NCAA Basketball 09

Who cares that I am biased to college versions of games. I am not a Madden head, but I can hold my own. But NCAA, you can get it.

1st Down - AFC Review

Wow was I wrong on some parts. Let's review after the first quarter of the season.


AFC East
1. New England (3-2) - Ok, who knew Tom Brady would only play for 8 seconds this season? Not only that, but the defense is aging faster than Amy Winehouse. Things looked somewhat promising after the bye, but this secondary looks atrocious. Cassell better find Moss or this team is looking at .500.
2. Buffalo (4-1) - This team has looked good, but the wins were vs bad teams like the Seahawks, Rams, and Raiders, with one quality win vs Jax'ville. This team was embarrassed by the Cardinals, have injuries to special teams and their QB. They need to heal fast or risk running away from the division.
3. New York Jets (3-2) - The Jets are a team without an identity but have a good chance to steal some games soon. With the Chiefs, Rams, Raiders coming up, this team could really find a groove before facing more division foes.
4. Miami (2-3) - Ronnie Brown for Comeback Player of the Year. Most people forgot that he was the leading rusher (and fantasy person) last year before his injury. Sure he wasnt hanging 5tds on the Pats, but he was getting it done. Surprisingly, this defense is playing lights out after letting go of Jason Taylor and Zach Thomas.


AFC South
1. Indianapolis (3-2) - After escaping the preseason, the Colts came out of the bye week slow and then pulled out the miracle at Houston, only to demolish the Ravens. The schedule heats up, but the team appears to be getting healthy at the right time.
2. Jacksonville (3-3) - Another team that is getting better as the games go along, but still very much hitting their stride. With a bye, and some warm up games vs Cincy, Clev, and Detroit, circle your calendars for a clash with the Titans in Week 11.
3. Houston (1-4) - Houston has buried themselves in the toughest division in football. 0-3 in the division means you are out of it. Not all is lost, this team could regroup to make that 8-8 range and build on Schaub, Slaton, and Johnson (sounds like a law firm).
4. Tennessee (5-0) - No one exactly saw this team as undefeated right? I see them finishing in the 11/12 win range with a return from Vince Young. They haven't exactly played the cream of the crop but this defense is tenacioius, temultuous, nasty, and smells a lot like Baltimore 2000.


AFC West
1. San Diego (3-3) - This team is one Hockele away from being 5-1. Two last second let downs changes the landscape of the West. However, this team is learning to win through the air and not depend on LT.
2a. Oakland (1-4) - My prediction was made during the Lane Kiffin era. Enough said.
2b. Denver (4-2) - This team has turned into the Colts of 04, high-flying offense, good young qb, and absolutely zero defense. Still has the potential to have the highest record without making the playoffs.
4. Kansas City (1-4) - Rebuilding. Rebuilding. Rebuilding. A win versus the Raiders and potential sweep of Broncos would be their super bowl.


AFC North
1. Pittsburgh (4-1) - This is the best team in a bad division. They just find a way to win. The system has been in place and keeps going. Things should get interesting if Fast Willie comes back for the home stretch.
2. Cleveland (2-3) - It's true. Their offense has life. Was KWinslow holding them back? Or did they catch the Giants napping? A lot of tough games in a row to test them...Wash, Jax, Baltimore, Den, Buff and then it gets tough with Colts and Titans back to back.
3. Baltimore (2-3) - You ever hear that you can't win with a rookie QB? That is true for this team and the defense knows it. At best, this guy is Trent Dilfer's backup.
4. Cincinnati (0-6) - firemarvinlewis.com is still as a domain name. Any takers?

Playoffs
San Diego, New England, Indy, Pittsburgh, WC - Jacksonville, Buffalo

Who Says the Economy is Bad?

Halloween belongs to Jigsaw

Your Guide to Trick or Treating

Two big problems this year:
1. If your neighborhood looks like this, chances are no one will be passing out candy.
2. On the flip side, people might have to fill up their gas tank instead of buying candy.

There is going to be a ginormous candy sale the first weekend in November from all the left over candy.

Electronic Voting - By Homer Simpson

Vote for the Guy with One House

(CNN) -- Republican presidential candidate John McCain is just holding on like a boxer before he gets knocked out, comedian Chris Rock says.

Comedian Chris Rock told Larry King he's proud of Barack Obama's character.

Rock, an avid supporter of Democratic presidential nominee Barack Obama, spoke with CNN's Larry King on Thursday. He said Obama is more grounded with your average American -- not somebody like McCain with "12 houses."

"The other guy [McCain] can lose five houses," Rock said.

"I'll go with the guy with one house. The guy with one house is scared about losing his house." Watch Chris Rock describe a beaten up McCain »

King began the interview by asking Rock about Thursday's economic bailout talks when Obama and McCain went to the White House for discussions with the nation's top leaders.

KING: Obama and McCain at opposite ends of the table. What do you make of it?

ROCK: What do I make of it? If this was a boxing match, McCain would be holding.

KING: Holding on?

ROCK: Yes. It's like he got hit really hard in the stomach like, 'OK. I can't let him go. He's going to knock me out.' So that's what appears to be going on right now. Just a hold.

KING: Has the financial crisis affected you?

ROCK: Larry, I drove a cab over here tonight. When it's over, I'm going to try to pick up some more fares. I'm losing everything, Larry.

KING: Really downtrodden?

ROCK: Yes, it's real bad.

KING: Have HBO paid you already?

ROCK: They have paid me, but the money is worthless now. Haven't you heard? Your money's worth nothing.

KING: You must be ... proud that at this stage in our history a black man is running for president on a major ticket.

ROCK: Um, you know what? I'm proud Barack Obama's running for president. You know? If it was Flavor Flav, would I be proud? No. I don't support Barack Obama because he's black.

KING: I said just as a proud feeling. That's normal.

ROCK: There's a proud feeling because of the character of the man. You know, I was -- I supported John Kerry and, you know -- and what's my man? Al Gore.

KING: Al Gore.

ROCK: But this guy seems to be a little bit more. He seems to have watched other peoples' mistakes and, you know, seems to have a little bit more going on.

KING: From a comedic stand point, who is funnier, McCain or Obama? Seriously. Is Obama not -- it's hard to be funny about Obama?

ROCK: No, no. It's weird. People ask me that all the time. ... McCain jokes are just easy jokes, like I don't want a president with a bucket list. That's like a McCain joke. Those jokes are easy. It's like you basically, you know, you know, take the dust off your Reagan jokes and tell them again. You know?

But Obama, oh, this is a whole new set of jokes. I got to find a whole new move to the basket here. So I kind of hope he wins.

KING: Didn't you introduce Obama at a rally?

ROCK: I introduced Obama at the Apollo Theater not too long ago. I think Obama would be great. I mean, just look the big thing right now is the economy. And people are going broke. And here: The choice isn't Republican or Democrat. The choice is you got a guy that's worth $150 million with 12 houses against a guy who's worth a million dollars with one house.

KING: Well --

ROCK: The guy with one house really cares about losing a house, because he is homeless. The other guy can lose five houses and still got a bunch of houses. Does this make any sense? Am I the only one that sees this?

KING: It's unique way of ...

ROCK: I'm just saying, John McCain could lose half his houses.

KING: You got a point.

ROCK: And sleep well.

KING: You and Bill Clinton were on Letterman on Tuesday. You had some problems with the tone of his endorsement of Barack Obama. ... Do you think Bill is hesitant about Barack Obama?

ROCK: You know what? You know, he did a great speech in Denver. And Hillary's been on the campaign trail. Just at that moment, if you watched what happened on David Letterman, it appeared he was holding back. And when you tell a joke and everybody laughs, it is not because they disagree with what you're saying. So --

KING: They get it?

ROCK: Yes, they get it. The whole audience was in on it. But, you know, hey, the guy's in a weird position there. His wife ran for the thing and she didn't win.

KING: The next night, on "The Daily Show," Jon Stewart asked Clinton about the Letterman appearance and Clinton suggested that Obama supporters who questioned commitment are missing the point.

ROCK: It was great. It was great. And you're right, [Obama] does need to get some of the votes that went to Hillary and all that. I don't understand any Democrat that voted for Hillary that doesn't support Obama. Because their views are pretty similar. You know what I mean? ...

I understand people supporting Mr. McCain. But a Democrat that's going to just be mad is -- there's something kind of really messed up about that.

KING: Have you always done political humor?

ROCK: You know --

KING: When you started, did you do politics?

ROCK: I'm interested in the world. Jon Stewart does political humor. Bill Maher does political humor. I talk about stuff the way guys would talk about it at the barber shop. I don't belong on any panel on this show. You know what I mean? I don't deserve to be near Roland Martin and Anderson Cooper and all these guys. I try to talk about politics in a way a guy that works at UPS would understand.

KING: You did a lot of Brooklyn stuff.

ROCK: I do all sorts of stuff, Larry. All sorts of stuff. You know, I hope Obama wins just because, you know, the country needs it. The country needs a change. We kind of seen what this whole McCain thing is. And I'll go with the guy with one house. The guy with one house is scared about losing his house.

 

KING: I never thought of it that way.

ROCK: It is that simple.

Filesharing case dismissed

Not saying that anyone I know of downloads and circulates any questionable music files, but this is a landmark case and precedent.

---

Judge declares mistrial in RIAA filesharing case, sets aside $222,000 verdict

09-25-2008

We always thought that the RIAA's first-ever filesharing trial victory against Jammie Thomas was a little suspect since the labels weren't required to prove that Thomas even had Kazaa installed on her machine or was the person using the account in question, and it looks like the court agrees -- it's just declared a mistrial and set aside the $222,000 judgment on the grounds that simply making copyrighted works available for download does not constitute copyright infringement. That's a huge decision -- the "making available" theory is the basis for most of the RIAA's legal arguments -- and it means that the RIAA will now have to prove the unauthorized transfer of each song it wants to collect damages on at the new trial. We'll see what effect this has in the broader sense -- we've got a feeling we're in for a slew of appellate decisions on both sides of the "making available" debate -- but for now it looks like the good guys are finally starting to score some points.

[Via ZDNet, thanks JagsLive]

Read - Wired article
Read - Decision [PDF]

Why People aren't buying houses now

http://realestate.yahoo.com/promo/cant-anyone-afford-my-home.html;_ylc=X3oDMTFqb3E0dnNkBF9TAzI3MTYxNDkEX3MDOTc2MjA0NjUEc2VjA2ZwLXRvZGF5BHNsawNjYW50LWFmZm9yZA--

 

If you don't feel like reading this, here are key points:

• Those with a credit score of 600 or lower cannot get loans at all, says Keith Gumbinger of HSH Associates, a mortgage information publisher.
• Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac, which set the lending criteria for most loans, in November will require a 740 score, up from 680 for buyers to escape a surcharge that ultimately increases their interest rate.
• Back in the go-go years, lenders fell all over themselves to make no-down-payment loans. Those are gone, and lenders want some skin in the game, at least 5%. But to avoid paying extra, most buyers need the full 20% demanded in days of yore. To buy a $400,000 house, a family would now have to amass $80,000 in cash, up from $20,000 or less a few years ago.

• In mid-2004 a borrower with good credit could have qualified for a rate of 5.87% on a 30-year fixed $300,000 loan. That translates to a monthly payment of $1,774. Now, with the rate for the same loan at 6.57%, the same monthly payment could support a loan of just $278,500.

• And while banks once allowed a homeowner's monthly principal, interest, taxes and insurance (PITI) to make up as much as 45% of a family's before-tax income, now buyers are restricted to using only 32% for a house payment. If PITI rises beyond that limit, banks consider the loan unaffordable and the family cannot receive a mortgage.

• That limit boosts the amount of income a homeowner needs to purchase. Say your house has dropped from $425,000 to about $395,000. A couple of years ago a family needed an income of only $80,000 to buy. Now, even though the house costs less, a prospective buyer must have an income of $92,000.

• Americans spent an extra $165 billion, or 26% more, on gasoline and oil in the first six months than over the same period last year, and food bills rose by 7%. Without a doubt, most Americans feel pinched.

Save Your Automobile in a Hurricane Using Sophisticated Gadgetry

Includes GPS tracking.