Football!

I’ve gathered the family (both human and canine) around ye olden television to watch squirrel football today. It’s the first full Saturday of college football.

I’ve already spent the past month traipsing around my county covering the local teams in preseason and through the first two weeks of the actual high school season. I’ve seen some pretty poor efforts from the locals so far. I’m not expecting any November trips to Murfreesboro, that’s for sure.

I didn’t get to watch all of the Olympics that I would have liked to do, but saw enough to know I missed even more. That gives me two years to get ready for the next Winter Olympics. One thing I did learn from Beijing is that field hockey players need longer sticks. I have joined a water polo fantasy league though as a result of my viewing.

I know the NFL and Brett Favre have been in the news for about 15 years with their never-ending preseason drama, but until they start playing for real and the NFL starters play more than four downs, I don’t care what they do. Call me when they kick off Week 1 not Pre-Week 4 (seemingly nearly half the guys in uniform on the sidelines in Green Bay on Thursday night will be cut before next Sunday).

Give me the first Saturday of college football. Game after game after irrelevant game. It’s Week 1 after all, so there are lots of big names vs. tiny A&M ala the Georgia vs. Georgia Southern game or the Ohio State vs. Youngstown State contest.

No matter, it’s still it’s a good excuse to sit on the couch, drink beer, eat lots of crap, yell at the television and drink beer.

Don’t get me wrong. I’m still excited about baseball. Love the Rays’ story this season. Love the Yankees’ swoon this year. Rooting for the Brewers to make a big splash as the NL Wild Card. Rooting against the Cubs. Bemoaning the Cardinals’ bullpen woes. Ahh, baseball.

Today is all about football though. Chest thumping, mascot mugging, quarterback crushing, tipped pass catching with one hand football.

Hut one, hut two, hike!

Feel Good Friday – Michael Phelps edition

It’s Feel Good Friday again already and in honor of Michael Phelps’ run for the gold in the Olympic swimming pool in China, I’ve picked Cool Clear Water.

Yes, I know it’s not about swimming, but I’ve always loved this song, especially the Fleetwood Mac version, which I couldn’t find today.

So here’s Jack Scott.

Wang Dang Doodle – Weird Chinese Dining Delicacies

Everyone has Beijing Fever this week it seems.

No, it’s not some new version of the Avian Flu, it’s the media frenzy leading up to the 2008 Summer Olympics hosted by Beijing.

Along with all the stories about smog and Internet access in the host city, I ran across a story about unusual Chinese dining delicacies.

Garry Linnell, a reporter for the Daily Telegraph in Australia, spent an evening in a Beijing restaurant sampling four varieties of animal peni. Yep. You read that correctly; he ate multiple varieties of penis and went about describing his culinary adventure as fatty, chewy and bland.

Donkey, deer, sheep and oxen all gave up their lives and their male members to Linnell’s meal.

For his blog review of his meal and a link to the video of his repulsive repast, go here.

Into this boiling stock go the penises. A few minutes later the first is hanging from my quivering chopsticks. Ox penis, says the waitress, is full of protein, good for the skin and aids longevity. And the deeper its colour, the more effective its properties.

I think you’ll be glad I had trouble getting their video to embed.

It’s fun and gross to laugh at this menu option until we remember our American culture also has a history of nibbling on the naughty bits.

To help erase this from your brainpan and to feel a bit better about Beijing, go look at all the lovely topiaries they’ve planted and sculpted to beautify the city for the Olympic games.

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