I don't want a lot this Christmas...

True story, folks. I didn't ask for much this Christmas, but it was still a good one!

I've been in Baltimore for most of it, and have had the great joy of spending it with my little cousins. And let's be honest... the best part of Christmas is spending it with happy and excited (and really cute) little kids.

And yeah, I got my camera and am about to order my brand, shining, new Matt Ryan jersey, so it's nothing to scoff at... it's bee a good Christmas for me!

And did I mention the Falcons made it to the playoffs?

Santa really does exist!

I know I can... be what I wanna be!

For example, a playoff contender... or even, dare I say it:

A Superbowl XLIII contender?

Both are possibilities for my dearly beloved Atlanta Falcons this season.

Here's to Matt Ryan and Michael Turner... the dream duo we've been awaiting for many-a-season! To all the others: just keep on doin' what you're doin' - it's working.

NFC South in the house!

I can't, can't stand your mother...

Or maybe it's your father I can't stand.

Or your brother? Oh wait... maybe it's your other brother.

Either way kids, the moral of the story is that if you're a Manning, Tom Brady is tired of telling you about yourself. Game, after game, after game.

But then there was that whole Superbowl thing... the two Superbowl things, actually, where both pro Mannings actually whooped Brady and the Patriots. lol.

Are you not entertained?

If not, maybe the following will spark your humor plug as much as it did mine. I have no idea whether or not these are real quotes, or just the brilliant love child of a writer and his liquor, but this is the good-good. Keep in mind too, because it actually adds to the funny factor: the following weekend, little Eli took Tommy boy to school at Superbowl XLII, live from Glendale, AZ.

It's old, but I just found it so it's new to me. Pure gold people!

King Midas styles... enjoy: http://www.serioussportsnewsnetwork.com/2008/02/brady-tired-of-beating-mannings.html

You're so vain... I bet you think this blog is about you...

Where's the line between just enough, and T.O.o much?

Yes, yes... I'm back on the football tip, but it’s not to talk about fantasy.

Unless you count that one with me, and T.O. and the shower.... but I digress.

Today's topic at hand is Terrell Owens a.k.a. T.O. You may have recently seen him wearing number 81 for America's Team, The Dallas Cowboys. And if you did, you probably thought "dammmmmn... that's hot." I did. Actually, I still do... every Sunday, and once in a while even on Mondays.

The man is a modern day God.

But then pretty Mr. O opens up wide and says something for the cameras, and like The Hulk, he's transformed from T.O. into Eg-O.

To bring you up to speed, I'd like to take a moment here to run off a few of my personal favourites. And I quote:

"Get your popcorn ready, 'cause I'm gonna put on a show."

"That's right. That's what I bring to the table, in case you somehow forgot."

"I would say no. I'm a competitor, and I want the ball. "

"Everybody recognized that I wasn't really getting the ball in the first half...I'm pretty sure everybody watching the game recognized it, people in the stands recognized it, I think my team recognized it. I didn't quit. I kept fighting and running my routes and trying to get open... There wasn't much more I could do."

So again I ask, where is that line? I mean let's face it - the man is sexy, talented and published (kid-lit and stuff for us grown folks). There's no denying that. But as a fan of both football and T.O. on a personal level, I have to question if all that is worth constantly taking an ego-full? I can't help but imagine that any conversation with him would be stunted with his utterance, "blah blah blah... I love me some T.O... blah blah blah."

No wait… that’s not my imagination. I’m just watching yet another media op…

He may be just enough sexy to get in there (ahem... the end zone that is...), but is he just T.O.o much mouth for my own good?

But it's just a sweet, sweet fantasy baby...

It's the end of week four of the 2008 football season and we've secured our first win in our fantasy league, The Battle of Gotham City.

Yay!

I'm not gonna lie... I don't like losing - who does, really?

But I'm certainly still on a learning curve with this whole fantasy thing. I enjoy playing - especially because we're in a league with old friends form high school. So even though it can get a little heated and competitive sometimes, in the end it's all love.

And money.

Annnnnd of course, bragging rights.

So I'm learning.

This week I learned that I could drop players from the roster and pick up free agents! I know - it's ridiculous how obvious it seems, and even more ridiculous that I didn't know that. To be quite honest, last time we played fantasy (two seasons ago) we ended up with a kickass team and placed second in the league.

Didn't need too much adjustment to that team. So I didn't bother learning what to do in case of injury. Or suspension.

But as I mentioned in a previous post, the luck of the draw (or rather, the draft) wasn't working for us this time, and we found ourselves in a sorry situation with our players.

Brady. Plax. TO. Shockey. Doesn't seem too bad on paper, but the reality of the season proves that real games aren't won or lost on a single player, and generally, neither are fantasy match-ups. So when you factor in Brady's ACL injury, or Plax's attitude... TO's slippery fingers or Shockey's hernia... you realise that we've got some work to do!

And thanks to Isaac's advice, I continue to learn and hopefully build our team for the remainder of the season.

And for the record, Favre - originally our backup QB - had a career high game this week, throwing six (6? who does that?) touchdowns against the Cardinals. Wow! If he can keep that up for the rest of the season it'll be smooth sailing from here on in...

Realistically speaking though, we probably have a couple more adjustments to make to the team and I'm looking forward to an exciting and chair-gripping football season.. especially if my Falcs (God help them) can develop a winning streak ;)

It's the end of the world as we know it, and I feel fine!

25.

Quarter Century.

Dos Cinco, even. (If you're a relative of Chad Ocho Cinco)

Whatever you want to call it, I seem to be one of few in my entourage who are excited about, and looking forward to turning 25.

Being that my birthday is so late in the year, many of my friends have already been there, done that. Some had small outings or get-togethers. But many have passed unnoticed, like any other day of the year.

Now maybe it's because I've always been a big celebrator of birthdays, or maybe it's because I feel like it's the beginning of the rest of my life... but whatever it is, I say 25 BRING IT ON! I've been looking forward to this one since I turned 24, and although I'm no longer able to do the seven day long celebration that I intended, I'm still planning to go three days strong for the big 2-5.

25 signifies the beginning of something new - finishing school, moving out for good, starting a new career and embarking on "real" adulthood. I don't know about you, but all of that is pretty damn exciting to me!

Some people call it getting old, but as far as I'm concerned, I'm just getting started!

Let me take you down, I really wanna take you down...

All sexual references aside, this should be Bernard Pollard's theme song for the season.

I'm not a Pats fan. Anyone who knows me should know this about me.

Tom Brady, however, was supposed to be my knight in shining armour for this fantasy season. It felt good to have him, especially after an unforeseen mishap on draft day that left me on autodraft while my league-mates live drafted. It wasn't pretty folks.

But Tom Brady is. Very pretty.

He's also very injured.
Very torn ACL.
Very needs surgery.
Very out for the season.

But mon dieu, the man is pretty.

And thank God Favre is my backup... it's a pretty good deal as far as backup QBs go, and I'm thankful for that.

I decided to blog this a couple of days after the fact because I've calmed down quite a bit since Sunday afternoon. My initial reaction was: Brady's a bitch, hurry up and get back on the field... 3 points? Following this was any combination of: Effing Brady!; seriously?; you have to be kidding me!; He did this to spite me!

And the list goes on.

And then I heard talk of "ACL". Anyone who has ever played, or even watched a sport in their life knows that when talk of an ACL injury looms in the air, it's never a good thing.

First the depression set in: Man, this was supposed to be the good good.

Next, the reality: Okay, so for next week we'll have to switch in Favre... too bad he was on the bench this week just racking up the points that I can't use.

Finally, the human element: Shit. Tom Brady has a season ending ACL injury. That's actually sad, because he's a great athlete and this may have a lasting effect on his career.

It took me a couple of days, but I finally made it back around.

While many celebrate the accomplishment of Pollard's big take down, I mourn my fantasy team leader, and a damn sexy personification of athleticism!