FAN: Great Marketing

I'm about to begin a pretty big DIY project in my house. I'm going to completely upgrade our master bathroom. I've been thinking about it and planning it out in my head for the last year and I finally put everything together in a spreadsheet that I want to accomplish.

I broke the project up into manageable tasks and then ordered them. One of the first things I'm doing is the area where the toilet is. It sits alone between a halfwall and a wall when you first walk in. I'm going to remove the current tile, drop that area's slate floor in, and then replace the toilet.

While looking for toilets online, I found some interesting items. Home Depot actually sells bidet seats that are heated and have joystick controlled heads. NICE! Ok, I'm not going to go there, but I did settle on a "Champion 4" model. I couldn't pass it up after reading the ad. Instead of a 2" pipe pushing water into the bowl, this baby has a 4" pipe. Also, instead of the standard 2" opening that leaves the bowl, the Champ has a 2.75" opening. The ad proudly states "able to move a mass 70% larger than a standard 2" opening."

Now that's what I'm talking about. It claims to be plunger-free. It claims to be able to flush a bowl full of golf balls. I'm giddy just thinking about it. I'll post some before and after photos as I make my way around the room. 

FAN: Who Is Colbert Loyal To?

I just read an article that said Kevin Colbert is in the last year of his current contract. Speculation is that if the Rooneys do not resign him before next season he will eventually join Bill Cowher when he takes over (enter team here) next year. I've always thought The Jaw was just waiting for John Fox to quit or be fired so he could stay in cushy North Carolina and out of the AFC. If Colbert goes, he goes. Who knows the league and football men better than the Rooneys? I trust them 100% to replace him with a good football person. Had the Rooneys not plucked Colbert from the Lions his career may have died years ago anyway. No one man will make or break the Steelers.

FAN: Ebay Needs Feedback Changes

Look, I'm not going to write 1,000 words on why Ebay sucks. I happen to like Ebay and it feeds the three things I happen to collect. That being said, I'm a process guy and their feedback system is a large pile of fresh steaming possum excrement on a cold night. You hear me Ebay? I'm talking to you! Will it do any good to rant and rave here for 60 people to read? No. However, it might help if you send this link to people you know who Ebay or potentially work for Ebay....otherwise known as E Money Whores who do not care about the people who make them their money.

My name is Still A Fan....this is my story. I'm not going to wax poetic. I'm going to stick to the facts. I joined Ebay in 2001. I have 480 feedbacks, 479 of which are positive. I both sell and buy. Two weeks ago Mrs. Fan asked me to sell some old items that were too valuable to toss. One item was a Motorola Pink Razr with the booklet, 2 wall chargers, 2 car charges and a holster. I've been burned before by people who buy something and then wait forever to pay. I list on all of my items that Paypal payment is due within 3 days of auction end or I will relist the item. It also says in all caps "NO EXCEPTIONS".

My lot of 6 items sold all within an hour of each other. I received 5 payments within another hour or so. No payment on the phone. I prepared 5 shipping labels and packaged the items up wanting to take them all to the PO at once or schedule a pickup at my house, again all at once. I still had no payment on the phone 3.5 days later and had not heard from the winner. I sent a reminder from Ebay on day 2. Oh well. I wasn't going to do two of anything because of one slacker so I offered the phone to the second highest bidder using the second chance feature. The individual snapped it up for $1 less and paid immediately. Superb! I scheduled the pickup of my items for the next day.

The next day I received an email that I got a payment of $34 to paypal. Yup, now the original buyer sent payment. I refunded the payment immediately and sent a nice email explaining that she missed my deadline and I sold the phone to the next highest bidder. I didn't just yank the carpet - I told her I was sorry, that I had explicit terms that she didn't follow and that I had no idea if I would ever hear from her so I allowed someone else who bid $1 less to buy it before they lost interest and I lost a sale.

I received an email back that read like it was written by a person in the third grade. It said I was wrong. They paid in the time limit and that I would receive negative feedback and have a case opened against me. No chance to reply. I flipped over to Ebay and there was the negative feedback already. One thing Ebay tries to do before you leave negative feedback is make sure you tried all avenues first to settle between parties. The feedback said I wasn't happy with what I sold it for so I was relisting to gain more money - watch out! I found this amusing as using the second chance offer button by nature is taking less money for an item.

I immediately sent her an email back explaining myself again and I sent her a one time only request from Ebay to cancel the transaction which would erase the feedback as well. She refused and said she paid in time. Bitch! I screen printed the listing with my rules on it, the date the auction ended and the date I received payment and sent it all to her. Now I didn't get a reply. Again, BITCH! I sent an email to customer service for feedback removal. I replied to her feedback on my page swallowing hard not to get nasty and explained myself.

Ebay sent me a form reply saying my case doesn't merit feedback removal as she broke no specific rule they have. They said I could also send her a 1 chance only feedback edit opportunity and explain myself. She denied the chance, of course, that BITCH. I replied to ebay and told them to escalate to a manager, to look at my rule I posted, look at the end date and look at the payment date and then tell me HOW they can allow someone to leave negative feedback and a LIE about a 9 year user with close to 500 transactions and a 100% feedback rating. They apologized profusely but said again she broke no specific rule of theirs.

I tried one last time in a plea offering up that there should be special cases, just like this, where rules are posted and broken where a user shouldn't be allowed to post negatively when they screwed up. I even asked how it was possible for her to leave feedback for me after the item was retracted and sold to someone else? They said I could have gone through the process to cancel the transaction with this buyer first. WTF? The whole reason I have the 3 day rule is to expedite the process of packing and shipping. When we first started selling, I would batch 10 items up and sell them and we would get payments in via paypal and snail mail over the next 2 weeks making it impossible to make one shipment. If selling is going to work for me, I need to be able to sell x items and ship x items together. Plus, this individual swine was not going to cancel anything. I sent that back to them and have yet to hear.

I did take the opportunity to send her one more email. I had her name and address and I even Goggle stalked her to see if I could see her stupid face. Alas, I could not. I also don't want to be too big of a jerk in case her significant other is a 6' 8" ogre with an attitude. I basically told her how small of a person she is for realizing she's wrong and not doing anything to correct the situation. She looks like an idiot because the person who bought the phone for less is 2 items above her on my feedback list and it shows the price as being less than the original sale.

In a nutshell, an Ebay user of 1.5 years bought something from an Ebay user of 9 years, didn't follow the seller's instructions, lost the deal because of it, and then still has a "right" to enter negative feedback about the seller and her stupid opinion about why I did it. I would have accepted negative feedback if the comment said "His payment demands suck and should be extended".

Lastly, to prove what a mental giant she is, I went to her mypage. You can leave reviews for items you buy so that when the next person is looking for a phone, they can read about what others say about Pink Motorola Razrs. She left 1 review so I read it. Guess what? It's about me! Instead of reviewing the phone, she reviewed the "sale" and suggested I be banned from Ebay for what I tried to do to her. LOL. What an idiot. She is either in denial, or can't actually process the order the events and what really went down. I think it's the latter. Some people say "Do not bid on my items if you have less than 10 transactions". They need a button that says "Do not bid on my items if your IQ is less than 100".

I will now put on my work hat and suggest to ebay that before accepting a deal or finalizing a buy - the buyer gets a box to check that says "I understand and accept the seller's payment requirements". I almost blame Ebay more than the user. They could absolutely take special cases into consideration or choose to look harder into issues when a user replies to the same help ticket multiple times. I agree you can't police all the feedback - it's impossible. But added to the profanity and personal abuse policy should be some defined area where they get involved.....especially if it's someone's first negative and they have over - oh i don't know - 450 positives?

DOG: What Are You Listening To Now? #14

Last year on a snow day I posted about finding a digital copy of George Orwell's 1984. But this year's snow days are filled with music. That is, until I get my lazy ass out to shovel the 50 inches (no exaggeration) of snow at my house. But I'm still sore from shoveling the first 27 inches. The extra 19 we got yesterday is damn near going to kill me. As I write this I look out the window to see two assholes in dual axle trucks (one's got a plow even!) stuck in front of my house. Idiocy knows no boundaries.

Nonetheless, I've come across some real good stuff to add to my collection lately and here's what I've been listening to while Mrs. Dog watches some zombie-shit on FearNet. Since it's been a long time since I posted one of these WAYLT articles, and since I have some free time to explore, I have to expand the list:

15. Sonny Stitt - Two albums. Primitivo Soul! and Stitt Plays Bird. I really like Sonny Stitt and these are two quality albums which I did not even know existed until very recently.

14. Duke Robillard - The Unheard Tapes of Duke Robillard. For a disc (tape?) full of Duke's leftovers a whole lot of this stuff is very very good. Duke is the consummate musician.

13. The Mighty Sparrow - Calypso Carnival. The Mighty Sparrow is one of the preeminent Calypso artists ever from Trinidad. No Calypso genre would be complete without him.

12. Oliver De Coque - Two albums. Identity and I Salute Africa. These are vinyl rips which contain all the inequities of vinyl analog source. But they are a very good representation of African Highlife music.

11. Spyro Gyra - Stories Without Words. Actually I've recently added a slew of Spyro Gyra albums to my collection but this is the one I keep coming back to.

10. Darrell Mansfield Band - If such a genre of Christian Blues exists, this guy/band is at the top of the heap. Mansfield is an accomplished harp player and leader of this outfit. The music itself is top notch blues. It is not until you listen carefully to the lyrics that you hear the Christian message embedded within.

9. Eva Cassidy - Three albums. Songbird, American Tune, & Imagine. If I could pick a favorite I'd have listed only one. She's a local girl from Bowie, MD. A friend of mine gave me an Eva Cassidy live album late last summer and it's very good. So when I saw these three I scooped them up. Almost all of her success and recognition has come posthumously as she died of melanoma in 1996.

8. Foo Fighters - I've been listening to a number of their albums lately but mostly their first album, Foo Fighters, and one called The Color And The Shape.

7. Chet Atkins & Jerry Reed - Sneakin' Around. As you might imagine for a couple of country pickers this accomplished, Sneakin' Around leans heavily toward the jazz side of country. Outstanding!

6. Mare Edstrom - Mare's Blues. This is a compilation from three of her earlier releases. Edstrom is a classically trained vocalist and it shows. She is completely spot on with every note. This is almost unheard of in blues music (or in Super Bowl events either right, Carrie Underwear and Roger Daltrey?). While it's precision is something to marvel over, there seems to be little of the true blues passion which is at the heart of the music.

5. Jimmy D Lane - Legacy. Jimmy D Lane is the son of blues legend Jimmy Rogers. He was working a jackhammer for a construction company when Huber Sumlin gave him a Stratocaster. Once he decided on a musical career there was no turning back. Fans of Stevie Ray Vaughan will enjoy this disc immensely.

4. Dwight Yoakum - Again I have been listening to a bunch of his old albums. But the one I'll list in case anybody actually checks out any of the music I post here is Guitars, Cadillacs, Etc. Etc.

3. Slim Harpo - Baby Scratch My Back. This was ripped from a vinyl source in mono! But it is an outstanding old blues album from 1966. I'm not sure if it's a compilation album or not but it does contain many of Harpos famous songs. In particular, Shake Your Hips, which was popularized by the Rolling Stones on Exile On Main Street.

2. The Forever Fabulous Chickenhawks - Live at the Gypsy Tea Room. I had read positive reviews about this album but had never run across it. I found it in Florida a couple weeks back and have been listening to it ever since. Very highly recommended.

And the #1 album I've been listening to and recommend to you is...

1. Otis Rush - Right Place, Wrong Time. This album from 1971 completely blew me away. I did not know blues riffs were played like this in 1971. Otis Rush was a man way ahead of his time. Rest assured I will be seeking out more of his recordings going forward.

So that's it for now. Please leave any comments about what you're listening to or anything about the albums I've listed. I'll be happy to share whatever I know about the music. Time for me to go shovel snow.

FAN: Good News Out Of Snow

An article I just read about how the East Coast got pummeled with snow said and I quote:

"...but it wasn't all bad. There hasn't been a homicide in Washington DC in a week."

That made me laugh. I don't know why.

FAN: Peyton Manning In The Playoffs- Fail

Stilladog got me thinking last night after reading his post. Who has Manning won against in the playoffs? I'm sick and tired of people talking about him as the greatest ever when he's won exactly one championship, and that was against Rex Grossman. Let's pull back the curtain a little bit on a snowy day and take a look. Is he great? Is he great in the regular season only? What's his deal anyway? What happens when you take away the security blanket that is his dome?

Forget about the failures in college and high school to win it all or win against the biggest rivals. Let's concentrate on just the NFL. Manning is a crazy 131-61 in the regular season with a passer rating of 95.2. How on Earth is it possible then that he is a pedestrian 9-9 in the playoffs with a rating of 87.5. Great players are supposed to play better in big moments, not crumble.

So, who exactly did he beat in the playoffs with his 9 wins? Let's check:

Jake Plummer in a Wildcard game.
Trent Green in a Divisional game.
Jake Plummber in a Wildcard game.
Trent Green in a Wildcard game.
Steve McNair in a Divisional game.
Tom Brady in a Conference Championship game.
Rex Grossman in the Super Bowl.
Joe Flacco in Divisional game.
Mark Sanchez in Conference Championship game.

Wow. What a list of future Hall Of Famers. Maybe Manning just racks up stat after stat when there is no pressure and then caves in when it matters most.

Who did he lose playoff duals to?

McNair in Divisional game.
Jay Fieldler in Wildcard game.
Chad Pennington in Wildcard game (41-0)
Tom Brady in Conference Championship game
Tom Brady in Divisional game.
Ben Roethlisberger in Divisional game.
Philip Rivers in Divisional game.
Philip Rivers in Wildcard game.
Drew Brees in Super Bowl.

Now get ready for this. Who is already favored to win the Super Bowl next year? The Colts. Why? Listen, I'm not saying he blows or anything, you'd be an idiot to say that. I'm saying if I'm in the Super Bowl and I have to pick one quarterback of all time to lead my team, why would I pick Manning? Is he really the best of all time? Maybe in the regular season you could make that point. Once the second season begins? Forget it.

FAN: Happy Birthday Us!

Yes, Steel City Slant turned 4 today! Woohoo! I don't know who OOP is, but I liked the picture enough to use. It was four years ago today that I pecked out the first post here. I think it was a decent piece. Who really knows.

I'm glad our 50 or so daily readers stop in. I'm also glad Stilladog agreed to join me when I asked. Without him throwing down, I would have thrown in the towel a while ago. I've found I go in spurts. I hate to just post because I haven't posted in a while because those are the posts that suck. I prefer to wait until something catches my eye or sets me off. Those are usually the ones I can go back and read and still get a laugh out of. I really enjoyed writing the Intuit post and laughed every time I reread the offensive line about the farm.

So please bare with us or get bare with us, we'll eventually get something new out here and try to keep folks coming back for more. I still think a female opinion would be crazy good to add to our mix and Still A While should accept an invitation to guest post at LEAST once a week.

Thoughts?

FAN: Meeting Hell

How fun. We have a vendor who delivers a release monthly and will charge us huge dollars to change that setup since they have a lot of clients on the monthly schedule. We are trying out a 5 week release cycle with our inhouse stuff. Please decide how we will release the 3rd party stuff the same night we do our own. Discuss.
Sent from my Verizon Wireless BlackBerry

DOG: Who Dat Say Dey Gonna Cut Dat Meat?

The hero of New Orleans turned out to be their favorite son, Peyton "Big Brain" Manning. With his sphincter so tight he was shitting diamonds, he choked in classic Peyton fashion to hand a hard fought Super Bowl to his home town Saints at the expense of the team from whom he draws a paycheck.

Peyton needs to call up Rex Grossman this morning and take Rex and all his family on a nice vacation to Cabo San Lucas. For without the ineptitude of Grossman's QB play Peyton may not have ANY Super Bowl rings. All this Greatest of All-Time bullshit the media was pushing down our throat for two weeks blew up in their face. Every time Peyton Manning has faced a quality QB in a playoff situation he has lost (choked). He's lost to Roethlisberger, lost to Brady (multiple times), and lost to Rivers. And now he's lost to Drew Brees.

Is it any wonder Peyton loses to Justin Timberlake at Ping-Pong in the Sony commercial? He choked in that one too! In fact, there is a movement afoot to rename the Heimlich Maneuver for rescuing choking victims to the Manning Maneuver because #18 chokes so much.

I am very happy for the Saints. They have always been my second favorite football team behind my beloved Stillers. The first NFL game I ever saw was the Saints vs. the Stillers in 1968 at old Pitt Stadium. My dad chose that game to take me to because those were my two favorite teams. And much like the Stillers of the 70s, a 40-some year drought has ended for my other team in Black and Gold.

As for Manning, perhaps Kurt Warner can hook him up with a meat cutter job at some grocery chain. Cut that meat! But don't choke on it.

FAN: Dear Intuit

Dear Intuit,

I've been using your flagship product TurboTax for as long as I can remember. I have backed up tax files dating to 1999 but I think I started using TurboTax even before that. I think it's great how you find last year's file for me on my computer and pull over all the information for me from last year.

If you ever discreetly send information back to your servers you'll see my profession listed as software quality specialist. That means every time I use software, I'm in work mode. Nit-picking. Analyzing. Comparing. I pride myself on making the user experience better. I want to be the "go to" guy when the business and development can't make up their minds how something should flow. I would like to point out a minor annoyance with your software since you seemed to listen very well to an email I sent years ago concerning all the crap you wanted to install on my machine when I installed TurboTax. You haven't done that lately. Good for you.

You remember my name, my wife's name and my daughter's name. You remember where we worked. You remember our social security numbers. You remember not only what charities I gave money to but how much. You remember that I have a dismal side consulting gig that earns me fewer and fewer dollars each year as I have no free time to burn. You remember how I like to report that business as well as the method I use to track stock gains and losses. You remember where to send my check for direct deposit and who holds my mortgage. I would like to suggest one more thing you can remember.

I do not own a fucking farm! How many times do I have to tell you? How many? I didn't own one in 1999. I didn't own one in 2003. I didn't own one in 2007 and I don't fucking own one now! My address is the same! My job is the same. My wife's job is the same. Unless I figured out a way to make an extremely shady 1/3 of an acre profitable by growing 37 ears of corn - let me repeat - I DO NOT OWN A FARM. Who in the hell writes your software? Mr. Green Jeans? Al Gore? Bob Evans? Since about 10 AM yesterday I answered 126 questions using your software. No less than 43 of them were "Do You Own A Farm?" NOOOOOOOOOO. Cheese and Crackers! How about you add one question the second the software is installed.....right after you click launch. "Gee, Mr Still A Fan, I see here that you've filed your taxes with us electronically since 1999. We'd like to thank you for that. I also see that during that time, you've never once owned a farm (to see how miserable your life could be by waking up at 4 AM and pulling on cow tits, mending fences and going on a perpetual egg hunt - visit our sister site www.youshouldownafarmgoddamnit.com). If your farm owning status remains "No" please click here to avoid any farm related questioning during the interview process."

See how easy that would be, Intuit? One question saves many questions. Save a click, save a life....my life, because every time I see a question about a farm, it raises my blood pressure more than the farmer's special breakfast plate at IHOP. I mean it....stop it.

Sincerely,

Still A Fan

DOG: "Bullet" Bill Dudley Passes Away

Before there was "Hey Diddle Diddle Rogel Up The Middle" there was "Bullet Bill" Dudley. He was the first great Steeler running back. Drafted #1 by the Steelers in 1942 he served in the Army for 2 years (1943-1944) during WWII before returning to the team for two more seasons. He was MVP of the NFL in 1946. He also played for the Detroit Lions and Washington Redskins.

Dudley was more than a running back. He was also a kicker, punter, passer, and defensive back during his NFL career. He was an All-American at the University of Virginia and later served in the Virginia Legislature.

Bullet Bill passed away yesterday after suffering a stroke on Saturday. He will always be remembered as a beacon of light during dark years for the Steelers. May he rest in peace.

FAN: Driving By Periscope

I swear I passed a car worse than this on my way to work this morning. Local schools had a 2 hour delay for around 2 inches of snow which is idiotic in it's own right, but damn these kind of people piss me off. A car is designed to pretty much give a 360 degree view of your surroundings. This sap has about 17 degrees available. What is the cost of time versus the danger of driving like that? I seriously wish the police would be out on days after snow just begging for people like this to drive around. It's worse than speeding! I clear the top of my car off as well so I don't drop it on the guy behind me once I'm finally able to get up to speed. I just can't believe how lazy we are as a nation. Are we lazy? Is it apathy? What is it? It bugs me. I bet you $1,000 the Amish knock all the snow off their horses before they drive in the snow. You know what's worse? The driver was probably texting and eating at the same time.

FAN: Posh Mantis

Look, I like to post pictures of hot women, but Posh Spice has gone to pot.....or coke. On American Idol this week I couldn't stop looking at her. She is fascinatingly weird looking. I think she was way more attractive 8 years and 20 pounds of meat ago. Kara looks so much healthier than her. Ew. Like a big bug. Seriously, not a good look for her at all.

DOG: Back From The Caribbean

Duke Robillard

Well, I have returned to the cold and snow of my mid-Atlantic home. But I have returned with many stories, and a few pictures, of my trip to the Caribbean for the 2010 Legendary Rhythm & Blues Cruise. I made some new friends, saw some old friends, and met some new artists and even ran into a few Steelers in Ft. Lauderdale this morning returning from the Pro Bowl.

Soon as I boarded the ship I ran into James "Super Chikan" Johnson. I just learned who he was about 6 months ago and I was looking forward to hearing him play. So I told him I was glad to see him and was anxious to hear him play. He flashed a big gold tooth smile, said he was glad to be aboard and I went on up to my room. I saw him play at the Returnee Party at 11:00 the next morning and was blown away. Turned out he was the most entertaining artist on the cruise.

If you don't know about Super Chikan, he makes his own guitars out of just about anything from military gas cans, ceiling fan motor casings, cigar boxes, you name it. And he calls them "Chiktars." Some are actually 6 string diddley bows and can only be played with a slide. I ran into Super Chikan again during some down time in Curacao on the pool deck. We talked for a long time, maybe 45 minutes. We talked about his albums, slavery, the origins of the Boogie Man, all kinds of stuff. He's definitely an artist you need to check out and his new album Chikadelic is terriffic!

Super Chikan & Stilladog

Another new artist I learned about is Jason Ricci & New Blood. This guy is a harmonica player supreme. I don't know anyone who can come close to him really. Un-believable. There certainly was no harp player who could cut heads with him on the cruise and Magic Dick (formerly of the J. Geils Band) was on board!! If James Brown was the Godfather of Soul then this guy is the God Fairy of Blues. Yes, he is indeed gay. Very much so. At times flamingly queer. But his passion for the music is all you come away from the show remembering. He has a song he did at every set called The Outsider where he sings "too straight for the faggots, too queer for the gays" some heavy stuff. he's another guy I'd recommend checking out an album or two.

Jason Ricci

Finally, you'll recall I said I most hoped to hear Duke Robillard and Johnny Winter on this cruise. Johnny, while appearing to be in better health lately, was disappointing and played a rather uninspired pedestrian set of his songs.

Duke Robillard, on the other hand, absolutely ripped the place up! Duke set the pace on the first night and followed it up a few nights later at a smaller venue with some of the best guitar I have ever seen in person. He did about a 12 minute jam on Albert Collin's Dying Flu Blues which had to be heard to be believed! Fan-tastic!! On top of that I ran into Duke's baritone and tenor sax player Doug James at breakfast the first morning. I told him that I enjoyed the set the previous night. And we just fell into conversation like old baritone sax players which we are, and friends which we became. We discussed sound mixing and Duke's albums. I ran into him over and over. He sat in with Curtis Salgado's Big Band for a couple shows as well on tenor. But it wasn't until we were talking on the way back from the Bahamas that I realized he was an original member of Roomful of Blues and I had been listening to his music for years without knowing it!! He said his favorite Roomful of Blues album was the one with Eddie "Cleanhead" Vinson on it. That's one of mine too and I know it's one of Fan's favorites also ever since I turned him on to it about 7 or 8 years ago.

I also ran into an old friend of mine who used to work with my first wife. He lives not far from me but I haven't seen him in damn near 10 years but there he was on the Blues Cruise. Joined by our wives, we drank a little Curacao & Pistachio Liqueur which I smuggled in from the island of Curacao up in my stateroom.

Then this morning waiting for my flight out of Ft. Lauderdale airport, who do I see but James "Silverback" Harrison and the Heath Miller family returning to Pittsburgh from yesterday's Pro Bowl. I saw a couple people pesting Silverback for a photo which he obliged but I didn't bother him. Pretty cool ending to a nice vacation though.

FAN: Randy Pausch = Good Dude

Back when it was viral, people sent me the link for Randy Pausch's The Last Lecture. I never watched it. For Christmas two years ago Mrs. Fan gave me the book. I never read it. I put it on the shelf and planned to, but never got around to it. I don't read much fiction at all and almost everything I read is about business or autobiographies. This was kind of a gray area for me for books. Hard to classify. Probably should be under self help!

I found myself out of reading material last week so I went to the bookcase and picked it out. I read it in 3 days and I'm glad I did. Very inspiring. Some of the chapters hit a little too close to home. Another cool aspect of reading the book was realizing that he worked on ALICE at CMU. My daughter currently uses ALICE in TEC Club. Cool stuff...you learn about programming without knowing you are learning about programming. It allows you to create a virtual clip about anything you want. It's very impressive but what else would you expect from CMU?

A friend of mine from high school went to CMU and majored in CS so it would be interesting to look her up and see if she knew him or had a relationship with him at all. Looking back and reading about his time in school and teaching there, it makes me kind of wish I went somewhere where it was a bit more creative and hands-on. I get it though, that's why you're paying the big bucks and I don't even know if I would have been accepted. I think grade-wise and SAT wise I may have been slightly below CMU standards, but I learned from the book that the interview process can change all of that and I may have excelled there. Who knows?

Anyway, I don't need to go over who the man is or what happened to him. You probably already know. If not, point your browser over to Wikipedia and key him in.....maybe pick up the book if you get a chance.

FAN: Fraud Perps

Very few things have happened to me fraudwise in my adult life. I'm pretty lucky considering I've probably made a purchase a week or more online since about 1996. Just to feed my 3 collections alone I've probably made 300 online purchases. I was an early adopter of this here Internet thing and I've never come close to slowing down when it comes to buying things online. I wouldn't be surprised if I made two a week this year or more when you factor in Christmas. I shop IN my underwear FOR underwear my friends.

Let me see if I can recall the things done against me. In 1996 when we bought our first house - during the first week while we were moving in, somebody called about 10 sports betting lines. My first phone bill came with over $300 worth of sports hotline calls. I got out of that very easily since I had my own phone line since 1987 and never once placed such a call. They think very brave people who know houses have just sold roll right up to the box on the side of the house, plug a phone in from there into the box and make the calls. Thank God it wasn't to a sex line, but maybe since the box is right by a flower bed and it was summer the flowers would have germinated faster. I don't even know if that's scientifically correct but it sounded funny to me so I'll stay with it.

>

One time when going over my phone bill, I noticed a charge at the bottom for like $1.76 that didn't make any sense (well...it made less sense than the 10 legal charges) to me. I looked up the company online for the acronym that was given and it seemed extremely bogus. I called the phone company and they said it was there for 3 months and wouldn't go away unless I called. The company claimed I checked a box somewhere on a website to add their service but the phone company received about 100,000 calls in this area attributed to the fraud.

>

Around 2001 or 2002 I started selling on Ebay and I got a flurry of emails about a truck I was selling. I got online and from my ID, I was selling a commercial 18 wheeler type cab for $27,000 and it was worth about $150,000. A guy bought the truck off of me (lol) for the buy it now price and now he was pissed off that he wasn't getting it. I know he was in on some kind of scam so I called Ebay and they took the sale down and acted like it never happened and closed his account down. They think he was going to try to convince me that he paid the $27k and to wipe the sale off my account I was going to pay him his money back. Ummmmm, hey junior, I didn't fall off the turnip truck yesterday. Maybe you want to set your sites a little lower....like $270. People might fall for that. What an assclown he was to talk to. He tried to intimidate me but he obviously didn't know what he was dealing with. I have an MBA in asshole and I'm not afraid to use it.

>

Well tonight, I got an email from AMEX around 4:30 stating they had a security fraud alert on one of our 2 cards. I didn't even open the email. I deleted it and will continue to do so when I see a subject like that. Around 6 pm the phone rang and it was AMEX. Hmmmmm, I better pick this up. Yes, I screen. If you call me, I won't pick you up either. I'll pick up Still A Dad and Dog and precious few others. Dog and I communicate 99.9% of the time via email anyway. They asked if we had both cards in our possession. I got Mrs. Fan on her cell as her and Stroke were off getting their hair cut. We have both cards. Did Mrs. Fan make a $47 purchase online at USPS or download a song on iTunes today around 4:00 PM? Um, no. I was told I could hangup on Mrs. Fan that we were done with her. Click. He He He. That felt good!

>

So she proceeded to tell me not to use that card that they actually shut it down around 4:30 anyway. A new one will be coming out. Comb my next bill for anything suspicious (Maaaaaaaan, we ain't found sheeeeeeit). Do I have any more questions? Are you kidding me? I'm in software QA. I used to wonder if I could trick the Ebay algorithm and have a friend bid stuff up. People get into fights all the time on Conquest Club (online Risk) about 2 players in a 4 person game being the same person. One of the moderators fulltime interogates ISPs and locations for people doing just that. They boot you if caught. I left years ago because of that. And RISK is NOT just for geeks. Huh Huh. The only thing she would tell me is that it was from Virginia.

>

So I start guessing....and since it's usually my card online, the fact that it was my wife's card and out of state you flagged it. Maybe. We can't say anything because our methods cannot be made public. Since we have both cards, the person just guessed? Silence. We really don't talk about our methods other than to tell you it happened in Virginia. Did they spend less than $50 thinking they wouldn't be flagged? Do you put 10 suspicious ones together and then call one at random? How? How? How do you do it? I must know!!! I live for stuff like this! I'm sorry sir, can I help you with anything else? Is it because she made another charge today from our zip code? Is it because she maybe hasn't made a purchase for a few days before this happened? Why? Can you tell me?

>

No. (Rats)

FAN: Favre Retiring Again...No Wait

Great. It's January 24th. Favre threw a pick which cost the Vikings a chance at the Super Bowl. With their front 7, the Vikings had a better chance in my opinion of beating the Colts than the Saints do. Oh well.

Now all we have to look forward to is Brett retiring and unretiring all spring and summer. We have about what, six months now of "will he" or "won't he"....which is six too many for yours truly and I like the man.

I was going to write a sort of parody of him already retiring and un-retiring 3 times since the game ended around 10:30 but what would be the point? I'm not sure it qualifies as a parody. He was brought there specifically to win this game and even though he had a spectacular season with only 7 picks, his never say die attitude which plagued him at times in the second half of his career came shining through today. If he takes off running with that ball and steps out of bounds they kick and win.

I think he's going to want that one back tomorrow. Next week. Next month. 10 years from now. In the end, he couldn't stop himself from being Brett.

FAN: I Finally Saw Tyson

Mike Tyson has always been fascinating to me. I loved watching him fight when he was "The Baddest Man on the Planet". He was unbeatable. As unbeatable as he was in the ring though, that's how beatable he was out of it. I wish a professional could watch the documentary and assess his IQ. If an IQ of X is mentally retarded, I truly believe he is X + 2. I don't think he's evil, I just think he's so easily manipulated that he doesn't even know who he is sometimes.

The thing I took away from watching this is just how fast he was when he was young. There is a 3-4 minute piece of him shadow boxing when he's probably 18 or so and I backed up the DVR to watch it twice. He was moving so fast I couldn't even see his hands. It was boxing gold. I was in awe. It must have been a god damn nightmare for other boxers to see him coming at you, gloves together, bent forward, head bobbing sideways, lats like a cobra...... that's how I'll always remember Iron Mike. I saw the end of the greatest heavyweight era of all time with Ali, Frazier, Foreman, Norton and Shavers. I think at their primes, Tyson wins. Foreman's size may have been too much, but I see Mike killing his body. I don't know, I don't know much about boxing and haven't watched much since Buster Douglas took Mike's lunch money - but he was a monster in the ring, a ferocious monster.

FAN: Helene Yorke is Wicked Good

For Christmas Still A Stroke wanted tickets to Wicked so of course Daddy obliged. We try to get her to a show every 6 months or so and she really enjoys them. I must admit - it's a fun night out for the whole family to get a little dressed up, head into the city, have a nice dinner and check out a show. The thing is, it's stupid expensive. As soon as tickets went on sale I did what I always do - head online and try to find a date with front row balcony available. I got one, dead center to boot, but on a school night. The tickets were still $60 each to sit in the 3rd balcony front row. For dinner we went to a nice casual place that I used to eat at every once in a while for lunch when I worked in the city - The Italian Bistro. They have 20% off your entire check when you have theater tickets. Parking was $18. Princess wanted a program and since she got a 96 on her math test that day, she was again obliged at a price of $20.

I really enjoyed the show and found myself humming Defying Gravity the next day at work. I fixed that by throwing in the earbuds and playing Maylene and the Sons of Disaster. Nothing like Southern Metal to get the showtunes out of your head. That being said, Marcie Dodd who played Alphabet, the Green Witch had an amazing voice. She had the best voice in the cast, but Helene Yorke as Glinda with a "Guh" clearly stole the show. She is hilarious, and quite a serious little hottie. It's hard to see all the facial expressions from the balcony, but I did come home and check out the leads web site's. I was enjoying looking at Helene's pictures until I saw her with Ace, that idiot poser from American Idol. I guess he was in Grease with her. The most uncool Zuko ever. When Yorke's character first arrived in the school scene, I leaned over to tell Stroke that she seemed like Sharpay from High School Musical. Perfect comparison as she played her as well. She's really talented. I hope to see her again in something in the future. Like a bikini, in an HD movie.

Yes, I can go see the arts and appreciate them, but I'm still a bit of a swine. Lastly, I appreciated the venue as much as the show - The Academy of Music on Avenue of the Arts. I've probably been in it 10 times and it never ceases to amaze me. I think I could spend an hour just looking around from my seat. There is a lot of history in that building.

DOG: Bluesin' On The High Seas!

Thought I'd take this opportunity to let you all know I'll be taking a little leave of absence for a while. This will be my last post for probably a little over 10 days. But I'll be accumulating material for an upcoming What Are You Listening To post. Except I'll be listening to live music by some of the folks I've mentioned in previous WAYLT articles.

Tomorrow I embark on my journey into Earthquakeland, otherwise known as the Caribbean Sea, aboard the ms Eurodam for the 2010 Legendary Rhythm & Blues Cruise. The party starts at 4 on Saturday with a BBQ (right up my alley!) and continues non-stop for 7 more days. And when I say non-stop I mean the first gig starts at noon plus or minus an hour and the last gig starts at 1:30am the next day, EVERY day. It is not unusual for live music to be emanating from some parts of the ship at 5:00 or 6:00am!!

These are the coolest cruises ever. You never have to "play dress up" and go to dinner with the same folks at the same time every night. There's no such thing as a Captain's Ball. No dumbass magicians pulling a rabbit from a hat, or half-assed comedians, or torch singers trying to replicate old Broadway hits. The entertainment is strictly high-grade Blues all the way.

This time out I am really looking forward to seeing Duke Robillard and Johnny Winter. But everybody booked is good. And what the hell, it beats working for a living. See ya in a couple weeks with pictures and stories!

FAN: Pat Robertson Responds To 6.1 Aftershock - Shakira's Fault

Pat Robertson continued his hate tirade this morning. After learning of Haiti's 6.1 Wednesday morning aftershock, Robertson was quick to study the latest media trends and came away from it with a new revelation. "Shakira Caused This!" Robertson has declared.

Robertson's sleuthing methods have been uncovered. He dove headfirst into the world of social media to see who has been helping the Satan saved Haitians. After absorbing the information Pat decided that Shakira appearing on Oprah and pleading for help was the swizzle stick that stirred this particular drink. Let me repeat, it had nothing to do with yours truly wanting the hottest picture to post here. This was the work of Pat Robertson.

Robertson equated Shakira's hips with Beezlebub and admitted that he himself has been in a Shakira induced "hip trance" which he saw "on the YouTube". The trick uncovered was that Shakira helped send aid to the area and then unleashed yet another earth quake while the aid workers were there. He likened the plot to 9/11 where the first plane striking the towers brought the crowds in to see the second one happen live.

"Shakira needs to be stopped. It's that simple" said Robertson. Asked what you can do to help, he continued "Bring her to me. I can help her. It would be good if you could restrain her first." Asked how he can help Pat explained how he could give her a religious experience that would change her ways and make her act and dress more like "a lady" instead of "the damned devil". He explained his methods further - "it's a three step process, first the prayers, then what they call chloroform and if she still resists, the Holy roofies will be administered." Roberts claims a night alone with him will make the devil hips jump right out of her.

We can only hope.

FAN: Checks And Balances

Seriously folks, I don't care if you're Republican or Democrat, left wing nut job or right wing religious zealot - Scott Brown winning that election was good for the country. 47 years is bout 37 too long for me personally to like anyone sitting in a Senate seat. I wish we could go back in time and have people from every profession filling these seats like a jury. Do your voting and lobbying in a 2 week period every 6 months and do the rest online from the comfort of your own house. Career politicians suck. If people were swapped in and out, there would be no time or use for political favors. Everyone would hopefully just do what makes sense for their city, state and country. It tells me people in that area were ready for change and most of them probably just never headed out to vote because they assumed Ted was going to win anyway. This is good, trust me.

FAN: From My Cold Dead Hands

I absolutely love reading stories like this.

The kid is badass. He's 11. He's like "Yeah I shot him, now get me a juicebox before you're next".

FAN: I Protest

Still A Stroke is in 5th grade. Every day they do 4 math problems on a math maintenance test which gives them 20 questions for the week and then it's graded. The math maintenance tests then become a quarter of their trimester math grade. It's a good way to keep using things you've learned in the past. Full disclosure, I was half a math major.

I took exception when I saw her results for last week's test. She missed two questions in a section where you are supposed to select THE BEST way to solve a problem. The choices were Mental Math, Estimation, Paper & Pencil and Calculator.

My daughter has always struggled with estimation and her school pushes the concept hard. When they want you to estimate they always say "About how much is 4312 + 2698". She is like me - black or white, not a lot of gray. She frequently puts the exact answer for estimation problems which leads to the teacher correctly marking them wrong. She's young. Her feelings are "but why get close when I know how to solve the problem?" It's a hard concept to explain.

Anyway, I get the idea of mental math. She got that question right because it was something like 200 * 20. However, the next question was something more like the first example I used: 4312 + 2698. The teacher wanted "estimation" for the answer. I've trained my daughter to look for the words "close" or "about" when doing estimation problems. When those words don't exist and you ask a 5th grader what's the BEST way to solve it, I'm not sure "estimation" is the correct answer. She said "calculator". I asked her the thought process she used. She said that she thought they wanted to know the best way to get the exact answer and even though she could do it with paper & pencil, why wouldn't you use a calculator if you had one. That makes sense to me the way the question was worded.

I don't even need to explain the other one she missed because again she used "calculator" and the correct answer was pencil & paper. If you think like a kid (which I do) and you're thinking "ok, I have paper & pencil, a calculator and two methods in my head" and you're presented with something and asked which is the BEST way to solve it, it's very subjective. Math is not subjective. Words like "Best" you have to be careful with. You can get your point across without "Best" being included and without "calculator" included in the list. Maybe have a matching of 1, 2, 3 with A, B and C. Then you see the kid knows that 500 + 400 is mental math, 6710 - 688 is estimation and so on.

I did send the teacher an email because I need it explained to me when pencil & paper is better than a calculator if you have both with you. The only reasonable answer I see is if you want to draw a picture of a doggy or a horsey.

I "get" these concepts and I like that they are being taught. I just want the problems worded a little more carefully for those kids that might think too much. When you add a calculator to the mix and then ask for the BEST way to solve.......that's an email.

FAN: Juice Box

Well, the second bash brother came forward today to say that he did indeed do steroids. I'm sure he just wants to be left alone as the new hitting coach and just wanted to admit and move on. He should have done it years ago. I once went up to Boston with a group of friends to go to a game at Fenway against the A's. We were amazed at batting practice as McGwire and Canseco hit ball after ball completely out of the park. I wonder if they were juicing then? They didn't seem as big but it was probably right in the middle of the steroid era. It was before I was married so I'm guessing it was around 1993 or 1994. Whatever. The steroids story is so old news in baseball. Even A-Rod couldn't bring it back full force. Mac prolly knew it was safe and time to just admit it. Those were good times. Six dudes, two cars and one hotel room for two nights. If I remember correctly, it was me, Vailler, Kooz, Belly, Gratz and I want your soul, Miller.

DOG: Haluski - Dog Style

Long back when I first started contributing my nonsense for this here blog I wrote a story about Haluski. Well, today I made my first batch on my own.

Not much else to do when the temperature barely crept above 20 degrees and I was relegated to watching the Shitbirds vs. Bill Belicheat. So I moved into the kitchen and created. Don't get me wrong, I totally embrace grilling in the winter. But I see no need to punish myself to do it.

So I mixed up a batch of noodles and cabbage and supplemented it with onion, a little crushed garlic and a few mushrooms. I know it's not the classic Haluski. But I try to make use of whatever is lying about the pantry and fridge when I cook and that's what I had to work with.

It came out real good and I served it with a smoked pork chop. But of course Mrs. Dog whined about having onion in it so guess what? I get to eat the rest of it. No buying lunches this week!

Anybody who would like my recipe, just say so in the comments. Which, by the way, Still A. While, how did my recipe for the maple glazed ham work out for you at Christmas?

DOG: The Irish Cougar

Iris Robinson

In case you haven't heard, Iris Robinson, the 60 year old wife of the head honcho of Northern Ireland had been banging a 19 year old lover for a couple of years. That is until the British Press got wind of her solicitations from Irish and British business men to pay for her affairs by giving the young stud enough money to start his own business!

She was also some kind of Parliamentary representative in London for Northern Ireland. A position from which I understand her political party had demanded that she resign.

On top of all that, her other claim to fame is gay bashing on the floor of Parliament where she said (in so many words) that Child Molestation is as bad as Sodomy and Homosexuality. Then she tried to defend her words by claiming that Chile Molestation is in fact worse than Sodomy and Homosexuality. And furthermore claimed that Homosexuality can be cured!!

Apparently the young boy-toy wasn't getting any back door action from Mrs. Robinson. She wouldn't judge herself to be as bad as a homosexual! But I guess it's OK to screw around behind the First Minister's back.

So here's to you Mrs. Robinson. Jesus loves you more than you will know... 'cause I'm pretty sure your husband don't love you anymore.

FAN: Cleveland Chooses Holmgren's Mediocrity

Thank You Cleveland Browns. Thank You, Thank You....Thank You. Why? For hiring The Walrus of course! This hyped up pile of steaming poo is the poster boy for NFL mediocrity. I can't believe (actually I can) the way the press is all over every move the man makes. Where are the graphics showing the man's credentials to take over a franchise? Without knowing the facts before writing this I think his credentials suck monkey balls.

So, off to Wikipedia I go, in search of why Cleveland is all gaga over this guy. Holmgren coached 7 years in Green Bay with a record of 75-37. Very good. He began with 3 9-7 seasons in a row while Brett Favre learned how to play the game and then while Brett was in his prime he road his horse for a 48-16 record and playoff success and a Super Bowl win (and a SB loss). He had great success at Green Bay when tethered to Favre and his waistline, I mean legend, grew.

This is where it gets fun. Mike's ego wanted to run his own team. He wanted to buy the ingredients and cook the meal. Seattle offered him that opportunity and he jumped at the chance in 1999. He went 9-7 in his first year there. Decent enough but it takes time to turn a program around, right? He got worse in 2000. Much worse. His record was 6-10. Ask Bill Belimort, it's hard as Hell to win games without a star quarterback. In his third season as Seattle's football czar, Mike went 9-7 again. Ok, Now he's back on track and is set up to succeed in season four - except he didn't. He went 7-9. So, the genius Mike Holmgren was brought in to win and so far as the man in charge of everything, he's posted a 31-33 record. How did ownership react? They stripped him of his GM role and said "Just coach please". He couldn't run the organization. He failed at the thing he wanted most.

Without running the organization he had immediate success going 10-6 but lost the first playoff game. Like most of his tenure, he failed to put together back-to-back good seasons and went 9-7 followed by another first round playoff loss. Maybe Mike should change his name officially to "Nine Wins Holmgren". He finally delivered in 2005 going 13-3 but lost the Super Bowl (he he he) to a far superior team and then blamed the referees instead of being a man. Nice character there, Niner. You can only guess that he went 9-7 in 2006. He showed a little promise going 10-6 in 2007 but he lost in the playoffs to.......Brett Favre. Sigh. That must have really rocked his world because he ended his Seattle stint with a 4-12 record. Let me repeat that....a 4-12 record. In totality, in Seattle, the genius was 86-74 and 4-6 in the playoffs.

Cleveland wants a football czar. Hmmmm, who should they seek out? How about a coach who has 7 seasons with 10 wins or more out of 17 seasons. Out of the other 10 campaigns, 7 of them were 9 win seasons. Yawn. And don't forget he got shit canned as the GM after only 4 years. He hasn't had back-to-back 10 win seasons since 1998 and that was with Favre. The fact that this man is so sought after is mind boggling to me. I read once where he wanted to go open a coffee shop or a B&B and retire. He should have followed his dream.

What has Cleveland gained since employing Mike? Well, they decided to keep a coach with a career NFL record of 28-36 because he had a 4 game winning streak. I'm impressed. The fact that Mangini went 10-6 in his first year with the Jets and 4-12 in his second tells me he went 10-6 with somebody else's team. Whatever. So what do I read this morning? Holmgren is close to hiring Seattle's Pro Personnel director to be Cleveland's GM. He's worked with him before in Green Bay and Seattle. Super! Steeler fans rejoice! Mike is going to bring his amazing streak of mediocrity to the Browns by surrounding himself with cronies from the old days who have already failed with him at other locations.

People, People, People.....please pull back the curtain and take a good look at your wizard. Your wizard isn't a wizard at all. Your wizard, is a walrus.

FAN: Satchmo Cash

Cool YouTube video.

DOG: Is It April Yet?

Bobby April

Just heard that former Stillers Offensive Line coach, Larry "Porn" Zierlein, and Special Teams coach, Bob Ligashesky have been fired by the team.

This is outstanding news when combined with the retirement of ex-Bengals QB and former Stillers QB coach, Ken Anderson.

*Note: Steel City Slant holds itself to a higher standard than the Post-Gazette and WTAE who prematurely have reported the departure of Bruce Arians. We would be happy to see that fiction become reality. But until it's fact we aren't running it as news.

I am officially casting the Steel City Slant vote in favor of hiring Bobby April as our new Special Teams coach. April coached Steeler special teams back in 94-95. Most recently he was the baby that got tossed out with the bath water when the Buffalo Bills fired their entire coaching staff Monday. April waived a later offer to remain with Buffalo so he could begin interviewing/negotiating with another team. He was the Special Teams coach of the year in the NFL in 2008 and 2004.

If he isn't already in Pittsburgh I would help subsidize his plane fare to fly him in from Buffalo before any worse weather gets him stuck up there. We need this guy badly.

The calendar might say January but I'm hoping it's APRIL!!

FAN: Steeler Contracts & Free Agents

Yes, it's a picture of a door.....as in "don't let the door hit you in the ass on your way out." It's time to reflect on the season and what better way to start than to talk about starting to clean house a little bit. Before that though, in general it was an entertaining season to say the least. Crazy entertaining. My friends and I have just been discussing how Ike Taylor seems to shy away from contact instead of sticking his nose in there sometimes so what does he do yesterday? He handed out a "Check Please" type hit that makes Steeler Nation salivate. I still can't believe that a man his size can inflict that much damage. I guess when the guy you're hitting is smaller than most Quad A HighSchool players - you've got a shot. It was still nice to watch. I'm glad the dude is OK. In the end I don't blame the other teams for not winning - I blame our guys for falling down and not rallying around Polamalu's absence. Aaron Smith was missed as well but we got to see flashes of the future there. We saw nothing with Troy out but the back of Tyrone Carter's jersey taking yet another poor angle.

Let's discuss the Restricted Free Agents first. We would get compensation if they leave and a chance to match any offer they get. LB Patrick Bailey. Who? He plays for us? He doesnt need a contract tendered. T Willie Colon. I believe we will most definitely tender him a contract. I don't complain about the line as much as I used to. Both RBs showed they can run behind it and the sacks Ben took are mostly of his doing. Early in the season the line caused a lot, but not recently. Carey Davis I like, but nobody is going to offer him a contract so he is safe to not sign and wait and see what happens. William Gay. I am dead serious when I say I hope we've seen the last of him. He is not an NFL starter. Not even close. The bad news is, we don't have any other alternatives right now. Townsend is washed up. I would seriously vote for drafting a CB first and signing a classic Steeler type above average FA to start next year in Gay's spot. Sepulveda will be offered a contract. Spaeth will be offered a contract. Darnell Stapleton is a question mark. My gut says "no contract". Now let's take a look at the unrestricted Free Agents.

Charlie Batch will most likely be asked back but will also be asked to take the hometown discount. On the other hand, I don't think there is much interest out there for a fragile backup. He's more valuable as another "coach" for Ben. Dixon proved to me he can play so we'll see what happens to Charlie. Rocky Boiman is supposedly a LB on the team. No contract. Tyrone Carter is hopefully gone. Yes, he knows the defense, but what did that get us this year? There has to be a better backup safety available. Has to be. Ryan Clark I would have back in an instant. He got some bad press this year but I like him and what he adds. I wish he wrapped more people up rather than just hit them - but he is absolutley in people's heads as they roam around in our secondary. He is much better when Troy is out there. Nick Eason can play a little and with the age on our DL, we need to get younger there. Is he the person to help? I don't know. The only upside is that he knows the system. Hood will start soon. A rookie is cheaper. However, a lengthy injury to one of the grandpas and some experience would be nice. I say "no contract" right away. We need to see what happens. If all else fails, bring him back. Casey Hampton will not get a reward contract. He's a 2 down player who has no wind. Not sure how much interest he'll even generate. I say offer him a real contract for 2-3 years at market value. Kirschke is most likely gone. We need to get young. He doesn't fit that bill at all. Willie Parker can stay if he takes backup money. The Ravens are nice at RB with their dual approach. Parker showed a burst yesterday. They can't give him big money though. Will he remian a Steeler for less? I think not. I think he's this year's Antwaan Randel El and somebody will overpay for him. Should Mendenhall get hurt, Moore can fill in. Jeff Reed is crazy but he's also usually money. Bring him back but potentially see if somebody else can kickoff for next to $0. Townsend is GONE. I love the guy but he can't play anymore. Did you WATCH yesterday's game? Galloway is gone unless ridiculously cheap.

For the players under contract, will any be let go? Limas Sweed seems likely to me. James Farrior is also a possibility here. Again, I love him, but his play really dropped off this year. He's slow. We pride ourselves on side to side speed. Can't do that when slow in the middle. We also need to resign Santonio Holmes and Lamarr Woodley this offseason as they are up after 2010 and you know we won't do any deals after the season starts. They are core players and will absolutely get nice deals this year. They could both break the bank on the open market. I hope both work something out this offseason and I see no reason why they wouldn't. We've been very good at this recently.

FAN: Geddy Lee is a WHAT?

Mark Dent of MLB.com wrote this article and I'm not sure if anyone with a clue edited it.

If you asked me to describe Rush's music or force me to put them in a genre - without looking at Wikipedia (which I'll do in a minute) I'd classify them as a few things...Progressive Rock first and foremost. Art Rock second. Hard Rock...meh. Back in the day maybe. I should know this stuff as when people ask me who my favorite band of alltime is I take turns answering Rush or Led Zeppelin. Anyway, let's see what Wikipedia says.....

Wikipedia states: Musically, Rush's style has evolved over the years, beginning in the vein of blues-inspired heavy metal on their first albums, then encompassing hard rock, progressive rock, and a period dominated by synthesizers. They have influenced various musical artists, including Metallica,^[1][2] and The Smashing Pumpkins^[3] as well as progressive metal bands such as Dream Theater,^[1] Primus,^[3] and Symphony X.^[4]

Why on Earth this idiot decided to call him a "Punk Rocker" is a mystery to me - other than the dude doesn't know dick about music and thinks "Punk" is somehow interchangeable with "Progressive". He probably cringes when people don't know about double switches, designated hitters and how far it is from the rubber to home plate. Don't jazz stuff about things you don't know anything about, Skippy. Makes you seem ill-informed to the informed.

FAN: New Year's Eve

We went to a party that had this many kids on Thursday night. Wow. A little loud I must say.
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