AFL New York Jets

Next in my review of the AFL 50th anniversary teams is the New York Jets, AKA Titans.

When I went out to the Jets site, I saw the team banner, ticket ad and a picture of Kerry Rhodes.

OK so, yes Rhodes is a great player. Funny, I would not have thought of him as the feature player to put on the banner, but hey, defense wins championships and he is one of the best at what he does.

An article about Leon Washington still a no-show for the team activities. Maybe that is why he does not get top billing...

A to be expected article about training camp starting up and all the hopeful expectations.

Everything else was about the Flight Crew. The Flight Crew of course being the Cheerleaders.

The next big thing was the new stadium and a really cool 3D interactive representation of the yet to be completed stadium. The headline being that the fans deserve a championship stadium. Certainly the prices were championship prices.

Speaking of the fans. The Jets had an interesting page for die hard fans who are away on travel and or at an away city. On this page, you could find all the Jets Friendly Bars and night spots for viewing Jets Games.

Other than that there was nothing.

No big time widgets...

No big time 50th anniversary web page...

No really interesting topicality...
(maybe they should sign MV, after all, the other NY team got TO and all the attention that goes along with him!)

So,
I give 1/2 a thumb for their retro 50th anniversary uniform
and a 1/2 thumb for their lame web site.

Next up Oakland Raiders!

To see all of the AFL Eight 50th Anniversary Teams, click HERE.

To vote for your favorite, check out he top left widget next to the post.

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Can you imagine...

At the risk of starting posting wars with SAM... By the way great post Sam - even though it did make my stomach turn.

And here is why...

The following numbers have been "unofficially" retired by the Redskins:

#7 Joe Theismann;
#9 Sonny Jurgensen;
#28 Darrell Green;
#42 Charley Taylor;
#43 Larry Brown;
#44 John Riggins;
#49 Bobby Mitchell;
#51 Monte Coleman;
#65 Dave Butz;
#70 Sam Huff;
#81 Art Monk

And you can include Sean Taylor #21 in this list as well...

Can you imagine the uproar of putting Vick in #7 and trying to associate him and that number with any of these guys!!!

Especially, whether you like him or not, replacing Theismann?

NO WAY!

But hey, there are plenty of other numbers available...

Hopefully #17 will not become one of them...

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at this juncture...

Oh palease!

I hate talk like this but, of course, I should not be surprised. Everyone, from players, to personnel, to management and yes, even sports prognosticators...

They all talk the talk.

I was driving home listening to the radio and Coach Zorn was talking about the start of training camp and yes, the topicality of the day Michael Vick.

"Well, I think Michael's on his journey. ... I want to wish the best for him. I think there's a way that he and Roger Goodell have created to find his way back into the league," Zorn said, a day before Washington's first practice of training camp. "I would just say it won't be with us, at least at this juncture."

Translation...

If the Redskins open the season 0 - 2, Ol' Danny Boy will be knocking on Micheal's door.

Here is hoping that Campbell has the breakout year everyone is hoping for!

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It's Football Time!

Tuesday marked the first practice of the county youth football league.

Because it is the summer, and in the middle of vacation season and the first practice, we only had about half the team for our first practice.

But we did have fun and did get a lot done!

For some reason, this year they have a rule that every player has to follow the same practice schedule of

day1) shirts and shorts,
day2) light pads
day3) helmets
day4) full pads

I'm not exactly sure why. Maybe because of injury. Maybe because of the summer heat. Maybe because of conditioning.















I don't know. But what I do know is that we have a good mix of players, ages and sizes for the Pee Wee Falcons.

And we are all looking forward to the upcoming season!

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A Good Bill

OK, So as you know from my last post, I was called for Jury Duty.

This was not the "typical" jury duty that everyone thinks of where you get screened by the judge, defense, and prosecution.

No, this was a summons for Grand Jury!

Basically we had nearly 100 indictments to review, along with witnesses (most of which were Police officers or Detectives).

We had to decide (4 out of 6) majority that the indictment presented a reasonable case to go to trial and deem the indictment as a "good bill".
It was actually kind of cool, sobering, and instilled a better appreciation of what law enforcement personnel go through on a daily basis.

Rule #1: If you are a drug addict, dealer or alcoholic; please verify (or continue to not do so) that ALL your brake lights work! I can not tell you how many "repeat" offenders were now Felons because of the this little maintenance item and 3 strikes you're out rule. All because of what started out as a routine traffic stop.

Rule #2: Drug addicts, dealers, and alcoholics rarely are concerned about minor issues as a missing brake light and are actually quite stupid.

Rule #3: After serving this civic duty as grand juror, you will know all the known "hot spots" in your county to avoid and what really goes on at that local hotel.

All in all, I actually enjoyed it, except for hearing about one or two truly hideous crimes, but that, unfortunately goes along with the territory of being a Grand Juror.

OH, and one of our grand jurors was an ex-cop who had been previously selected for 4 regular trial jury selections and turned down each and every single time.

And no, he did not have to claim preggo status. Rather, when asked if he could review a case with an impartial and open mind he replied "Well, I can try...". This always was followed by the quizzical look and question; "Why do you say that?"

His Answer... "In all my years of being a cop, not one person I arrested, and subsequently sent to trial was innocent. Not one. They were all guilty. That is why they were in court. Not because they might be innocent, but because they were guilty and needed to be punished. But, if selected to serve, I guess I can try to think of them as innocent until proven guilty but I just do not see it that way."

He has never been nor will he probably ever be selected for normal jury duty.

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Jury Duty...

No work today.

I've been called for duty!

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Point the fan over here - Please...

So, Saturday was the hottest day of the year...
And Sunday was a close second....
Guess what happened?











Can't wait to see this bill !!!

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Kings Dominion

Saturday was our companies annual picnic at Kings Dominion.

Of course after a summer of fairly mild temperatures, yesterday had to be the hottest day of the year so far!!!

90+ degrees and a lot of humidity !!!



But, thankfully Kings Dominion has plenty of rides that are in the shade and a water park and a Log Flume
















At one point we went up their 1/3 replica of the Eiffel Tower. Even at 1/3 the height, we get a great view of the park and surrounding area. And on a hot day, such as yesterday, the elevator has AC and there was a really good breeze at the top which was nice and cool!




Here is the newest thrill ride "The Dominator" which opened last year and is billed as the longest "floorless" roller coaster and has the largest loop!

















Of course the lines were insane and it is not in the shade so we did not try this one. Maybe next year it will rain...

Here we have the ever popular Volcano !















It opened a few years ago and still get 2+ hour lines. My oldest daughter and I went on this the year it opened. My opinion is that no ride is worth a 2 hour wait, except the for the first one.
With the Volcano, one is hurled 155 feet upwards in a hanging inverted position reaching speeds of up to 70 miles per hour and pulling over 4 G's.

But, if you are like me, nothing beats the good ol' fashion wood roller coaster. And Kings Dominion has 3 of the best.

First, and definitely the one which will jostle you the most is the Grizzly!



Next is the Hurler!

This video is hilarious because the guy who took it accidentally hit the zoom feature on his camera. I am including it only because I nearly fell off my chair laughing!!!
It really is a great ride!



And last but certainly not least is the classic Rebel Yell!
A double coaster where one can go forwards or backwards!


All in all a good day at the park which was enjoyed by all!!!

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AFL New England Patriots and Elton John...

At first glance, and viewing of the New England Patriots home page, you see a variety of relevant, sports and football related items such as:
- A special event featuring Hall of Famer Andre Tippett
- News and video of training camp and rookies and contract status
- 50th Anniversary
- Team blogs
- Tickets and promotions

All nice and clean and easily clickable.

So, why did I mention Elton John?

Well, if you click on the team blog link, you will find a story about the Billy Joel and Elton John concert recently held in the Boston area.

During his show with Billy Joel at Gillette Stadium Saturday night Elton John dedicated “Tiny Dancer” to Patriots Owner Robert Kraft and his wife Myra. A longtime friend of the Krafts, John (hey, kind of looks funny when you only use his second name!) also called the Patriots his team and said he’d be serving as New England’s honorary captain for its game Oct. 25 against the Bucs in London.

That should get the brits out to the game and give the networks plenty of topicality.

Clicking on the top display bar, or most of the other links, will get you past the initial splash screen web page and into the meat and potatoes of the site.

Here you will find an interesting assortment of 50th anniversary links and plenty of ways to increase fan involvement over the web.

You can download any number assortment of widgets such as:

The Calendar:


or

Patriot News and Blog updates:







The 50th anniversary part of the site is different than any other teams which I have viewed to date.

They do not have a "all time" team page or pick you best player page.

Instead, they have a pick your all time greatest top 10 moments in Patriots History.



















One can even leave comments on the selections.

Pretty Cool!

There is also a section on commemorative license plates and if you want a "low" number jersey plate, you can go online and bid for you favorite Patriot number in an auction.








Proceeds go to the Patriots Charity Organization.








So with a good clean web page, relevant material, unique 50th anniversary pages and promotional products and, oh yeah, a decent retro uniform....











Two thumbs up to the New England Patriots.

Next up: The New York Jets!

And you can view all the 50th anniversary team uniforms here and cast you own vote at the top left hand side of the post.

Cheers!

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Idle Ramblings...

OK, so I was bored and idly surfing digg.com random selections.
I actually kind of like Digg.com for researching new, up and coming stories, and filtering content on my particular interests.

Well, this is what my idle random clicks came up with for this week.

A creative beggar...

















Economic truth and consequences...
















Elvis Grbac: Not as sexy as initially indicated...From Jeff Pearlman












One of my favorite all-time stories is about Elvis Grbac (left), Rich Gannon (right) and People Magazine’s Sexiest Men issue from 1998. It is both outlandish and 100-percent true.

Back in the day I knew many People staffers, and they were all cool, fun, intelligent—and woefully ignorant about sports. Every year, in planning the Sexiest Men issue, People’s editors would ask a bunch of us at Sports Illustrated for suggestions and insight. In 1998, for a reason I’ll never understand, they decided not to seek out help.

The magazine chose Rich Gannon as its Sexiest Athlete. At the time, Gannon was a member of the Kansas City Chiefs. Still a couple of seasons removed from his golden tenure with the Raiders, Gannon was 33, handsome and likable. In other words, a solid choice. Yet People, being People, simply informed the photographer assigned to the piece that the Sexiest Athlete was the Chiefs’ quarterback. Hence, he took pictures of the Chiefs’ quarterback. Well, one of the Chiefs’ quarterbacks: Elvis Grbac.

Yup.

The pictures made their way back to the New York offices, and editors were dumbfounded. This was their Sexiest Athlete? Yet upon learning the truth, no one with the magazine had the heart (guts?) to tell Grbac that an unfathomable mistake had been made. As a result, Elvis Grbac reigns as People’s 1998 Sexiest Athlete.

The article’s final line says it all: “His personality makes him sexy.”

Amen.

And a title that is funny, even if the article is not...

Texting Teen Falls Down Manhole















An interesting but, in my opinion, somewhat useless, ad campaign...

86-RedSox-Victoria-Secret






















Roller Skating taken to new heights...




Is this Mr. Stick or a member from a distant branch of the family...






And one I found a couple weeks ago all by myself... (sort of)...

So, You think it is easy to just stand up there and give a weather report...
A couple of inept Penguins prove otherwise...

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Another way to provide relief to the american people...

From my friends at Mint.com

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3 of 8 AFL Kansas City Chiefs

I almost like this retro 50th anniversary combination. The colors, almost remind me of the Redskins, so this is cool. But the helmet reminds me too much of a college team design...

So what does the Kansas City Chiefs web site look like?

My first impression was really cool. An nicely done splash screen clickable image as an intro!

Take a look...


















Unfortunately, after viewing Da Bills and Broncos web sites, I was left somewhat unimpressed with the rest of the site.

Here is the best of the rest...

At Number 7 (yes 7!) on the featured story list...

Matt Cassel signs contract extension









Other featured stories include ones like these...

Death of longtime Trainer Wayne Rudy










New and Renovated Stadium













Perhaps the suprise low of this site was the online games link(s)....

NFL Rush













This is a TOTALLY KC UNRELATED site which features a bunch of games and a really cool video on Drew Brees and the Saints… (all from the KC site?) go figure…

But if you want to stick with the KC sponsored games...

You can play hangman














or

Scramble















I had to hunt around to find anything related to the 50th anniversary.

I finally found something interesting under the "History" section of the web site.

The foolish club – AFL 8



















And a piece on the KC Hall of Fame






And an interest article on the Chiefs Uniform History

No "pick your all time team"

No widgets

But, like the Broncos, you can follow the Chiefs on Twitter...











All 3679 fans.

All in all - 1/2 a thumb up.... ouch!

Next up, the New England Patriots.

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I've won an Award !!!

Wow! I'm an award winning blogger!

Holy Crap!
Ooops sorry I forgot to keep it PG rated.

I think I need a celebration dance !!!


Alas, like everything else in the world, nothing is free and there are "rules" attached. But hey and award is an award !!!

So, here are the rules for the award:


1. Thank the person who nominated you for this award.

- XO XO to my wife and fellow blogger for bestowing upon me this honorable award !!!

2. Copy the logo and place it on your blog.

- Yup, here in the post and listed below my profile.

3. Link to the person who nominated you for this award.

- Her profile and blog

4. Name seven things about yourself that people might find interesting.

- I'm going to cheat on this one, and let folks click on this link.

5. Nominate seven Kreativ Bloggers.

- How convenient, I only have seven followers... ;-)

6. Post links to the seven blogs you nominate.

- Actually, since one of the seven is my wife, I will pick from some of the blogs I happen to follow...

Football news from a chick!

Snot Bubble Football

My Open Wallet

Life with Dogs

Gimps Wonderful Thoughts

The Mission

This day in sports


7. Leave a comment on each of the blogs, letting them know they have been nominated.

- :-) consider this an advanced warning !!!

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2 of 8 - AFL Denver Broncos

Personally, I like the other old style of the "D" better. Then of course there is the image of the Buckn' Bronco...













But as "retro" goes, the plain brown helmet is as perfect as it gets. I just can not for the life of me associate yellow with the Broncos...

OK, so lets look at the Broncos’ Home Page…
Right of the top, who do you think the Broncos have chosen to be the face of the franchise?






The Cheerleaders!

Yes, the two very top items are an ad for a charity event...
Race with the cheerleaders!

and

Right below it is the Broncos’ Logo and another picture of the cheerleaders in the background.

Seems the Broncos’ couldn’t find someone to be the face of the franchise, so they picked the entire cheerleading squad!

This is what they had to say about the Cheerleaders, (and I quote)
..."The Denver Broncos Cheerleaders are one of the premier teams in the National Football League. The Broncos are proud of the work the team does both on the field and most importantly in the community."

OK, so further down, in the middle of the page one can find a display area for Top Stories, Photos, and Blogs.

This looks a little bit more "football" promising...

Top stories include:

Chasing the NFL Dream !
Alphonso Smith and his life long pursuit of chasing pro dreams. He hails from the same Belle Glade area which has produced the likes of Arizona's Anquan Boldin, Pittsburgh's Santonio Holmes and New England's Fred Taylor. A place that University of Florida head coach Urban Meyer once called "the fastest place in the entire country."
What makes this area so special? Well everyone credits the mucky soil and chasing and catching rabbits as the secret to their success.

Don’t believe me, read the article...


Switch Hitter


Darrel Reid is making the switch from DT to LB.



PHOTOS:
Red Rock workouts where the team went to Red Rock ampetheater. A beautiful outdoor ampetheater nestled between two 300 foot rock monoliths. It consists of nearly 70 rows of stairs and benches.








I get tired just looking at the pictures…

So, Regarding the 50th anniversary pages, they have a pretty cool "pick your team" page where, unlike Da Bills, you have a choice of different people for different positions.














They do not have a widget to add to a web page, but they do have a link for Twitter...




So, you can get all the updates on your favorite player and cheerleader!!!

All in all, an authentic looking retro helmet, but I hate the yellow jersey.

Though nice to look at, they need somebody else other than the cheerleaders to be the face of the franchise.

And a good 50th anneversary team page that gives you choices.

One thumbs up !

You can check out all the rest of the AFL 8 retro uniforms here.

And don't forget to vote for your favorite !

Up next... Kansas City Chiefs.

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