Friday, September 09, 2011

"Before the Game and Had to Wilbur"

Credit for this week's blog title goes to none other than Uncle Wilbur. The_Freak also gets some credit for putting it up on Urban Dictionary and getting Lobstah a lot of internet hits. Curious to what the meaning is? "A Wilbur is when you go into a place of business, a store, or restaurant for the sole purpose of dropping a #2 and then leaving.. I stopped by a sports bar before the game and had to Wilbur." Hey, I'm only reporting the news. What a way to start out the blog. Anyways, before that, let's give a plug to Wilbur's Twitter, doubt he'd mind the shoutout, hit him up for all kinds of randomness and some great sports chatter. http://twitter.com/blangfrd

September is here and to the surprise of many, I have yet another blog in the works. We can smell fall in the air, football has started up and I've been ready for hoodie and sweatpants weather for a long time now. What does this edition have in store for everyone? You get fantasy sports updates, jailbirds, podcasts, TV recommendations, 9-11, softball, flag football, Arnie Palmer, Tony Atlas, and some fun facts. Yep, it's about to get crazy and wild in here. Well, maybe not all of that, but we're still going to strap up just in case and see what beholds. Again, suggestions for the blog are always appreciated, I'm always willing to throw in random bits.



One thing that shows I must have nothing better to do but is enjoyable, is to check out the local jail site. I check this stuff out way too much. With how some bums are in my town and former students I've had, I can almost guarantee each day I'm going to know someone on there. Sad, but true. The locals know exactly what I'm talking about, but I guess you'll have that living in a town where everyone knows everyone. I'm not complaining though, something about that setup I've always liked. Anyways, it's a great time killer and you never know who or what you'll see appear on the mugshots. You'd be surprised how many people I know hooked on this stuff, I know I'm one of them. It's one of the first things I check out when I get to work each morning. For those not in the loop of the sites and a lot are, but you may want to check out some of West Virginia's finest, you can thank me later. North Central Regional Jail: http://northcentralregionaljail.info. And if you want the entire state's jails: http://wvjails.info.

Not that many care, but I always like to amuse myself. I know a lot are big fantasy sports fans, so I'll list some results. For as big as college football is, you'd think that there would be tons of college leagues out there, but nope. They have picked up the last few years, but I know at least locally, it's few and far between. Thanks to Commish Duce for rocking this one out, Heisman Trophy Fantasy League. It's a keeper league that features such legends as Freak, DerekHood, TheAnswer, ManDingo, Walz, Kasher, Duce, Cork, Chester, and myself. We're been doing this particular league since 2004. Kasher has won it a whopping three times, while Freak, Duce, DerekHood and myself each have one title to our credit. And here's my roster for this season, Team Tim Brown. I knew you were waiting at the edge of your seat for me to unveil this. Or maybe I'm talking to myself. Either way, here ya go:



QB Kirk Cousins, Michigan St, Sr
QB Kriss Proctor, Navy, Sr
QB MarQueis Gray, Minnesota, Jr
QB Ryan Katz, Oregon St, Jr
QB Brock Osweiler, Arizona St, Jr
QB Danny O'Brien, Maryland, So
RB Lennon Creer, LA Tech, Sr
RB Montell Harris, Boston College, Sr
RB Isaiah Pead, Cincinnati, Sr
RB Alvester Alexander, Wyoming, Jr
RB Stepfan Taylor, Stanford, Jr
WR Michael Floyd, Notre Dame, Sr
WR T.Y. Hilton, FIU, Sr
WR Phil Payne, UNLV, Sr
WR DeVonte Christopher, Utah, Jr
WR Mark Harrison, Rutgers, Jr
K Matt Eller, Illinois, Sr
K Carson Wiggs, Purdue, Sr
DEF Florida State Seminoles
DEF Georgia Bulldogs

What's in the podcast rotation lately you ask? You're probably not asking, but as you know around here, I'm going to tell you just because. If you're not a sports fan, this section won't be for you. I'm busy with my podcasts and listen to a lot on a daily basis. Here's the current list: The BS Report from Bill Simmons, ESPN Fantasy Focus Football, ESPN Fantasy Focus Baseball, Michelle Beadle Show, NBA Today, PWTorch Wrestling Livecast, Grantland that Simmons is behind, and Tim & Sid: Uncut. Jordan Breen's Sherdog MMA Show and The Herd from Colin Cowherd also can make the cut, but there's not enough time to listen to them all, wish there was.



Where was I at 10 years ago on September 11th? Everyone is asking that this week and rightfully so. I won't dig deep into this as everyone else can say it better or show the footage on TV. I was in my final semester of college in one of my history methods classes to prepare me for student teaching. Our professor came in bawling her eyes out and we didn't have a clue what was going on. This was around 9:00 and she talked to us all and let us know what the situation was and cancelled class. As we were leaving class, she hugged each one of us and not even being near New York, it affected tons of people obviously and still does. I couldn't imagine being there during that scene or know what those closer to the happenings have handled things. The servicemen and military always get my respect for the work done immediately and after that.

How's fall softball going? Not too shabby at all, it's been a blast so far. It's a shortened season, but gives us old guys something to do on the regular. It's one night a week and goes into early October so it's not taking up a crazy amount of our time. I'm digging our logo and gear for this league as well, our new shirts came in yesterday and they're fresh to death. My motto as always, even if you're not any good, you want the best gear out there and we always rock quality outfits for sure. As I type this, we're 2-4 on the season. In our summer season we started out 0-8 and turned it around after that, so we'll see what's going on soon after. It's a total blast though, we love it and have a good group of guys rolling with us. Tonight, come see the action at Windmill Park in Fairmont as we take on Health Care, they won't want any.



What's on my TV rotation this time of year? Again, not many probably care, but if you're reading along this far you're either totally bored out of your mind or you actually enjoy reading the writings. Either way, welcome aboard. Of course wrestling is at the top of that. 32 years old and hooked like no other, not ashamed to admit my wrestling side, it's a thing from my childhood that I may never let go. RAW on Monday, Impact Thursday, SmackDown Friday, you know how it goes. Sports are an obvious as I've loved every second of MLB Extra Innings yet again, you can't go wrong getting the baseball package, getting every team's every game essentially. "Regular" TV for the non-sports fans? I'm still on the Jersey Shore train and it's not jumped the shark for me at all. A new season of Real World starts at the end of the month from San Diego and it looks like great drama as usual. I also am not ashamed to admit I watch the mess of a show Teen Mom, yeah I said it, kids having kids. I could do without Farrah though, she's wasting my time on there. The season of Big Brother is about over and it's a show I watch three times a week and am a big fan. We're down to the final three. And one more I'll throw at you. Master Debaters on Fuel TV. I didn't know much of this channel until I saw an ad for this show that started this week and I'm glad of it. Jay Mohr and Eric Byrnes host (who is awesome) and it's a riot. Guys bringing up questions to debate that everyone talks about when shooting the breeze at home. It's only 30 minutes and flies by is the only downfall, I wish it were longer, but check it out.

Shinnston Flag Football League? I'd say this year has the most talent around in league history. It's getting serious indeed. I'm not on a squad this year, but will play spot duty defensive back if needed, should be suiting up for the Dola Dolphins this weekend. Two years ago I ran with the Green Machine and last year the Gypsy Hill Giants. Neither team is around now with players scattered everywhere. Word gets around quick and the college level talent and local legends are coming out of the woodwork this year. Commish Bart has done an awesome job with the website and we always keep the message board on fire. The website? https://sites.google.com/site/shinnstonflagfootballleague. And of course you want to weigh in on the message board. Message boards make the world go 'round. Or maybe I just have too much time on my hands and am easily entertained? http://shinnstonflagleague.proboards.com.Ok, more shameless plugs, I might as well get the Twitter out there for those who aren't following it to begin with: http://twitter.com/SFLTweet2010. Enjoy.



Eh, why not ramble about another fantasy league. I do way too many of these, but it's one of my favorite things to do. Yes I realize it makes me and all of my buddies into instant dorks, but we've known that for years anyways. This one is the Bad QB Fantasy League. We got this idea from Bill Simmons' Grantland website and it's as it reads. Dave Jacoby wrote the article, but in a nutshell you are picking an entire team and want the worst of the worst. You get that team's QB rotation and the thing I like about it is that aside from the weekly games you have a category of 24/7 points. You can get points for being arrested, suspensions, locker room fights, etc. We have eight guys from Lobstah in this mix, in order of our draft picks: Cork, Walz, DerekHood, myself, Answer, Blahah, Chester, and Trev. The four I have are the Panthers, Bears, Jets, and Eagles . We'll see how "bad" my QB crew turns out this year and hopefully it's so bad that it's good, although I'm sort of against myself by picking my favorite team of the Bears. Here's the Grantland article: http://www.grantland.com/blog/the-triangle/post/_/id/3686/introducing-grantlands-bad-quarterback-league. I've written enough fantasy this time around, I'll have to touch on the Shinnston Fantasy Football League on the next one possibly. This is the league ran by Sweet P and we drafted at my house, rocked out the draft board and the whole works. As usual, live drafts are an amazing time if you've never done one. If you have, you know what I'm speaking about.

Oh, so it's birthdays you are after for the weekend? You twisted my arm enough, I know it's been holding your suspense. Some people said they couldn't go on with their days until they had the birthday reveals. Now is your chance. Friday, September 8th? We have Mo Cheeks starting the charge, former NBA star, former head coach and now assistant with the Thunder, he's 55. The wrestler Raven, a good dude in person and also on my Celebrity Deathpool, he's 47. Former basketballer and PJ Carlesimo's buddy Latrell Sprewell, 41. Brooke Burke and David Arquette share the same, they hit 40. Footballer Amani Toomer, "it's not a toomahhh" is 37. Actor Larenz Tate, 36. Pink? She's my age at 32. Jonathan Taylor Thomas, better known as Randy on Home Improvement, that kid is now 30, dang. Saturday, September 9th? The infamous Arnie Palmer who gets a lot of money from me for his tea sales, 82 and ages well. Baseballer Randy Johnson, 48. Basketballer Big Ben Wallace, 37. 2010 National League MVP Joey Votto, 28. And lastly, let's hit up Sunday, September 11th just because. Director of Scarface, Brian De Palma, 71. Harry Connick Jr, 44. Ludacris, 34. Footballer Ed Reed, 33. If your favorite celebrity didn't make this weekend list and they do have a birthday in that time, I guess either I missed it or didn't feel they were important. Also happy belated birthday to Clark Riley (http://twitter.com/CRnote33), he hit the big 32 on Monday.



Bird's Video Moment of the Week: This is an oldie but goodie. Even if you're not a wrestling fan, that doesn't matter. Yeah, I'm obsessed with wrestling, everyone knows that but this one may crack up just about anyone. This was from back in the day of Tony Atlas all jacked up calling out Flair in a promo. Funny stuff!




3 Quick Thangs:

1. I guess the hype I bought into Google+ didn't catch on. I'm not saying it's dead, but it will need a comeback to get back on track again. Maybe we all just got into it early, but at least locally, hardly anyone joined in the madness. I actually like it a good deal as I said in the last blog, but with talking to a wall, not a lot you can do yet.

2. Apparently this is blog #441 that I've done. Obviously not as often as in the past, but 27,178 page views over that span? Who knew?

3. Ok, I know it's facts you want. Random they shall be. A row of corn always has an even number? I'll take their word for it, news to me.. Canada has the longest coastline of any country in the world.. While men represent 50% of the workforce in the United States, they account for 94% of all on-the-job fatalities.