Thursday

The more things change the more they stay the same.

This is great. My kids are always talking about how sick they are of being judged because of the way their hair is dyed or how dark their shirts are or how baggy their pants are. They give the illusion that they are so enlightened and accepting.

Yet, one of my emos, was just telling me how Fosston has supposedly had some crop circles appear this week.

Then his fellow emo piped up, “Well, what else are they supposed to do in that town? They must have tired of beating their wives.”

So much for open minds.


*****

The upside of training camps.

NFL training camps are in full swing and hope springs eternal. This is the time of the year where everyone is positive and upbeat.

And for good reason.

I mean who would have fathomed that the Giants would have won the Super Bowl? Everyone knew going in to the season that the Patriots were loaded. As were the Colts and the Chargers.

But the Giants?

The Giants?

This is a team that was never the same since they suffered an inexplicable collapse in a wild card playoff game at San Francisco, squandering a 17 point lead late in fourth quarter. Then their hold botched the snap on a game winning field goal attempt.

The Giants? They had a dictator for a coach, Tom Coughlin, and many of the players were sick of his strict rules – fining them for being late or even – gasp – too early to meetings and so on. Their best player, Tiki Barber, chose to retire rather than put up with another season of Coughlin’s totalitarian regime.

Then comes the total collapse mid season against the Vikings where Manning throws four interceptions. Yet, they go on a roll and sneak into the playoffs and win four straight road games to become world champs.

But the Giants?

That is why every NFL team has hope. Who will be this year’s version of the Giants?

The down side of training camps.

One drawback though of NFL training camps is that the positive commentary can be overwhelming.

Take Green Bay for instance.

Aaron Rogers is preparing to take over for Brett Favre. The coaches are glowing about his potential and how good he looks in practice.

Find me an article or report on a player that doesn’t look good in a training camp practice.

This is the time where coaches love to talk a player up. I mean would McCarthy ever come out and say, “Well, Aaron Rogers is really struggling right now. There is no way he can handle the pressure. He hasn’t completed a pass yet.”

The same is true for the Vikings. Of course Tarvarious Jackson is looking good. He is wearing one of those red jerseys that means no one can touch him. Of course the players and media are talking about him taking them to the Super Bowl.

It’s training camp! Everyone can talk like that.

Never mind Jackson threw a whopping 9 touchdowns in 13 games last year. Okay, he was injured and missed some time. But still. Carson Palmer had six in one game!

Another problem with training camps (and the NFL): the NFL Network.

Sure, for a rabid NFL fan like me, a channel that covers football 24 hours a day is heaven. I saw the entire broadcast of the Bengals 1981 AFC Championship game, which I had not seen since I was seven. I also saw the game that signaled the demise of the Bengals in the 1990’s when they blew a late lead to the Green Bay Packers. They even took their starting quarterback out of the game and forced the Packers to rush in a young, untested quarterback, some kid named Brett Favre, who would eventually throw a last second touchdown pass to beat them.

The Packers never looked back – winning a Super Bowl and making numerous trips to the playoffs – and the Bengals would not recover for another 13 years.

However, since there is a network covering the NFL 24 hours a day, they need something to cover – even when there isn’t anything.

So now things that the average fan wouldn’t find out about, now become major news.

Chad Johnson’s rift with the Bengals over his contract became major news all offseason.

Now we have to deal with the Brett Favre drama. It’s to the point where I wouldn’t be surprised if they devoted a half hour special to what Brett had for lunch yesterday.

Ridiculous.

Coverage of such ridiculous information makes me long for the old World League games or even meaningless NFL pre-season games.


*****

Yesterday, Kristie had a doctor’s appointment in GF.

Of course, a trip to GF, regardless of the reason, is a good chance to do some shopping.

Kristie needed some additional maternity clothes, so we stopped at Gordman’s. While she was over in the motherhood section, I went over to look at the artwork (there was a great sign we saw last time that read “All because two people fell in love” that we were going to place in Kenzie’s room – but it was gone). On the way to that section, I was shocked to see that the store had begun to display its Halloween decorations.

Already! Now, I love Halloween like no other. But it’s not even August! Kind of puts a damper on summer if you ask me. And before Halloween, stores will have their Christmas decorations up.

Stop the madness!

****


Everything is going very well. Kenzie has a solid little heartbeat of 150. I love hearing her little heart pounding away.


****

You know you teach rednecks when one kid – who appears not to have slept in days and smoked a considerable amount of pot – given his squinty, red eyes – is talking about killing a ferret or weasel yesterday with a cone and hanging it on someone’s rearview mirror.

Again, why is he here?