We've been snowed in for almost a week now. Not Boston-level snowed in by any stretch of the imagination, but snowed in for us, which basically means 4" of snow, some ice, and Hoth-level temperatures for the rest of the week. Which means I haven't been in school all week. So let me go over a few things I haven't talked about on my hiatus. First off, can we just celebrate for a moment the fact that the Patriots are SUPER BOWL CHAMPIONS?????
I'm done!!! That was such an AWESOME moment. I literally fell on the floor (I was at a party, people can vouch for this).
And I heard the best Boston sports question EVER the week after the Super Bowl:
If you walked into a bar and Malcolm Butler and Dave Roberts were both there and you only have enough money to buy one of them a drink, who do you buy for?
Ug. I can't even decide. Butler put to rest so many demons...Spygate, 2007, 2011...but Dave Roberts's steal basically started off the chain reaction that put to rest 86 years of nonsense for the Red Sox. Too hard. Can't do it. Speaking of the Red Sox, it's SPRING TRAINING! It's HERE! PITCHERS AND CATCHERS REPORTED TODAY! BASEBALL SEASON IS STARTED!!!!!! I'm so stinking excited. Not only because I love baseball (seriously...love it) but because it's like the heralding of spring. It means that all this stupid winter stuff is going to melt away and the temperatures will warm up (it's a balmy 18 degrees right now...) and we can pull out the spring clothes and get ready for that magical time known as SUMMER. I can't even... So on to another topic. I've had a lot of time this snow break to work on finances. Dave Ramsey. So fun. It's in the book a little, but I didn't realize how absolutely irritating the, let's just call them "DR Doldrums" are. I'm almost done with my first debt (yay!) and then I'll start snowballing the next debt. And I see the light way, way, way at the end of the tunnel but right now all I keep thinking is "AM I EVER GOING TO HAVE ANY MONEY AGAIN?". I know. I know. Stick to the plan. It's going to work out if you stick to the plan. It's like loosing weight. It sucks while you're doing it, and you may not see progress ALL the time, but the end is worth all the work and sweat and healthy eating. I'm going with the mantra I have been learning to apply to everything: Jesus take the wheel. Right now I'm discouraged, right now I don't want to snowball my debts, I want to go to Hawaii and buy new spring clothes and shop and go out more. But that's not how this works. That's what got me into this mess, and stopping all those behaviors is what will get me out. It's exactly like loosing weight. I had to change the way I ate, completely, before I could really start to lose (30 lbs so far! and continuing) So with my finances I have to change the way I think and the way I do things. And once that first debt is gone, it'll feel really good and I will get that adrenaline boost, similar to the one you get from losing 5 lbs. And then I'll feel more ready to tackle the next debt and it will snowball, but right now I still have the debt, I have lots of things coming up I need to pay for, and I'm in the DR Doldrums. I'll just have to keep watching highlights of Super Bowl XLIX and see pictures from Spring Training to help motivate me. Because if I ever want to GO to spring training or buy Patriots things again, I have to get my brain in a better financial place. Jesus take the wheel, cause I'm gonna crash if I drive. And just so I don't end this blog on a low note, here's Tom Brady jumping up and down in reaction to the Butler interception (what was Carroll thinking????)
I have kept my silence all week. But no more. I can't. This week has made me question any faith in humanity I have and has ripped to shreds any remaining respect I had for the news media. That's well and truly gone, now. First, I am a Patriots fan. Die hard. And I am so excited for them to play in their 6th Superbowl with Brady and Bill B and watch my 7th Patriots Superbowl (remember, there was life before Brady...1996. They lost to the Packers). I expected this week to be full of discussion on the awesome matchup between the Seahawks D and the Patriots offense. Instead, I have been subjected to the most insipid, ridiculous, non-story ever. Let me also say that if the EVIDENCE (remember that stuff?) comes out and proves the Patriots guilty of tampering with the balls, they deserve the fine stipulated in the rules. May I also add that the NFL clearly needs to monitor this whole game-ball situation more closely as Aaron Rogers (see the story here) admits to over-inflating his game balls. And Brad Johnson PAID someone to tamper with the footballs for the SUPER BOWL (read that story here) so this is kind of a league-wide issue. And it's been going on for a while (Brad Johnson played in the Superbowl more than 10 years ago). Now, I will address the rantings and ravings of the lynch-mob media/fans that are determined to hang the Patriots for the slightest infraction because of "Spygate" (insert sarcastic shudder) and now the unending vitriol that is "Deflategate" (insert eye-roll). Let me be clear. What the Patriots did filming the Jets sidelines was WRONG. It was wrong because the league sent out a memo following the 2006 season saying "stop doing it". Up to that point, ALL the teams were doing it. Don't be naive, you know it's true. Moving on. They were wrong, it was cheating, and they shouldn't have done it. They took their punishment and we all should have moved on. But let me also be clear, Bill never once lied or covered it up. And to back it up, here's an article from September 14, 2007, which contains quotes from Bill Bellichick: (this is what you call evidence, ladies and gentlemen) Belichick, however, accepted full responsibility "for the actions that led to tonight's ruling. Once again, I apologize to the Kraft family and every person directly or indirectly associated with the New England Patriots for the embarrassment, distraction and penalty my mistake caused."
"I also apologize to Patriots fans and would like to thank them for their support during the past few days and throughout my career," Belichick said in a statement issued by the team. "As the commissioner acknowledged, our use of sideline video had no impact on the outcome of last week's game. We have never used sideline video to obtain a competitive advantage while the game was in progress." (original ESPN article here) He owned up to it. Immediately. So you really can't say that Bill Bellichick is a "liar". In fact, I dare you to find me a time where YOU CAN PROVE, with FACTUAL EVIDENCE, that he lied about doing something or not doing something. In the same article, Gooddell (who needs to be fired so badly for his mishandling of virtually every "scandal" during his tenure has been atrocious) stated that the Patriots received no material advantage for doing that. As for the "supposed" filming of the Rams walk-through, here's the Boston Herald's retraction statement: It reads: "On Feb. 2, 2008, the Boston Herald reported that a member of the New England Patriots' video staff taped the St. Louis Rams' walk-through on the day before Super Bowl XXXVI. While the Boston Herald based its Feb. 2, 2008, report on sources that it believed to be credible, we now know that this report was false, and that no tape of the walk-through ever existed. Prior to the publication of its Feb. 2, 2008, article, the Boston Herald neither possessed nor viewed a tape of the Rams' walk-through before Super Bowl XXXVI, nor did we speak to anyone who had. We should not have published the allegation in the absence of firmer verification. The Boston Herald regrets the damage done to the team by publication of the allegation, and sincerely apologizes to its readers and to the New England Patriots' owners, players, employees and fans for our error." (read more here) So those of you who are still on that, it wasn't real, it didn't happen, it's over, please move on. Since then, the Patriots have done NOTHING to incur the NFL's ire. Nothing. Except, of course, win. Which we all know that winning breeds contempt and this whole ball-deflation witch hunt is just that: contempt. over-blown nonsense and contempt. Because I am a rational human being, I like to look at things logically. So lets do that, shall we? "fact" 1: 11 of the 12 Patriots balls were found to be under-inflated by 2 lbs PSI. Let me say this, it's from ONE SOURCE (unsubstantiated) and just look at how the whole "Rams filmed! We have one unsubstantiated source that says so!" fiasco turned out for the Herald. Not so good. I mean, being realistic, how is it possible that the footballs were under-inflated by EXACTLY 2 pounds each? And was it 2 pounds from 13.5 PSI? Because the acceptable range is 12.5-13.5 PSI. Is is possible that the one UNSUBSTANTIATED source wasn't correct? Gee...that never happens. (eye roll...I need to stop being so sarcastic, it's hard to write that way.) In Bill's Best Press Conference Ever (keep reading for more on that) he stated that what they do to affect the TEXTURE of the ball artificially raises the PSI by 1 lb. They found that once the balls moved from inside the building to the oh-so-lovely 50 and below, freezing rain conditions that were in place Sunday night for the AFC championship game, the pressure in the ball equalized and lost 1.5 psi. Once they brought the ball in and let it set for a bit, it had come up .5 PSI, leading to an overall loss of 1 lb. Now, that's assuming that the balls were properly inflated to between 12.5-13.5 PSI once they went off to the refs to approve them. That is up to the refs to determine, NOT the Patriots, thus the onus is on them, not the team. "fact" 2: Bill Belichick and Tom Brady are LIARS and CHEATERS and they ALWAYS WILL BE (I feel like I should add "nah nah nah nah nah naaaaaa" at the end of that one). Well...that's not true. Bill owned up to the filming. He never once denied it, and doesn't deny it to this day (see: 1/24/15 press conference, we'll get to that gem later...) Tom Brady was never even implicated in the whole "Spygate" nonsense. People like to bring up baby-momma Brigit Moynahan as proof of TB's shadiness. Let's set that record straight, too:
Moynahan was in a three-year relationship with screenwriter Scott Rosenberg.[2][46] She dated NFL quarterback Tom Brady from 2004 until December 14, 2006. Her representative confirmed their split to People in December 2006, stating that they had "amicably ended their three-year relationship several weeks ago".[47]
On February 18, 2007, Moynahan's representative confirmed to People that she was more than three months pregnant and that Brady is the father.[48] In August 2007, she gave birth to a baby boy.[49][50] In a July 2008 interview in Harper's Bazaar, Moynahan discussed her willingness to raise her son as a single mother.[51] Despite media reports that Moynahan and Brady have an acrimonious relationship, it was revealed that the two have maintained a civil relationship since the birth of their son.[52]
So...there's no proof (I mean real, factual proof, not trolls on the internet) that either of them is a liar. So when they said Thursday that they had no knowledge of the issue with the balls, we have no reason to believe otherwise. (see more info here).
"fact" 3: the deflated balls give the team a competitive advantage. It actually gives the team a competitive disadvantage. I'll post the link to the article and the video that ESPN has since taken down (not sure why that is...oh yeah, guilty Pats means better ratings...)
I'm getting irritated even writing this, because it is 100% a non-story that has been %1000 blown out of proportion by the media. The Patriots actually played better in the second half with the properly inflated balls (which, when tested after the game, had not lost as much air, thus eliminating the theory that they were tampered with in any way).
And all of you crying about the "pro QBs being able to tell", let's break that down, hmm? Sure the ones on ESPN who have reasons to hate the Patriots (Brunell, seriously?) are all going to say they can feel the difference. In his presser today (what a fountain of information that was!) Bill said that the QBs couldn't tell with any consistency which balls were inflated 2 lbs lighter, and couldn't tell the difference AT ALL when on deflated by 1 lb or less.
Now onto the ACTUAL facts of this story.
Fact 1: We have not heard from the NFL's investigation and DATA (details, evidence, choose your own synonym) about:
a. how deflated the footballs were (exact amounts for each football - come on, were they all really deflated EXACTLY 2 lbs? ALL 11 of them?)
b. definitive evidence that the weather COULD NOT have caused this drop in PSI OR definitive evidence that they were tampered with.
c. There's all these reports that the "Ravens told the Colts" or that "Mike Adams noticed it in November", but I can't find evidence (actual evidence, not "a source" from an article written after the AFC Championship game) of either thing actually happening. And I do mean NO EVIDENCE. Nothing. I looked. I'm thorough like that. No actual word from the NFL on any of that, and I feel like that would have been reported to them (and leaked to us) if it was true.
Fact 2: The Patriots played BETTER with the properly inflated balls. BETTER. If they were trying to cheat, and if, as all the lynch-mob has been screaming that "they've probably done this for years!", then don't you think they would have known that under-inflated balls are not so good? That's been my question since the beginning. It makes absolutely no logical sense, especially given the EVIDENCE (there's that darn word again...)
Fact 3: apparently, the refs inflate the balls, because they were handed two them 2.5 hours before the game and the Patriots asked for them to be inflated to 12.5 PSI (the lower end of the scale). That's the chain of custody, so once the Patriots hand the balls over to the zebras, I say it's on the zebras. It's not exactly shocking, the refs did NOT have a good playoff run, making major, game-changing mistakes in pretty much every game.
Fact 4: Bill's presser today was awesome. And telling. What he said was fascinating and you can think he's lying all you want, but answer me this question: why would he get up there and lie his butt off like that? If it does come out that they tampered with the footballs and he knew about it, that press conference would guarantee him a suspension at minimum and might get him fired. Why would he risk it if he didn't genuinely believe that this is all a bunch of nonsense and the Patriots did not cheat?
Fact 5: there is adequate scientific evidence that weather could be a logical explanation, not even using Bill's simulation he discussed today (See the epic presser here, and listen to the Q&A for more gems.). I present to you THREE (yes, THREE) scientific explanations. Lots of math. Lots of science. All the same answer: weather could have done it.
Teenagers recreating conditions and testing the balls (video)
Head Smart Labs article (you have to scroll down a bit)
But there are some unanswered questions:
1. Why is the NFL moving so slow on this? Is it because they have no evidence or don't want to admit that it was the officials who goofed? I think Gooddell doesn't want the scandal on the refs so he's throwing mud at everyone's favorite villain. Why Bill B is a villain I'll never know. He may be the greatest coach ever, so again with the whole success breeds contempt...I guess I could see that. I don't get it, but I can see how people would feel that way.
2. why weren't the Indianapolis balls under-inflated? I don't know. Perhaps Andrew Luck likes his footballs the same way Aaron Rogers does, so that even though they lost pressure, because they were inflated toward the higher end to start, the loss didn't matter. Or perhaps the Colts footballs were stored in a cold luggage area on the team bus before the game instead of a nice, room-temperature building, giving them time to acclimate to the weather well before being checked and thus, reached equilibrium, or a better equilibrium, to the elements. Maybe they don't rub the footballs and do what the Patriots do to get them set for TB. Maybe the refs didn't check the footballs thoroughly. Don't know.
I just can not even understand how this has become such a big deal. At the most, it's an over-zealous ball boy or negligent refs and it's far more likely that the real culprit was the 50-and-dropping temperature and the freezing rain. In any case, the Patriots could have beaten the Colts playing with a beach ball, so it's a non-issue. And IF, as it's been claimed by so many "Off With Their Heads!" members of the sensationalist media, that the Patriots have been doing this, why haven't we heard about it before? Why haven't we heard from the Chiefs or the Dolphins or anyone else who intercepted Tom Brady this year? Where is the PROOF that the Colts said something in November? Where is the PROOF that this was anything other than the weather?
WHERE IS THE FREAKING JOURNALISM THAT USED TO LOOK FOR PROOF INSTEAD OF FREAKING OUT ABOUT BEING SCOOPED???????
Where's the ACTUAL journalism? My goodness, the guys who broke the big stories of the last century are rolling their eyes and turning over in their graves. You can't call this journalism. It's biased, bitter, sensationalized propaganda at best. Give me proof. Give me something other than quoting each other's "reports" from "sources" as substantiated facts and do some actual reporting. Dig. Get to the bottom. Because I'm done. I've said my piece, I've backed it up with evidence, and I'm done. I've lost all respect for a lot of media guys I used to love, (Jason LaConfora, you're still okay)
And one final thought. I know the internet trolls are bringing up that the Ravens suggested the K-Balls were flat during the divisional round. No one touches the K-Balls except when kicking them, they're shipped straight to the refs. (for more on NFL ball protocol, read here)
One more closing thought, as for other Patriots "scandals": the formation with a receiver declaring himself ineligible is completely legal. It's not the Patriots fault the Ravens weren't prepared to deal with that. 1000 percent legal. So was the Tuck Rule game (at the time - the rule has since changed, but that wasn't until 2013 and the Patriots knew it back then because they lost a game to the Jets because of it). So don't bring those up as evidence of the "cheating culture", it just makes you sound stupid.
And now I'm really done. Drop the mic, I'm out. We're on to the Super Bowl. On to the Seahawks. Go Pats!
So today I need to find snacks for a party Sunday. I mean, who isn't hosting/going to/deciding against going to a party this weekend? Just about everyone, I think. But that's the problem with parties, especially ones that revolve around football. You're sitting for at least two hours, you don't really do anything active, and the snacks? Well. You're talking about pizza and chips and dip and pretzels and chicken wings and subs and basically really bad for you stuff. I mean, when faced with a choice, would you rather have a buffalo chicken wing or buffalo cauliflower? Let's be honest. I'm going for the chicken wing basically every time.
And when you go to these parties, not everyone there is on a diet. You don't want to be the weird person who brought the chickpea and quinoa goat cheese lettuce wraps (I'm making that up off the top of my head but it actually might be good...) You want to bring stuff that will get eaten: brownies, cake pops, chips, pizza rolls. Fear not, for I have scoured the web for you and have come up with some delicious selections:
Crispy chicken fingers baked with Cornflakes (recipe here)
I have had these before, and if done right, they're a very tasty replacement for traditional chicken fingers
I've never had these, but they look and sound absolutely delicious.
Crab stuffed mushrooms (recipe here, you have to scroll down a bit)
So good. Like, incredibly good. I am pretty much obsessed with stuffed mushrooms but I could eat like ten of these. And really, in terms of appetizers, not so bad.
I made these at least twice a month summer before last. Couldn't do it that much this past summer because it was a really bad year for squash and zucchini. But these are so good. They're like cheese sticks and french fries all rolled into one.
And look, some nights, you have to just let it go and not stress if you're eating a slice of pizza or a cookie. The answer is in portion control. Don't be this guy:
Side note: I have no idea why I keep using Supernatural gifs, other than the fact that they seem to have a gif for literally EVERYTHING. Next post, I'll try to find something Sherlockian or from the Office or something.
I was actually at a dinner party a week ago and my friend laughed at my plate because it was literally full of half-dollar size servings of everything. Despite the laughing, I've found that helps me with my portion control at parties and holidays and such. Everything looks so good and you want to try it all, but if you get an actual serving of everything, you'll be sick, for one, and destroying the diet, for two. I'm all for a splurge day, but this is how I compromise. It's nice, because I get to try a little of everything, and if I really like something, I go back and get an actual serving. If I don't like something, I didn't have that much to begin with so I'm not wasting food.
If you just want to eat without thinking about it, sometimes you need that sort of day. For my part, I will probably again get teased for my wacky looking plate, but at the end of the night I won't have a food baby from eating too much, I'll have tried a lot of different things, and I won't feel like I've wrecked my diet.
Want my advice? Enjoy the evening. Cheer for the Seahawks, watch the commercials and relax. The gym will absolutely be there Monday.
Moving right along. If you actually read the title of this entry (and you should, I put a lot of work in making my titles clever/accurate) you might have gone "huh?" because it looks like I banged on the keyboard for a few seconds in the middle there.
Wrong.
That's an actual German word. HIMYM fans know what it is. It's laben schlanger schicksals schatz. It means "lifelong treasure of destiny" in German or simply "soul mate". Somehow, some of the most profound and beautiful lines in How I Met Your Mother are given by characters that are only in an episode or two. Klaus explains the German idea of soul mates to Ted by saying that it is "something that happens instantaneously. It courses through you like the water of a river after a storm, filling you and emptying you all at once."
Yesterday I talked about my singledom and how I'm okay with it. I am. Because I am looking for my schlanger...whatever, my soul mate. My "can't eat, can't sleep, reach for the stars, over the fence, World Series kind of " love (if you can guess the movie that little gem came from, kuddos to you 90s kid!). Why waste my time with a guy that I'm not going to end up with? Looking for that spark? Forcing it because I don't want to be alone? Nope. Not happening.
Does that mean I'm waiting for some crazy sign and won't give anyone a chance until I feel it/see it? No. But ladies, come on, we know. When you go on a date with a guy and you just don't feel...anything...you know it's time to move on.
I don't know who or what is coming around the corner, the cool thing about finishing up Grad school and actually getting to get a real teaching job in the fall is that I don't know where I'll be. I don't know what grade or what school, it's a bit of an adventure, so I'm approaching my search for the ONE in the same way. Yes, I'm going to apply for jobs and do my best at an interview, but I don't know when or where that job is going to come from. Same deal with the whole singleness situation. I could meet someone in the grocery store shopping for party supplies tomorrow or it could be a few years, it's out of my hands.
But dude, once you meet me, get a move on, will you? I am NOT known for my patience.
So that's all for today, folks. Enjoy the game tomorrow, I'll likely NOT be blogging because I have a party to prepare for and a game to watch and I might try to make it to the gym so I can eat without worries at said party. After the confetti settles, I'll post my own recap of the game with my very own special twist. I'll either be in mourning (broncos win) or celebrating (go Seahawks!). Catch you Monday!
Last one. I couldn't resist...the Supernatural fandom really does have a gif for every occasion, bless them.
