Radical Georgia Moderate

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I am a sports video game geek. I can admit this thanks to many 12 step programs, and a few interventions by my wife, the lovely and gracious Phyllis. I owned the very first John Madden Football game that had only a picture of his fat head and upper torso against a red background. Since then I have spent more time playing Madden than I have in thinking about sex. Sadly, I have missed out on the opportunity to sire more children than the one I have already, but two years ago I did rank in the top 100 online players ( Not a resume worthy achievement I know, but this is probably 12 minutes of my 15 minutes of fame).

I bought Madden ‘06 the day it came out, and I was so excited that I opened as soon as I got home six weeks later (I had to finish Tiger Woods Golf 2005, stuffing my fat face, and a trip to New Orleans to see race relations at its finest). I started playing with the new “NFL Superstar” mode where you begin by choosing your parents so that the genetic bouillabaisse can create your player. This, first, is very realistic. I am sure my son looked down from the bucket of heavenly souls and chose an overweight, dickhead father in the mountains of North Carolina and said, “That is my IDEAL choice.” Yet I digress, once the player has been created then you go through an interview with an IQ test (I am not making this shit up) and selecting your Agent. Now your NFL draft position can be determined. Once drafted you have the ability to practice, and play in preseason games all while getting emails and voice mails from various people (Terrell Davis, your NFL mentor and Rich Eisen Mr. NFL Network) before going to the regualr season. Eventually, from what I understand, you have the ability to get “things” for your apartment.

The “things” are what I have a problem with. The only possessions that should matter in football are the ones that determine who has the ball. This is what is causing all of the problems in our society. Football is a controlled ballet of violence and barbaric behaviors set against a coliseum of blood-thirsty tailgaters that have the stench of beer and chili dogs (aka My People). Football is NOT about flat panel televisions (unless you are watching the game on one), looting is. Football is NOT about websites that keep track of how wonderful you are, that is what football cards are for. The fact that we have to have all these “things” is what is wrong with everything.

These “things” show the whore-like nature of my existence since I gladly fork over $49.99 annually for the right to support the EA Games machine, and that walking stroke patient, John Madden. Since I understand that it isn’t cool to talk about a problem without offering a solution so I will try to give my thoughts on how we can eliminate this problem:

1. Assassinate EA terrer wrists ( Bush pronouncation) then setup a temporary company leadership so we can monitor the corporate structure to make sure there are no more video game evil-doers.
2. Stay the course (seemed like the right bull shit line after the last item).
3. Give John Madden 13 four foot long AIDS-ridden tapeworms so we can watch him slowly die and wither away, but as he loses the weight we can donate the extra skin to the shriners so that we can help all of those burn victim children.

That is all for now. I will play this game on regular mode rather than the “Lets see how much shit I can acquire that I will never see in real life,” and enjoy the nonsensical ramblings of the man most in need of multiple angioplasties since President Taft.

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• Last night’s MARTA meeting - As seen on the GDGF’s website. The presentation materials were among the worst I’d ever seen, except for the maps. The presenter preceding the public discussion session was among the most boring I’d ever heard (his name was Ted Williams, I think, and he was a project manager). The biggest issue was the presentation seemed geared more toward a consulting firm or a county commission or a corporate board than it did toward a general public audience. If I had access to a scanner right now, I’d post the graph they gave out, which was full of jargon and buzzwords and was for all intents and purposes worthless to me.

  The night did liven up during the public discussion when this crazy old codger got riled up about The Beltline.

  “Cars are the only mode of transportation that will carry you from point A to point B!”

  “It’s not possible for something that was designed a hundred years ago to work in the 21st century!”

  Amber and I thought this 18-year-old kid and the codger were going to scrap in the center of the room. Unfortunately, the codger couldn’t hear the kid’s cries of, “I don’t have a car! I get everywhere by MARTA and on foot!”

• Tom DeLay finally gets indicted - Of all the sons of bitches in politics, he’s in contention for slimiest. Between this and President Bush’s sagging popularity, this is a chance for the grown-ups and non-psychos to take back the Republican Party from the theocrats and neo-cons. Here’s hoping, for everyone’s sake, that they do.
• Cathy Cox takes heat for elections performance - The Huffington Post has it, and it’s well worth a read.
• My state representative is a fucking nut - Read it and the follow-up at Decatur Guy’s joint. If I ever get some time, I want to try to arrange an interview with her. It’d be nothing if not entertaining.
• Readers who shall remain nameless try to convince me Sonny’s snow days were a good idea - Gas shortage or not, I don’t agree.
• Legislator tries to claim diplomatic immunity after getting caught driving around shitfaced - Heh. I couldn’t possibly make this story funnier than it already is. Too bad he didn’t get acquitted. That would have been a circus.

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Round 4 Results

Overall Standings

Alyssa, bitchmeister, and Mel did not submit picks and were spotted last place finishes. A PDF with more detailed results can be viewed here.

Round 5 Odds

Odds are accurate as of Sunday Sept. 25 at 11:45 p.m. All picks need to be submitted by Sept. 31 at midnight EST.

Remember, you can enter your picks simply by writing, “I’ll take the favorites except for X Team, Z Team, and Y Team” rather than writing out every game.

Saturday, Oct. 1 games

#1 USC @ #15 Arizona State
Odds: USC by 15.5

#2 Texas @ Missouri
Odds: Texas by 14.5

#3 Virginia Tech @ West Virginia
Odds: Virginia Tech by 11

#4 LSU @ Mississippi State
Favorite: LSU*

#5 Florida @ #16 Alabama
Odds: Florida by 4

Syracuse @ #7 Florida State
Odds: Florida State by 20

Mississippi @ #9 Tennessee
Favorite: Tennessee*

South Florida @ #10 Miami (Fla.)
Odds: Miami by 21

Arizona @ #11 Cal
Odds: Cal by 16.5

Michigan @ #12 Michigan State
Odds: Michigan State by 4

Kansas @ #13 Texas Tech
Odds: Texas Tech by 15.5

#14 Notre Dame @ #20 Purdue
Odds: Purdue by 2

Indiana @ #17 Wisconsin
Odds: Wisconsin by 18.5

#18 Virginia @ Maryland
Odds: Virginia by 3.5

#19 Minnesota @ Penn. State
Odds: Penn. State by 1

Washington @ #20 UCLA
Odds: UCLA by 23.5

Florida Atlantic @ #22 Louisville
Odds: Louisville by 38

Ball State @ #23 Boston College
Odds: Boston College by 35

South Carolina @ #24 Auburn
Odds: Auburn by 11.5

Off this week

#6 Georgia
#8 Ohio State
#24 Georgia Tech

* - No odds were available for this game, so I named a favorite.

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Rusty: If you’ve read someone’s blog for a while before meeting them in real life, how different are people generally than the impressions of them you’ve built in your head, and why do you think that is?

Darcey: When you’re reading someone’s blog, you begin to develop assumptions to fill in the “holes” that you don’t know about their life. You string together bits of information based on what they provide you with — much like editing on so-called reality TV shows, the blogger self-edits and becomes a character of sorts. So, when you meet them in person, you’re getting the whole package, rather than this specific facet (or few facets) of their personality that they’ve demostrated through their blogging.

Rusty: What first attracted you to blogging, and what keeps you doing it?

Darcey: I met a blogger at a UGA/Auburn game post-party in 2002. He gave me their site’s address, told me to check it out. When I got home, I spent some time reading their stuff, and thought it was hilarious. I started my first blog within a day or so after that, and it kept going for nearly 2 years before taking a brief hiatus. It was a way for me to vent, to entertain, to keep my friends up to date on my life. (Yes, it’s selfish, but it’s fun.) I started this most recent incarnation at the end of March, as I needed to change things up a bit. Now I see it as a way to share my viewpoints, my various activities (hashing, college football, dating life), and just general day-to-day life.

Rusty: What’s different about the image you project on your blog versus how you are in real life?

Darcey: I try not to censor myself on my blog (unless it’s going to hurt someone’s feelings), so I’d like to think that there isn’t much of a difference between “The Muse” and “Darcey.” However, I know that’s not the case. I think I’m far more introspective in real life, and much less “on” all the time. I don’t delve into too many depressing or serious topics in my writing, as I want to keep it lighthearted and interesting and my own escape from everything else. There are times that I go back to read a post to make me laugh at myself. That’s the point.

Rusty: At what point does an employer have a right to protect its corporate interests by holding something an employee blogged in his/her free time against them, and/or at what point is an employer butting into the blogger’s personal life? In other words, how much do you think a blogger should be able to write about work without a reasonable expectation of repercussions?

Darcey: I think that a blogger’s responsibility is to NOT name the company or list any direct identifying characteristics of the company to protect their own interests. If a blogger is giving proprietary information, trade secrets, information on business deals, etc., then a company should be allowed to protect its investment by releasing the offender of their employment. However, a company would definitely be overstepping its boundaries should they be reprimanding the blogger for venting menial gripes about their office environment (without naming names, of course).

Rusty: Do you forsee yourself blogging in ten years? Why or why not?

Darcey: I definitely think that I’ll be using some sort of public forum to express myself, whether that expression is blogging, through artwork, or maybe spending my time actually writing a novel (which I have been promising/threatening for years).

Rusty: Do you have an idea of what type of novel you want to write (i.e. what it’d be about)?

Darcey: I’ll happily admit that the book would fall under the category of “chick lit” — something entertaining and a perfect uplifting beach read… girl wants boy, girl goes through a million things to get boy, boy is an ass (as they tend to be), girl leaves boy and finds a better one (who happened to be in the background all along)… or some variation on that nonsense.

Rusty: Do you think some people are overly snobby about what they read? Or do you think some people’s derision for “beach novels” (chick lit, Tom Clancy, etc.) is legitimate?

Darcey: I think there are those types, yes. I have some friends who would never stoop down to read something of the “beach novel” variety, because they don’t see it as worth their time. However, reading is not only to learn information about a subject, but to enjoy yourself. No, it may not teach someone about quantum physics in that kind of story, however, it will entertain someone, maybe provide a bit of inspiration. I can say that many of those types of books have both served as a way to relax (and avoid watching unnecessary tv), and as inspiration for me to get off my ass and try something new.

Rusty: Why did you post pictures of your boobs ( . ) ( . ) ?

Darcey: Because they are frequently topic of conversation, and I felt like just confronting the topic head on. And mostly, because I damn well felt like it.

Rusty: Why did you feel you needed to confront the topic?

Darcey: Maybe confronting the topic may have been too aggressive a word. I was looking to talk about it. I’ve mentioned the focus on them in passing, and joking. I just figured it would be amusing to just get it out there. And I like the attention.

Rusty: What were your first impressions the first night you met me?

Darcey: I had only read your blog maybe once or so before that, so I didn’t have any preconceived “blogger assumptions.” I thought you were entertaining, sarcastic, and could completely understand how you fit in the group dynamic. Oh, and you liked your beer.

Rusty: Okay, final question. WTF?

Darcey: Whiskey Tango Foxtrot…

Darcey: I don’t know, exactly, WTF. That would be like trying to understand the sudden loudness of my upstairs neighbors with their somersaulting hippo breeding.

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