Amusements from the Internets

Places to go to kill time until 7 pm when my crush Kirk Herbstreit and his fellow College Gamedayers begin coverage of the game (I'll update this throughout the day)....so again, if you've come for anything other than OSU junk, you'll need to come back tomorrow when we resume our regular blogging about Maine and cooking:
Stewart Mandell breaks down the keys to Tressel's success
Pat Forde thinks Troy has "the look"--the same one he had before other HUGE games
The premier sports blog on the planet (Every Day Should Be Saturday), breaks down the game position by position. Be warned: It's a Gator Blog.
MZone, despite selling out its Big Ten brethren, picks OSU/
We Are the Boys has predictions of a Florida upset, although based on the links they've chosen, it' doesn't look like much of an upset. It looks like Florida is heavily favored.
Jeff at Buckeye Battle Cry has a few thoughts
11 Warriors has just published their prediction.
We might lose as a punishment for this. (Caution: link proves excessively embarrassing to anyone from Ohio.)
Florida might lose as a punishment for this (Urban's wife carries a buckeye in her purse for good luck.)
Fox predicts an OSU win in a GREAT game.

It's GO Time, Baby

Apologies if you've come in search of tidbits about Maine or a recipe or anything but Ohio State football.

Today is all OSU Buckeyes, all the time. Non-blogging time is being spent lying on the couch in my Ohio State Hoodie, wearing my Woody cap watching (in this order) the 2003 Fiesta Bowl, the 2005 Ohio State Michigan game, the 2006 Ohio State Michigan Game and some selected YouTube videos such as:
6-0
Boom
Troy Smith for Heisman
15 Top Plays.

How will it end? I don't know. I don't have a great feeling about this game. Why? Well first off, we've had so many happy endings recently it's almost time for karma to catch up to us; then there's the fact that Troy has always lived up to that big game expectation. He's only human and how many of these can he string together?; then, as everyone tells us, Florida stands no chance against us; and that only serves to put a big chip on their shoulder pad and a bullseye on our jerseys; add to the list that Lllloyd isn't coaching the Gators; and finally, OSU's record vs. SEC teams is abysmal. It does not look good, does it?

On the other side: I am a superstitious ex-athlete. I watched (or rather listened to) the second half of the 2003 Fiesta Bowl with my cheek pressed against the cool tiles of my bathroom floor, having caught the nasty flu bug that was racing through the Nasty. There's a 97.7% chance that I'll also be listening to (unless we move a TV into the bathroom) the 2007 National Championship Game with my cheek pressed against the cool tiles of the bathroom floor, having caught the nasty flu bug that was racing through our National Sales Meeting last week. So that's a plus.
Ohio State is 3-0 in games that I don't have a good feeling about this season. Another plus.
Then, we have Tressel. Triple HUGE plus.
Finally, even if Troy doesn't have his best game, he seems to find a way to win. Now I feel better.


Prediction: OSU 34-21 (21 cuz Florida cannot kick a field goal)

Crack Spider

Brilliant.

The Salad Course For Monday Night

The Incomparable Script Ohio.

A Little Appetizer for Monday Night

Santa's Butt Is Now Allowed In Maine

Remember this?
Well, Shelton Brothers, the beer distributor hoping to sell Santa's Butt Winter Porter in the state of Maine has been granted permission to do so.
The Maine Civil Liberties Union had to file a suit to get the state to reconsider. And even though they did reverse three decisions (Santa's Butt Winter Porter, Rose de Gambrinus, and Les Sans Culottes), they haven't changed the law (which allows them to deny applications if they decide the labels are undignified or improper).

Mammothly Cool

A Maine fisherman, dragging for scallops off the Georges Bank, has pulled up what appears to be a tusk from a Wooly Mammoth.

A Professor from U Maine says that the mammoth could have lived on the Georges Bank during the last ice age (about 13,000 years ago) because some or all of that area was dry land. Photos of the tusk have been sent to the Maine State Museum so that researchers can try to identify it.

Click here for video of the story.
You can buy your own tusk here.
Researchers at the University of Michigan have analyzed wooly mammoth tusks to better understand their dietary habits and to try to determine what caused their extinction (climate change, hunting or disease are all possibilities).
Wooly mammoths evolved over 4.8 million years ago. Unless you're a creationist. Then they were created by God 6,000 years ago and hung out with Noah on his boat for a couple of months.

It's Almost Go Time, Baby

The University of Phoenix Stadium, Phoenix Arizona
(photo from ESPN)

Hail, Mr. President

As an Ohio girl living in the Northeast (the land of play for pay), I often end up trying to explain our passion for college football. I almost always fail to do it adequately.

This doesn't explain our passion but it illustrates how deeply the game penetrates and influences our lives:

As President Gerald Ford's casket was moved from Air Force One to the hearse in Grand Rapids, the University of Michigan marching band first played Hail to the Chief and then Hail to the Victors, the Michigan fight song. (The band had to catch a red eye back from California to be present at the ceremony).

On the way from Washington, DC to Grand Rapids, Air Force One made a detour to Ann Arbor for a final flyover of the Big House.

Draped over the back of one pew at the funeral was a blue blanket with the letter “M” emblazoned on it, symbolizing Ford’s alma mater, the University of Michigan, where he played football for national championship teams in 1932 and 1933.

Many of the mourners at the museum and lining the roads during his funeral procession on Wednesday wore Michigan hats and sweat shirts in his honor.

He was Speaker of the House and the President of the United States of America, but in the end, he was a Michigan Man. And every Buckeye, Hoosier, Badger Cornhusker and Hawkeye understands that perfectly.

Did I Mention....

that I'm having a Magical Day?
Not by choice, mind you. It's the bi-annual event that is officially called the National Sales Meeting. It should be called hell. Rumor has it that some people like this week and enjoy the meeting. I've not met one yet, but they tell me they're around. I have until Sunday morning to find one.

Anyway, there's some upside to being here. Local news is all about the Florida Gators and the upcoming National Championship game (Monday January 8--The Ohio State University versus the University of Florida 8 pm, baby)

Last night, they ran a clip of Urban Meyer, talking about his team's focus and preparation and he said something that made my heart hurt.
He said

This is the first time this Bowl has been played -- distanced itself from the other Bowls. We have an obligation to put a good product on the field. Make no doubt about it, this is a business trip and we will handle it as such.

College football is commercial and it is big business.

But to openly label a sport (a sport that is still layed by teenagers playing it for the love of the game, most of whom will never Play for Pay) a Product and to call a bowl game a business trip seems overtly cynical and very sad. There's a reason that we say "play a game".... There's a reason we work. Shouldn't we keep the two separated?

A New Year ; Resolutely

Resolutely. If there's a word that defines me, it's NOT resolutely (showing firm determination or purpose). I'm a Pisces for goodness sakes'. I am weak-willed and easily led (I have good traits as well but that's not the point of the post).
Since I lack resolve, and because I'm the world's most gifted procrastinator I've waited three days into the New Year to make my resolutions formal. Because I've always made New Year's resolutions and I've always kept them. For about 5 hours. But this year is different.
This year, change is inevitable:

• my husband is now officially retired (officially because the neighbors and his children thought he retired years ago). He appears reluctant to find another job, nor does he need to, but having him around all the time is going to be a change.
  
• my company is for sale and the sale will close in 2007. I'm guessing that this will require a relocation back to the 'Nasty (Cincinnati). Now that's a wicked change.
  
• youngest son is getting married in June and I'm betting that I'll be a grandmother before I hit my mid-40's and I'm not going to be thrilled about that little change in social status.
  

And so, in this New Year, I'm resolved to
1) embrace the change;
2) manage the change (instead of it managing me);
3) use the change for good, personally and for others; and
4) finally to come to understand my utter dismay at and disdain for all things religious (the religious right, the church who is more worried about abortion than genocide, the evangelicals who are more worried about stopping sex than saving a life. Oh could I go on and on....) and how that impacts my faith. It's either evolving my faith to a higher level or contributing to a faith lost, and I intend to answer that question.

These are resolutions that must be kept in order to keep my good humor and my sanity. My, aren't we going to have a fun year?

Michigan Lost

Michigan football lost far more than the Rose Bowl yesterday. It lost an enormous chunk of its "storied program's" reputation.

After losing to Ohio State 39-42, there was much gnashing of teeth, tearing of sackcloth and general belly aching (the Ohio stadium turf screwed them; the refs screwed them--that wasn't a late hit. Helmet to helmet? No. He led with his hands). There was trash talk from one Wolverine running back:

I guarantee if we played them again it would be a whole different game. Their defense played good, but they're not as good as people thought. We knew we were going to be able to run the ball. We just didn't put enough points on the board, but there's nothing special about that defense.

There was a general feeling among the Michigan faithful that if the game were played again, the result would be different.

There was the definite feeling that Michigan got hosed after the BCS picks were announced. "NO!," they wailed. "We are the second best team in the country, maybe the best team in the country (remember we only lost by three in Columbus on that terrible turf), with the best defense in the country and we have been screwed blue." Oh and we'd NEVER allow Troy Smith on our team. He violated NCAA rules.

No one from Michigan bothered to mention that in the OSU game, they scored 10 points while covering less than 12 yards, thanks to two Ohio State turnovers. No one from Michigan bothered to remember that they failed to score any points on another turnover. No one from Michigan felt that they lost to a better team--not really. They lost, but there were so many factors that were unfair to them.

Fine. Everyone's entitled to their opinion and everyone is allowed to share that opinion. BUT. IF. You are going to talk the talk, Michigan Men and Michigan fans, then you must put the beat down on the Trojans. Yesterday, after being blitzed by everyone but Pete's grandma, and rushing for less than 50 yards, Mr. Hart, you and your Michigan team are left without any excuses. After the porn star-led offense shredded you for 439 total yards yesterday, you can't even claim you have the best defense in the country.

You can no longer claim that you were robbed of a National Title, that you deserved to play in the title game. And after the past month of talking, you no longer carry the torch of the nation's most respected football program. Not only have you lost your last two games the last three years, but this year for the first year, you lost face and sullied your first class reputation.

Climate Change?

The Decider likes to call it Climate Change. We are calling it Global warming. Regardless of the name attached, our weather is changing and we who moved to Maine instead of to Arizona or South Carolina, don't like it much. The Maine Sunday Telegram reported on Sunday that our December will be the warmest on record.

Our 30 year average temperature for December is 27.6 degrees, and our averages for the last five Decembers are:
2001 34.8
2002 27.4
2003 29.6
2004 28
2005 27.8
2006 35.8

Records for snowiest and coldest Decembers are all pre-1978 (snowiest December was 1970, when 54.8 inches of snow fell).

A Trinity College professor and poet drowned when he fell through the ice on Rangeley Lake on Sunday. Rangeley Lake and other water bodies in the area usually are frozen by Jan. 1 (which is the start of the state's ice-fishing season) but warm December weather had left thin ice and open water in several spots:

People who have lived in the Rangeley area for 50 or 60 years have never seen anything like it, warden Reggie Hammond said.

"Nobody's seen the lake not frozen by Jan. 1," he said.

Our total December 2006 snowfall for York is 2.5 inches.

We're not the only ones suffering from lack of snow.

A Day Of Mourning

On the day after the Michigan Men lost to Southern Cal in the Rose Bowl, on the day after the Michigan Wolverines wore a helmet sticker with Gerald Ford's number 48, the nation pauses to remember the "accidental President," a Michigan Man.

Ford was an outstanding offensive lineman for the Wolverines, but passed up an opportunity to play in the NFL, choosing to attend Yale Law instead.

He remained a true Michigan Man to the end, often asking that "Hail to the Victors" be played instead of Hail to the Victors at White House functions. In a media guide largely devoted to Michigan's storied tradition, Ford has a page of his own: Three Varsity Letters. Most Valuable Player. Yale law degree. Sworn into Congress in '49. Minority leader in '65. President in '74. Number retired in '94. His number is the last Michigan number to be retired.

In 1997, Lloyd Carr asked Ford to address the team before the big game against Ohio State. The Wolverines were 10-0 and ranked No. 1, en route to what would be the program's second national championship. Carr needed to do anything possible to lessen the pregame tension.

Ford addressed the team during practice on that cold, gray November day.

"He said, `I've watched and followed you closely all year. I watched the Notre Dame game. I saw that great, comeback win against Iowa. I watched the Penn State game. But I'm going to tell you something: Saturday, you're going to play in the most important game in the history of Michigan football,"' Carr said. "And I thought to myself, 'Well, so much for trying to take the pressure off the guys."'

Farewell, Mr. President.

Good Morning

Woodstock, VT

Happy New Year

Woodstock, VT

Good Morning

The Nubble, York Beach, ME (click to enlarge image)

Snow snow. Beautiful Snow

Oh. Yessssss.

Happiness is....

A winter beach.......




A ping pong tournament where everybody gets to play.....

A bubble bath....

And a Warm puppy.....

But mostly, happiness is having your entire family come for a visit and loving every second of it.

Church Sign Wisdom (or not so much)

Not that I really believe that, but don't Church Ladies with Typewriters and church signs often make you wonder if finding Jesus makes you lose your brain (or at least every basic principle of grammer and spelling lerned in school)?

You're not alone. Joel Bezaire has a blog devoted to the analysis of church signs. There's a new book devoted to church signs (the funny, the mind boggling, and the inspirational), and there's the church sign generator where you can make your own Church Sign, or view funny church signs. The Jokeyard has more church sign humor.