The 'magical' day has passed, and here we are. Hectic activity, memorable sights of the grandsons reveling in innumerable gifts, messing up Sara's kitchen preparing 8 different quiches and a frittata, wonderful prime rib at the Moores', going to a good movie with great friends. A wonderful day!
I blazed through 4 dozen eggs in the morning and when it came to needing one egg to bake some muffins to take to dinner, the fridge was bare. Not one fucking egg! I made the cornbead anyway, and discovered why egg is important in the recipe. Oh well, they were tasty and edible.
We went to see "The Fighter", a Mark Wahlberg movie with Christian Bale, Amy Adams and Melissa Leo. Best boxing movie I've seen since "Million Dollar Baby". Highly recommended, as it was a well-done and touching movie based on a true story. The boxing wasn't over-done and fakey, the acting was superlative. But it's the story of perserverence and redemption that is the heart of the movie. Christian Bale is outstanding in the movie as a crack addict trying to bathe in the imagined adoration of his working class town's public as a fighter who once knocked Sugar Ray Leonard down in a fight so many years ago. He's training his younger half-brother (Wahlberg) in a career that's hit a wall, and hopes for a successful career are waning. Melissa Leo plays the mother of the two men, and the manager of Wahlberg's career that's going nowhere except maybe to the hospital. The extended family is a zoo. The two brothers, the controlling and small-thinking mother/manager, and the seven sisters. What a group of women! The story is a true story, about "Irish" Micky Ward and his half-brother, Dicky Eklund. In my opinion, best movie since "Hurt Locker". I YouTubed Micky Ward-Arturo Gatti, and viewed snippets of their legendary three-fight trilogy back in 2002-03. Micky Ward was involved in Ring Magazine's "Fight of The Year" in 2001, 2002 and 2003, so his fights were extremely active and exciting. I quit following boxing closely following the Sugar Ray Leonard/Thomas Hearns era. The Mike Tyson era in boxing just soured me on the sport. This was a great movie about intriguing characters and a compelling story line.
Today is Championship Sunday in Fantasy Football. My daughter Alison and I are battling for our league's title, and her team is favored and leading right now. Her team, OJ's Cutthroats, has won 7 games in a row, and my team struggled into the playoffs and had to knock off the number one seed, thanks to three of his top players being benched for last week's games. Alison managed to pick up Joe Webb, Favre's backup in Minnesota. The key here is that the fantasy website lists Webb as a QB/WR, which means he can be used as a quarterback OR wide receiver. Which means if Favre doesn't play against Philly, Alison can put Webb in as a wide receiver and get points from him that way, effectively starting TWO quarterbacks for the week. Luckily for me, the mayor of Philadelphia has declared a weather emergency today in anticipation of a huge blizzard descending upon the city of Brotherly Love, postponing the scheduled Sunday night game vs the Vikings until Tuesday night. Which means, that Brett "The Ironman" Favre has two more days to recover and start at QB for the Vikings, effectively negating Webb's potential. Thank goodness for Fantasy Football, otherwise there'd be no reason for me to watch football, with the Broncos sucking so bad lately, like since Elway retired.
And what about them Broncos?! On balance it seems as though this franchise is floundering from bad decision after bad decision for the last ten years. Great coaches are made from great players, not vice versa. Dan Reeves got a lot of credit for being a stern and demanding coach, but the Broncos' success was elevated when Reeves took the wraps off Elway when the games were on the line. Shanahan, the 'genius', enjoyed increased intelligence when Terrell Davis arrived on the scene to give the Broncos a fantastic one-two punch. No Elway, no Davis, under-performing Donovan McNabb, over-paid and lazy Albert Haynesworth, Shanahan's not so much a genius anymore, eh? And forget about Josh McDaniels. No, really. I'm rooting for Tim Tebow, but from what I saw for a full game last week against the Raiders, I do not see an NFL quarterback. I see a good leader and an inspirational football player, but too many passes that were hope-and-prayer types of throws, thrown late and without the zip necessary to make those sideline timing routes a threat. He could change my mind if I see more than 16 passes and actually see him read the quick throws and complete them on time, instead if momentary confusion and tucking the ball and running. Knowshon Moreno is averaging over 4 yards a carry this year, so the tandem of Peyton Hillis AND Moreno would be a good backfield combo teamed with Tebow. Oh wait, Hillis is injured and in Cleveland, traded for our hope of the future, Brady Quinn. NOT! Oh, and we sent two draft picks to the Browns along with Hillis for Brady, the WRONG Brady. Our best hope is for the Broncs to lose their last two games, and for Carolina to win their remaining games, so Denver could get the first draft pick, trade that for a few other picks and shore up a terrible defensive roster. Champ Bailey, as much as I love him in a Bronco jersey, could still command a few players and/or picks in a trade. And I'd love it if he had a chance to play on a good team.
Well, that's all for now. Enjoyed my friend Matt's blog that he just started yesterday. I got some ideas about using this forum to vent and conjugate internal frrustration, it's just that once you hit "post" on these things, it's out there, literally forever, and that's a long time. Be good to each other out there, going to Safeway to get some eggs. Ciao!
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