I’ve decided to highlight various Grenadian genealogical information I’ve come across online.  The first of this “series” is the extensive information collected by Desmond Preudhomme of  Toronto on the following families (this is an abridged list as the full list is very long):

BANFIELD

BISHOP

BOURNE

CAMPBELL

DATE

DE FREITAS

DE GALE

DONALDSON

DUNCAN

FARMER

GIBBON

GILL

GOLTON/GOULTON

GOODING

GRANT

HUGHES

JAMES

JOAN

LOFTUS

LUSAN/LUSSAN

OTWAY

PREUDHOMME

MARSHALL

MIGNON

MINORS

PATERSON

PAYNE

PETERKIN

RENWICK

According to the page Desmond’s contact information is…

Desmond T W Preudhomme

78 Mayfield Ave

Toronto, Ontario M5S 1K8

416 760 7492

d_preudhomme@hotmail.com

I am sure he would appreciate being able to connect with more relatives and discover additional family information.

Yesterday, a little boy named Noah Biorkman passed away.  I first read about Noah on the Snopes section of my homepage.  I have seen many of these posts before, but for some reason, this one got to me.  Perhaps it is because I have a five year old son or perhaps I was just in the right place to read about it.  Like so many of these posts, this one was requesting that Christmas cards be sent to Noah since he would most likely not live until Christmas day.  His family wanted to have one more Christmas with him.  I didn’t have a Christmas card to send, but I did have a ‘Thanks a Bunch!’ card with a drawing of a bunch of bananas, so that is what I sent in.

I think what affected me so much was the thought of explaining to my child why they were going to die.  When we lost our second daughter, Julia, that loss was more muted, though no less painful or profound.  She only knew love, warmth and peace and, at least for me, that was a source of comfort. If the same thing happened to one of my other children, it would be markedly more difficult.

As an adult, I am conditioned to know that I will probably be here when my parents pass.  I also know that my wife may die before I do.  But I have a difficult time comprehending the notion that I may outlive any of my kids.

One of the articles I read about Noah quoted him saying that he gets to be an angel.  In the context of the article, he seemed pretty excited about, too.  I suppose that if you are five, knowing that you will be an angel would be a pretty cool thing.  And as a parent, I would take no small amount of comfort in knowing that my child would view death in such a positive light.  Having had my own experience with mortality, I can appreciate how having a positive attitude really makes a difference; however, I have a hard time applying my feelings about my own passing to someone I love.

I have an uncle, Marshall, who passed away from colon cancer when he was in his 50s.  Shortly before he died, flew up and visited him at my grandmothers house.  I don’t remember a great deal about the trip, but I do remember him telling me to love my little girl.  The alpha child had come along a few months before and I was still getting used to the whole fatherhood thing.  Since we both had a daughter it gave us a little bit to talk about. He wasn’t exactly a chatterbox, so I was grateful to have a conversation starter.  I hung out by his bed for a few days and flew home to my family with a renewed appreciation for what I had.  He died several months later.

I am not sure what motivated me to make the trip.  I was still in my 20s and I recall having wanderlust during that time of my life.  Whatever my reasons, I am glad was able to make the trip.

On that note, enjoy your Thanksgiving.  I hope it is spent with the people you love in a place you love.

And so it goes.

f

“Slapsgiving 2: Revenge of the Slap”

November 23rd, 2009

I’ve been having a back and forth with other critics over the past few weeks about the current state of How I Met Your Mother, as there’s a general consensus that the show got rid of Barney and Robin before its comic potential had been fulfilled but a disagreement over whether this is all part of a broader plan. And, on Friday, co-creator Carter Bays did an interview with Michael Ausiello that managed to do absolutely nothing to settle this argument. On the one hand, Bays noted that this could just be one part of a larger journey between the two characters, which seems encouraging. However, on the other hand, he also said the following:

“None of us wanted to see Barney wearing a sweater-vest and going to bed-and-breakfasts,” says Bays, adding that it makes sense the relationship would “flame out fast” given that “neither of them, at their core, really wanted to be tied down.” Bays also believes that, deep down, viewers prefer single Barney to attached Barney. “It’s one of those things where you can give people what they think they want, or what they really want.”

It’s one thing that Bays is remaining coy about their future, but for him to have internalized what I feel is a close-minded and limiting audience reaction to the character is highly problematic for me. The show didn’t give Barney a chance to adapt Single Barney into Attached Barney so to judge so quickly is so short-sighted that it is either a misquote or a sign that my faith in Bays/Thomas is lower than it’s ever been.

And while “Slapsgiving 2: Revenge of the Slap” seems built to regain my trust and sympathy by tapping into the show’s most slaptastic mythologies and by actually giving Lily and Marshall a story of their own, it does nothing to deal with my overall concerns about Barney as a character (proving a wash in this area) and disappoints by feeling like a strange mash-up of sentimental and comic that feels far less organic than the original “Slapsgiving.

Accordingly, How I Met Your Mother remains “on notice,” even during this holiday season.

The reason this episode does nothing to do with Barney’s character is that he remains in a supporting capacity. Barney, as a caricature with no sense of emotionality, works so long as he isn’t asked to be the center of attention. Like with last “Slapsgiving,” the slap itself is less about Barney (who simply sits paralyzed by fear, this year trapped by not knowing who is going to slap him as opposed to not knowing when the slap is coming) than it is about Ted and Robin arguing over who is going to slap him. As a result, Neil Patrick Harris simply gets to play the combination of mortal terror and savvy disruption as Barney tries to get them arguing to the point where neither of them will dole out the slap before the imposed deadline of sundown. The result is a performance and a character beat that doesn’t fall short because it has no aspirations: Barney is specifically compartmentalized outside of the dramatic side of the episode, and there’s nothing wrong with this.

However, ignoring the fact that this story would have been just as interesting if Robin and Barney were still together (where Ted and Robin could have still brought the turkey as roommates and her right to the slap could have been about getting retribution for their fights), the real reason that this story doesn’t work is that Ted and Robin have nothing to work out. While the first “Slapsgiving” put a nail in the Ted/Robin relationship (if not the friends with benefits potential) for good in the midst of the slaptivities, providing an emotional depth to the episode, this year’s Ted and Robin story was ultimately pointless. I kept waiting for something to happen to make Ted and Robin’s conflict more explicitly about either Barney (for Robin) or something at all (for Ted, who hasn’t had a real story all year) so that it would have some sort of impact, but it never did. I don’t mean to so clearly cry out for some continuity, but at least start listing off the various ways that Barney has wrong Ted in the past, or bring up Robin’s relationship with him long before the conclusion of the episode. As good as NPH was in the various reactions, especially when Ted and Robin were arguing and he was popping up between them, the only time their argument became interesting was when Ted tried to lie and claim he was still in love with her: at that point, as played out as that card is, it was at least something to give the storyline a point.

In the end, for the episode to claim that the whole “Slapsgiving 2″ storyline was all an effort from Marshall to bring everyone together (which makes no sense considering that he raised it before Mickey arrived, and thus before they needed to be reconciled in any major way (Major Way! *Salute*) ) is patently false, and a bit of broad overgeneralizing that the show is normally above. I thought Chris Elliott was engaging as Lily’s inappropriate board game-obsessive deadbeat dad, and I like that Lily was finally given a storyline, but it failed to connect with me both a) because we had never been introduced to it in the past and b) because Lily was kind of unsympathetic throughout. It may be a symptom of the fact that Lily has been somewhat mean all season, but the “You’re Dead to Me” look and her unwillingness to forgive her father lacked emotional nuance. The episode didn’t know if it wanted us to take Lily’s hatred seriously (in overdoing his faults to the point of sending Lily’s grandfather back into the steel mill) or to view it as frivolous and silly (like with her newspaper stealing neighbour or her bridesmaid), mixing Lily’s pride and love for her family with being overemotional and bitter. So when the episode eventually tells, rather than shows, Lily’s moment of realization that the convenience store owner was actually dead to everyone, it’s like we’re so disconnected from Lily’s emotions that any real value in their reunion is lost, a problem only compounded when it gets lumped in with the slap towards the end.

Of course, the episode had its charms. I thought Marshall got a lot of great content in the episode, whether it was the fake arms in his Sunday dinner webchat or him retelling the story of he and Mickey’s meeting so that it wasn’t him who was balling his eyes out. And Mickey was worth it if only for the endless parade of board game concepts (Tijuana Slumlord, Car Battery, There’s a Clown Demon Under the Bed, Landmine Lunge, Diseases, Dog Fight Promoter, etc.) And even though it could be seen a mile away, the premise of the slap bet hasn’t lost all of its charm, and seeing Jason Segel rip into Neil Patrick Harris remains as entertaining as ever before.

But the episode struggling trying to both use an existing mythology (the slapping throne was a nice addition) and create a new one (with Lily’s father) in the same episode, and both suffered as a result. The two storylines never meshed together as organically as they did in “Slapsgiving,” and the Lily side of things needed more time and focus to allow us to connect with her emotional journey. It wasn’t an unfunny episode, but it didn’t live up to the mythology it tapped into.

It’s not a slaptastrophe, but let’s just say I have my slapsgivings…as in misgivings, not the pural of Slapsgiving. Note the lack of capitalization.

Cultural Observations

• You’d be amazed how instinctively I added the repeat/salute after “major way” above. No delay at all.
• Of the various new slap phrases in the episode, I think “Slape Diem” was my favourite.
• They’re onto the last slap, and I’ll say this much: it needs to be an event on its own. Don’t worry about other storylines, just give us an epic slap episode worthy of the occasion.
• It used to be that Lily’s different hair was what destroyed any realistic flashbacks, but wigs could at least pretend: Hannigan’s new chest, however, is far more conspicuous.
• And yes, as everyone saw, the 1990s Board Game commercial version of Aldrin Games’ Slap Bet, complete with kids slapping the elderly was a whole lot of fun, especially the 90s commercial interpretation of “You Just Got Slapped.”

Takket være en vis person, har jeg opbygget en sund afhængighed af  “How I met your mother” og takket være en tilfældig afspilning i radioen i går aftes faldt jeg atter over skotske The Proclaimers’, (I’m gonna be) 500 miles…… Kan man andet end eeeeelske den?!

hey guys! wow, my last post generated a lot of great comments.  it seems that several of you do compound exercises when strength training, some of you alternated between compound and isolated, and a few of you are like me: isolation all the time.

many of you mentioned jillian michaels and her use of compound exercises.  i did do the shred for about 20 days.. i did like the way the compound exercises elevated my heart rate.  if i can possibly find the dvd in my piles of boxes somewhere, i might give it a shot again.  or just make up my own routine at the gym.  currently, i strength train 3 times a week, alternating between upper and lower.  one week i have 2 upper days/1 lower day and the next week it is vice versa.  i think my game plan is to change to one upper, one lower and one combined day each week.

okay, good talk, moving on!

i woke up this morning and threw some ingredients into my crock pot.. which i have had for years and have never used.  may as well start now, right?  more on that in a bit.. first, waffle wednesday!

i finally made it to the store last night and snagged some kashi waffles.

meal 1: wafflewich @ 8:00 AM

for this sweet and savory sandwich i used two kashi golean blueberry waffles..

and cooked up 3 egg whites+1 whole egg using cage free eggs.  then i sandwiched the eggs between the waffles and drizzled a little sf syrup on top.

i have always loved pairing syrup with savory breakfast items such as eggs, bacon and sausage.

the blueberries in the waffles were a nice touch.

right after breakfast i went into my boss’ office for a meeting.  i came back to my desk and i was drinking my coffee and working away when i noticed this:

a note from marshall.. pointing to my camera. he must have come to my office to say goodbye while i was in my meeting (we work together.. but he works out and about, not in the office).

i turned my camera on, as the note instructed..

a kiss! haha. he’s cute. and needs to shave

i worked lots and lots today. not a second for blog reading. what can ya do?

when my computer was all messed up and semi-frozen (i NEED a new computer at work) i got real frustrated and took a time out for lunch.

meal 2: turkey sandwich + veggies @ 1:00 PM

the sandwich was on nature’s pride 100% whole wheat bread and i layered it with local red pepper hummus, sprouts, all natural roasted turkey slices & annie’s dijon mustard~

bueno!

the veggies were just some steamfresh dudes.

good lunch!

guess what?? i left work at a decent time today!  i only worked 20 minutes of overtime.  then it was straight to the gym.

i decided to get a little creative with my HIIT today and did something totally new.

10-10-10 triple machine HIIT.

10 minutes on treadmill:

i did two sets of 5 minute intervals, the numbers are in MPH:

• 1 min 6.0
• 1 min 6.5
• 1 min 7.0
• 1 min 7.5
• 1 min 8.0
• 1 min 6.0
• 1 min 6.5
• 1 min 7.5
• 1 min 8.5
• 1 min 9.5

10 minutes on elliptical:

i did two sets of 5 minute intervals.  the first 5 minutes i went forward on the elliptical and averaged a 9.0 MPH pace:

• 1 min level 2
• 1 min level 4
• 1 min level 6
• 1 min level 8
• 1 min level 10

the next 5 minutes i decided to go backward.  wowww.. it is hard to go backward.. well, at least when you have DOMS in your whole lower half!  this is because you kind of have to squat/hover to go backward.  i never go backward on the elliptical, come to think of it.  it was really different and i liked the challenge!  it was a little harder so i only averaged a 7.0 MPH pace:

• 1 min level 2
• 1 min level 4
• 1 min level 6
• 1 min level 8
• 1 min level 10

10 minutes stairmill:

i finished off this workout with two 5 minute sets of intervals:

• 1 min level 4
• 1 min level 6
• 1 min level 8
• 1 min level 10
• 1 min level 12
• 1 min level 4
• 1 min level 6
• 1 min level 8
• 1 min level 10
• 1 min level 12

i ended up going 1.19 miles on the treadmill, 1.26 miles on the elliptical and 0.97 mile on the stairmill.  this workout was fanfreakingtastic!

i came home and was happy that i did not have to do much for dinner!  i had put ingredients for pumpkin chili in my crock pot so all i did when i got home was stir in the beans and corn and let it warm through!

marshall baked himself some heat & serve rhodes rolls.  professional baker

he had an audience!

no rolls for me.. instead i toasted a golden corn vitatop~

meal 3: homemade pumpkin chili+2% cheddar+dollup 0% oikos & golden corn vita @ 7:00 PM

such a comforting, healthy meal for this time of year!!  now if only we would get some more snow!

for the chili i just made it up in my head.. but this is what i used:

• 1 lb 93% lean ground beef
• 1 can peeled & diced tomatoes
• tomato sauce
• frank’s
• chopped green pepper
• chopped red onion
• lots of cumin
• lots of chili powder
• about 3/4 cup-1 cup pure pumpkin (canned)

i let this cook all day in the crock pot and when i got home i stirred in:

• can of organic black beans
• can of organic kidney beans
• can of organic corn

i can proudly say my first crock pot experiment was a huge success! i can’t wait to make something else!!  the chili was super good with the golden corn vita top broken up and sprinkled on top.

marshall ate 750 calories worth of rolls..only 300+a bite are pictured here..

and then we assembled an ikea bookshelf for my room!

we decided to reward ourselves for the extra hard work (yeah, right..) with frozen yogurt!

i had been craving fro yo since last friday.. sooo, whatever, i went for it.

meal 4: small frozen yogurt + pom arils + raspberries + strawberries @ 9:30 PM

we got it to go and took it back to my house so i could blog & marshall and the poochies watched tv

and now we are current!

sooo.. the local radio station morning show does something every wednesday called “things that must go”.. i got to thinking about things that would be on my list regarding my trip to the gym today.

things that must go.

• people who spit their gum out into the drinking fountain at the gym.. really? are you nine?
• dudes on the treadmill next to me who not only talk on their cell phone while jogging on the treadmill.. but talk on it on speaker phone.. get a grip buddy, nobody wants to hear your conversation
• creepy old men who come up to me while i am filling my water bottle and say, “better fill ‘er up since the drinks here are on the house!”  uhhh.. no comment.

well i am going to call it a night.. two more work days until the weekend.. hope you all hang in there!

Qs~

1. favorite slow cooker recipes?? ready, go! i want ideeeeas.

2. what would be on YOUR list of “things that must go”?

xo. janetha b.

What not to do at work

For starters, writing posts at work is a big no-no for me, but I do it for the greater good of the community. For those of you coming to this site, Thanks! You’re obviously here to see what Ashley and I are up to with our wedding planning, and also because you care. Or are bored. One or the other. Check it out, and if there’s something you’d like to see on here drop us a line.

RSVP

I know this is mentioned on the invite and RSVP isn’t require, but it’s highly appreciated. With that, I am working on getting a page up so you can submit a casual response. Until then, feel free to leave a comment on this site, or email either myself or Ashley at marshleybaltzell(at)gmail(dot)com.

Ever see a gigantic thank you card? This just came back from press after a long back and forth design process. But oh-no! Someone forgot to spell check! They have to reprint it, and I get to hear from 5 people about triple checking my work. Can anybody say “TPS Report?”

Front side of card

Inside of card

watch Middle Tennessee State Blue Raiders vs Marshall Thundering Herd – NCAA Basketball online live stream TV sport 11/17, 17 Nov 2009. This Sport Games Starting time will be at 19:00 ET (US) /01:00 CET (eUROPE). We will update the link several hours/minutes before the scheduled starting time. The live stream feed provided from free video tv hosting sites like ustream, justin tv, p2p, sopcast etc. You can watch online Sport Live TV stream channel on November, 17 2009. The sport tv we cover here is NHL, NBA, KHL, NFL, AHL, NCAA, MLB, AHL, MLS, Soccer, EPL, Champion, UEFA, FIFA, U20, U17, SERIE A, NASCAR, F1, GP, Football, Hockey, Basketball, and others. If there is any of free tv hosting that airs these sport tv channel, we will update the link for you. Dont Miss to watch live sport tv between Middle Tennessee State Blue Raiders vs Marshall Thundering Herd – NCAA Basketball online . Please click on below link to watch, online, free, live, stream, sport, tv, at 11/17 2009, Middle Tennessee State Blue Raiders vs Marshall Thundering Herd – NCAA Basketball.

Click here To watch Live stream free online Sport TV

“The Playbook”

November 16th, 2009

Last week’s episode of How I Met Your Mother proved enormously divisive, despite the fact that for the most part most critics read the episode itself in much the same way. For example, Todd VanDerWerff and I both liked elements of the episode, but our overall impressions of the episode were fundamentally different. He chose to believe that the writers still have more in store for Robin and Barney, the episode representing just a bump in the road, whereas I chose to assume the worst and believe that the writers had truly bungled the conclusion of this relationship that still had a lot of mileage in it.

In the end, Todd convinced me that I was perhaps being too hasty to judge where the show was going, but forgive me if “The Playbook” doesn’t somewhat prove my point. If the writers dumped Robin and Barney’s relationship so quickly because they were that desperate to be able to tell stories where Barney gets to be his usual, philandering self, then it feels like the sort of regressive move that I thought the show was above. This episode could have worked within the context of their relationship had the show been willing to do so (I’ll explain how after the jump), but the end of the episode confirms that Barney has reverted to a one-dimensional caricature and Robin is already moving on.

And while the show is certainly more clever than your average sitcom, that sort of character regression is the sort of thing that I call out other shows for – as such, this is another disappointing episode for me.

If Robin and Barney had stayed together, this episode would still have been possible. The episode could have been about Robin finding out about the Playbook and seeking to have it destroyed to further cement their relationship, and the various scenes acting out the Playbook could have still remained as vestiges of Barney’s past as opposed to present behaviour. The episode’s storytelling narrative could have even been maintained, except that Lily could have told a pre-Barnman & Robin story about Barney intercepting one of Ted’s dates as opposed to that story happening in the context of the episode. My point is that there was an opportunity here for these types of stories to still be told in the context of Robin and Barney’s relationship, and that in fact it would have resulted in a far more interesting story than this one.

On a surface level, there’s a lot to like in this one, as Lily and Barney are always a fun pairing to throw into the ring together and anything which plays into the mythos of Barney Stinson is always fun. But the episode really didn’t have anything else going for it beyond those simple constructs, and it showed: while some of the plays from the Playbook were clever, none of them were a new pinnacle for the show, and the constant winking to the audience made them feel more gimmicky than they needed to be. Some of them, like “My Penis Grants Wishes,” were legitimately unfunny, while others like The Mrs. Stinsfire were derivative even while remaining enjoyable for Neil Patrick Harris’ performance.

My objection to Barney reverting back to this sort of character is not just that I felt he and Robin had more of a relationship to investigate, and that the storyline had a lot more comedy to wring out over time. I also have to admit that I’m growing a bit tired of this more one-dimensional Barney: he may be quippy, and there might be a lot of google hits that get to this post by my use of MILSWANCAS (That’s Mothers I’d Like to Sweep With and Never Call Again), but I don’t think that’s enough to sustain an episode of comedy. What worked with Barney and Robin’s relationship was the idea that this character would be legitimately challenged, not so much eliminated as tested in a way that could have made an episode like this really interesting from a character standpoint. Instead, the episode teased such a character moment at the end of the episode (Barney noting that this was all his way of dealing with his breakup from Robin) only to rip it away and reveal that it was all part of some grand scheme.

Barney is an engaging character, but personally I don’t enjoy episodes that centre on Barney’s character but are entirely devoid of any sort of emotional core. Barney is a fantastic supporting character, played with bravado by NPH, but when thrust into a lead role (as he no doubt was here) the character becomes one-dimensional in a way that actually strips the show of some of its charm. Individual jokes might work as well as they did in the past, and Barney’s one-liners are likely going to be in fine form, but when there’s no heart I can’t engage with this character. His relationship with Robin created the sort of purpose that his character has been missing, and was something that could have created new scenarios where things like the Playbook could operate on a different comic plane. Here, however, it was just like The Bro Code or any other gimmick the character has introduced in the past, and none of the jokes were so strong for my character development-loving side not to feel pretty substantially disappointed.

The side of the story with the rest of the gang was a bit stronger, if only because there were some fun exchanges between the various characters. I don’t quite understand why a new character had to be introduced to justify the story method (Chloe, outside of harmonizing on “Hell No,” was a non-entity), but I enjoyed Marshall and Ted delivering a “Lawyering of Nature” to Robin about her desire to not be in a relationship, and Lily and Barney’s duelling “Youuuu sonofabitch” battle was the sort of thing that both Hannigan and NPH always play extremely well.

It just seemed like this episode, after the season thus far, shouldn’t be happening this way. The ingredients might all be part of HIMYM’s comic signature, with Barney’s elaborate schemes to bag women and the somewhat convoluted narrative structure, but when the episode hinged entirely on a one-dimensional image of Barney and never felt like it really justified that structure I’m left scratching my head, still, about last week’s decision to break up this couple. The show occasionally mentioned, through Robin, how awkward this all was, but to have Barney dismiss the sentiment entirely and to have Robin meet someone new feels like the show rushing on to keep us from asking whether we actually want any of this to happen.

And, well, I don’t.

Cultural Observations

• I quite enjoyed the moment where Lily was pointing out to Shelly that all of Lorenzo Von Matterhorn’s accolades were lies, but then temporarily takes it back when she hears about the laser tag tournament…until Shelly notes that it was at the Vatican.
• The episode was filled with a lot of really clumsy writing to be honest: Barney blaming Al Qaeda, and making the rather lame “girl with a really nice…phone” joke, seemed really off from the show’s usual comic charm for me.
• I think it says a lot about Ted that, rather than be mad that Barney uses his tragedy as a way to hook up with chicks, he instead uses the strategy himself.
• In better news, Neil Patrick Harris is now on Twitter.

Marshall: Tell me about it! That cake. Best cake I ever had. Seriously, my stomach was like “Hey bro, I don’t know what you’re eating cause I don’t have any eyes but it’s basically awesome so keep sending it down Gullet Alley.”
Lily: Yeah, I know, my stomach was like “Girlfriend, we don’t always get along but that cake…”

(How I Met Your Mother)

“I am standing upon the seashore. A ship at my side spreads her white sails to the morning breeze and starts for the blue ocean. She is an object of beauty and strength, and I stand and watch until at last she hangs like a speck of white cloud just where the sea and sky come down to mingle with each other. Then someone at my side says, ‘There she goes!’Gone where? Gone from my sight … that is all. She is just as large in mast and hull and spar as she was when she left my side and just as able to bear her load of living freight to the place of destination. Her diminished size is in me, not in her. And just at the moment when someone at my side says, ‘There she goes!’ there are other eyes watching her coming and their voices ready to take up the glad shouts ‘Here she comes!’
Henry Van Dyke

Full page here

TED MOSBY (Josh Radnor)

Es el protagonista de la serie, arquitecto de profesión. Uno de los aspectos más característicos de su personalidad es el hecho de que piensa demasiado, cosa que le recriminan sus amigos una y otra vez.Desea tener una relación seria y duradera y encontrar el verdadero amor.

BARNEY STINSON (Neil Patrick Harris)

Detesta el matrimonio y la vida de pareja.Siempre lleva traje  e intenta convencer a la gente que le rodea de que deben trajearse también. El resto de la vida de Barney tiene un halo de misterio que se desvela poco a poco en la serie: su piso, su trabajo,etc..

ROBIN SCHERBATSY (Cobie Smulders)

Canadiense y reportera de profesión, es el primer amor de Ted en la serie, aunque inicialmente éste no es correspondido.  Tiene miedo a las relaciones largas, detesta a los niños y no quiere comprometerse, entre otras cosas. Odia loscentros comerciales  y está a favor de las armas.

MARSHALL ERIKSEN (Jason Segel)

Es bonachón de personalidad  y fiel , además de afortunado en los juegos de mesa. Su sueño es proteger el medio ambiente y su deseo es trabajar como abogado en una empresa que defienda los intereses del planeta, es por ello que estudia Derecho.

LILY ALDRIN (Alyson Hannigan)

Mujer de Marshall y ,amiga de Ted desde la universidad. Trabaja dando clase a niños de preescolar, pero su gran sueño es ser pintora,es una chica muy impulsiva.

Es el año 2030 y Ted (Josh Radnor) decide contarle a sus hijos como conoció a su madre, por lo que pasa a relatar su historia a partir del 2005, cuando se da cuenta de que desea casarse y sentar la cabeza al ver que sus dos amigos Marshall (Jason Segel) y Lily (Alyson Hannigan) deciden casarse tras nueve años de relación.

Al comentarlo con otro amigo suyo, llamado Barney (Neil Patrick Harris),éste no le da muchas esperanzas de encontrar la mujer de sus sueños (por supuesto esa es la filosofía de la serie), a lo que aparece Robin (Cobie Smulders) de la que nuestro protagonista, Ted, se enamora.

Tras ello empieza la historia de amores y desamores del protagonista a partir de diferentes anécdotas, sin llegar a desvelar nunca a la madre de sus hijos.

Ted es el punto intermedio entre Barney y Marshall ya que mientras Marshal es fiel y constante, Barney es promiscuo e inconstante, de lo cual Ted tiene algo de cada uno y a pesar de que Ted anda siempre en la búsqueda del amor perfecto como el de Lily y Marshal, algunas veces se deja influenciar por Barney y trata de ser su seguidor.

Además de infinidad de personajes secundarios que aparecen en algunas temporadas como pueden ser: el hermano de Barney, infinidad de chicas que van con el apuesto rubito, etc.

Es el protagonista de la serie, es arquitecto de profesión. Uno de los rasgos más característicos de su personalidad es que piensa demasiado, cosa que sus amigos le recriminan constantemente. Fue compañero de Marshall y Lily en la universidad. Desea imitar la vida de Marshall: tener una relación seria y duradera. Pero se queda a medio camino entre Marshall y Barney, que sin duda es el alma de la serie. Quiere tener dos hijos, un chico y una chica, Luke y Leia, en honor a su saga de películas favorita. Al final se supone que encuentra a su mujer y le cuenta a sus hijos todas las anécdotas antes de conocer a su madre.

Amigo de Ted desde la universidad y prometido de Lily al comenzar la serie. Es el personaje bueno de la serie, tímido e influenciable, inseguro de si mismo y enamoradizo.
Es estudiante de Derecho, se matriculó para poder conseguir su sueño, ser abogado en una empresa que salve y esté a favor de ayudar al medio ambiente.
En uno de los capítulos se va a vivir con su mujer Lily y dejan de vivir con Ted durante una temporada, más tarde volverán.

Nos encontramos con el personaje por excelencia, el cómico de la serie, el humor fácil pero inteligente e idiota a la vez, es la antítesis de Marshall, detesta el matrimonio y la vida de pareja, entre otras cosas.
Gran portador de las mayores frases que han existido en las series televisivas: “Have you met Ted?” (¿Conoces a Ted?), método que utiliza para entrar a una chica; “legendary” (legendario) lo utiliza para poner nombre a una noche histórica o que puede llegar a serlo, es una expresión muy bien pensada; “suit up!” (ponte traje). Siempre lleva traje e intenta convencer a la gente que le rodea de que deben trajearse también. o “True story” (Historia Verdadera) cuando quiere remarcar alguna de sus teorías o anécdotas.
La vida de Barney Stinson es un agujero negro de misterio que poco a poco la serie va desvelando, en una temporada vimos su casa, en otra uno de sus posibles trabajos (ya que Barney es polifacético en ese aspecto) y el origen de su obvia riqueza es desconocido por el resto de protagonistas.

Lily es la mujer de Marshall y compañera de universidad de Ted, comparten piso y son los mejores amigos.
Lily es una mujer muy nerviosa y da la impresión de mujer desequilibrada. Es profesora de niños de prescolar, aunque su sueño siempre ha sido ser pintora.
Está tremendamente enamorada de su marido, su papel es ser segundo plano de Ted, Marshall y Barney.

Robin es Canadiense, reportera y el primer amor de Ted. Es insegura ante una relación de larga duración, no le gustan nada los niños y odia el compromiso, (todo lo contrario que Ted).
Es una mujer con aspecto femenino pero dura de pensamiento, está a favor de las armas y no soporta que le recuerden su pasado como cantante de moda.
Aunque empieza la relación con Ted poco a poco iremos viendo cómo Barney y ella van acercando posturas y siendo cada día más íntimos. Aunque parece que odia a Barney deja entrever una ligera atracción hacia él.

“The Rough Patch”

November 9th, 2009

One of the intriguing elements of How I Met Your Mother is its use of skewed memory, as what we’re seeing is not reality so much as it is Future Ted’s perception of reality. In some instances, the show uses it for subtle jokes such as the opening one here, when Future Ted manufactures a preposterous story for how a pornographic movie happened to find its way into the VCR. In other instances, however, the show creates more of what I’d call gags, like how Robin’s older boyfriend at Thanksgiving was played by Orson Bean so as to exaggerate his age for the sake of the story being told. These are unique because, unlike those established mainly through voiceover, they become a running gag in their own right.

Last week’s “Bagpipes” used a combination of the two in the running gag of sexual noises emerging as bagpipe music, which was clever and underplayed. However, “The Rough Patch” fails because it uses such a gag at the heart of a fairly substantial bit of character development, one which is not capable of transcending the pop cultural stereotypes. Putting Barney into a fat suit as a one-off gag is fine, but using it as a representation of an integral piece of character development feels both false (in that the exaggeration seems too central) and rushed (in that the story doesn’t feel like it has come to its conclusion).

It results in an episode that is wholly dissatisfying, a failure both in terms of its premise and in its execution.

If we go back to “Slapsgiving,” where we last saw this type of exaggeration for a long term story, it was a joke that was always present but never really important: it was a gag, something that could help contribute to the chaos of sorts surrounding Lily’s first Thanksgiving dinner. Here, however, Barney’s fat suit was the sort of exaggeration that was literally just a fat suit joke that never stopped. The idea that Barney and Robin were going through a rough patch didn’t need a fat suit, and Barney could have easily gone with slovenly appearance as opposed to maximum gluttony to largely the same effect. However, something about “Neil Patrick Harris” in a fat suit tickled the writers’ fancy, and as such we got an episode where Barney’s behaviour was one Eddie Murphy joke after another.

The setup for the episode, by and large, wasn’t bad: Barney hiding the video message within his porn collection, and in particular his choice to play it on a copy of Archisexture to ensure that Ted wound find it, was a good way to bring this to the surface, and the opening had an energy to it that was quite enjoyable if perhaps too reliant on porn puns. And Barney’s “Relationship Gut” was distracting (and unattractive) enough that it could have sufficed throughout the episode, and Barney’s behaviour could have simply been in his playboy personality being overwhelmed by a less obsessive hair regiment or less attractive clothing. There was nothing in that story that required a fat suit, as he could have looked in that window at episode’s end and seen a hippie, or a hobo, or something else that didn’t require such a cheap gag to persist throughout the episode. Robin was able to hold up her side of the storyline without such exaggerations.

And what makes this episode an outright failure, at least on a plot level, is that there was no logical reason for Barney and Robin to break up as they are. To this point the show has quite clearly indicated that these two could be a match, and it was willing to give them a fair shake of things. And while I think there is an argument to be made that they’re not ready for each other, and perhaps even an argument to be made that they’ll never be ready for each other, this episode did not successfully make that argument. The conclusion attempted to make the argument that Barney and Robin getting back together as friends is something the audience would want, but I simply don’t see it: Barney in a relationship gave the show a new dynamic to play, one which hadn’t been tapped out heading into this episode and isn’t tapped out as we leave it. And the fact that it tried to use a fat suit to elevate that point, as if that would actually help its case, demonstrates that at every level this was a storyline doomed to fall on deaf ears at least for this critic.

As for the rest of the episode, Alan Thicke’s cameo was quite enjoyable and the entire “Stormtrooper/Stakeout/Robot/Alan Thicke/Van vs. Station Wagon/Pizza Guy Citing Porn” Lines sequence was manic enough to work as simple comedy. But when the episode so hinged on an emotional moment, but did everything in its power to undercut that moment and further disconnect it from the reality we as viewers have witnessed thus far this season, it can’t help but feel like a misstep, perhaps the most substantial one for the show in quite some time. I’m really curious to know what it was that rushed the writers into making such a decisive action, and why they chose this particular method to do so: it’s created a rough patch in the season that is going to need some time to undo, and a brief hint at a Canadian Variety show w/ Robin and Alan Thicke isn’t enough for me to call this a success.

Cultural Observations

• Marshall and Lily sneaking porn out of Ted’s new collection was a fun moment, largely because it involved Lily being “one of the guys” more than usual.
• I like that Robin and Lily are both Star Wars illiterate, and more importantly that Robin’s attempts to make fun of the Stormtrooper were a failure of imagination. “Starpooper” wasn’t even close to clever, but rather than feeling like the writers’ failure it was just Robin being really petty about Star Wars, which I buy in the context of a combative relationship.
• I’m curious to know just what this show would be like if, as opposed to always following Ted’s perspective, an episode like this one leaned more heavily on Barney and Robin: by increasing the power of Ted’s observations, we’re never really able to witness what is really happened, and even when we do glimpse what was really happening in the diner it feels like a different camera angle as opposed to learning something about these characters that we didn’t see before.

The Michigan Historic Preservation Network announced last week that, in the past three weeks, six Michigan communities have made significant commitments to historic preservation.

• The Ann Arbor City Council issued a six-month moratorium on construction and demolition of structures in a two-block area in Germantown.
• The Greenville City Council approved a Local Historic District ordinance for the downtown.
• The Escanaba City Council approved a Local Historic District ordinance to support a single historic resource – Delta Brewery.
• The Ludington City Council passed a resolution for a study committee to begin the process of establishing a Local Historic District.
• With its National Historic Landmark District in jeopardy of losing its NHL designation, the Mackinac Island City Council voted 5-1 to accept a local historic district ordinance.
• With their National Historic Landmark District (the largest in Michigan) also in jeopardy of losing their NHL designation, the Marshall Zoning Board of Appeals worked out a compromise that spares two homes in the NHL district.

You can read more about the MHPN’s work here, and visit their web site here.

O Ted και ο Marshall θα προσπαθήσουν να πείσουν την Lily να τα χαλάσει στον Barney και την Robin μιας και είναι ξεκάθαρο πλέον ότι μαζί είναι δυστυχισμένοι.

Slim Shady is back.

And anyone who saw the BET Hip Hop Awards last weekend can attest to it. Eminem may have claimed to have killed off his twisted and crazy alter ego, but he was clearly back in full force at the last Cypher (and even though Em anchors probably the greatest cypher BET has yet to assemble, Mos takes it).

And about time. As one of my friends commented, “It was good to see slim shady re emerge. This Marshall mathers guy was getting old.” Em’s last few releases pre-Relapse were quite weak. He was still and will always be one of the most gifted technical Emcees ever, but that mean streak was missing. Mean streak doesn’t even describe it really. Psychotic homicidal streak or some shit, is more like it.

Relapse was almost a return to form. Almost. Amidst all of the press around Eminem’s near death experience at the hands of a methadone overdose and his subsequent sobriety, Relapse emerged as Eminem’s most tortured work. It’s personal, introspective, honest, and brutal (particularly my favorite track Deja Vu, which convinced me Eminem should no longer have custody of his children, seriously).

But it wasn’t that good. It was too dark.

Gone is Em’s distinctive sadistic humor, ridiculous pop culture references, and social satire. There are flashes of it, “Surfing every channel, until I find Hannah Monatana, then I reach for the Aloe and Lanolin, bust all over the wall pannelin’,” But for the most part he seemed to attempt to cram all of them into the album’s best known single We Made You. Most of the album Em wallows in his problems instead of approaching them with his usual comically ironic distance. Em used to be fun to listen to despite how fucked up everything was. Relapse is just depressing (And then there’s the Triumph the Insult Comic Dog voice he’s still using).

And I don’t know if anyone else has noticed, but Eminem in his recent public appearances, looks miserable. Go back and watch the Cypher. Em’s killing it, but he is not enjoying it. If anyone saw his skits with Tracy Morgan on the VMA’s, Em is funny but he is not having fun. His Tim Westwood freestyle session, dope, but he’s not happy. The Forever video from Drake, murders it, but there’s no joy. Even on Jimmy Kimmel, in his interview or the remote he shoots with Jimmy, He Looks Miserable.

But why? Why isn’t Em as fun as he used to be?

The obvious answer is sobriety, and it’s what all the press focused on. Detailed articles about Em’s overdose and rampant drug use were cover stories in XXL, VIBE, and even Entertainment Weekly. And that was the better story. “Rapper overcomes drug abuse, to get sober and record most personal album yet.” It’s heartwarming, triumphant, and very American. But Em says Relapse is the first time he’s recorded sober in seven years. That would mean that at least one of his first two albums, the Slim Shady LP or the incredible Marshall Mathers LP was recorded (relatively) sober. So although it’s a nice story, I don’t think that’s it.

To find the answer I want to turn to Track 3 on Relapse, a little ditty called Insane. Here’s the song, but don’t listen yet.

Here’s an excerpt from Insane:

I want you to feel like my stepfather felt me (uhmm...)
Fuck a little puppy, kick the puppy while he's yelpin
(Shady, what the fuck you saying?) I don't know - HELP ME!
What the fuck's happening?! I think I'm fucking MELLLTING!
"Marshall, I just love you boy, I care about your well-being"
NO, dad I said NO! I don't need no help-ing

Now I know what you’re saying. This is Eminem, being the Eminem of old. Makin’ up some crazy fucked up shit, about something people shouldn’t joke about, and actually making it kinda funny. It’s not like he was actually molested by his stepfather or fucked a dog.

Well, no. I don’t think he fucked a dog. And I think this would be kinda funny, if it wasn’t the third verse of the song. And if the first verse wasn’t this:

I was born with a dick in my brain, yeah fucked in the head
My stepfather said that I sucked in the bed
'til one night he snucked in and said
"We're goin out back, I want my dick sucked in the shed"
Can we just play with Teddy Ruxpin instead?
"After I fuck you in the butt, get some head,
 bust a nut, get some rest"
The next day, my mother said,
"I don't know what the fuck's UP with this kid!
The bastard won't even eat nothing, he's scared
He just hung himself in the bedroom, he's dead!"
"Debbie, don't let that fucker get you upset
 Go in there, stick a fuckin cigarette to his neck
 I bet you he's fakin it, I bet you
 I bet he probably just wants to see how upset you would get
 I'll go handle this, of course, unless you object"
"Aw, go fuck his brains out if any's left in his head"

Now listen to the song. I’ll wait… yeah. It’s not funny, now is it. ‘Cause now you kinda think he WAS actually molested by his stepfather.

But it is Em, and he does make shit up. Even in that Jimmy Kimmel clip he says he makes stuff up (he also says he draws on terrible things that happened to him as a child). And clearly he’s joking, what’s that line about hanging himself in the bedroom, of course that didn’t happen! No, it didn’t. It’s actually the only line that doesn’t seem to ring true. So it got me thinking. Here’s a line from the first verse of Eminem’s first single, My Name Is. Some of you may have missed it because it was completely replaced from on the edited version.

Well since age twelve, I've felt like I'm someone else
Cause I hung my original self from the top bunk with a belt

It’s the same shit as the line from Insane. Em’s been talking about his stepfather touching him, since his first record under Dre. We just never knew what he was talking about. Honestly, I think this is the event that birthed Slim Shady. That original self, Em speaks of hanging in two songs almost a decade apart, was Marshall Mathers, and at age twelve the persona that survived the childhood trauma of being molested by his stepfather was Slim Shady.

I know, I know, I’m taking this too far. I’m using pop psychology, double consciousnesses, I saw Primal Fear the other day, maybe the whole birth of Slim Shady thing was too much. But here’s the thing. It makes too much sense.

Eminem has always been at the forefront of accusations towards Hip Hop’s homophobic nature. And the attacks have been deserved. The funny thing is, I can’t think of another straight MC who has so many gay references in his work. For example, from If I Get Locked Up Tonight:

I'm sick enough to fuck a man in his face but I won't
 cause you'll probably wanna stand in his place
 So put a sock in it, with your fake-ass Tupac image
 You faggots ain't tough, you just get drunk and become talkative

In the same four bars Em claims that he would perform a gay act, and then calls others gay for wanting it, and then uses the term faggots. It’s confusing as shit, and runs throughout a lot of his music. A traumatic homosexual experience could explain some of that.

And then there’s this miserableness, all of a sudden. Here’s an interview of him in 2002. Compare it to the recent stuff. His demeanor is very different. Maybe, being completely sober for the first time, Em is finally having to deal with this stuff on the day to day. And it’s not going well. If you’ve been covering up some shit like this with substances for 20+ years, I’m sure when you’re off them, you’re not gonna be the happiest person. And it definitely becomes hard to find the humor in it all. I think Relapse and Eminem’s recent public disposition is the result of him finally having to deal with child abuse.

And whether you fully believe what I’m saying or not, it must be clear that there’s SOMETHING to this.

So why hasn’t this been in any of the press? You would think this would be a big deal. And, I mean he put it out there by writing a song about it. But NONE of the above articles even mention the song. At all. I don’t know. Maybe it just wasn’t as nice of a story as the overdose. Maybe his management thought it’d hurt his image. Maybe he wouldn’t speak about it in person. Maybe everyone thought he was joking. Maybe he was joking and I’ve blown this totally out of proportion. It’s probably a little of everything.

Honestly, I’m just happy that Em is back. The game needs him, depressed, happy, intoxicated, sober, he’s still one of the all-time greats. Supposedly before the end of the year, we’ll be getting Relapse 2. Although I hope we get some more of the humor and fun of Em back, I don’t think we will. On the topic of the new record, Em has this to say:

“The last record I made, I think I was concentrating more on spitting. On this album, I feel like there’s some of that, but I went back to songs with [feelings] to them as opposed to just rap records.”

This album’s gonna be depressing as shit. But it’ll still be dope. And if it’s as soul-searching as Shady’s suggesting it is, this whole molestation thing might get the press it deserves. If, of course, I’m right. Which, you know, I am.

‘Til then I’ll be bumping Em’s new cut Taking My Ball off the DJ Hero Soundtrack. ‘Cause goddamn, when he does turn it on…

…he’s still got it.

Have you ever been walking in Washington Square park, during great weather, music playing, people coming in and out of restaurants and come across a chair on the sidewalk?? What the f!#$? This was near NYU and could be some sort of art project, but I doubt it, no one was near and the seat was quite wet. In “How I Met your Mother” there was an episode where Marshall puts a giant barrel outside his apartment known as the ‘Bermuda Triangle,’ because anything left there would vanish immediately. This was not that place.

However, this chair did remind me of the “Matrix.” Right! Maybe in the “real world” the chair was used for some sort of machine-dominated experiment (nothing like the crap experiment and crappier movie, “The Box”). This was just weird. And damn ugly…who would actually ever pay money to produce this, let alone buy this chair.

Strings on fire with Herman Li guitar solo contest – SAGGESE

TAKE 3

take 1

take 2 on scalloped neck

November 7, 2009
11:00 a.m. Central
FSN / Comcast Sports Net

If you keep an eye on Mack Brown’s words of wisdom throughout the year, you know the ‘Horns have already completed two seasons in 2009. Brown has a knack for breaking a 12-game season down in to three segments to help keep the team focused on short-term goals, building momentum until it crescendos in a post-season bowl game. To-date, the Longhorns are undefeated in two of their four-game stretches (to be 8-0), with the previous four games – Colorado, oklahoma, Missouri, and Oklahoma State – being their toughest stretch this season.

It’s true that the reminder of Texas’ schedule doesn’t pose much of threat – even the Big 12 Championship game, should they get that far – but, those can be the most dangerous games of all for a team that thrives on big games year-in and year-out.

This week, the ‘Horns face a fiery Central Florida team who almost knocked off Texas in Orlando in 2007 behind future NFL running back Kevin Smith. While this Knights team poses less of a threat, they shouldn’t be overlooked in Austin this weekend. As Eyes Of TX favorite UT guru Trey McLean says, “a game on the schedule is a game on schedule,” and the team still has to show up to play. There are no “gimme” games, and some of top teams in the BCS have already flirted with season-ending disasters this season. Brown and the ‘Horns need to maintain their focus, use Saturday to gain some “style points” with the BCS voters, and stay healthy.

Let’s get to the game preview for Texas v. Central Florida.

This Week
Eyes Of TX’s Prediction
Texas 56, Central Florida 10

Central Florida Knights (5-3)
Head coach George O’Leary brings his Knights to Austin for the first time on Saturday, and while his team is 5-3 and vying for position in the middle of Conference USA, they have had some gutsy performances – most recently on Sunday night when they came back from more than 10 points down to Marshall to win at the wire, 21-20.

The strength of the Knights team is not the offense, and in fact, they rank poorly in all offensive categories, other than being from a city with a lot of humidity. They rank 98th in total offense (336 yards/game), including 47th in pass efficiency, in the 70-range for passing (215 yards/game), and in the 80-range for rushing (120 yards/game) and scoring offense (24.1 points/game). Those are signs of 11 players struggling to find their rhythm against Conference USA opponents. Unfortunately, this weekend’s game is not against a Conference USA team.

The offense is led, however, by quarterback Brett Hodges and running back Brynn Harvey. Hodges is solid, but not great – throwing for 10 TDs and seven INTs while hitting 57 percent of his passes – and he is capable of moving the team down the field methodically when necessary. Ask Marshall. Harvey is the workhorse in the backfield, and standing at 6’1” 215-pounds, he is capable of moving the pile through the middle the field to get his yards, and he averages 84 yards per game, and has seven TDs on the season. The problem this week will be the near-invisible Knights offensive line – while the UCF fans might point to turnovers or lack of total yardage to lead to points, the truth is that the offensive line probably won’t make the ‘Horns defense break a sweat and that will cause Hodges to make mistakes that will take the Knights out of the game by halftime if not sooner.

The surprise out of Orlando is the UCF defense, which has played inspired football all season and given the offense ample opportunities to stay in games, and/or win them in the end. Where their offense is incompetent on the national scene, their defense ranks in the top 10 in both rush defense (87 yards/game) and sacks (27) – those are impressive stats, although against inferior teams from Conference USA. While Eyes Of TX is certain the Knights rush defense statistics will only improve after playing Texas’ “we’ll-kind-of-try-to-run-until-we-give-up-and-pass-all-over-you” attack, UCF’s sack total does pose some concern for Texas’ offensive line and coach Mac McWhorter.

The defense is led by defensive end Bruce Miller, who has totaled nine sacks on the year and as an undersized lineman, plays more like a linebacker at 6’2” 253-pounds. His colleague up front is NFL-sized Torrell Troup, with two sacks and 26 tackles on the year, will take up all space between the hash marks Shaun Rogers-style with his 6’3” 314-pound frame. If Texas has any chance running the ball on Saturday, it won’t be up the middle the field. The opportunity for Texas on Saturday, assuming they can calm the pass rush from UCF’s defensive line and linebackers, will be to take advantage of the secondary with the plethora of bigger, stronger, faster wide outs roaming the burnt orange side of the DKR-Memorial Stadium sidelines. The Knight’s linebackers, while solid in run support, are ripe for taking advantage of in coverage, and the secondary is giving up 243 yards passing per game (90th nationally). How do they solve their coverage woes? They play Texas and Houston back-to-back weeks. Ouch.

On special teams, it’s a mixed bag. The kicking game for the Knights is an absolute debacle for a Division I school, as UCF’s field goal kicker is only 9-for-16, and their punter averages 36 yards per punt. Where it gets interesting is UCF’s ability to cover those short punts – allowing only 3.4 yards per return – as well as kick-offs, allowing 16.3 yards per return. In addition, they are capable of big plays in the kick return game, averaging 25.4 yards per kickoff with a TD on the season, and 12.5 yards per punt. Expect to see the Knights trying to cause some trouble for Texas on specials, and to keep that field goal kicker on the bench when it comes to red-zone situations. Let’s face it, UCF will need TDs – not FGs – to stay in this one.

#2 Texas Longhorns (8-0)
Simple. The ‘Horns need to play the game, and play it to the level they’re capable of – especially as the #2 team in the land. There are already doubters amongst the BCS voters, and if Alabama wins this weekend they get big momentum, so don’t give those ballot-casters another reason to question why Texas should be in Pasadena, Calif., on Thursday, January 7 at 5:30 p.m. Pacific time. Got it?

Texas will likely do what they’ve done all year – keep QB Colt McCoy upright in the pocket, and picking apart the opposing defense with 3-8 yard dink-and-dunk passes. The difference in the passing game this week might be the Texas wide outs ability to break something on Eyes Of TX’s favorite play to hate, the bubble screen. Expect to WR Jordan Shipley to have a career day, especially if he’s matched up on the linebackers, and let’s continue to see the emergence of WR Malcolm Williams who had a nice game in Stillwater last week. The running game should be…well, honestly…non-existent on Saturday for two reasons: 1) Texas doesn’t have a running back or a running game consistent enough to be a threat outside of Cody Johnson rumbling, stumbling, bumbling from the 1-yard line; and, 2) UCF’s rush defense is no joke.

On defense, the ‘Horns front seven must be salivating for Saturday’s match-up. UCF’s Hodges, whose jersey was pretty dirty after the Marshall game, will be sore until 2010 after this game, as there is no way the Knights offensive line can stop Texas’ self-proclaimed “Goon Squad.” With constant pressure on Hodges, and what is expected to be an early deficit, the running game will disappear and the UCF offense will become one dimensional. Oh, why hello Earl Thomas, Blake Gideon, and Curtis Brown – how may we help you? After an epic week against the ‘Pokes, expect a near-repeat performance (it’s scary to think that’s even possible) from the Texas secondary…they are on fire, showing confidence, and have no fear. It will be a self-serve night for the ‘Horns, and Aaron Williams should be back after being injured last week.

Expect some fireworks on special teams – Texas has the athletes to make something big happen…kick or punt return, block? Eyes Of TX expects one of each – who’s up for it this week? Shipley, Marquise Goodwin, D.J. Monroe?

Pre-game Resources
2009 Texas Longhorns Roster
2009 Central Florida Knights Roster
University Co-op Gameday Newsletter / Pod casts

Hook ‘em!

I wrote about the series between Wofford and The Citadel during the preview for last season’s matchup between the two schools.  I’m not going to re-hash the history in this post; if anyone is interested, the link will serve to give some background.

This will be the third consecutive meeting between the Terriers and Bulldogs to be featured on SportSouth, which may be the first time The Citadel has played on TV against the same opponent three years in a row.  Tom Werme and Sam Wyche will again call the action from the booth.

—

When sporting events began to be regularly broadcast (first over radio, then television), some of the individuals running sports clubs feared that broadcasting games would lead to attendance declines, because people could just stay at home and listen to the radio, or watch on TV.  This notion was largely debunked by Hall of Fame baseball executive Larry MacPhail (in the 1930s and early 1940s).

Tangent:  this type of thinking had gone on for decades, beginning with clubs trying to deny telegraph operators the right to give scoring updates for baseball games.  In 1876, the first year of the National League’s existence, Hartford owner Morgan Bulkeley (one of the three most undeserving members of the Hall of Fame) attempted to bar representatives of the local telegraph company from buying tickets.

However, the question has to be asked:  if a game is on TV, why would someone choose to see it in person, rather than watch it on the tube?  Going to a game can be very inconvenient and expensive.  Instead, you could choose to not leave your house and watch the game (preferably in HD) while lying on your couch, with all the comforts of home, including a refrigerator, bathroom, and an HVAC system.

A lot of people go to the games anyway, as evidenced by the large crowds that see many different kinds of sporting events.  Even when it is noted that there are empty seats at an arena or stadium (like Doak Campbell Stadium for the North Carolina State-Florida State game last Saturday, the bottom line is that there were still a lot of people who went to the game (in that case, over 50,000).

Why do they go?  Well, tradition, I suppose, along with camaraderie — tailgating, seeing old friends in the same seats every year, that type of thing.  They go for the atmosphere.  Sometimes, that atmosphere isn’t so great.  However, occasionally there is a day to remember, a day when the electricity in the stadium isn’t just being provided by the power company.

It’s the kind of thing that gets people off their couches and in their cars and headed to the game, just for the chance to be a part of a high-voltage event, to be swept along in a moment of nirvana.  Maybe it won’t happen too often, but when it does, it makes up for all the times it didn’t.

Such an occurrence happened at Johnson Hagood Stadium in 1988.  Since this Saturday is Homecoming, I’m going to write briefly about the most memorable Homecoming game in the history of the stadium, which had the most electric atmosphere of any game I’ve ever seen at JHS.

—

***November 5, 1988 — Marshall (#1) vs. The Citadel (#19)***

It was a bright, sunny day when the Thundering Herd and the Bulldogs met on the gridiron.  Marshall had played in the I-AA title game the year before, losing 43-42 to Northeast Louisiana.  After that setback, the Thundering Herd hit the ground running in 1988.  By the time Marshall ventured to Charleston, it was 8-0 and ranked #1 in I-AA football.

The Thundering Herd featured a high-octane offense averaging 32.6 points per game.  Starting quarterback John Gregory threw for 3,127 yards and 21 touchdowns in 1988.  Many of Gregory’s throws went to Mike Barber, Marshall’s All-American wide receiver, who would be named I-AA player of the year in 1988 by the American Football Coaches Association.  Barber had caught 106 passes in 1987 and followed that up with “only” 79 catches in 1988.

When Gregory wasn’t throwing passes to Barber, he was tossing them to Sean Doctor, the Herd tight end, who in just two years in Huntington would accumulate 2,100 receiving yards.  Marshall could run the ball, too, as halfback Ron Darby gained 1,282 yards in 1988 and scored 16 touchdowns.

That was the juggernaut facing The Citadel, although the Bulldogs did not lack for confidence.  The Citadel came into the game 6-2, having won five straight games, including a 42-35 victory over Navy.  That triumph had been led by quarterback Gene Brown.  However, Brown was injured two weeks later against UT-Chattanooga.

Tommy Burriss had ably filled in at quarterback (no surprise, as he was the former starter) to lead the Bulldogs to victories over Boston University (yes, BU still played football back then) and East Tennessee State.  Brown’s return to the field was highly anticipated, though, as he was a truly gifted director of Charlie Taaffe’s wishbone attack.

A crowd of 20,011 showed up to see the matchup, the second time that season more than 20,000 people had attended a football game at Johnson Hagood Stadium.

After a scoreless first quarter, The Citadel would strike first, with Adrian Johnson scoring on a one-yard touchdown run.  Marshall would respond with a short field goal, but the score was only 6-3 at halftime (the Bulldogs having missed the PAT).

However, The Citadel’s offense began to control the game, dominating the time of possession.  Brown entered the game in the second quarter and the rushing yardage started to pile up.  Johnson rushed for 106 yards and Raymond Mazyck added 79 (on just 10 carries).  The Bulldogs as a team rushed for 359 yards, and perhaps more importantly ran 83 plays and kept Marshall’s high-powered offense off the field.

Even when Marshall had the ball, the Herd struggled.  In one sequence, the Herd would run eight consecutive plays inside the Bulldog 5-yard line without scoring a TD.  For the game, Marshall only managed 247 yards of total offense.

The crowd went into a frenzy when Phillip Florence took an end-around 33 yards for a touchdown in the third quarter, and when Johnson scored his second touchdown of the day in the fourth period, it was all over.  20-3, The Citadel.

Well, almost over.  As the game ended, the field was invaded by the corps of cadets, a number of whom headed straight for the goalpost in the south endzone.  The uprights were then torn down…okay, maybe not quite torn down.  The cadets were unable to rip the uprights away from the crossbar, and the crossbar remained attached to the stanchion.  It was the Cardinal Richelieu of goalposts.

It didn’t matter, though, as it was the thought that counted.  The administration didn’t seem to mind having to shell out some cash for a new goalpost, either, which may be the best indication of how amazing the atmosphere at the game really was.

Tangent:  the next week, Marshall’s Darby rushed for 262 yards against Western Carolina, which would have been a Southern Conference record — but on the same day, Brown rushed for 286 yards against VMI (on only 13 carries!) to shatter the mark.  Talk about bad timing for Darby.

Now that was a game worth attending.  What about Saturday’s game?  Will it be worth attending for Bulldog fans?

—

Wofford had enjoyed seven consecutive winning seasons before this year’s campaign.  The Terriers are 2-6, although it should be noted that Wofford played not one but two FBS schools this year, losing to both South Florida and Wisconsin.

However, eyebrows were raised around the conference when the Terriers (picked in the preseason to finish in the league’s top 3) lost 38-9 at UT-Chattanooga.  The Mocs have proven to be the most improved team in the league, but that loss clearly showed that Wofford had some unexpected issues.  The two main themes for the Terriers this year have been injuries and turnovers. 

Wofford entered the season with a fairly inexperienced squad (only nine returning starters), and that inexperience has been compounded by a rash of serious injuries, many of them season-ending.  Only ten players have started every game for the Terriers; in all, 34 different players have made at least one start. 

Many of the losses have been on defense (including pre-season All-SoCon pick Mitch Clark, who has only played one game this year).  The Terriers also suffered the loss of starting fullback Eric Breitenstein (who rushed for 121 yards against South Florida).  Wofford was already missing halfback Jeremy Marshall, who tore an ACL last season against Appalachian State; in this season’s matchup with the Mountaineers, another Terrier halfback, Derek Boyce, tore his ACL.

The Terriers run an option attack known as the “wingbone”, with the emphasis on run.  Wofford, with all its problems, still leads FCS in rushing, averaging 258 yards per game.  However, the Terriers are last in the division in passing, averaging only 70.5 yards per contest.

Quarterback Mitch Allen is completing just 45.2% of his passes.  That’s not a huge problem – after all, he doesn’t attempt that many – but while Allen has thrown five touchdown passes, he’s also thrown five interceptions (in just 62 attempts). 

Wofford as a team has thrown six picks, and has also fumbled 19 times, losing 13.  Losing two-thirds of their fumbles is a bit of bad luck, to be sure, but the Terriers are at heart a possession-oriented team.  Committing nineteen turnovers over eight games is not typical of a Wofford outfit.  The Terriers have committed 3+ turnovers in four games this season, losing all four.

The Terriers are still a dangerous offensive team, even with the turnover bugaboo, but have been inconsistent.  Wofford rolled up 537 yards of total offense against Appalachian State and another 426 against Western Carolina.  Unlike The Citadel’s last opponent, Samford, the Terriers are more than capable of creating big plays (Wofford has had five plays from the line of scrimmage of over 60 yards).

On the other hand, Wofford only had 170 yards of total offense against Elon (The Citadel can relate) and just 151 against UT-Chattanooga.  Part of the inconsistency can be traced to the Terriers’ third down conversion rate, which is just 38.3%. 

For the style of offense Wofford employs, that isn’t good enough.  The problems converting third down have led to Wofford averaging less than 29 minutes per game in time of possession, definitely not what an all-out running team like the Terriers wants.

When Wofford scores first, it is 2-0; when it doesn’t, 0-6.  Wofford is 0-5 when trailing after three quarters and 0-4 when scoring less than 20 points. 

Terrier opponents are averaging 387 yards per game in total offense.  Wofford has forced twelve turnovers in eight games, including five interceptions.  Much like its offense, the Terrier D has not had a lot of luck in the fumble department, forcing twenty but recovering only seven.  That’s the kind of statistic that will eventually turn in Wofford’s favor; let’s hope it doesn’t happen this week.

Wofford’s opponents have been in the “red zone” 36 times this season, and have scored touchdowns on 26 of those occasions.

The Terriers have a solid kick return game, led by running back Mike Rucker.   Wofford has a net punting average of 35.9, which is quite good.  The Terriers have only attempted four field goals all season, making two (both against Elon).

In last year’s game, The Citadel did a good job offensively but couldn’t stop the Terriers, as Wofford had 409 yards of total offense, including 279 yards rushing.  Andre Roberts had a huge game (14 receptions, 190 yards, 3 TDs) but it wasn’t enough, as Wofford stayed one step ahead of the Bulldogs the whole way, committing no turnovers and converting all three of its fourth-down attempts.

You can bet that Roberts will be priority #1 for the Wofford defense, but you can say that about any defense that faces The Citadel.  Who winds up throwing the ball in Roberts’ direction is anybody’s guess. 

What I hope happens is that if both Bart Blanchard and Miguel Starks are healthy, the coaches rotate them by series instead of by play.  If one of them is moving the team down the field, then that’s the guy that needs to stay in the game.  I’m not forgetting about Tommy Edwards, either.  He got the job done against Samford, and he’ll get the call if need be against the Terriers. 

I would like to see more of the type of playcalling used in the game against Furman, which seemed to suit the offensive line.  Speaking of the o-line, that unit will need to contain Wofford defensive end Ameet Pall, a Montreal native who is having a fine season for the Terriers.  Kevin Higgins was quick to note Pall’s abilities during his press conference on Monday.

It’s been too long since The Citadel won in this series.  Hopes are high that the Bulldogs will end that streak on Saturday, in front of an appreciative Homecoming crowd.  I am not so sure, to be honest, but I’ll be there cheering them on regardless.