Items

Item 1: For those that watched the State of the Union...I have three questions. One, what was up with the autograph signing at the end? Congressmen of the United States of America were asking for Bush's autograph like he was Peyton Manning and they were 12 year old kids. Aren't the branches of government supposed to be equal? The whole scene was very surreal. Two, why were all the pundits so excited that Bush had congratulated the Democrats and shook Pelosi's hand. What were they expecting? Bush to attack the party that held both Congresses while kicking Pelosi in the jaw? Three,...Dikembe Mutumbo? Very bizarre.

Item 2: The first time I saw the trailer for "The Number 23" (I was watching Comedy Central), I thought it was a joke. It looks ok, but in the trailer they come up all these instances of "23" that just make no sense. If you see it you'll know what I mean.

Item 3: The Oakland Raiders have become my favorite team...to laugh at. I had a good time laughing at them the whole season. From their bed and breakfast offensive coordinator to Art Shell staring at this clipboard, they truly earned the title as "worst team in the league." I am a 49er fan, but I don't dislike the Raiders particularly. They're probably my third or 4th favorite team and I usually kinda watch their games. Yet I couldn't help deriving immense pleasure from the misery. I'm sure part of it comes from my hatred of Al Davis, one of the stupidest persons involved in sports. Also, part of it is that this team really shouldn't be that bad. They have a Top 10 defense that even won them a few games and kept them in a lot more. They have decent talent on offense (Randy Moss, Porter, Lamont Jordan, and between Walter and Brooks there's one good QB) and the best punter (and most overrated kicker) I've ever seen. However, a combination of lack of motivation, poor coaching, and Al Davis's insanity seems to doom them to failure.

Recently, the Raiders have been threatening to become even more hilarious. First, Al Davis chose his new coach, Lane Kiffin. Davis didn't have too many options because who would want to coach this team under an insane clown like himself, so he had to scrounge the bottom of the barrel. After being turned down by one USC assistant coach, Davis went for the more worryingly unqualified Kiffin. Kiffin as you can tell by the picture, is very young (31). Several players, including Warren Sapp who's got three years on him, are older than him. Kiffin is also, as you can tell by the picture, one of those people who always looks lost (What my dad calls "Boca Abertas"). That could be because he was not qualified to call plays for a college team, much less Head Coach an NFL team. Many analysts saw Kiffin's participation for USC as a serious handicap (not addition) to their offense and many fans are enthusiastic about Walt Harris, the horrible coach for the 1-11 Stanford Cardinal, taking his place. Many also claim that Kiffin only had the job as a favor by Pete Carrol for his mentor, Monte Kiffin, who is Kiffin's father. In any case, this promises to be a hilarious season. If only they had a bigger star at QB that was overrated and constantly getting into trouble.

Ah...what's that...a possible trade to get Michael Vick?? Sounds perfect.