Don't Start Cleo Lemon

The Dolphins are 0-8 and have a bye week before playing the Bills. Their starting Qb (Trent Green), starting running back (Ronnie Brown), and starting receiver (Chris Chambers) have either been injured for the year or in the case of Chambers traded. The last glimmer of hope is that their 26 year old rookie quarterback John Beck might be good. This is the same John Beck that the Dolphins used a 2nd round pick on. The same John Beck that was the reason that they passed on Brady Quinn and took Ted Ginn. It is time to give Beck a chance and see what he can do in an actual game.

In honor of that I have redid the lyrics to the song "Don't Stop Believing" by Journey to describe the current state of the Dolphins. To check out the actual lyrics of the song go to http://www.lyricsfreak.com/j/journey/dont+stop+believin_20075670.html

The fake song goes best if you have the actual song playing in the background and you sing over the words with the new words.

Don't Start Cleo Lemon

Just a small minded coordinator, named Malcolm "Cam" Cameron
He came to be the head coach for a team going nowhere fast
Just a country boy born and raised in Greenwood, Mississippi
He came to be a backup qb for a team going nowhere fast

A quarterback drafted in the 2nd round
The season starts and we don't hear a sound
I would smile if Beck was named the starter,
But the wait goes on and on and on

Dolphins fans waiting
Up and down South Beach
The Dolphins have been searching
Since Marino
Season's lost, people
Cameron stands there with no emotion
Refusing to make the move everyone knows is right.

Working hard to get their first win
Too bad against the Giants they could only score ten.
They should just just roll the dice
And start John Beck
The Patriots always win, The Dolphins always lose
But Dolphins fans weren't meant to sing the blues
The losing never ends
It just goes on and on and on and on.

Dolphins fans waiting
Up and down South Beach
The Dolphins have been searching
Since Marino
Season's lost, people
Cameron stands there with no emotion
Refusing to make the move everyone knows is right.

Don't start Cleo Lemon
Cam give Dolphins fans something to believe in.
Season's over, people

Don't start Cleo Lemon
Cam think about next season
Season over, perople

Don't start Cleo Lemon
Think about next season

TV Listings

Just in case you were ever curious what games are being shown in your market check out this website:

http://www.the506.com/nflmaps/

Then all you have to do is click on the early/late games section under CBS and Fox to see the map of what is being shown where.

Off to the bar to go see the Dolphins upset the Giants.

Drive Home/Nba predictions

On my drive home today I happened to see two things that interested me.

1. There was a Steve Bartman looking guy at the bus stop wearing a Miami Dolphins jacket and a Dolphins hat. He looked cold and unhappy. He was probably upset because in the past 10 days they have traded their #1 receiver, got blown out by New England, saw their star player tear his ACL, watched their linebacker Channing Crowder (http://www.palmbeachpost.com/blogs/content/shared-blogs/palmbeach/miamidolphins/entries/2007/10/24/crowder_discovers_he_wont_need.html?cxntfid=blogs_inside_the_dolphins) make a fool of himself, and now they get to play a "home" game against the Giants. The Dolphins have hit rock bottom, which means that things can only get better from here. Keep the faith Dolphins fans.
2. There was a guy riding his bike down a major road in Minneapolis during rush hour using only one hand while talking on his cell phone. What kind of person thinks it is a good idea to talk on his cell phone while riding a bike? Probably the same type of people who use their cell phone when in the bathroom.

Quick Nba predictions:

Eastern Conference Finals: Pistons over Bulls

Western Conference Finals: Suns over Spurs

Nba Finals: Suns over Pistons

World Series Prediction

Rockies in 6. Why? I think too many people are predicting the Red Sox and I just don't think that many analysts can be right.

If you are looking for more baseball insight then go to www.firejoemorgan.com and read up on things. I promise that would be a more productive use of time then reading any predictions on the World Series.

The Top 10 reasons why the Dolphins are terrible...and what to do to make them better

I am a Dolphins fan. I have been a Dolphins fan for as long as I can remember. I am not old enough to have ever seen the Dolphins in the Super Bowl (I was only 2 when they played in Super Bowl XIX), but for the longest time the Dolphins have been a consistently fine team. In my early years of following the Dolphins Dan Marino would lead the team to the playoffs before losing to a team like the Bills. After he retired the Dolphins were supposed to be awful, but instead they actually still played well. Thanks to defensive talent like Zach Thomas, Jason Taylor, Patrick Surtain, and Sam Madison they were always in the game. This Dolphins team was known for quick starts before falling apart in December. Friends used to joke up about how the Counting Crows song “A Long December” was the Dolphins theme song. It was disappointing watching sure-fire playoff teams fade every single year.

I look back fondly on those days. Things were looking up in 2006 as Sports Illustrated in all its infinite wisdom picked the Dolphins to go to the Super Bowl. It has been pointed out by both the Tuesday Morning Quarterback (Gregg Easterbrook: http://sports.espn.go.com/espn/page2/story?page=easterbrook/071016&sportCat=nfl ) and the Monday Morning Quarterback (Peter King: http://sportsillustrated.cnn.com/2007/writers/peter_king/10/21/mmqb/4.html) that Dolphins are 6-17 since SI picked them to win the Super Bowl. Most articles I read both locally (the Miami Herald) and nationally are talking about how awful the Dolphins are and how there is a possibility they go 0-16. It is a depressing time for Dolphins fans, but in the NFL there is always hope. With that being written here is my analysis on the top 10 reasons why the Dolphins are terrible and how they can improve each weakness:

1. Quarterback: The Dolphins have given up a 2nd round pick for AJ Feeley and another 2nd round pick for Daunte Culpepper. They have trotted out names like Ray Lucas, Jay Fiedler (who I actually liked), Brian Griese, Daunte Culpepper, AJ Feeley, Cleo Lemon, Trent Green, and Joey Harrington in the past few years. I am somewhat optimistic with the current starter Cleo Lemon, but maybe that is only because I was incensed the Dolphins would trade a draft pick to pick up Trent Green. No offense to Trent Green, but a 37 year old quarterback with a history of multiple concussions is not the answer for a team that needs to rebuild. The fact of the matter is that the Dolphins do not have a starting quarterback right now and that is the number 1 reason they are a losing team. The teams with winning record more often than naught have above-average quarterbacks. Solution: Is it Cleo Lemon? Probably not. From all indications he looks like an adequate backup, but not a starter. Is it John Beck? Dolphins players, coaches, fans, etc will never know until he plays in the regular season. It doesn’t take a genius to know that Cam Cameron should start John Beck. He is already 26 years old and you took him the 2nd round (another 2nd rounder used on a quarterback), so he must have talent. If that isn’t enough the Dolphins management passed on Brady Quinn because of their love John Beck. The great thing about this is that the solution for the Dolphins number 1 problem is the easiest one. Play John Beck for the next year and a half and see if he is any good. If he isn’t then draft a quarterback (Tim Tebow?) in the 2009 draft. Either that or find the next Matt Schwab. Personally, I am blindly optimistic again about this 2nd rounder (Beck) being the answer.
2. Secondary: Everyone mentions how stupid Little Nicky Saban (who if you check his name in spell-check one of the options is Satan) was for passing on Drew Brees for Daunte Culpepper. That was a dumb decision. Another dumb decision that never gets brought up is Jason Allen. Who is Jason Allen you might ask? Jason Allen is the Dolphins 2006 1st round pick, who has a total of 15 tackles in his entire career. The Dolphins can’t seem to figure out if he is a bad safety or a bad cornerback. He is indicative of a secondary that makes Braylon Edwards look like Jerry Rice in his prime. A secondary that looks like high schoolers trying to compete with Randy Moss. They don’t have quality and they don’t have depth:
   Solution: Address the secondary in the draft. Depending on where they pick they could look at Kenny Phillips from Miami of Florida. If not then the Dolphins should look to use both of their 2nd round picks on a cornerbacks (hopefully Aqib Talib from Kansas) and a safety.
3. Linebackers: The good news is that Zach Thomas is still very productive and Channing Crowder has the talent to dominate. However, the group on a whole has been very disappointing this year. Joey Porter has been a no-show so far and looks like a wasted free agent signing. Zach Thomas has been hampered with injuries so far this year, and Crowder hasn’t lived up to his talent.
   Solution: The Dolphins should have drafted Patrick Willis from Ole Miss instead of Ted Ginn Jr in the draft. They need to get younger and Willis would have been the perfect talent to learn from Zach Thomas. As the situation stands right now they should look to trade Zach Thomas at the end of the year. Traditionally the Dolphins do a poor job drafting linebackers (Eddie Moore, Morlon Greenwood), etc, so this situation might take a little luck. Since they are so bad I would go with a quantity over quality approach. For the Dolphins I would use late round picks and pick up cheap free agents and see if they can hit the lottery with any of those players. Either that or I would go back in a time machine and draft a decent linebacker like DeMarco Ryans or Pattick Willis.
4. Defensive Line: The Defensive line is old and as the saying goes they aren’t getting any younger.
   Solution: Defensive tackles are a dime a dozen. Draft some big bodies, sign some big bodies….it doesn’t matter as long as they are young and have some talent. For the defensive ends the Dolphins are fine on one side with Jason Taylor and have a need on the other side with Matt Roth. They should look to trade Jason Taylor for two young defensive ends and hopefully get a little more balance.
5. The Draft: The Dolphins can’t draft. I wonder if anyone in the Dolphins organization ever plays fantasy football or Madden. If so, do they draft players like Tarvarias Jackson and Bobby Wade in the 2nd or 3rd round because they read a 1999 article on how great the Vikings passing game is?
   Solution: Draft sure things. Don’t draft players with injury concerns or other question marks. Don’t draft players with a ton of upside, but not much production. Draft players that you know will be on your team in 5 years Stop trying to hit the home run and start trying to hit some singles and doubles.
6. The Coaching Staff: Does anybody thing Cam Cameron is the answer? He doesn't inspire confidence in any aspect of being a coach. He was fired from Indiana University after going 18-37 despite have Antwaan Randle-El as his quarterback.
   Solution: I know it is early, but fire Cameron. Seriously. Get rid of him. Try to get Bill Cowher or someone else to coach the team.
7. Nick Saban: He messed up with the Drew Brees,/Daunte Culpepper decision Jason Allen, and a ton of other decisions.
   Solution: Thankfully Little Nicky took care of that himself.
8. The Offensive Line: This has actually been a bright spot this year. They have run blocked pretty well and the quarterback usually looks to have enough time to complete a pass. Solution: Keep the same line in tact, so they can learn to play with each other. Maybe draft someone like Jake Long, but overall this unit needs time to continue to improve.
9. Wide Receivers: The Dolphins don’t have a true number 1 and from the looks of it they just have a bunch of young slot receivers.
   Solution: Besides getting in a time machine and not trading Chris Chambers, they Dolphins should look to develop the talent they have. Derek Hagan and Ted Ginn Jr. need to be the answers because drafting receivers is usually a crap shoot.
10. Running Back: This isn’t something I thought I would have to address, but I just read that Ronnie Brown is going to be out of the year. That leaves Jesse Chatman as the Dolphins starting running back. Seriously the Dolphins starting backfield have first names of Jesse, Cleo, and Reagan. If you read those names out loud most people wouldn't know if you were talking about a football team or a girls band. Solution: Ricky Williams.

Things will get better. The Dolphins just need to have a plan. Trade away any old players. Draft sure players (Jake Long, Glenn Dorsey, etc), start John Beck, fire Cam Cameron, keep the offensive line together, get younger and better on defense, and have a little faith.

They just had a Sportcenter promo on MNF that asked the question: What is more likely the Patriots going 16-0 or the Dolphins going 0-16? I am trying my best to be optimistic.

Rules for a Sports Fan

Recently my brother-in-law commented on my Green Bay post by writing that I was breaking one of the rules of being a fan by wearing Packers gear to a Packers game. He cited the 20 Rules for Being a True Fan by the Sportsguy. Of course he cited the wrong date (2004) and included a rule that I didn't actually see in the article, but whatever. If you have espn insider check out the below link for the column on the rules:

http://proxy.espn.go.com/espn/page2/story?page=simmons/020227

To summarize the rules here they are:

1. Don't customize a jersey with your own name.
2. If you are going to an Nba game don't wear the jersey of a team that isn't playing.
3. Don't buy cheap attire for your favorite team.
4. Don't wear replica championship rings or carry around baseball cards a conversation starter.
5. Don't be obnoxious rooting for the visiting team.
6. Buy lots of your team's stuff if they win a championship.
7. Be careful using the word "we" when discussing your team.
8. Don't jump on and off your team's bandwagon during the season.
9. You can only root against your team if you hope they get a better draft pick or someone gets fired.
10. Don't root for one of your fantasy guys if they are playing your favorite team.
11. Don't boo your team unless it's absolutely warranted.
12. If your team wins a championship there is a 5 year grace period.
13. You can follow a specific player from other teams as long as they aren't competing against your team.
14. Don't act like a jerk (family friendly blog otherwise I might use another word) if your team wins a championship.
15. Be careful in how you act when your team is facing a friend's team.
16. Don't switch allegiances to a team because of who you are dating/marrying.
17. Don't be Janet Jones.
18. If you grew up in a major city then you must root for the teams in your area.
19. Once you pick your team you are stuck unless your teams moves (Cleveland Browns) , you get a team in your area (Orlando Magic), someone you are close to works for a team, you follow a once and a lifetime college athlete to his pro team, or your owner sucks.
20. You have to choose between the Mets or the Yankees if you grow up in New York.

This column is not one of the Sportsguy's better column's since it misses many points about being a sports fan. Specifically it doesn't take into account the many people that grow up in states without professional teams. It was easy for Bill Simmons to grow up in Boston and go for all of Boston teams. He should have just wrote that he grew up in Boston and he roots for the Celtics, Bruins, Pats, and Red Sox and be finished with the article.

Thankfully for the 3 people that read this blog there is another perspective of the rules for being a sports fan if you grow up in a state like South Dakota, Idaho, or Mississippi. Here are my rules:

1. Take into account your favorite team when drafting your fantasy team. For instance I have never drafted Tom Brady before because I couldn't stand rooting for him. It is bad enough that the Dolphins are horrible and I don't want to start rooting for a Patriots player.
2. In order to break up with a favorite team one must follow certain steps. Step 1: There has to be a reason why? Step 2: There has to be a grace period when you don't have a favorite team in that sport. Step 3: There has to be a valid reason to root for your new favorite team. It shouldn't be much different than dating someone, breaking up with that person, having some personal time to reflect, and then meeting someone new. I find it cold when someone is able to move so swiftly from one favorite team to another. It says something about how unimportant the first relationship was if someone is able to move on that quickly. My example was growing up rooting for the Dodgers before breaking up with them and baseball because of the 1994 strike and having no favorite baseball team until I moved to Minneapolis in 2005 and starting rooting for the Twins. Now when I see the Dodgers it is like seeing an ex-girlfriend.
3. One must carefully choose the reasons why you pick a favorite team. The fact of the matter is that growing up in a random state you almost always have to pick your favorite teams. My caveat is to be careful who you pick and why because you will be answering that question for the rest of your sports life. For the record I picked the Dolphins because in Mississippi CBS always showed Dolphins games and I liked Marino and the Dolphins passing game. I didn't pick the Dolphins because I thought Cam Cameron was the answer.
4. You can follow multiple teams, but only have one favorite team. There is nothing wrong for watching the Suns because they are a fun team to watch. There is nothing wrong for rooting for the Packers to beat the Redskins. There would be something wrong if I rooted for the Suns to beat the Jazz or the Packers to beat the Dolphins. It is fine to root for one random team over another random team for any reason such as fantasy, gambling, favorite players, or whatever. Don't take crap from anybody for rooting for another team that isn't your team.
5. Check out the player's contract and standing on the team before buying his jersey. This is the rule that should have been stamped on every Torri Hunter Twins jersey this year. There isn't much worse than spend over $100 on a jersey and then watching that guy play for the other team.
6. Along the same lines don't ever wear a jersey of another team or sport to a game. I don't know why the Sportsguy limited this to the Nba. There is no good reason why anyone would ever wear a jersey of a team that wasn't competing in the game. At the Miami University-Minnesota football game there was a guy to the right of me that was wearing a LaDanian Tomlinson jersey. Maybe he was confused or hadn't done laundry in awhile because otherwise I have no clue why he would wear that jersey? Another example was at a Twins-Tigers game I saw a guy wearing a 1996 Drew Bledsoe Patriots jersey. Again this was more than a little baffling.
7. If a foul ball comes your way then catch it with your hands or relinquish your right for the ball. Don't use a glove. Don't drop it and then scramble for it knocking over women and children in hopes of getting a $13 baseball. Act like you have been there before.
8. If your team wins a big game then a cigar is necessary if not required.
9. It is perfectly acceptable to root for individual players as the Sportsguy mentions above. Growing up in Mississippi I find it completely fine to root for the Brett Farve's, Steve McNairs, and Jason Campbell's of the world.
10. Don't bet against your team.
11. Wherever you go to undergrad is your favorite college team...no exceptions. You had a choice to pick this school and you should stick by that school no matter what. They are your favorite college team in every sport and if they play another school you are required to root for your alma matter. There is a special circle in Dante's Inferno for people that go to one school and then root for another school against their college. I could never understand the Miami students who rooted for Ohio St. against the mighty Redhawks. If you wanted to root for the Buckeyes then you should have gone to school there.
12. Your childhood favorite college teams can still be your 2nd favorite teams, but if by chance they ever play your school then refer back to rule 11.
13. When their is an important game (Duke-UNC, Super Bowl, etc) involving your favorite team there are only 3 acceptable excuses for not watching the game: getting married (and if so pick a better date), attending a funeral, or if someone is in labor. I missed the 2002 Duke-Indiana Sweet Sixteen game and I am still blaming myself for that loss.
14. If you have a significant other who is not into sports it is your right to try and make them root for your favorite teams if only a little bit and maybe for the only reason that they don't want to be stuck with you when you are in a bad mood following a loss.
15. When rooting for a team, seniority matters. I take someone who has been a Red Sox fan for 30 years more seriously than someone who has been a Red Sox fan for the past 3 years.

If I think of other rules I will add them on, but right now that is a good start.

Lambeau Field

There isn’t a much better experience in life than a roadtrip. There can’t be a much better stadium than Lambeau Field. It doesn’t take a genius to come up with the idea of a roadtrip from Minneapolis to Green Bay for a Packers game. My expectations for the trip were through the roof and the great thing is that the experience was actually better than the expectations.

Here is the breakdown of what happened by day:

Saturday, October 13th:

I packed up my trusty grey Honda Civic and picked up my friend Brian at 3pm to start the journey through the middle of nowhere Wisconsin . On our way to the hotel in Oshkosh , WI we went through towns like Thorp, Stanley , and Chippewa Falls . We crossed the Tomorrow River three times, nearly hit a deer that was standing in the middle of the road, and had some unbelievable pizza in Stanley . The best part of the day definitely was the stop in Stanley , WI –(http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Stanley,_WI). Brian and I had been following along to the LSU-Kentucky game and when it was still close in the 4th quarter we wanted to watch the end of the game. We thought there was no way that in small town Wisconsin we would be able to find a place, but we decided to test our luck in Stanley . Thankfully we found Deano’s Bar. The interesting points of Deano’s besides the great pizza, cold beer, and appetizing cheese curds were:

• They had one of those “must be born by this date to drink” signs up and the date that was listed was October 12th, 1976.


• The waitress/bartender nearly didn’t serve us because of that sign. Thankfully she spent about a minute to think that anyone born by that date would be 31 and that yes, somebody born in 1983 could legally buy a beer.


• Once we had the beer in hand and the pizza on the way, we were free to change the channel of one of the TVs to CBS to watch the triple overtime thriller between Kentucky and LSU.


• Deano’s offered yellow Deano’s Packer Backer shirts for 2 for$15. Of course we had to buy two.


• At the end of the meal the hand-written check was presented with the caveat that no credit cards were taken at Deano’s. I then promised the Deano’s bartender that I would return from Green Bay with a baby cow to pay off my meal. Deano’s is so old-school that they use the barter system.


• By the end of your meal everyone at Deano’s wished us a good time at Lambeau.

This place was like Cheers if Cheers was located in Wisconsin and all the locals were eligible for AARP. This led Brian to propose the genius idea that we should plan a pub crawl across the state of Wisconsin , so that we could visit all of the small bars in Wisconsin .

After being satiated with pizza and football, it was on to Oskhosh , Wisconsin (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Oshkosh,_Wisconsin) and the not-quite luxury Park Plaza Hotel. We were forced to go to a bar to try and watch Game 2 of the Indians-Red Sox series when we found out that our hotel for some reason didn’t carry Fox. We walked a few blocks in downtown Oshkosh and stumbled across Screwball’s bar. Somewhere in between noticing there were 10 guys for every girl in the bar and our bartender singing “Drug Ballad” by Eminem when it came on the jukebox, Brian and I agreed that Screwball’s wasn’t the same type of bar as Deano’s. We had a few drinks and after an hour or so we left Screwball’s, which basically meant we were able to see one Kevin Youklis at bat.

Sunday, October 14th:

We were on the road to Green Bay by 8:15 in the morning and reading to start tailgating by 9:30. The bad news was that the grill I bought at Dicks didn’t really work, which meant that the brats and burgers we brought were pretty much useless. The good news is that the people to the right of us invited us over to join them, which turned out to be a much better party. We were offered tortillas, ground beef, rice, chicken, cheese, and other accompaniments at their well-maintained tiki bar. Once we were properly fed (and to be hungry is Wisconsin is as unnatural as being cold in July in Mississippi ) it was on to playing flip cup with our new friends as the group blasted music over their stereo system. Brian and I were then properly prepared for the game.

The Redskins-Packers game was a close game in which the Packers won 17-14 (http://sports.espn.go.com/nfl/recap?gameId=271014009) led by a strong defensive effort highlighted by Charles Woodson’s 57 yard fumble recovery. The stadium was unlike any other football stadium I could imagine. Our seats were in the corner of the endzone about 50 rows up and provided a great view of the game. The one thing that I found was interesting was that view of the stadium from the inside was so much smaller than what I expected. I have only seen games in 3 Nfl stadiums (the Metrodome, Ford Field, and the Superdome) and those 3 domes seems so much bigger than Lambeau. The good thing about Lambeau is that there doesn’t seem to be a bad seat in the place. Every seat provides a great view. I definitely (and I don’t think I am in the minority) preferred Lambeau to the alternative. I can’t imagine a better NFL stadium than Lambeau.

After the game we got back in the car and drove back to Minneapolis with smiles on our faces. The fact of the matter is that regardless of who you like or where you life a sports fan has to make the trip to Lambeau Field.

Green Bay

In about 30 minutes I begin my trip to Green Bay, Wisconsin to see the Redskins play the Packers. The trip to Lambeau Field has been described as a sports fan's mecca. I have gotten ready for the trip by reading Rick Reiley: http://sportsillustrated.cnn.com/2007/writers/rick_reilly/10/09/reilly1015/index.html

And the Sportsguy:

http://sports.espn.go.com/espn/page2/story?page=simmons/060825

I am looking forward to giving my opinion on Lambeau Field and the atmosphere in Green Bay. Today I bought a small portable grill, a Packers shirt, and a cheesehead. Also, I have brats, chips, and whiskey ready. Thomas Jefferson once said "Luck falls on the prepared man" so I tried my best to prepare for this trip.

One thing that I think is interesting is that Packers vs Redskins features two Mississippi quarterbacks. That made me wonder what states produced the most Nfl starting quarterbacks. Here is a list of states and the number of starting quarterbacks they produced:

• California: 7
• Mississippi: 4
• Washington, Texas, Pennsylvania, Oregon, Louisiana, Florida, and Alabama: 2 each
• Tennessee, Ohio, New Jersey, Massachusetts, Iowa, Indiana, and Illinois: 1 each

Note: I used starting quarterbacks from either last week or this week. The starting quarterbacks from Mississippi are Brett Farve, Jason Campbell, Steve McNair, and Cleo Lemon. That means that 12.5% of the starting quarterbacks in the Nfl are from Mississippi. To put that in perspective Mississippi is ranked 31st in population size by state with nearly 3 million residents. The United States on a whole has around 300 million people. That means that Mississippians represent 1% of the United States population, but has produced 12.5% of the starting quarterbacks. By comparison California has around 33 million people, which means that a state that represents 11% of the total population has produced 22% of the starting quarterbacks. That is a very impressive number, but not nearly as impressive as the jump from 1% to 12.5%.

Another interesting stat about starting quarterbacks is that New York with a population of nearly 20 million (7 times as much as Mississippi) doesn't have a single starting quarterback in the Nfl. Neither does Michigan (with 10 million residents), Georgia (9 million residents), or North Carolina (9 million residents).

Now if only Archie Manning's (an Ole Miss legend to put it lightly) kids (Peyton and Eli) were born in Mississippi instead of New Orleans then we would be talking about 6 starting quarterbacks born in Mississippi. As it stands 4 people Qbs born in Mississippi and 3 Qbs who went to Mississippi colleges is an impressive stat no matter how you slice and dice it.

Reasons Why I Love October

Things have been going well for me lately. I received a wonderful thank you email from a good college friend about a 2 hour long video I made for everyone that recapped my college friends collective 4 years at Miami . Then a few days later I received two thank you emails from two of my favorite Marketing professors at Miami for donating some money to the Marketing department. Finally, I received a thank you note from my Dad for entertaining him last weekend during his visit to the Twin Cities. On top of that M took me out to Barbett’s for a amazing steak dinner before going to see Brave New Workshop’s “You Cube” show. I am definitely feeling the love from everyone and those good feelings have led me to want to create a list of the top 10 reasons why I love October:

1. College Football: Enough with those easy (or supposed to be easy) games between USC and Idaho that happen in September. The only interest I have in USC vs. Idaho is for someone to explain to me why the University of Idaho is named the Vandals and who thought it would be a good idea for the University of Idaho to be located in Moscow . Sure there can be the occasional shocking upset like Appalachian St. vs. Michigan , but those are definitely the exception. October football is when teams really start getting into their conference schedule. October is when you see matchups like Florida-LSU , Texas - Oklahoma , and Miami University-Bowling Green. October football makes you plan your personal life around games.
2. Professional Football: Just like college football, pro football uses September as a jumping off point for October. In October you should be able to know what teams are good or at least worthwhile and you can highlight watching their games instead of wasting your time watching the Jets-Bills. This one is a tough one for me since I am a Dolphins fan and it is tough knowing that the season is over before a single October game has been played. Lets just say I have already started following nfldraftcountdown.com and wondering how the likes of Jake Long, Glenn Dorsey, and Brian Brohm would look in a Dolphins jersey.
3. Playoff Baseball: I finally got to experience the playoffs in person for the first time last year and it was unbelievable. The fact that the Twins got swept by the As only made me want them to make it back to the playoffs so that they could redeem themselves. While that didn’t happen last year there are still plenty of great storylines to follow. I am personally hoping that either the Dbacks or Rockies win the World Series. As long as the Indians don’t win it I will be happy. I am hoping I didn’t just sound like the no-talent comedian Dane Cook when he describes October baseball..
4. TV: This is the first full month of new TV shows. Right now for this year it is great because there are new episodes of Friday Night Lights, the Office, How I Met Your Mother, and a bunch of new series to check out. Currently I have tried Gossip Girl (15 minutes was enough for me), Dirty Sexy Money (low potential), and Big Shots (mediocre pilot, but could turn it around based on the strength of the actors in it) and I plan on watching a few others just to see if there is anything out there. Currently, I am too busy trying to finish Season 1 of Friday Night Lights, so that I can get to watching Season 2. I have written and said this before, but if you haven’t already you need to be watching Friday Night Lights. If Gregg Easterbrook (Tuesday Morning Quarterback on Espn.com) and the Sportsguy (on Espn.com) can agree on this show then you need to pay attention and start watching this show.
5. Weather: Who doesn’t like the weather in October? For Minnesotans it is the last chance to enjoy doing stuff outside (softball, volleyball, etc) before getting ready for winter. Today it was 73 degrees and sunny. The average high in the middle of October for Minnesota is 60 degrees. In the middle of November the average high in Minnesota drops all the way down to 40 degrees. In fact the drop in temperature from October to November is the greatest drop from one month to another during the course of a year.
6. Fantasy Football: October represents weeks 5 through 9 in fantasy football. In a normal 13 game regular season that means October represents 30% of the regular season. What is great about this time of the year is that you are usually able to make trades with bad (i.e. desperate) teams and poach their good players. One popular strategy that I try to use is when I offer a bunch of decent players for one team’s star player. I am trying my best to replicate the Barkley to the Suns trade of 1993.
7. Leaves Changing: This really isn’t my cup of tea, but I know a lot of people who like seeing the different colors of the leaves. Maybe if I didn’t have to work I would have time to truly appreciate nature’s beauty, but I am not going to give up watching football for nature's beauty.
8. Flag Football: While I don’t play anymore (probably the thing I miss most about Target) it is hard not to like flag football. There is nothing like watching some washed up athletes competing with a bunch of non-athletes and seeing what happens. Also, there are inevitably going to be a few people that take it too seriously (yelling at an intramural ref over a call is never acceptable) and a few people that don’t take it seriously at all. The best is when someone loses it on the football field and you know that person is going to be embarrassed the next day when they have a meeting with one of the guy’s from the competing team.
9. Anticipation of the holidays coming ahead: First off there is one of every kid’s favorite holidays in Halloween at the end of October, but even better than that is the anticipation of Thanksgiving and December right around the corner. This October I am even thinking about starting my Christmas list.
10. Egg Nog: I haven't checked, but I think my favorite holiday drink will probably be in most grocery stores soon enough.

Next week I will have another reason to love October as I make my first trip to Green Bay for the Redskins-Packers game.