Things that don't suck: Men at Work

We cleared out our entire backyard on Saturday...the Bobcat was in full effect, brother! Now we've got a place for the kids to play...P2 is due in minutes/hours/days...who knows...it's soon...I've been working o the house, and have plenty of posts coming about the experience.

This day, in particular, was the most satisfying of all the other projects combined. The entire yard was overrun by ground cover, trees, vines - you name it. It was a mess. Next thing you know, instant Wiffle yard.

Suck it, Trebek!

Backyard Makeover

Things that don't suck: The Lego Rule

As a gamer, I know the day will come when I dissuade my kids from playing videogames. However, unlike my mother, it's not going to be done by saying - "You're going to rot your brain!"
over and over again...

This article seems to take a good approach, something the author calls the "Lego Rule". I think that some of these games are actually healthy for kids to play - they thrust cognitive reasoning upon them - especially some of the new PS3 titles that are coming out, that cannot be won without true team cooperation.

Things that suck: Project A13

This dude is a bigger douchebag than A-Rod.

http://www.projecta13.com

Things that suck: These guys

Better luck next year, Coach Calhoun. You got cheated by these do-nothings. How is a team supposed to win games when A) nobody has the balls to take it to the rim, and B) you can't hit 60% of your free throws?!

Jeff Adrien has to be pissed - if these guys played with half his mental toughness, he'd be talking to an agent right now about landing a second-round selection in the NBA draft.

Dear Hasheem Thabeet: You're bigger than everyone else on the court. Just stand up straight on defense, Jake Voskhul style. And this offseason, do us all a favor and work on your footwork on offense. You're a soccer player, it should come easy to you. DUNK, DUNK, DUNK next year.

Things that suck: Devil's in the details

So, I'm sure by now you've all heard about and seen the new Topps baseball card that's generating all the buzz these days. But just in case, click on the card for a larger version - there are two things wrong with this picture:

1. President Bush doesn't have horns growing out of his head.
2. Derek Jeter's stance is reversed.
   
3. Mickey Mantle doesn't have a drink in his hand.

I want to make one comment about this card. One. I'm sorry, but I could have done a better job using PhotoShop to superimpose those two. I mean, seriously! The President has ONE ARM!

Things that suck: Sellouts

John Ashcroft, sent a letter last week to Attorney General Alberto Gonzales that blasted the upcoming merger between XM and Sirius. Which is fine, it's his right to do so if he thinks that the merger will hurt the consumer in the end. However, as is the case much of the time, there were other reasons for his passionate plea to strike the deal down:

[Ashcroft] approached XM in the days after the merger was announced offering the firm his consulting services, a spokesman for XM said, according to a report in The Wall Street Journal.

The spokesman said XM declined Ashcroft's offer to work as a lobbyist for the company, the Journal reported.

Ashcroft was subsequently hired by the National Association of Broadcasters, which is fiercely opposed to the merger. On its behalf, he conducted a review of the effects on competition if the two satellite radio companies were allowed to merge, the Journal reported.

Sellouts! Let the eeeeagles soooar...like they've never sooooared before...

Things that suck: Being a Thurmond

This week, the Rev. Al Sharpton was contacted by geneaologists and told that he was the descendant of a slave owned by the family of Strom Thurmond. He was obviously taken by surprise by this news.

Some of Thurmond's relatives said the connection also came as a surprise to them. A niece, Ellen Senter, said she would speak with Sharpton if he were interested.

"I doubt you can find many native South Carolinians today whose family, if you traced them back far enough, didn't own slaves," said Senter, 61, of Columbia, S.C. She added: "And it is wonderful that (Sharpton) was able to become what he is in spite of what his forefather was."

Correction: what YOUR forefather was. You racist.

Things that don't suck: Being Green-er

D.J. shut down Magic in '84, hit a game-winning jumper in '85, and sank a layup in '86. Larry Bird once called him "the best I've ever played with."

"I'm a winner," he once said. "I put my heart into the game. I hate to lose. I accept it when it comes, but I still hate it. That's the way I am."

I remember playing hoops on the playground in the 7th grade - while the other guys were yelling out, "Mag-ic!" or "Bird!" and throwing a behind the back pass or shooting a fadeaway jumper, I was the one yelling "D.J.!" and driving the lane. I would miss about 80% of the time, but that's not the point. Dennis Johnson was and always will be one of my all-time favorite players. Boston would never have hung their banners in '84 and '86 without him and his tenacious overall play. RIP #3.