Now Those Are some Promos!

Dear Milwaukee Brewers-

You have now become one of my favorite teams! No, not for your players, your big yellow slide, or your presumably delicious bratwurst. You have begun to create the ultimate in fan giveaways. Your 40 promos in 40 days is genius! I must say I especially love the trips to Wrigley and the Contract for a Day. Thank you for your readiness to appease your fans and offer up some truly memorable experiences for your season ticket holders.

Check out the entire list of promos here. It'll make you wish you had season tix to the Brew Crew!

Second Chance Much?

So I'm sitting here this evening cruising through the sports stories of the day. Lots of negative stuff in the world of athletics: Tom Cable-fired, Rich Rodriguez-fired, Marvin Lewis-rehired, but with Ochodrama. Can't we get a little happiness? Wait, what's that? Ted Williams you say? You mean THE Ted Williams, one of the most famous (if not the most famous) and feared Red Sox hitter ever? Nope.

Ted Williams, the homeless, hungry, dirty old man who roams the streets of Columbus, Ohio for a living. You may ask, what does this have to do with happiness in the world of sports? Well, for starters, Ted Williams fell on some bad times years ago; drugs, alcohol, and a police record plagued him. He was found soliciting his "million dollar voice" on a street corner, filmed speaking in said voice, and has since become a web sensation.

So much a web sensation that he no longer solicits that voice on street corners. He went from trying to get anyone to listen to him to having to choose who gets to listen. Reports from ESPN, which has video of Williams' discovery, along with numerous other local papers (azcentral.com, The Saratogan) say that Ted Williams has received offers to have his golden voice be that of the Cleveland Cavaliers and NFL Films.

Some might say that he doesn't deserve a shot like this; that he made a choice to be homeless; give the job to someone who's earned it. I'm not here to tell you what to think; I just want to share what I think is one of the coolest stories I've heard in a long time. Give the articles a read and choose for yourself. Then let me know.

NFL Playoff Update

Well folks, history has been made. For the first time, a team with a losing record has WON their division and will be preparing for the postseason. Yes, the postseason. The Seattle Seahawks (7-9) will host New Orleans and play the defending Super Bowl champs at home. A losing team hosting a playoff game...hmmm.

Anybody else see a problem with this? I mean, come on now, the Seahawks?! A team that went 7-9 is playing past week 17! And to think, teams like San Diego, who by the way had the league's number one offense AND number one defense, will be watching from their couches. The Giants and Bucs had 10-win seasons, both playing in divisions that put the NFC West to shame this year. Where are they today? Cleaning out lockers and conducing exit meetings.

Rules are rules I guess, according to Pete Carroll's words of wisdom in his post-game conference Sunday night. Seattle won its division with a sub-.500 record (the Rams also finished 7-9, but had a worse in-division record). The rules state that the winner of each division gets to go to the playoffs. I just find it mind numbing to think that teams like the Giants (10-6), Bucs (10-6), Chargers (9-7), and yes even the Raiders and Jags (both 8-8) are missing out.

Now I'm not sure if things should change or not. It seems fitting that by being the "best" team in your division should get you a ticket to the postseason, but when the best you can offer is a losing effort, that's where I have to question the system. It's like when your odd cousin comes to visit over summer break and you HAVE to pick him for your team for the simple reason that he's family (and your mom told you to). Well, welcome to the playoffs Cousin Seahawks. You're only here because you are a defaulted winner of the worst division in football and Mama Goodell said you could play.

Good luck facing the Saints on Saturday. Not saying it isn't possible to pull off a win, I mean come on right...you DID just come out on top of your division as being the best of the worst right?