Redskins ... sweet

I'm not sure who sucked more this past week - the Tar Heels or the Redskins. I'm gonna go with the 'Skins, though, because at least North Carolina won. Got to see most of the game. Missed a lot of the first quarter because I was at work. One thing is certain about the Giants - Plaxico Burress is going to be a beast this year, which is good for a couple of my fantasy teams. And he's from Virginia, so he's cool with me. I didn't think the Eli was all that impressive. Moreover, I think the Washington secondary was stank. Carlos Rodgers blows and not having Shawn Springs hurts. Fred Smoot is OK, but inconsistent. And man, do I miss Sean Taylor. LaRon Landry seemed to have regressed since his rookie season a year ago. Of course, that might have a little to do with the fact that he got truck-sticked by Brandon Jacobs early on. The defense did make stands when it needed to. And they were on the field a lot in the first half, thanks to a clueless offense.

On the other side of the ball, I don't think Jason Campbell was that bad. He made very few mistakes from what I saw, other than moving around in the pocket every now and then, rather than hanging in long enough to check down to an open option. I'm not calling for Colt Brennan just yet, but I think he should be the backup. I thought Clinton Portis looked pretty good, all things considered and even though Santana Moss caught the 'Skins' only touchdown, he still showed why he'll never be the playmaker we need on offense. He's just too small. Anyway, enough is enough. Campbell is one of my two fantasy QBs, so it looks like I could be in trouble until he gets in the groove. Great.

North Carolina vs. McNeese State

Well, this time tomorrow on thing is certain. I'll be wasted. What should be certain also is that the Tar Heels should be sporting a 1-0 record. Of course, us Tar Heel fans know better than to count our chickens when it comes to football. I'm having a hard time buying into the hype that we're going to be better this year. Do I believe we are? Yes. However, I thought we were going to be better two years ago, too. Last year, we weren't bad at all, losing a bunch of games by fewer than a touchdown. But this time around, we're supposed to actually win games. Sorry, but I'm just not used to that. Carolina has sucked at football ever since I came here ... and that was a long time ago, believe me.

I'm most eager to see Hakeem Nicks this season. In my opinion he's is one of the best receivers in the nation. Most certainly an NFL prospect. He's not even pre-season all-ACC. That just baffles me. The biggest question is what's going to happen at running back. There seems to be plenty of promise at the position, but from what I understand Greg Little hasn't watched any film this week, making some players on the team a bit uncertain. He's a cool dude and everyone gets along well with him, but from what I was told it's an "OK, but he better do it," situation when it comes to his self-confidence. A lot of guys on the team are said to be rooting for Shaun Draugh, who it seems has a ton of talent coming out of the backfield.

It will be interesting to see what happens, but for now here's how I see it going down tomorrow:

North Carolina 37, McNeese State 10

Getcha Popcorn Ready

Yes. That is the name of the 2008 version of my fantasy football team. Here's how it turned out (drafting from the No. 2 slot; round selected in parentheses):

QB-David Garrard (4)
QB-Jason Campbell (6)
WR-Braylon Edwards (2)
WR-Marques Colston (3)
WR-Reggie Williams (9)
RB-LaDainian Tomlinson (1)
RB-Willie Parker (5)
TE-Dallas Clark (8)
W/R-Rashard Mendenhall (11)
BN-Felix Jones (7)
BN-JaMarcus Russell (10)
BN-Donte' Stallworth (13)
BN-James Hardy (15)
BN-Rudi Johnson (20)
BN-Ahman Green (21)

K-Shaun Suisham (18)

DEF-New York (NYG) (12)

D-Adam Jones (14)
DB-Marcus Trufant (16 - FA for Ellis Hobbs)
DL-Michael Boley (19)
BN-Mario Williams (17)

I don't know about you, but I like what I see. ...

Cool Runnings

This is exactly what would've happened if the dude from Cool Runnings hadn't fallen down in his attempt to qualify for the Olympic Games and had to resort to starting up a bobsled team. Usain "Lightning" Bolt is a total bad-ass. This guy is running the 100-meter final at the Olympic Games, starts high-steppin' 15 meters before the finish line, and shatters his own world record. I mean, 9.69 seconds? That's like a first down per second. That's like faster than my mom drives. That's like ... unreal. The scary part is that this guy could have been looking in the 9.5-range if he'd kept running, and that should just be impossible. At what point do these people stop getting faster? A hundred years from now are people gonna be running 100 meters in eight seconds, or what? I don't know, but what this guy did blows Michael Phelps outta the water (pun intended). If I were Nike, I'll tell this guy to wipe his ass with those Puma's ...

My respect of Michael Phelps just went through the roof

No. It's not because he's the baddest swimmer on the planet. Honestly, I appreciate what the guy is doing and all, I really do, but give me Jordan any day. I'd take Lebron, Tiger, Ronaldinho, Manny and Moss over him when it comes to excitement. I don't disrespect the guy - he's great for America, and really the only "homeboy" coming in first at much of anything over there. And God knows, that eight gold medals is just absurd. But for whatever reason, I just really wasn't into Phelps. Honestly, he looks big and goofy and I think that, though unfair on my part, that plays a big role in it.

Then I found out on a Yahoo! blog what's on Phelps' iPod when he's gettin' in the zone for all these medals he's about to win. And when I read that "I'm Me" by Lil' Wayne tops his playlist, I was sold. I gotta admit, I took this guy for Maroon 5 or, like, Metallica or some shit like that. But I wish I would've figured out sooner that before this guy commences to beating swimmers' brains in, he's daydreaming about rollin' around in a half-million dollar car with guns and drugs and women, just like the rest of us. And the inverse is true? Damn, I might have to break out the snorkel get a couple laps in tomorrow.

A tribute to Chancellor Christopher C. Fordam III

I had the privilege of meeting Dr. Fordham when I first began working at the Governors Club in Chapel Hill. Every time he came in he always wore a Carolina blue blazer with a gold UNC logo lapel pin attached at all times. Upon learning who he was, I made it a point to say hello each time I saw him, and each him he would thank me for stopping by to say hello. His wife, Barbara was always with him and the two were the most pleasant pair I've ever met.

We all wore name tags and used to joke about how Dr. Fordham, who was getting up there in age, needed a less than inconspicuous look at our names before he could remember what they were. And the first question was always the same: "Are you a Carolina student?" The answer was always the same, "Yes," which always prompted the same response for Fordham: "That sure is a fiiiiiiine institution."

I once heard a story about a time when he and his wife came to the club for dinner on their 58th anniversary. He tapped a fork to the side of his glass, quieting the entire dining room. Then he stood and told everyone how his wife was crazy enough to have been married to him for 58 years. If there were one story that I would pick to describe Dr. Fordham, that'd be it. A man married for 60 years.

Another thing that I'll always remember about Dr. Fordham is one day, when I was pretty busy, I had to say hello in passing. "Hello, Brandon," he said, no name tag needed. It made me stop and think for a minute. Here's a guy who had seen and done it all, and done it the right way who took the time to know me by name, when it obviously wasn't as easy for him as it would be for you or I.

Dr. Christopher C. Fordham III treated everyone he met the way he would treat his own wife. The University of North Carolina and society as a whole was better to have had him and now has something missing now that he is gone. If you've never met Dr. Fordham, or if you've never even heard ot him, do yourself a favor and do a little research. I guarantee that you'll be impressed with what you'll find.

R.I.P.

My night job

From the masses, I've already heard about how shitty my life must be since I have a blog. Well, you're right, in part. But the majority of that shitty-ness can be directly attributed to this little job I have. Actually, the job doesn't always suck. Like most jobs, though, it has it's moments. As some of you know, I work for an independent minor league baseball association known as Baseball Concessions, Inc. It's a little part-time thing that I've done for the past three summers and what it more-or-less allows me to do is get paid to blog and do my homework (or to not do my homework). The blog actually spawned out of boredom, and then became sort of a dead-end hobby.

But the one thing I did discover was that it sure is good at passing the time when you're bored. And if you happen to write anything that has to do with UNC basketball, you might wind up on 850 The Buzz, as I did when I infromed the world that Tar Heel guards Wayne Ellington and Ty Lawson would "declare" for the NBA Draft. But God knows I'm not getting into that shit. There's some dude out there by the name of Dan Schwind who's had my name all over some other blog, callin' me out for not knowing what the hell I'm talking about. Never met the guy, but he must know a lot more about what I'm talking about than I do.

Also, Google has this little thing called "Adsense" which allows me to place an ad (see under the "About Me" portion of this blog) that earns money, albeit pennies, each time a reader clicks. Now that's not an endorsement to go clicking, but if the ad hits you close to home then feel free, by all means. Since April, I've made $9.19. I won't actually be able to withdraw any of that until the account reaches $100. At this rate, it'll be a free half-tank of gas when I retire.

Then there's the fact that I can pull a Perez Staton and post pictures of my friends wasted. One day that will probably get me thrown in jail, but for now I'll keep pushing it.

So yeah, really I started this post about 20 minutes ago because I'm waiting on the Pensacola Pelicans and the El Paso Diablos to finish the back end of their doubleheader. So it's either Facebook until my fingers bleed or think out loud.

If you got this far, I have sucked you in.

That is why I blog.

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