Weekend Update

Even though it is Monday night, I thought I would quickly re-cap the weekend.

1. Penn State lost to Iowa - That was a tad unpleasant - to put it mildly. You can see the disgust on the faces of two PSU fans (pictured - Andy & Lindsay D.)

2. Steelers lost - After the PSU loss, this was nothing

3. Finished my installation of the 10 sections of vinyl picket fencing - Got the thumbs up from the wife

4. Cleaned the Mazda inside and out - Got two thumbs up from the wife after she nearly fainted from the sight of me cleaning

5. Packed a suitcase for Florida

6. Woke up at 3:50am - out the door at 4:30 to Jacksonville

Pretty much hated this past weekend, one I soon hope to forget.

Never Mind

Whatever I said below, forget it... Although what ever bowl game we get to play, I'm confident we'll win it.

We were terrible!

Penn State Hopes

It's certainly not over. I'm worried that Iowa will put up a great defensive game and slow PSU down this Saturday. Nonetheless, there is a lot of talk about PSU going to the national championship game. There is also a lot of talk about PSU losing in the title game. A few weeks ago 6 of 8 CNN SI writers had PSU in the title game, all had them losing. The title picture has changed as of late but I'm sure the attitude towards PSU hasn't.

I don't think you can write off PSU so easily. Keep in mind the following items. Penn State is 9-2 in the past 11 bowl games. Joe Paterno is 23-10-1 in bowl games as a head coach. In the 1987 Fiesta Bowl, Penn State was a huge underdog to Miami who was supposed to kill PSU with their Vinny Testaverde high powered offense. Needless to say, Penn State prevailed 14-10. We would face a similar underdog scenario this year with Alabama, Florida, Texas or Texas Tech. All I can say is defense wins championships. Speaking of defense, Alabama has the 4th best defense in the nation, Texas Tech 55th, Penn State 6th (4th in pts. allowed), Florida 15th, and Texas 64th. So right now, Alabama is PSU's biggest threat. Penn State is 11th in the nation in the offensive category. Will this be enough?

All this said, Joe Paterno obviously prepares well for a bowl game. Penn State plays better as an underdog and the statistics favor the Nittany Lions if you forget the conference they are playing in. I don't care who you are, there would be nothing better than an 82 year old Hall of Fame Icon winning a Championship. If they do make it to "the game" then I'll be placing some money down on PSU while I'm in Australia (at the legal casino - the largest casino in the southern hemisphere).

We Are - Penn State

Live Election Coverage

For my 5 loyal readers, I will be providing you with live election updates. But first, let me reveal a famous face Brandi and I saw earlier in the day during lunch at Dean and Deluca in Charlotte center city (Pictured). Yankee's superstar Derek Jeter.

Back to election coverage:

6:30 - I ate dinner (left overs and veggies with dip) - Brandi is on a recruiting trip to Chapel Hill for work.

6:40 - My nerves are already frazzled waiting for some results to come in. Indiana and Kentucky are filtering in now with Obama having a slight lead in Indiana and McCain with a huge lead in Kentucky. The experts say that if Obama can take Indiana it's pretty much over for McCain.

7:01 - No shocker here, Obama takes Vermont, McCain takes Kentucky. Keep an eye on Indiana, it is very close at this point.

7:40 - My state (NC) has closed its polls, but as with a half dozen other states... It's too close to call! I'm already sick of hearing that tonight. 

7:43 - It is almost time for a snack... Tastykakes!

7:57 - I just completed a straw poll with my two dogs... Riley the elder female Black Lab pulls for McCain and Chase the younger male Black Lab pulls for Obama. Margin of error is +/- 1 dog. A load of states are just coming in!

8:00 - MSNBC just calls Pennsylvania for Obama. I'm proud of my home state! I'm definitely digging into those local Tastykakes now. However, FOX News has not called PA for Obama. Let's wait and see.

8:33 - Current Electoral Vote total - Obama - 103, McCain - 43. I'm starting to get bored - Switching back and forth between college football on ESPN2 and MSNBC and CNN.

8:54 - I just saw where Kay Hagan (Dem) beat out Elizabeth Dole (Rep) for the Senate Race in NC. Could this be an indicator for the Presidential Race?

9:01 - New totals. Obama - 175, McCain - 70. No surprises just yet... Still waiting for some of the toss up states to go one way or the other.

9:07 - I'm starting to pick up some negative comments (via my Skype account) about my blog from some of my "so called" friends. I think it comes down to jealousy over the quality of my blog and the live updates.

9:24 - Ohio to Obama. An MSNBC conservative commentator (Joe S.) just said the thread has broken for McCain. Is it over?

9:35 - That's it... I'm calling the election for Obama (the first Internet site to do so). He's got 200 Electoral Votes at this point, he'll win CA with 55 votes along with Oregon, Washington and Hawaii. It's over.

This live election coverage was brought to you by TastyKake, Rolo's, and the Apple MacBook. Correspondent credit goes out to Glyn Williams, Erich Geisler and Andy Doremus.

My Weekend

There is no Penn State game this weekend so my days will be filled with installing vinyl fence. The Breadwinner (my wife) recently bought 10 sections of vinyl picket fencing to finish the one side of our yard. So, that will be 10 holes 24 inches deep by 12 inches wide through clay and cedar roots. My hands are already blistered.

It does make the yard look a whole lot better. Our current fencing is old wood posts that are rotten with wire mesh fencing that is rusted. I guess anything would look better than what we have. 

It is important to note that my Dad was going to come down and help, but he decided he had something better to do. I'm definitely the #2 son - my brother has it so much better than me. My brother gets his yard mowed, his driveway snow-blow'd and non stop handyman support by my father. I should probably mention that my brother only lives 2 blocks away from my Parents. I live 532 miles away. In all fairness to my father, he has installed about 30 sections of fence with me already. Nonetheless, I will still make fun of him.

But I wasn't alone today. I had my helper (pictured) with me all day. Although his attention span quickly erodes when there is a squirrel in the yard. Tomorrow will be another fun filled day of fencing installation. Measure, mark, dig, plum, back fill, cement over and over and over.