US Naval Observatory, we know that the Winter Solstice officialy hit at Dec 22, 01:14 Universal Time, which means Dec 21, 17:14 PST. So, this evening at 5:14 was officially the "low point," which means it's all uphil from here. Tonight will be the longest night of the year, and, as I understand it, using Universal time, Dec 22nd will be the shortest Day of the year (again, the "Universal Day" is 8 hours ahead of our "day," so things are kind of skewed in the translation. I'm not sure if the 21st or 22nd, in the Pacific Standard Time frame of reference is officially the "shortest" -- as defined by least sunlight -- day of the year, but they can only be seconds apart.)

So, I forgot to "mark" the official moment, and I'm kind of disappointed, but I think I wes en route from my house to the 'Rents for dinner, so there's not much I couldv'e done. I'm making up for it by enjoying a Ambig Dis Brewery X-mas Spiced Ale right now.

So, here is where I go on my rant about how our "Christmas" celebrations are almost entirely based on so-called "pagan" (or pre-Christian, or non-Christian) Solstice Celebrations, particularly the Scandanavian Yule festivities. In fact, "Christ's Mass", which was loosely observed at any time between Janurary and April for years, was moved by Rome in about 350 AD to coincide with pre-existing solstice observances. In other words, Christ wasn't born on the night of the 24th, it's just a date that was chosen by the Holy Roman Empire in order to move in on a good thing that was already going on.

I guess the point of all this, is that you don't have to be the least bit Christian to fully celebrate Christmas, name aside (and let's not get bogged down in semantics at this point). Basically, don't go to church, and you are celebrating the Yule, Saturnalia, or whatever you want it to be. It is an all-encompassing observance and celebration nearly ubiquitous to Northern Hemisphere cultures, regardless of religion. And, since "religion" before the Judeo-Christian thing really picked up steam was based on celestial and seasonal cycles, as was the calendar (the lunar calendar has 13 months in a year, and, of course, 13 is an unlcky number, so that went right out!), we're really talking about people who were a lot more "in touch" with the natural world, as compared to the Romans, who after adopting Christianity, decided to make everything arbitrary. I mean, why the fuck does the New Year begn on Janurary 1st? What the fuck is that? The New Years should start with the rebirth of the sun, on December 21st. Of course, if the calendar was actually based on the this, it wouldn't be "December 21st," but rather the 1st of whatever the first month of the year would be called. But I'm rambling.

So, If I had my druthers, we'd be talking about a celebration that reached it's peak on the Solstice, so "Christmas" as we know it would be on Dec 21st, and you'd have a few days of partying leading up to it, and then a few days after it, to observe the start of a new year.

So there you go.

I guess I should post my "Pick 'Em" picks:

Indianapolis over NY Giants
Tampa Bay over Pittsburgh
Oakland over Denver
New England over NY Jets
St. L'ams over See-Hacks

it just occurred to me I never posted the "Pick 'Em games for this weekend... it might be too late, but oh well...

(Sunday night) NY Jets @ New England
(Monday night) Pittsburgh @ Tampa Bay
St. Louis @ Seattle
Denver @ Oakland
NY Giants @ Indianapolis

As I write this, I am listening to Audioslave and drinking the very last bottle of Ambig-Dis brewery's Stubborn Jackass Barley Wine/Strong Ale.

So, as I was driving to Gig Harbor this morning, I had a bit of an anxious moment. My car started hesitating, like there was an ignition problem, or it wasn;t getting gas. The "check engine" light came on. I noticed my tank was at about 1/4. It was pretty cold last night, and has been pretty rainy lately. Can you guess what the problem was.

do do do do do do do, do do do do DO, dudoo-do-do-do
do do do do do do do, do do do do DO, dudoo-do-do-do
do do do do do do do, do do do do DO, dudoo-DA DA DA (dum dum)
(that was supposed to be the Jeopardy music they play during "Final Jeopardy"

Anyway, I stopped to fill up the tank, and dumped some HEET (tm) into the tank -- it's that fuel-line de-icer/water remover stuff. So, humidity, cold weather, condensation... that's about it.

Cousin Andy actually found the following rant, written as an email response, regarding the Mike Price to Alabama situation, Helpful and Informative. I'm as scared as you all are, and a team of psychiatrists has been dispatched to Andy's house to check up on his mental state.

So, I thought I'd post it for y'all in the Manifesto, making it officially a part of The Record:

A HA!!! But you are forgetting something Very important in this
equation: At Major programs, like UW or Alabama, Public or Otherwise, the athletic program Pays For Itself! By loading up a football stadium 6-7 times a year, plus TV money, bowl money, marketing, etc, (and in many cases, with help from the men's basketball team, and in a Very Very few cases, the women's b-ball team) the Entire athletic department can pay its expenses. We're talking scholarships (it is an absolute myth that football players are taking "opportunities" away from "average" students!), travel expenses, and, yes, coache's salaries, for not just the football team, but the soccer team, swim team, golf team... Whatever! In addition to this, it is a little-known fact that a large chunk of the coaches "guaranteed" salary comes from funds set up by The Boosters! Yes, big-money "fans" (aka donors, an example would be the UW's Tyee Club, aka the "Husky Mafia") "chip in" to pay the coaches salary. Makes sense, why do you think these people get So turned off when the team loses!

Personally, I agree, to a point, that some of these players Should be paid... but it has the potential to open up one Nasty can of worms. Beyond that, it turns out to be overwhelmingly complex when you look into it. Who gets paid? How much? Is it standardized and/or regulated? Who does so?

I'm not trying to be condescending, because I know you are generally smarter and more well-informed than the Majority of people who bitch about these things. In terms of the "he did it for the money" approach, well, you are going to hold your own opinion about that, but I hold the following truths to be self-evident:
1) in 14 years, Price had turned WSU from a perennial laughing-stock into a "were legit contenders every few years," which, frankly, is all the higher a program like WSU (or OSU for that matter) is ever going to get. I.E. Price had done "the job" at WSU, and there wasn't much else to go... except maybe down...
2) Price is, always has been, and always will be a football coach. His sons are football coaches. His daughter married a football coach. Coaching football is his life. In the hierarchy of College Football Coaching, which is his chosen, dedicated life's work, Alabama ranks far, far, far ahead of where WSU Ever will.
3) and yes, the money Was good

I listened to/watched most of his press conference today. I have chosen to take him at his word. I don't believe this is a callous, laugh-all-the-way to the bank kind of move. It hurts, it sucks, and if I was a Coug, I would probably be crying just thinking about it (as I am, in my position as a general, local "sports fan" with no real allegiances, who happens to root for the WSU football team, I would describe myself as "heartbroken.") That's life, I guess... I'm not sure what else to think/say about it.

I'm glad he will coach the Rose Bowl and finish out the season. I think it's the right move on all three sides: Price, Alabama, and WSU. I guess I just wish him the best...

Well, here's some breaking news, as I'm listening to Sports Radio 950 KJR AM right now, as David Locke and his producers are putting the pieces of the story together:
1) Mike Price, head coach of the WSU Cougs football team, is leaving for the vacant Alabama position.
2) He is adamant about, and it is apparently part of the deal, the he will coach the Rose Bowl for WSU, Jan 1, vs. Oklahoma
3) Top assistant Bill Doba will be named the new head coach for WSU tomorrow
4) He had a players-only meeting this afternoon, where he made these announcements to the team. Jason Gesser was seen leaving the room in tears (even though the Rose Bowl will be his final game for WSU, who can blame him?)

As someone who roots for the WSU football team, I can't Begin to express how crushingly disappointing this news is. Mike Price IS the Cougs. Even though Dennis Erickson had a couple decent years (before departing for Miami) before Price, Price Built this team form a perennial laughing-stock, and basement-dweller in the PAC-10, to a team making its second Rose Bowl in 5 years, and consecutive 10-win teams. He comes from an-in state high-school football factory that existed in Everett 30-40 years ago, emerging from a system that produced Dennis Erickson, and Keith Gilbertson (now a Husky assistant, and widely known as a top offensive innovator). Those three have played as big a part as Anybody in developing the wide-open, passing oriented, dynamic, spread-the field passing offenses that have become all the rage in college and NFL football. No one regularly ran the 5-wide set before Price at WSU, something you now see as a part of almost everyone's offense.

If you had come to me anytime before the last couple days, i would have bet Anything that Price would Never leave WSU. I'm pretty fucking surprised, to say the least.

As a coach, Mike Price regularly did more with less than just about any coach in the country. A lot of people may only remember the many 3 and 4-win seasons, and there were certainly a few of them, but could You get Anyone to go to Pullman?!!! This guy won two PAC-10 titles, and got to a handful of 2nd-teir bowl games, playing with half the deck of UW, Oregon, UCLA, USC, or Arizona schools.

Well, I haven't posted results in a couple weeks, because participation has been minimal and/or nonexistent, but here are the results from this weekend of NFL games: (season totals in parantheses, to be elligible for season totals, you must have participated in more than half of the weeks -- aka at least 7 of 12)


Jake (That's Me!)
12 (212/360 = .589)

Greg
14 (NA)

DanG
23 (168/330 = .509)

Tyler : send me your picks, Chumpzilla!
(91/210 = .433)

Tad : send me your picks, Chumpzilla!
(NA)

Using my amazingly complicated and highly secretive formula to calculate "first place points," here are the standings in that race:
1) DanG and Jake -- 2 pts each
2) Tyler and Tad -- 1.75 pts each
3) Greg -- 1.25 pts

AND! I never posted the final PAC-10 standings. The regular season is long over -- but stay tuned for Bowl Game Pick 'Em -- so here 's how it wraps up:
(there were a max of 266 pts available, to be eligible for the season totals, one must have participated in 5 of the 9 weeks, or 138 of the points, due to three 26-point weeks, and the bonus 8-point WSU-UCLA game... is that all complicated enough?)

Jake (That's me!)
186/266 = .699

Tyler
158/202 = .782

Tad
73/112 = NA

Greg
NA

DanG
160/258 = .620

So Tyler is the big Weiner!

Using the overly-complicated and needlessly secretive formula for "first place points," here are the final standing in that race:
1) Tyler 3.625 pts
2) DanG 2.125 pts
3) Jake (that's me!) 1.75 pts

I don't know what this means. Way back in September, I said something about all weekly winers being eligible to "win" whatever the "prize" was, in addition to the season totals winner. Soooo... if I were to hold a "random drawing" where the number of "raffle tickets" was determined by the above "first place points," I guess... I don't know how that would work...

Well, my fantasy football season is over... Antowain smith had 31 yards rushing and 41 receiving, and Christian Fauria didn't even catch a pass, so neither of them gave me Any fantasy points. So once again, I win nothing...

This weekend was the first round of our Fantasy Football league playoffs, after a 14-week regular season in which I finished 3 (out of 8) in points, and tied for 4th in won-loss record. All things considered, I had a pretty decent season.

Won-loss record determines the playoff matchups, and unfortunately, due to the vagaries of Fantasy Football, I was matched up against the team that scored the most points this season, by a very wide margin.

Well, the Monday night game starts in a few minutes, and it looks like it's all coming down to that. I am only 2 points down (thanks largely to Denver RB Clinton Portis!), which means I need either RB Antowian Smith or TE Christian Fauria (both of the Patriots) to score at least three points for me. That measn At Least 25 yards receiving from Fauria, or 50 yards rushing OR receiving from Smith, of, of course, a TD from either one, and I pull off the big upset and keep my season alive.

So, I'm going to watch the Titans-Patriots game closely tonight, as is Rich, who is three points behind Tyler's team and has Tennessee WR Derrick Mason playing tonight. I guess this is what Fantasy Football is all about, turning a game I otherwise might watch a little of but not really care about, into one I'll watch attentively. I'm ready for some footbal!

These guys have just wrapped up a comprehensive trip to every major-league sports venue in North America. You have to wade through some crap on the site, but they offer brief reviews and ratings on every place they visited. Pretty interesting. I'ts the kind of thing I should be doing with myself... if I wasn't a lazy slacker wasting my life away...

Well, it was actually rather nice this morning, with the sun even poking out a bit, but I got caught up in the Seahawks game (which they won, dramatically enough, in OT) and told myself I would go for a run or something when it was over. Of course, now that it has just ended, it has started spitting rain, and the wind has picked up a bit, and its looking like it could get nasty. I suppose that's what I deserve...

I should probably post my "Pick 'Em" picks, so y'all don't suspect me of cheating. I just got back from spending the evening at the Dog and Pony in Renton, WA (near the Boeing facility!) with Tyler and Angie and Co., and I am slightly buzzed and very sleepy. And these are the conditions under which I will make the following picks, just to prove to y'al that this is hardly a scientific process:

Atlanta over Seattle (the only question is how many rushing yards Vick will have)
St. L'ams over Arizona Cardinals
New England Patsies over Tennessee Flaming Thumbtacks
Miami Dull Fins over Oakland Ray-ders
S. F. 7x7's over G.B. Packers