Its about time I wrote something non-Stupor-Blow related�

This tale of woe starts Wednesday afternoon. With the particularly gloomy weather and the general State if Affairs in my life, I was feeling pretty down on myself, the World, and life in general.

My salvation was supposed to lie in the Indoor soccer game later that evening. The game turned into an almost total disaster. We were facing a team that was just flat-out better than We were in virtually every facet of the game. The were quicker, better passers and shooters, but also much more aggressive, and maybe even a little Too physical. We were getting schooled rather severely, but in the second half made a bit of a �comeback� to lend the game somewhat of a false sense of competitiveness at one point late in the game.

I was frustrated not only because of the whooping being laid on us, and the fact I feel like I am mired in a �slump� of mediocrity (after all, oft-time the curse of mediocrity is the worst of all), but because I kept geting fouled in a manner which I hardly saw as Sporting. Sure, some will say, �that�s soccer,� and there Is a foul called for it, but I think intentionally fouling someone in a manner of bowling over them from behind, reaching out to trip them as they are getting by you, or just delivering a two-handed shove as a disgrace to the Game. And so by the third of these incidents, I proceeded to lose my temper. The end result of this was now I was not only robbed pf my pride but my dignity as well. I finished out the game in a forced sense of Calm, and while driving home found myself in what amounted to a state of despair.

By Thursday morning, I was forcing myself into a positive outlook and more acceptable temperament. I drifted through much of the day, caught in the malaise that seems to be my life, and headed out to run some �errands� by mid-afternoon.

These errands found me startlingly near Greg�s High School, in Kirkland, shortly before 3:00pm. Knowing that school was by now out, I swung in for an impromptu visit. Greg seemed to not know what to do with me, even though I didn�t really care, and was only grasping for ways to kill some time. The whole thing had an air of awkwardness about it, although looking back on it, that cam entirely from me, as I realize now I found myself so profoundly out of place while looking around his Shop that I must have looked a bit like a deer in the headlights.

When I headed for home, I decided ot take the �around the north end of the lake� route utilizing Lake City Way through Kenmore and on into Seattle proper. As I was driving along, I suddenly decided, completely off the cuff and for no real reason, to swing into Acacia Cemetery.

As my memory had it, this was where a High School compadre, by the name of Joe Monpas, was �resting for eternity.� Joe had killed himself in November of my junior year, 1991, when he was a sophomore. At the height of the emergence of Grunge, featuring Nirvana, Soundgarden, and Pearl Jam, the musical phenomena that would define my Generation, Joe, who I had run track and cross country with and was then a sophomore, committed suicide for no apparent reason.

I have driven by Acacia cemetery numerous time, especially after moving into Seattle a couple years ago, and I�m not sure how the memory had been planted there, it was my recollection that is where he �rested,� although I wasn�t sure. I had never even seriously thought of visiting the grave before, and I have no idea what possessed me to do it on some random Thursday afternoon, but I had decided I would finally go and see.

After driving around the grounds, not having any idea what to look for, I decided to head into the cemetery offices, and ask whoever might be there if they could help me. As I walked in, I was immediately greeted my a very helpful gentlemen at the front desk. I felt out of place and strangely underdressed, but explained to him what I was looking for. Another guy, standing nearby within earshot, went in the back somewhere to look up the name. I think they both understood my predicament, for as awkward as I felt at the time, I have to imagine these guys are used to dealing with these kinds of situations. Dealing in the funerary line of work, I figure you have to learn to be helpful and sensitive.

As it turned out, Joe�s �final resting place� is in the main mausoleum, which �houses� over 17,000 people. David, the very helpful employee in the front desk area, decided to walk me up there, because, after all, �it is easier to just show you that try to explain it.� He was right, but I still felt the need to explain myself, and he didn�t seem to care about any need for anyone to explain themselves.

The whole scene was rather macabre, to be honest, and a little depressing. Joe�s ashes where in a little book-looking thing, with some other family members, high up in a glass case on a wall, in a huge mausoleum filled with the remains of thousands of dead people. I didn�t stay too long.

Once I got home, I decided the last thing I wanted to do was spend the evening sitting around the house. During the 5:30 Simpsons, I called up Mike (and Mary), but got their answering machine. Shortly thereafter, Cap�n Jon called, and I decided to go along with him to Mike�s Chili Parlor, a little hole-in-the-wall bar with very greasy food and pretty good chili. Right before Jon and I were to leave, Mike called me back, and I told him I woud head down after going to Mike�s (the Chili place).

Even though I wasn�t all that enthusiastic about hanging out with Cap�n Jon and some of his pilot buddies, I was desperate to get out of the house. At first the plan was that Jon a nd I would head down Mike�s (the friend in Kent) after hanging out at Mike�s (the chili place) for a while, but Jon inevitably decided to head home, and I didn�t get out of Mike�s (the chili place) until a little later than I wanted to. But I headed down to Mike�s (the friend in Kent) anyway, to hang out and drink beer.

And we did hang out and drink beer, and watched �Myth Busters� on the Discovery Channel. After the Lemur went to bed, and Mike�s dad, who is visiting, passed out on the couch, Mike and I went outside to BS for a while, and talked about all kinds of shit, but mainly the strange longing for the past that so many of us seem to be afflicted with, even though the past we long for sucked y comparison. It was almost 2:00 am before I got home.

So that�s about it� nothing interesting to report form today, although I did just get back from Hale�s, and half of this was written before I left�

well, if you haven't laid down your "wagers" on the Super Bowl yet, then dammit, go here and do it...!

Well, with a little help from this Page 2 article, I�ve decided to try to rate the best Stupor Blows that I have seen. The first one I watched was XVI, in 1982, with a young Joe Montana leading the upcoming 49ers against the Bengals. I don�t remember much about the game, actually, and my memories of many of the games from when I was younger are hazy, but dammit, I have an opinion, and its Stupor Blow week.

1) XXV Giants 20, Bills 19
History has twisted our perceptions, but does anyone besides me remember that the Bills were consensus favorites to win this one? Remember, this was the First of their four straight losses, and they were like the Rams before the Rams: a high-powered offense no-one could stop, and a great defense. In fact, many people felt �robbed� of an ideal matchup when the Giants upset the 49ers in the NFC Championship. Add to that the lack of the two-week build-up and the fact that the Iraq War had Just started � which created a notable lack of over-hype � and all this was was a truly classic battle.

2) XXIII 49ers 20, Bengals 16
How can you beat the last-minutes drive by the 49-ers? An Epic battle, tense and close throughout, not one of these games that Ends great but the journey there wasn�t all that fabulous (like XXXVI).

3) XXXII Broncos 31 Packers 24
What Didn�t this one have? The Redemption of John Elway and the Broncos? Check. A consensus heavy underdog pulling off the scrappy upset? Check. An entertaining game throughout; meaning a decent amount of scoring and a close, tense game for the entire 60 minutes? Check, check, and check! A great finish; meaning it comes down to the �final minutes?� Check. Great game� just a Great game�

4) XXXIV Rams 23 Titans 16
A few of my friends and I remarked how much this �felt like� XXV before the game, with the Titans as the Giants and the Rams as the Bills. It largely didn�t disappoint� except the first half of the game was a SNOOZER! It was 9-0 Rams at the Pause, and as truly, epically, fantastically, impossibly dramatic as the finish was� we Still had to wait through that stinker first 30!

5) XXXI Packers 35 Patriots 21
Well, the 4th quarter was a snoozer, honestly, but the first three were Great stuff. Bledsoe had the heavy underdog Pats within a TD at the end of the 3rd, but a Desmond Howard K.O. return on ensuing kick put the Pack up 14, and then they just abused Bledsoe to hang on to it. No Stupor Blow has Ever gotten off to a better start, with G.B. jumping out to a quick 10-0 lead, then Bledsoe looking like an MVP in leading the Pats to a 14-10 lead � All In the 1st Quarter!!! Plenty of intrigue leading up to it, with the �Parcells is surely leaving� angle, The packers back in the Blow after All That Time. It was the �underdog with a punchers chance� vs. the �heavy favorite,� and it was good for 3/4ths.

6) XXXVI Patriots 20 Rams 17
Okay, kids, this will tell you how much I truly enjoy a good game� for more than 1 quarter. I seem to be the only person in America who remembers how lame this game was for the first 3 quarters. Okay, I know, it had the best ending Ever in the Super Bowl, hands down. That Rams 14-point comeback, then the crazy winning field goal drive. Yeah, best finish Ever, I am fully aware of that, people. But I Also remember yelling out, to all my friends in the room late in the third quarter, �This game Sucks!!! Something Interesting Needs To Happen!!!� The Highlight of the first three quarters was easily, hands-down, the U2 halftime show � by far the best halftime show Ever. But, yeah, I know, that Ending� WOW!

7) XXX Cowboys 27 Steelers 17
Well, people will be All over me for this one, but this was an interesting, compelling game with the classic �fatal flaw� dynamic that kept the Heroes from succeeding. Like most people, I was rooting Passionately against the Cowboys. The Steelers did everything they needed to win the game. They held Emmitt Smith in check, and generally kept the Cowboys high-powered passing under control. They converted that nifty unexpected onsides kick to start the 2nd half. But then Neil O�Donnell threw those two completely inexplicable interceptions to Cowboys corner Larry Brown. The Steelers lost the Game because of those two passes, which, if I live to be a Thousand Years old, I will never understand what O�Donnell was trying to do with.

� and a few of the Worst (in no particular order)
XXIV 49ers 55, Broncos 10: there was never a game played. Sure, there were some guys who ran around out there in uniforms of the teams, but a Game was never played�
XXXVII Cowboys 52 Bills 17: with the Bill's 25 turnovers in the first half, and 42 for the game, this one lacked Credibility from the get-go. When the Highlight Reel play comes with an overweight D-lineman getting the ball knocked out of his hand just before he crosses the goal line by a hustling WR, keeping the WR�s team within 35 points late in the game; well, you Know the game sucked!
XXXIX 49ers 49 Chargers 26: why did they even Bother. I think the 49ers actually had 56 points on the board by the 7 minute-mark of the 1st quarter, then they took a TD off just for grins when the Chargers made one of those �its late in the game, the other team is half-assing it because the game is so out of reach for us, but we can still score some token, garbage-time points� surges.
XXXV Ravens 34 Giants 7:The funny thing about this one is that Everyone knew the game would completely suck, so in a way we weren�t disappointed. I�ve never seen such transparent �I�m only watching for the Commercials� attitudes as we had on This day. That weird INT-return, K.O-return, K.O.-return 3 quick TD sequence lent the game an all-too brief, absolutely false sense of entertainment.
The first � of XXXVI: Patriots 17, Rams 3: the Rams never showed up to play, and I�ve never seen a coach so screw a team with bad play-calling and game-planning as Martz did to his high-powered Rams. But give credit to the Patriots, who made the few big defensive and special-teams plays they had to, with a couple decent drives from the offense, to be pulling off the gigantic upset after 3 quarters�

I've put a lot of thought into it, then I did my best to banish all those thoughts from that pesky brain of mine and go with my gut, and I am prepared to post my "ADM pretend money psuedo-sportsbook" wagers on the Super Bowl (and if you haven't placed your "wagers" yet, by all means follow that link down a couple posts, and be sure to read the Comments):

$50 moneyline on the Tampa Bucs
$35 on the Under
$15 on the Oakland Raiders to cover

okay, so, I laid a little insurance on the Raiders... but of course I am fucked if the Bucs lose by 3 or less!

Some of you may know what I'm talking about, other won't, but you get to listen to what I have to say anyway... cause it's my Blog... and uh... No! No! C'mon, keep reading, it'll be Well worth your time...

So, I up and decided to put in a motion sensor light at the base of the stairs by the basement door. I believe it was Jason's idea after a few months of casual talking of putting a light there, and my "cheap-o, half-ass" light that I ran down there with an extension cord only manifested a loose wiring job in the light fixture at the top of the wood stairs leading out the back dooor from the laundry room, from which the extension cord was running thanks to one of those "light bulb + two-prong plug" type adapter thingies. So, I up and put in a Real outdoor-type-grade light fixture above the stairs, and then ran the motion sensor light off of one of the new circuits I put in this past May/June. After initially thinking it was going to be on the basement lighting/outlets circuit, I realized that the junction box I was running out of belonged to the downstairs outlet/light in the back bathroom circuit (don't ask, leftover wiring quirk from before I started!). After some hemming and hawing about wonderng if I was adding too much to that circuit, I realized that a 60-watt light bulb will draw about .5 of am amp, off the 20-amp circuit breaker, so it would hardly make the fuse start blowing all the time.

So now it's done...

well, The Stupor Blow is set... it's Raiders vs. Buccaneers (we get to see who is the better pirate), Gruden's new team vs. his old team, but most of all a classic "best offense vs. best defense" matchup.

Since I more or less let "Pick 'Em" die on the vine (well, an overwhelming lack of response did That) it is time to revitalize a "tradition" of sorts here at the ADM: the "pretend money" sports book.

If you remember last year, the "rules" are simple. You have $100 at your disposal. You can make however many bets you want, with any monetary breakdown you want (but lets keep it to $5 intervals, please) on the following wagers:

point spread:
Raiders -3.5
Bucs +3.5

over/under:
43.5

money line:
Raiders -170
Bucs +150

So, I'm hoping everyone who plans on coming over to the House to watch the Game will particiapte in this silly little contest. For that matter, I hope even people who Aren't coming over to the house to watch the Game participate in this silly little contest.

you can email me your bets, or just use the comment box... have fun!

to help explain these bets, and to avoid the inevitable rush of comments/emails saying something like "I want $20 on the Raiders" (you want $20 on the Raiders to What? You jackass!) I have included to following Helpful Wagering Tutorial:

Okay, kids, I hate to be condescending, but gambling is simple, overwhelmingly simple, in fact, but like so many other things in life, people are scared away because it involves specialized jargon:
Point Spread:
Most people know what a point spread is, but it amazes me how many people don't seem to understand how to place a point spread bet. Basically, a favorite is chosen, and the amount they are favored by is shown by a minus (-) symbol. So, the Raiders are Favored to win by 3.5 points, which, of course means they must win by More Than 3.5 if you bet on them to "cover." The Bucs are the underdog, as denoted by the plus (+3.5), which, of course, means they have been given 3.5 points by the oddsmakers. That means that they must lose by Less than 3.5 (or, of course, win outright) to "cover." When placing your bet you want to tell me the following: I want the Raiders -3.5, or I want the Bucs +3.5 (you can also say I want either team to "cover" and I'll know what you are saying). If you tell me something like "I want the Raiders +3.5" I will ignore you for being an idiot.
Over/Under:
the cumulative final score (the combined points of both teams) of the game will either be Over 43.5, or Under 43.5. To place this bet, you say, "I'll take the over," or "I'll take the under," for x amount of $$$.
Money Line:
I find that these bets tend to scare people away, but if you believe the underdog is going to win outright (no point spread involved!) then This Is The Best Bet To Make! also, if you truly believe the favorite will win, but are anxious about the spread, this is a decent "line your pockets bet" to make, as you won't win much, but you will win Something. These are listed as "bet to win" numbers, and the minus (-) sign denotes that is how much you must Bet to Win $100. So, with a $170 bet on the Raiders to win the game (no point spreads involved!), you would win $100. It simple, actually. The Raiders are the favorites, and you get less than even odds as a result. Now, the plus (+) sign denotes that is how much you Win with a $100 dollar bet. So, with a $100 dollar bet on the Bucs to win the game (and I will repeat myself for Absolute clarity, no point spreads involved!) will win you $150. The Bucs are the underdogs, so you get better than even odds. To place this bet, you would tell me "I want [ X amount of $$$ ] Money Line on the [ Bucs or Raiders ]" Please don't give me a "I want [ x $$$'s ] on the Bucs," as I will dismiss you for being an idiot. I guess I could accept a "I want [ x $$$'s ] on the Raiders to win outright," as long as you say "win outright" I will know what you're talking about.