atx_newbie

Had that game winning TD been thrown to anyone besides Holmes, I would be upset (because I was pulling for the Cards). But the six fantasy points that catch gave Holmes put me over the top in fantasy, so I'm good with it

Even if you retire by choice and in good health, your health expenses later in life would be high. Now just imagine if you don't get to retire when you want to, but are forced to retire because of injury. Then what do you have? You haven't played nearly as long as you could have, meaning less time to save money, AND you've got serious medical issues. Frankly, I think NFL owners and league officials should be embarassed by the way players are just cast out once their usefulness to the team is over. Those guys put their own health and well being on the line, more often than not playing with some sort of injury, to make other people rich.

I would have agreed with you until I came across my method for braising ribs. Dry rub a rack, then wrap it in foil with a cup or so of my sauce, and put it in the oven at 200* for about 5 hours. Then put sauce on and put it under the broiler for about 5 minutes. Best rib I've ever eaten. Spare ribs and beef ribs done that way come out more tender than babybacks that have been smoked.

For grilled chicken, pork chops, etc. I use a sauce from a BBQ place in Austin called the Salt Lick. I think they sell it nationwide. It is a mustard based bbq sauce, as opposed to a ketchup based sauce, so it has a lighter color and a much stronger flavor. As a result, it's not much good as a condiment, but it's a great marinade/cooking sauce. For my ribs I make my own sauce, since I braise my ribs in the oven instead of grilling/smoking. The sauce is (my measurements aren't exact, I just taste as I go) orange juice, apple cider vinegar, worcestecire, liquid smoke, soy sauce, brown sugar, honey, and salt. That doesn't taste good as is, but after braising the ribs in it, reduce it on the stovetop. The fat from the pork will transform it.

(Madden voice on) Now here's a guy that knows how to do Super Bowl sunday! That menu is like, BOOM! You know what could make it better though? Brett Favre! (Madden voice off)

I haven't bought into the Mac hype yet. The g/f has one and refuses to even use my Dell, but I've had this thing for about 5 years now and still love it. And many times I have run Adobe Premiere, After Effects, and Photoshop simultaneously with no problems. And for work stuff, I don't have to ever worry about software compatibility issues. I use her Mac every now and then for convenience (it's a laptop, mine's a desktop) and it drives me crazy. It always takes me about 3x as long to do the same task, though I'm sure that's just because I don't use it enough to get familiar with all the tasks. I'll keep my Dell though.

I'm in my prime and I'm not sure I could compete. A bar in my hometown has a big burger, tips the scales at 24 ounces with a bun thats 9 inches in diameter. I ate that once in about 45 minutes. That's like a warm up to the guy from Man vs. Food. I don't like the show though. Except for the eating competition part, it's really just a knock-off of Diners, Drive-Ins, and Dives, only he isn't nearly as entertaining of a host as Guy is.

Yeah, Roddick did not play aggressive enough. Seemed like he was trying too hard not to make mistakes. But when you're playing Fed, you have to do more than not make mistakes. Federer won't beat himself, you have to go after him on every point. I'm a Federer, in any match where he isn't playing Roddick. It's not often you get to see someone redefine his sport, and it is just amazing to watch greatness in the act. For the same reason when I watch golf, I'm a huge Phil Mickelson fan, but if he isn't in contention, I pull for Tiger. But seriously, can Roddick not put up just a little bit more of a challenge? It's getting depressing. He's one of the biggest underachievers in sports right now.

Anyone who's still awake should turn to ESPN2 and watch the live coverage of the men's semifinal from the Australian Open and cheer for our boy Roddick. He's the last American left, and he's got a chance to off on of the world's best. Federer has always had his number, but he's playing better this year than ever, so let's hope for the best... Go Andy!

He is definitely a class act. Skip Bayless was complaining about that on "First Take" the other day, saying that Fitz needs to open up more to the media and spend more time in the spotlight. I wonder why he doesn't, maybe it has something to do with the way Skip trashes every other receiver, especially T.O., for being drama queens.

Money will never make you quit smoking. Here in Chicago they're like $8 a pack, but people still smoke. You just have to get to a place where you're ready to quit. I smoked for 5 years, with a few periods in there where I quit for some random reason (a bet, a girl, etc.), but last summer I got to the point where I was ready to quit. So I threw a half a pack away and haven't had a craving since. So it doesn't sound like you're ready to quit yet, and you won't be successful that way. And you don't have to rush it, that day will come.

It wasn't crocs. It was because one of the two, I forgot which, couldn't swim. The other one said, "hell, the fall will probably kill ya." Thanks BB. I knew I'd seen that somewhere.

So it looks like the report shows that people who smoke menthols, on average, smoke less than people who smoke non-menthols? That's interesting, because I get really sick and nauseous from non-menthols, but I used to chain-smoke menthols and never felt light-headed or sick. Edit: I think it might also depend a lot on the brand of cig that you smoke. When I was smoking, I always smoked camels. I never touched a 'port or salem. That may have something to do with it.

I smoked a pack of menthols a day for five years, and never felt any adverse effects. In fact, for many of those years I was playing a lot of soccer at a very highly competitive level. So I can't say why your buddies are coughing up blood. But I for one laugh at the rumors about menthols. People always say that there is "fiberglass in menthols" that will "crystalize your lungs." It reminds me of a scene from a movie, might have been Butch and Sundance. Two guys are trapped at the end of a cliff, contemplating jumping in a river far below to escape. They are worried about crocs in the river. But what they don't realize is that it is the fall is going to kill them. Cigarettes will kill you, period. I highly doubt that there is a significant difference in death rates between menthol and non-menthols.

I know they can host for that cheap, I was talking about design, building, and routine site maintenance along with the hosting.

GoDaddy will design, build, and host your site for like 40 bucks a month. Of course if you want to do it a little cheaper, and get the satisfaction of doing it yourself, check out a program called Nvu. It's a free download and is pretty user-friendly as far as web editors go.

You know, the Steelers may well win this game, but do you really think they'll put up 42 on a Cardinals team that has shut down much better offenses than the Steelers? If the Steelers win this game, it'll be because they keep it low scoring. They don't have the offense to get into a shootout with Warner and Fitzgerald. The key to the game for the Steelers will be to keep the ball for long, 7 or 8 minute scoring drives, keeping Warner on the sidelines. Because not even the Steelers can contain Fitz and Bouldin. At least I hope so, because my fantasy team is stacked with Cardinals...

That's what I like about Chicago: at least you know what you're getting everyday. In Texas, it's not uncommon at all to have an overnight low of 25 followed the next day by 80, and vice versa. Here I don't have to check the weather channel before getting dressed.

I gotta go with the Cards. It hurts me to do it, because I'm a defensive homer, but I've counted them out for three straight weeks and been proven wrong for three straight weeks. So I'm going to give them the benefit of the doubt.

They have unlimited plans now for around 15 bucks a month for text messages. My life revolves around texting. I'm generally too busy to spend the time for a phone call. Plus some tasks only require one quick message that would be a waste of a phone call. And finally, if you know that the recipient of your message is a busy person, the text message allows them the ability to respond when they are ready, without having to feel guilty about not answering the phone when it rings. For instance, if I need to tell my girlfriend who is in class to get some milk on the way home, a text message is much easier. If I call her and leave a message, it'll distract her from class wondering if the call was an emergency or not. With a text, she can just read it and go back about her business. That is, until it's time to get the milk...

Anyone watch this show? My dad recommended it to me and I just watched a couple episodes. It's fairly entertaining, though I am a little lost right now. What do you guys think?

While I agree that Stefan is probably best as far as technical and classical cooking techniques, I don't think he'll win. Top Chef seems to go for chefs who are a little bit more contemporary. French classical cuisine is definitely not contemporary. But I haven't watched every episode this season, so he could have done something that I didn't see. Either way, I don't like him. He's so arrogant and rude. But then again, aren't those the resume requirements to be a chef ;D

ESPN did a special on this sport a couple months ago. One of those guys is planning to jump out of a plane and land on the Vegas Strip, without the use of a parachute. He's going to use a large ramp to catch him and slide him down, much the same way motocross jumpers do. I think the premise is plausible, it could work, there is just absolutely NO room for error in it. Either way, when he does it and it's on national TV, I will definitely watch.

So I'm finishing my fantasy challenge for the NFL playoffs. This is the first fantasy stuff that I've ever done, and it's a lot of fun, plus it makes it a lot more fun to watch games that otherwise wouldn't be any fun to watch. So I want to play fantasy baseball when this season kicks off, because I would really like to get into watching some MLB (since I just moved about 2 miles from Wrigley Field, I kind of have to). Do any of you guys who are baseball fans play fantasy, and if you do, what are the basics, and where is the best place to play (ESPN.com, MLB.com, etc...)? Or maybe we could start a BR League and start up some friendly competition...?

Likely the "official" record goes to the qb who started all year perhaps? Sounds kind of like some places I've worked before. I did all the work and someone else got credit for it. > Yeah, but you know what you did, which is reward enough isn't it? ;D ;D