Escalator Etiquette...

Growing up in New Hampshire I knew of only four escalators. Two at the Mall of New Hampshire in Manchester, and the other two at the Rockingham Mall in Salem. Riding them was like a 15 second amusement park ride. It was your chance to run down them and beat your buddy, your chance to run up a downward moving escalator to show your youthful brawn and very youthful brain. Times have since changed for me, and now escalators are a mode of transportation for me in New York City. Thousands of us use them every day, and they are treated like a highway. If you are on the right side of the escalator you respect the right to standstill and relax, and by relax I don't mean pass wind on the pour soul behind you because you had chinese for lunch. The left "lane" is the passing lane with hurried bodies rushing up and down. And when people use the left lane for the standstill and create a "road" block people get ticked and rage semmingly escalates, pun fully intended. You hear small talk, "Oh they must not be from around here!", or "Look at that old bag slowing us up!" Folks lets treat this mode of transport like the pedestrian highway it is. and please always remember to signal before changing lanes or passing gas.

NFL Brief- Week 1

Well the first week of the NFL season couldn't have been much better... especially if you are a fan of any other team other than the Patriots. Crushing news to a team that won 18 games and lost one big one as their leader, Tom Brady, suffered a season ending knee injury. Career backup Matt Cassel, who has been a backup ever since leaving high school stepped in and helped the defending AFC champions to a 17-10 victory over the Cheifs.

Brett who?-- while the Jets welcomed Brett Favre en route to a one touchdown victory over the Dolphins, Aaron Rodgers started his tenure as the Packer's QB with a primetime performance. A very economical 18-22 passing , 2 TD's and one Lambaeu Leap helped the Pack beat the division rival Vikings in our first monday nighter of the season. Green Bay faithful can start buying #12 jerseys with some confidence now. The second MNF football game proved to be Royal coming out party, Eddie Royal. The rookie from VA tech hooked up with Jay "chicken" Cutler for 146 yds and a TD as the Broncos decorated the Rrrrraiders 41-14.

NFL Brief- Week 2

Week 2 brought us some suprises and some great matchups...

Game of the week- Eagles Vs. Cowboys This game was on the menu but should have been treated as monday's special. This entree showed a whole lot of offense, akick return for a TD, lack of Defense, and a rookie mistake of near epic proportions. Terrell Owens stole the show with 3 catches for 89 yards, 2 scores, and a 2 bird flapping endzone taunts as the Cowboys bested the Birds, 41-37. Eagle rookie Desaean Jackson, WR out of Cal showed his age and young arrogance on what looked to be 60 yard TD catch until a Wade Philips red flag showed that the young buc threw the ball out of his hands in celebration before crossing the goal line. Though they scored on the ensuing play, fate was sealed and Dallas became one of only 10 undefeated teams only two games into the season.

Elsewhere- A few upsets this weekend as the Niners beat the Seahawks 33-30 on an overtime field goal. J.T. O'Sullivan looked impressive (yes that wasn't a typo) with an accurate 20-32 day for 321yds and a score. The Reskins upset the saints at home, and the Broncos looked impressive taking down San Diego on a late 2 pt conversion to win 39-38 over a team that in the preseason was looked to win the division if not more.

Week 3 matchups of note-- Pittsburgh at Philadelphia, Jacksonville at Indi, and NFC powers Green Bay head to Cowboy stadium to take on Dallas...

NFL Brief- Week 3

Extra, Extra, Read all about it... 2008- The year the NFL passed on the torch. With three weeks complete in the NFL season nobody is talking about Tom Brady (injured), Peyton Manning (winless at home), or Brett Favre (washed-up). The new crop of young QB's has finally come to harvest. Philip Rivers (#1 passer rating), Eli Manning (3-0), Tony Romo (3-0), Aaron Rodgers (Brett who?), and Jay Cutler (3-0) lead a new crop of young NFL players taking this league to another level.

To the game of the week... Jacksonville at Indi. Peyton Manning looked better, but still showed signs of rust and Josh Scobee Dooby Doo hit two late field goals to help the Jags pass the Colts 23-21. The Colts may be homesick, they are winless at their brand new Lucas Oil Stadium (including preseason). RCA dome where have you gone??? With injuries clearly still plauging the Colts defense, Maurice-Jones Drew and Fred Taylor lit up the Colts defense as both rushed over 100 yards and MJD tallied a TD. The Colts get a much needed bye next week while the Jags return home to play the Texans.

Elsewhere-- The Super Bowl Champion GGGGGG- Men (sitll pains me to say that) took Overtime to beat the Lowly Bengals and remain undefeated. Chad Ocho Cinco Johnson should worry less about his name and more about not dropping passes. A dropped catch near the goal line in the 4th quarter made the Bengals kick for 3 and the tie 23-23 instead of going up 4 on the New York Football Giants. That kick forced overtime, where the Giants won with a 22 yard pooch of the boot of John "Circus Folk" Carney.

Undefeated teams through week 3-
NFC- Dallas, G-Men
AFC- Buffalo (not a typo), Baltimore, Teneessee, Denver

NFL Brief- Week 4

Pretty sure Brett Favre read last weeks recap every night before bed, and used it as motivation for Sundays career high 6 TD performance. Last week I wrote, "With three weeks complete in the NFL season nobody is talking about Tom Brady (injured), Peyton Manning (winless at home), or Brett Favre (washed-up)." Rumor has it in the post game press conference, Favre was quoted as saying, "This game is dedicated to Mark Hebert who recently called me washed up!" Brett, I take it back, for this week at least. This game that showed an extreme lack of defense, gun-slinging throws, and TD after TD, only to have late in the fourth quarter, one of my favorite players, WR Anquan Boldin getting knocked unconcious on a hit that has caused Jet Safety Eric Smith a 1 game suspension and a $50,000 fine. Boldin is home resting after being decorated in the end zone.

Elsewhere, in what I thought was the game of the week and aslo the worst coached game of the season.. DAAAAA Bears vs. the E-A-G-L-ES Eagles Sunday nighter from Solider field. The Eagles, without stud RB Brian Westbrook (Ankle), Starting TE L.J. Smith (back), and the Big Kid RG Sean Andrews (depression or some other physical ailment), failed to score on the goal line with 4 tries and the Bears hung on behind Kyle Orton to beat the birds 24-20. Coach Andy Reid should take a brunt of this loss, as a questionable first half touchdown by Greg Olsen should have been challenged as it appeared by the time he got possesion of the ball he only managed to get one foot in the endzone. His second mistake was running the ball on consecutive downs on the goal line without even one play action pass play to get the stingy Bears D to bite. Instead they rushed the ball up the gut on consecutive plays and got stuffed like a thankgsiving turkey on each try. Tough loss for the birds, big win for DAAA Bears.

Patriots were off this week-- so I was at peace going undefeated.

Undefeated teams--- GGGG- Men, Titans, and the Bills cause we all know, "No body circles the wagons like the Buffalo Bills."

Big Games next week- Stellers at Jaguars and Washington at Illadelphia (not a typo, just get your thug on)

Absolutely Perfect!

The Life and Times of Mr. Perfect dvd was released last week by the fine folks of World Wrestling Entertainment. It is a fitting tribute to a man, Curt Hennig, who seems to have touched the lives of all he came into contact with. Blessed with the amazing wrestling persona of a man who believes he is completely perfect but had the technical wrestling skill and charisma to back up his claims, this was a true giant of the late 80's-early 90's wrestling scene. Though injuries and time robbed him of some of his ring acumen in his later years, he is fondly remembered for some of the best wrestling matches and feuds of his time. He was able to have legendary matches with some of his fellow greats such as Bret Hart and Shawn Michaels, but most notably for me, was his ability to make even the poorest ring workers (Hogan, Ultimate Warrior, etc.) look great in the ring. Some may say that he oversold the moves of his opponents, but I say that everyone else didn't sell them enough. Mr. Perfect, thank you for the hard work. You truly are worthy of the name.

Chadgelina doesn't have the same ring to it

Have you heard of the movie in development called Chad Schmidt? I find the premise hilarious. The titular protagonist is a brash young acting talent who comes to Hollywood in the late 1980's to find fame and fortune. He looks and sounds identical to a similarly brash young Brad Pitt. Unfortunately, Brad hits it big with Thelma and Louise making doppelganger Chad an uncastable Hollywood punchline. Ageless Brad Pitt is set to play both himself and Chad Schmidt in what looks to be an hilarious send up on the cruelty of the film game and the role happenstance plays landing success. Hopefully, Chad will find some inner fulfillment and not simply resort to being the Tyler Durden lookalike in front of Grauman's Theater.