New Years Eve, Google vs Facebook, and Well-Wishing…

Good morning, and as you find yourself on this Friday morning you do, I hope, with the realization that the year 2010 is but hours from its end and this little sphere we call home, has been hurdling around an exploding ball of helium and hydrogen for 365 days to return to square one.

In fact, we have been zooming right along at about 65,000 miles per hour for every second of out annual trip, a trip we have made roughly 4.6 billion times since our planet was formed, even back when our sun was weak and dim. And our world will keep on zooming around for untold billions of years, or until the sun expands as it dies and eats up first Mercury and Venus, then our little ball of fun itself.

In Ivory Coast news, Great Britain has announced that is will support military intervention should the international community agree to implement force to expel entrenched ex-president Laurent Gbagbo. The British government has voiced concerns that the political struggle in the country could develop into genocide or other forms of ethnic cleansing while the international peace keepers would be keep from assisting by reservations on acting on political disputes. Other bodies with armed forces, such as the US and UN, have not yet voiced readiness to assist in peacekeeping duties.

In 2010, Facebook officially passed Google as the number one website in the world. Not a bad year for the internet, either, as the WikiLeaks organization swiped hundreds of thousands cables from diplomats, among millions of other bits of information, and embarrassed the governments of nearly every western and eastern industrialized nation.

Have a tremendous New Years Eve and enjoy your New Year as well. The world has survived yet another journey around the Sun, daintily stepping past asteroids and comets, shrugging off trillions of trillions of cosmic particles that actually travel through it (and us) each second only to begin again anew. All the best to you and yours, and the Bohunk will return in 2011 with a 3% increase in effort to match the GDP.

Murder Most Foul, Hall of Fame, and NFL Stuff….

Welcome to the Week before Thanksgiving, where many a teenage girl begins to starve herself before the gluttonous bounty that is Turkey Day itself….

A quick gesticulation to the –> right of your screen to bring your attention to the All-New Flying Bohunk Hall of Fame, chronicling famous folk who have made a visit to the blog since its meteoric rise to mediocrity. Illustrious names like Ted King, Todd Wells and Heather Irmiger grace the Hall, and the Bohunk will be bothering other Big Names to add to those ranks.

The fan favorite herself, Heather Irmiger. Note the number of riders
behind her….All of them. New HoF inductee.

The Detroit Lions lost to the heretofore winless Buffalo Ballcap Brims in a close but ugly, ugly football contest. The unsightly 12-14 score was indicative of the game itself. Detroit offered up 11 penalties to Ryan “I Graduate From Harvard, Pip, Pip” Fitzpatrick and the now 1-7 Bills. Fitzpatrick, an undrafted free agent who is now, statistically, one of the top ten quarterbacks in the league is this year’s Bohunk Breakout Player of the First Portion of the Season.

“A true Harvard chap will celebrate all wins by
investing in a long term CD and uttering a rousing,
’Pip, pip.’”

The Cowboys (not, mind you, cow-gentlemen) beat the New York Football Players Of Large Stature. They are now 2-7, but, as the head coach would point out, 1-0 under their new head coach, Jason Garrett. The Pokes overcame some ugly penalties and took advantage of Eli Manning’s distracted play (thinking about Oreos) to return a TD 101 yards off an interception. A good record for the remainder of the season might just allow the Red-Headed Garrett keep the job into next year, especially if a prolonged negotiation takes place as a new labor deal is discussed for the NFL.

In not-officially-paid-football, Auburn, Oregon, My Oregon and Boise State frolicked amongst the tulips, pushing aside some competition to remain undefeated. The truly interesting team at this point of the season is LSU; should the Purple Tigers (as I call them) win out, they just might have enough points to jump over either Boise or TCU to get into a BCS game. If that should happen, it would offer Boise and TCU opportunities to beat teams from automatic qualifier conferences and prove a point the Bohunk has repeatedly hammered into critics; if these non-automatic qualifier teams aren’t really any good, then why not let them play the Big Boys? The BCS has conveniently matched up the non-automatic qualifiers whenever possible since Boise upset Oklahoma in 2007. In the immortal words of Bobby Z., “I ain’t sayin’ nothin’, I’m just sayin’.”

Sad news from Haiti; the recent outbreak of cholera, which has since spread and thousands in the beleaguered nation, has claimed over 900 lives. Of the nation’s 10 provinces, 6 have confirmed deaths from cholera. Estimates place the number of people hospitalized at 14,000 since the outbreak began last month. The UN is now asking for $164 million to combat the disease. 121 people have died of cholera since Friday.

In technological news, Facebook has vowed to create a “Gmail-killer” with its new integrated email service. Reports of Facebook’s plan to create an email service have long been rumored though more concrete indications of the move surfaced last week. The Bohunk was going to include it, but, I was checking my Facebook. The company already has roughly 500 millions members (only 800 of which are are my friends (makes sad face and slumps shoulders)) that would be quick to adopt the new service. Quote from Gmail, Yahoo! and Hotmail: “Bring it on, bitches.”

Scientists from around the globe are exhuming the grave of famed astronomer Tycho Brahe, a Danish gentleman born in 1546 and who died in 1601 under mysterious circumstances. After a 1901 exhumation, scientists back then thought he died of a bladder infection; now, in a much cooler theory, some believe Brahe had abnormally and even lethal amounts of mercury in his blood system at the time of his death, leading some to believe he died of murder…murder most foul. Brahe died while in the Motherland (Prague, in what is now Czech Republic but has been and always will be the land of my people) at the invitation of Holy Roman Emperor Rudolph II after the Brahe’s dispute with the Danish king. Brahe is credited with collected the most accurate data of celestial bodies of any person in his lifetime

**Bonus Fact: Brahe was in a duel at some point in his life. The sword of a fellow nobleman reportedly cut off the end of his nose, which was replaced by a piece of metal. Scientists are hoping to find this piece of metal to determine what it was made of and if it could have been a reason for Brahe’s elevated mercury levels. 

Thanks for reading, hope you had an excellent weekend. Enjoy Monday Night Football this evening, Washington Native Americans against the Philadelphia “Boos When A Player Might Be Paralyzed” Eagles….Haven’t forgot about you, Colts WR Austin Collie… Stay strong, brother…

Concussions, Ice-Gentle-men, Myanmar and Ugly Philly

Another week, another string of Updates…Please, hold your thunderous applause until the bottom of the piece, your enthusiasm is appreciated, but probably misplaced, it ain’t ever that good on a Monday.

What a weekend of tackle football. Nebraska squeaked out a win over Iowa State, LSU knocked off Alabama and Michigan State had a surprising (to me) bounce back win over Minnesota. Illinois scored 65 points against Michigan…and lost. It was the most points ever given up by Michigan in a single contest, and they won by two. That is a pretty rare event in sport. The teams combined for more points that the final scores of the past one, two, three! meetings of the school’s basket-ball teams (Basket-ball is roughly 4% as interesting as football, so it gets about 4% of coverage on the Update).

In the BCS, Oregon, My Oregon are number one and are the least likely of the top 5 teams to lose this season. Auburn, at number two, faces a handful of tough SEC games before they would have to play in the SEC Championship game at the end of the regular season. TCU is 3rd after destroying the Utes on the road. The Smurfs of Boise State are 4th, but could be passed by an LSU team at 5 that plays a much tougher slate of games toward the end of the season, and a potential bump by winning the SEC Championship. Nebraska is stuck at the Not-So-Great 8 spot, getting jumped by Wisconsin and Stanford. Shame, robotic computation devices, for letting this happen. May your circuits overheat.

In professional tackle football, the Cleveland Burnt Siennas beat the heretofore best team in the NFL, at least wins-and-losses speaking. The Jets snuck by the Detroit Lions in OT after being, in my very biased opinion, outplayed for 56:23 minutes. The Jets put up 10 points in the last 2:36 of the fourth quarter to force extra time, with a huge help from Lions LB Julian Peterson for ungentleman-like behavior on the game-tying drive. Peterson pushed LaDanian Tomlinson as the running back was stepping spritely out of bounds, which is by every account illegal. 15 yards, a first down and a very easy field goal would ensue.

In Philadelphia, Colts’ wide receiver Austin Collie went “over the middle” in order to catch a ball thrown deftly by Peyton Manning. This “over the middle” is constantly referred to and mentioned by Talking Ends and players, inferring that in this murky place of danger and adventure, where violent hits are more likely because receivers are defenseless and surrounded on all sounds by defenders. On this occasion, Collie caught the ball between three Eagles, placed a step or two on the ground and turned his upper body slightly to protect himself. The first Eagle hit him cleanly; a hard but legal hit. The second impact came from behind, helmet-to-helmet, with the crown of the Eagles helmet connecting to the rear of the Collie’s. Down went Collie, twitching and shaking, his arms frozen in the air in a sickening and alarming reaction to his brain being literally stirred about it his skull. A helmet-to-helmet hit; out came the flag. And the fans booed; the Eagles’ Kurt Coleman, who delievered the blow, gyrated and screamed in protest while another human being lay potentially paralyzed on the ground at his feet. While Collie was still being placed on a stretcher, unmoving, Eagles fans booed replays that clearly showed a helmet-to-helmet hit and a fellow man, with a family and friends and a life off the field, twitch unconscious at the end of the replay each time. The CBS commentator, Phil Simms, reviewed the play several times, forgetting that it showed a human being injured and focusing soley on whether it was a catch. Simms, Philadelphia and Kurt Coleman, you are all guilty of the single most disgusting act in sports this season…so far.

In Brett Favre news, the “Ol’ Gunslinger” threw for a career high 446 yards to beat the Arizona Cardinals in a game which proved the Vikings are capable of beating the fifth worst team in the league. The Vikings are 3-1 at home and winless on the road this season which is a good stat for the struggling Hyperboreans to hear. They play the Packer and Bears at home after playing at Chicago and getting the Bills and Giants at home as well. They go on the road only four more times, including a trip to Philly and Detroit to end the regular season. Kindly remove the fork from the Vikings…they are not entirely done yet. If they win their next two games, at Chicago and at home to the Cheese Craniums, they could be battling for the division, not just the wild card.

Last night, those very Cheese Craniums embarrassed the Dallas Cowpokes, so much so that Wade Phillips’ perpetual expression of “What the hell is going on?” actual gave way in the third to a pitiable look of, “I wish I still had no idea what was going on, this is terrible.” Seriously, that is what his face said. The ‘Boys (not men, “nothing but cowBOYS, just like the word says,” John Wayne) are now 1-7, tied for the second worst record in paid-football and no hope in sight. Owner Jerry Jones can’t fire Phillips because the potential replacement wouldn’t get to work with players till June, should the NFLPA and owners fail to reach an agreement over winter and spring negotiations.

Winner, winner, chicken dinner: Brian Matter on his
way to victory.

In cycling news, the 2010 Iceman Cometh is in the books, with former winner Brian Matter claiming the men’s title over a field of high-quality professional pedal-turners. Matter jumped away with roughly four miles to go, and the leading pack, containing Todd Wells, Jeremy Horgan-Kobelski, Jerimiah Bishop and Sam Schultz, did not chase him down. Watch a video, taken from a camera taped to Bishop’s fork, of the action here. Over 4,000 cyclists braved freezing temps and mud-soaked trails to complete the 28 mile race, some so tired at the end that fans (myself including) pushed them up the final climb.

Todd Wells, Sam Schultz and Jeremiah Bishop
scramble to the top of the last climb. Todd Wells held
on for second

On Sunday, Myanmar held its first elections in 20 years, though the outcome is already known at many voters forced by the military rulers to vote. A potential boycott, proposed by activists who oppose the nation’s militant government, was decreed to be punishable by the government and voters were prodded out, in some cases by police, to the polling stations. President Obama termed the elections “anything but free and fair” while the country’s League for Democracy voiced its desire any outcome because the results will be chosen the the military anyway. Myanmar also currently holds roughly 2,100 political prisoners at this time.

Thanks for reading, enjoy the Steelers vs. Bungles this evening on Monday Night Football. A better update tomorrow, I promise.

Election Day, Lucky Charms and Moss…

Well, the San Francisco Large People won the World Series, defeating the Rangers 4 games to 1. Even the players were excited to be finished, did you see how quickly the Rangers hit the locker room? The team with the best pitcher and the best team won, and since that was not the Yankees this season, I am very happy. Mark it down; the Cubs will make the playoffs next year…if Selig expands the number of teams who make it, as he has said he will. And if he includes teams that were eliminated from the playoffs in June. Then, the Cubs will make the playoffs.

On Monday Night Football, the Indianapolis Lucky Charms casually beat up the Texans. Two things could have told us this before kick off; one, the Colts don’t lose to the Texans twice in one season, and two, they definitely don’t lose to the Texans after coming off a bye week. Even with the third stringers starting, Peyton Manning has the ability to to will his team to victory, similar to his power to make you like him while he is selling you Oreos, TVs, NFL Sunday Ticket and everything else he hawks on the side. These Lucky Charms are looking good, and the Bohunk thinks they are the best AFC team not in the East division, home to the Patriots and Jets…

It’s election day across the country, and millions of voters will spill out to their local polling station to decide the direction of this country for the next handful of years. Personally, I am hoping the Dems hold onto just enough seats in Congress to at least propose and adequately argue bills. Nothing will come of a Senate or House in which only bickering is heard and no real discussion. That is the true waste of our tax money. That, and the largest defense budget in the history of the world. Obama has to be looking out of a window somewhere wondering what in the $@&(@ he is going to do with no support in either house of Congress but all the blame already on his doorstep.

In Michigan, Rick Snyder will end his campaign trip in Ann Arbor as the governor hopeful settles in to await results this evening. Pollsters have “The Nerd” well ahead of Democrat Virg Bernero, who seems content with now driving out Dem voters in a push to prove the dismal predictions wrong. Either candidate will be encumbered with a terrible economy, a shrinking budget and little to no prospects for new jobs. While Granholm must be accountable for some of these failures, to blame her for all of it is just ignorant. Michigan has always had an unemployment rate which hovered close to twice the national average. Under Granholm, this didn’t change; nor had it been any different in eight years under Republican Engler before she took office. Michigan needs a drastic change in direction, attitude and identity. We can keep the auto industry, we just need a very tangible “Something Else” around which to build our future. I propose a green economy, but, that’s just one of many options. So, with that in mind, go vote…

In fact, a record 16 million early ballot voters have already been cast, a good indication of this year’s potentially massive turn-out.

The Minnesota Hyperboreans waived Randy Moss just four weeks after acquiring him from the New England Flying Elvii for a third round pick. If he is not claimed off waivers, the Vikes will be asked (forced) to pick up Moss’ salary for the remainder of the year. They traded a 3rd round pick for, essentially, the 13 catches and 2 touchdowns Randy caught in 3 losses….I’m no GM but that seems wasteful. If it wasn’t for the Cowboys, Minnesota would be ridiculed as the biggest failure in sports this year, and they probably should be named so.

On this day in 1960, a trial of obscenity over the great novel Lady Chatterley’s Lover by D.H. Lawrence (one of my favorite novels and authors, as well) ended. The ruling came that Penguin Books, the publisher of the novel since its release in 1928, was acquitted of obscenity charges and the book was allowed to stay in circulation in its full version. The novel’s first release in 1928 was an expurgated text and remained so until Penguin released the full version, the one intended for print by Lawrence, in 1958. Lawrence had many amazing novels, including the critically noted Women In Love which was released in 1921. Lawrence died of tuberculosis in 1930. Find more Lawrence books here.

Like Charles Osgood on Sunday Morning, I’ll leave you this morning with a look at some colors…

Thanks for reading, enjoy anything but Glee on Fox tonight, I just don’t see the appeal…Better tomorrow, as always…

Top 5 Scary Movies, Halloween, Fear vs. Sanity and Heroin....

Happy Halloween, and many, many condolences to the girls wondering what the hell happened and who that guy was....

It was a massive weekend for both professional and amateur football players alike. Nebraska beat heretofore undefeated Missouri to vault back up to 7th in the BCS, with two of the six teams ahead of them guranteed to lose (Aubun plays Alabama and TCU plays Utah) giving them control of their destiny. Oregon, My Oregon, smoked USC and kindly siddled past Auburn to take over the top spot in both the (superior) human polls and the robotic one. Michigan State crumpled like a drunken French Maid at a Halloween party (festive, no?) to Iowa...The Bohunk predicts the typical State towel-throwing-after-a-loss behavior in weeks to come.

In the professional ranks, the Detroit Lions won their second game of the season against the (politically incorrectly) named Washingon Native Americans. The Dallas Cowboys, a popular Super Bowl pick by many pundits, lost to Jacksonville, leaving them a win behind Detroit and only one ahead of the victory-less Bills. Take that, every television pundit in America. Further proof that all predictions are equal and meaningless, and even more support that all the games should be played, even the supposedly lopsided ones.

Brett Favre started to preserve his streak alive, but was knocked out in the fourth with a blow to the chin in a loss against the much better Patriots. He then spent 20 minutes (and ESPN covered nearly all of it) spouting how tough the hit was and how other players would be out for a long time if they were him. He praised himself for his toughness, his physique, boyish goodlooks....Fav-ree is the most self-adulating player in the sport. However, he forgets to mention his team is 2-5 (tied with Detroit, I will add) and he has thrown more interceptions than TDs and has looked just plain ugly most of the season. And Jenn Sterger is reportedly meeting with the NFL on sexual harrassment allegations...Could be a tough week for the "Ol' Gunslinger", and his "Lil' Gunslinger" too.

In cycling news, the very Australian Michael Rogers signed with Team Sky, joining Brad Wiggins and a host of others for the 2011 season. Rogers is a world class time trialer and stage racer, and with this type of commited support in July could be a real threat overall. His time at HTC-Columbia was spent working for Mark Cavendish on the flat stages when he should have been resting like the other contenders. At Sky, he will have that luxury....
At the Haunted Halloween Challenge, the Flying Bohunk snagged fourth in the Group B race, losing contact with the lead group after a dropped chain. I think I would have been in the mix for the win without the mishap. The rest of the race was spent alone, just a man and his thoughts, powering in a laughably strong wind and climbing some rough,steep grassy knolls. Not a bad ride at all...

Reports from Baghdad state that 58 people were killed in a standoff between Iraqi security forces and armed gunmen holed up with hostages in a Catholic church. Authorities say the group appears to be connected to Al-Quaeda, as eight suspects were arrested. The casualties came as security forces stormed the church this morning when the gunmen detonated explosive vests just as the raid began. Two more gunmen were killed during the ensuing firefight. Roughly 120 people were in the church at the time of the gunmen's attack, indicating roughly half survived. Please take a moment today to think of these people and what you can do to stop the hate in this world....

According to former UK chief drug advisor Dr. Nutt, alcohol is the most dangerous drug in society. Its ready availability, abuse by all ages, damage to bodily organs, and its proven likelihood to introduce users to other drugs make it worse than crack, heroin, ecstasy and LSD. Keep that in mind this weekend....

The Rally to Restore Sanity and/or Fear, hosted by Jon Stewart and Stephen Colbert, attracted roughly 150,000 to 200,000 people to the National Mall Saturay. The event was a political rally "without polticians" meant to bring moderate and less divisive aspects of discourse back to the media and political environment. Not a bad turn out, and possibly a huge bump in voter turn-out tomorrow. And, I hear it was fairly humorous as well. Kudos, chaps.

As a final Halloween inclusion, I present the Top 5 Scariest Movies in the History of Mankind!

5) Alien
4) The Ring
3) Rec
2) Ju-On
1) The Thing

For the entire Top 50, go to boston.com

Thanks for reading, enjoy Monday Night Football this evening, and make sure to vote tomorrow, it's very important. (Except for Republicans,you guys, don't worry about it, you've got this one in the bag)

Baking with Sylvia Plath, Cliff Lee and Limewire....

LeBron began his season of destiny with a thud. A loss to the Celtics, 31 points and the announced shoe release is a mixed day for Queen James, though for those writing off the Heat as too ungainly, please be reminded. It was one game, in October. These guys will be good; we can only hope not good enough to take titles.

A New York judge has ruled that Limewire, the file sharing network most students "share" music on, must shut down operations it software. The ruling comes five months after Limewire lost a suit which claimed it violated volumes of copyright laws for years on end. The ailing music industry will certainly hail the announcement as a victory; Jim Riemersma, 32, an unemployed philosophy major who downloads hundreds of files everyday, which surely see this as, "total crap".

Boise State, the thorn in the side of the BCS, won again last night in an impressive win over Lousiana Tech. Yes, I said an impressive win of Lousiana Tech. While many detractors of the Broncos say that a team who plays nobody should have no shot at the title, I think it is only fair that they have the opportunity which they have been denied for three seasons now. They can only beat the teams the play; nobody, and I mean nobody, is stupid enough to play Boise State. Look at Virginia Tech; they were thumped by Boise, and are limping along at 5-2 after losing to James Madison. Any coach who says Boise State doesn't deserve to play in the title game should be forced to play Boise and back it up.

It's Game 1 of the World Series, and all you need to know is that Cliff Lee is pitching for the Rangers....

A study found that roughly half of the students in the U.S. have experienced bullying in some form over the last 12 months. This holds true to the Bohunk's very own study conducted five minutes ago; we know that everyone gets picked on. Humans are the most cruel species on the earth, and none is so cruel as a group of children. But the recent trend of specified, hateful bullying is something new. It may be the product of decaying family structures, violent video and television exposure, poor economic climate or a comination of everything. We need to treat each other better. Period.

A friend of Jenn Sterger says she saw the innappropriate pictures sent by Brett Favre when he was a member of the Jets. She and Sterger "laughed", which I'm sure made Brett just shrivel up... on the inside. With his current injured ankle, the bad image and the terrible season, I think Brett would be wise and excused for quietly limping off into the sunset this week. But, he won't. He'll drag this all out until ESPN no longer covers him. Whatever you have to do Brett, I guess keep on.

Happy birthday, kind of, to the great Sylvia Plath, who was born this day in 1932. Plath was an excellent poet and was of the most well known in American literature. Most will remember her masterpiece "The Bell Jar".

Police in La Paz, Bolivia have arrested a women attempting to mail a mummy to France. The woman had a mummy, believed to be an Incan man, marked for standard post to Compiege, France. Where did she get the mummy? And why France? No idea....


You've been great, tune in to "Modern Family" at 9 after you get bored of the World Series which starts at 8.

NFL Hypocrisy, Snooki (again?), and "Free Bird"....

Remember when the NFL vowed to crack down on helmet-to-helmet hits, promising flags, fines and suspensions? That it would work to end the culture of malicious, cruel victimization of unprotected wide receivers and running backs exposed in the process of making a catch? Well, that began and ended yesterday. Seems like forever ago, as analysts and league officials are already backing down. Talking heads on ESPN, for example, now say that the regulations take away from the game and make "big hits illegal". No, these regulations, which had always been in place but rarely enforced, make head-hunting a point of examination by officials. These are not new rules; these are rules that, supposedly, will now actually be followed. ESPNers are already saying these make the game "softer"... please go tell that to your teammates who spent much of Sunday twitching on the field and being carted off to the hospital. This culture of violence and misplaced machoism is hurting not the owners or officials but the PLAYERS who are getting injured and suffered major neurological damage.

In technology, scientists have found a way to end Lou Holtz's incessant slurring of words and pointless stammering...Not really....

However, Steve Jobs has declared the Nerdiest War Ever on Google, saying the search engine giant is "disingenuous" and puts volume in front of customer service and quality. Jobs vowed, hand on the Service Agreement from iTunes, to continue to beat Google (haha, saying Google a lot is fun, how can you hate this company?) in smart phones and tablets, which Google has slowly creeped into selling via the Google Nexus One and an unreleased tablet. Why does this matter? Cause they will fight, and we, the consumer, will reap the benefits! This will make products better and prices lower for all! Exclamation point! Now, if we apply this theory to Megan Fox and Angelina Jolie, neither would wear clothes and would continue to jump on wet trampolines until the other admitted defeat. That should be a movie...

On this day in 1977, three members of the Southern rock group Lynard Skynard were killed in a plane crash. Strike up "Free Bird" today in their honor, just stop screaming for bands to play it at EVERY live concert you've been to (I'm looking at you, everyone in Grawn).

The Tour de France route has been announced, and it's a climbers Tour to win. It features only ten flat stages, which, I would contest, is roughly ten too many. Make those chaps climb every day! This isn't likely, but it's the most entertaining. The French riders would have none of it, riding off in the opposite direction the moment Jens Voight headed towrd Paris. Get it? Cause the French run from the Germans? It's a common theme...Expect the Schlecks' "We Swear We Have A Team Made, Honest!" squad tto dominate the last two weeks, with numerous Alpine stage and no Alberto Contador in the race. The 2 or 3 time Tour champ is still awaiting a ruling in his doping case from a positive test July 24th. It seems as though he will be suspended at least one year, and Contador has hinted he may retire if he receives any ban. If you can't take your punishment, dont't eat the tainted Spanish meat, Al.

Word has it the number one custom for Halloween is "Snooki", followed by Dora the Explorer for kids... Which supports my claim that Snooki is, in fact, a cartoon, which would explain the orange coloring...


Thanks, enjoy "Modern Family" tonight on ABC, I'm going to go buy photos of the illegal hit on Josh Cribbs that the NFL, who fined James Harrison for the hit, is selling on their website. Go HYPOCRISY!

MSU/U of M Recap, Obama and an SS officer...

Turn up the Thermostat, Lucifer, the Lions won a game...

It is nearly election season and tensions among parties have become terse. Democrats, including Mr. Obama himself (or, Himself, if you're a TRUE liberal)has criticized Republican candidates for accepting funds for their campaigns from undisclosed sources. New legislation from the past year stimpulates that candidates who fund their own campaign and refuse any Federal or State aid need not reveal where their money comes from; fair enough, say most Republicans. However, these means big business and even foreign companies, or even governments, covertly, could fund and therefore influence these elections. While Democrats can offer no proof that these Republicans are accepting funds from foreign companies, and the Republicans denounce the claim, they have no need to admit the fact even if they did accept the cash. Our government is becoming less transparent, and as you see the actions of these candidates, remember to follow the money.

You may have noticed THE GREATEST GAME IN THE HISTORY OF SPORT as proclaimed by the Bohunk last week ended up a 34-17 drubbing, with MSU putting up 500 yards of offense. If you give up that kind of yardage (and I'm looking at you, Michigan only slightly defensive coordinator Gregg Williams) you will lose in the Big Ten. Michigan's defense was only arguably inconvenient,daintly offering light arm tackles and sauntering lazily after receivers down the field. Not to discredit MSU, but U of M's defense was almost non-existent. And Denard Robinson? Not a bad game, as some have said; over 200 yards passing and just under 100 rushing. If you have read this blo before, you will remember it being pointed out that Denard's most dangerous ally is, in fact, his dreadlocks. I will add that he is not even the most explosive rusher at his position. Denard has 8 rushing TD's averaging 29 yards per rush, while Nebraska's Taylor "Very Swift" Martinez has 12 rushing TD's averaging almost 35 yards per jaunt.

In cycling, Oscar Freire won the Paris-Tours, a fall Classic race of some fame and importance(trust me). With seven Spanish riders under "intense scrutiny" by their government and the UCI, cycling's governing body, Freire is a lonely example of a consistent rider who has never been implicated in a doping scandal. Unfortunately, Freire is considering retiring after the 2011 season when his current contract with Rabobank expires. It is somewhat similar situation than one faced in baseball; after the 1998 McGwire-Sosa season-long home run derby, steroid speculation grew. Ken Griffey, Jr., a top ten career home run leader was never once mentioned as allegations swept the majors, from Jose Conseco to Rafael Palmero and Alex Rodriquez. Freire symbolizes that same innocent figure, and is important to the image and integrity of the sport.

You know what is fun? Battle reenactments. Who doesn't love dressing up like a heroic figure from the past and pretending to kill some other middle-aged fogies that pride themselves on "dying" honorably, as if its significant practice for the real thing? But usually, dressing up as an SS footsoldier, once of the most feared instruments of death and terror by Nazi Germany during the second World War, does not go over well. And if you're an elected government official, say, a U.S. Congressmen, pictures of it might just look bad. But Republican Rich Lott of Ohio did not let that get in the way of a good time. Photos of the representative surfaced on the internet, and now even his Republican chums won't invite him to their fundraisers, which is the high school equavalent of not being asked to hang with your chums at the mall and check out the new Katherine Heigl flick. Absolutely crushing.

Have an excellent day, and tell your friends to check out the post. Thanks!

UofM vs. MSU, Contador and Pusan

Good morning all! Today marks the 60th anniversary of a too-often-forgotten date in history. In 1950, the U.S. crossed the 38th parallel in Korea, storming into the northern portion of the peninsula after hanging by a thread for months near Pusan, South Korea. This attack pushed the war to the very borders of China, provoking a Chinese soldiers to join the North Koreans and push back the U.S. and International forces. The war would rage for two more years, costing many men, women and children their lives and solving nothing. The treaty reached that halted armed conflict was signed, but today, the border between North and South Korea is one of the most armed and tense in the world. U.S soldiers and other peace-keeping troops have been stationed there for the past 60 years. Please take a moment to remember this conflict...and promise never to allow these wars to happen again.

I would also like to make a reading recommendation. Folks, I like to read. It's good for you, it makes you smarter and it sure beats the hell out of watching bad TV (and yes, I mean GLEE with this reference). So, go to your local library and check out To The Lighthouse by Virginia Woolf. Her prose is amazing, poignant and mimicks reality and our own experience in the world that it is easy to connect to. Go be literate!

In cycling news, The New York Times reports that testing in the Cologne, Germany lab which found Alberto Contador's "tainted beef" positive has also claimed that tests reveal an elevated level of plasticizers, which indicate IV use. The IV bags used for blood transfusions do not immediately incriminate the 3-time TDF champ, but boy oh boy it sure don't look good. Contador has not responded to these allegations directly, a very different reaction than his protest of innocence to the clenbuterol charges earlier this month. Cycling fans can see the Contador issue as one of two scenarios; it is either a terrible misunderstanding and the fault of WADA(World Anti-Doping Agency) for being too meticulous, or we can see this asas the system is working! The sport is cleaning up in ways that other drug beleagured sports like baseball and football can only dream (or pretend) of because unlike those sports, cheaters in cycling are being caught! The five (count'em) positive tests from the Vuelta show that the war on doping is being won.

Finally, THE FLYING BOHUNK would like to invite you (yes you, right there) to pick the winner of the U of M vs MSU game this Saturday. With both teams undefeated and both rising in the Top 25, this has the potential to be one of THE GREATEST GAMES IN THE HISTORY OF SPORT, and I only claim that once or twice a month. It's Denard Robinson and his dreadlocks (which are his closest ally, let's admit it, he has no supporting talent) against Eric "Cody Tackled Me in High School" Gordon and a very strong MSU defense. Oh, and their offense it pretty good too. This game could easily see 80 points scored between them. If I was a betting man, and I'm not because I'm poor, I would take the OVER and put $100 on it. Leave a comment with your pick and the score, and the winner gets to point to themselves and say "I win, take that, ex-girlfriend." Thanks folks, enjoy the day!

Changing Gears

It's nearly the end of the season, and it is important to understand that there is little fitness left to be gained, no small secret that is going to drastically alter your climbing ability in the next few days, or even a miracle gel or drink that is going to give you a boost (though I hear Spanish meat has been known to work wonders!). The Broheem and I have but one last Hurrah!, or as I like to say, Pip Pip (Harvard style) until its that wonderful-dreadful offseason.

While I am excited to take a little time away from training, I am already bored just thinking about the trainer or the gym. I can try to survive the cold for a short while, perhaps until November, but there will assuredly come a time where I will be going very fast and but literally going nowhere.

With that thought making my skin crawl, I am planning to run a few 5k races and try to see how many miles I can fit in a month. Running is something I used to really enjoy and can get excited about. Not very excited, but it may be just enough to get me out of bed.

So, I will soldier on. Tomorrow is an off-day before 7 hours of classes in the afternoon, but this weekend (and Monday) will involve some pedaling. My plan is to alternate between two and two and a half hour rides over the weekend, ending up with roughly 170 miles over four days. That is called "overloading" folks, and it has really worked for me this season. The rest of the week I just ride short and hard and taper off drastically. I will probably not go over 120 miles in the next four days combined! If you are on form this late in the season, overloading can be a great strategy for you going into your last race or too.

Cold Weather Riding

I am aboout to embark on a ride in 39 degree weather with a frigid wind out of the north. A quick tip to anyone who may not enjoy riding in this type of weather is to wear TOO MUCH clothing; being a bit too warm once you are moving can have its benefits, but being too cold only makes the ride less enjoyable and not worth the effort. Try to include aspects of clothing that serve two distinct purposes. First, make sure your jacket, tights and gloves block the wind, or at least claim to. Experimenting with different coats you may already have is a good way to see what works best, rather than going out to buy new. Second, make sure you have something warm and fluffy to trap your body heat in. Try not to have cotton directly on your skin, as it will become damp and make your body colder. Put the fluffy stuff over a base layer, such as UnderArmour or a cycling equivalent.

Happy riding, don't give in to the weather yet!