So This Is Christmas

Merry Christmas is such an infectious feeling I like to feel that way all year around.

So if you are visiting just before Christmas, just after Christmas or even here on Christmas day I am sure you will find something of interest for you and in the spirit of Christmas.

It may be said that Christmas is no longer a celebration but this must be spoken by people that have never had trouble closing their eyes on Christmas Eve in an expectation of what maybe left for them on the carpet under the tree.

I continue to look forward to the surprise on my Grandchild's faces to this day at Christmas events.

Merry Christmas - Merry Christmas - Merry Christmas

Saturday, January 9, 2010

Cowboys, Romo Make Short Work Of Seahawks

By Ross Everett

Quarterback Tony Romo had another solid game, and the Dallas Cowboys made short work of the Seattle Seahawks on Sunday afternoon in a 38-17 victory. Romo threw for 256 yards and three touchdowns with no interceptions, and receiver Miles Austin caught a touchdown pass for the third straight game.

The Cowboys also got on the winning side of the NFL pointspread ledger with the win and cover as -10 home favorites. Dallas is now 4-3 against the spread for the season, while Seattle fell to 2-5 versus the number. The 55 combined points scored went OVER the posted total of 46'.

Romo has made greater patience in the pocket a priority this season, and it's paying dividends. Sunday's game was his third straight without an interception and he's stayed interception free in five games this season-more than he did all of last year. Romo couldn't resist a joke at his own expense:

"Shock! I'm seeing things. It's as simple as that. I'm not throwing and hoping."

Head coach Wade Phillips expressed his pleasure, but didn't want his team to start believing their own press clippings:

"I feel good about the progress we've made, but we've still got a ways to go."

Team owner Jerry Jones was happy with the performance and already looking ahead to next Sunday's game at Philadelphia:

"I'm just glad to see as many people really do as well and play as well as they did today. Philadelphia is the kind of game that I think we're ready for. ... Plus, I think we all remember so much -- I know I do and so many players on this team remember -- how we left Philadelphia last year."

Seattle quarterback Todd Hasselbeck played well, amassing 249 yards and two touchdowns with no interceptions but didn't get much help from a defense that couldn't put the necessary pressure on Romo. He sounded frustrated in his postgame comments:

"We put two weeks into this game plan. I felt like we were ready. We just didn't get it done. .... I feel physically drained, emotionally drained. I'm frustrated. We're all searching for answers."

The big game for the Cowboys that Jerry Jones alluded to is next Sunday night as they travel to Philadelphia to face the Eagles. The Cowboys have been installed as +3 underdogs with the total set at 47'. They'll head to Green Bay to take on the Packers the following Sunday before returning home to play the hated Washington Redskins. Seattle will host the lowly Detroit Lions next Sunday, with the Seahawks a -10 home favorite and the total set at 43. They'll hit the road for their next two games, facing the Arizona Cardinals and Minnesota Vikings.

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Blue Jackets Blow Lead, Lose To Penguins In Shootout

By Ross Everett

The Columbus Blue Jackets learned a valuable lesson about NHL hockey on Friday night-it's dangerous to 'sit on a lead' and particularly against the defending Stanley Cup champion Pittsburgh Penguins. Down 3-1, Pittsburgh tied the game late in the third period as Ruslan Fedotenko and Alex Goligoski each lit the lamp with less than three minutes remaining. After a scoreless overtime period, Sidney Crosby scored the only goal of the shootout to give the Penguins an improbable 4-3 victory. It was the 9th win in ten games for Pittsburgh, who are a perfect 6-0-0 on the road. Columbus lost for the fifth time in six games.

NHL hockey betting enthusiasts cashed wagers on the road underdog Penguins, but on the moneyline at +117 and the puckline. Pittsburgh has gotten off to a great start this year, going 11-2-0 in the first month of the season. Columbus is struggling to stay above .500 at 6-5-1. The 7 combined goals scored went OVER the posted total of 5'. The Blue Jackets have gone OVER in 7 of 12 games this season, while the Penguins have a NHL totals mark of 5-7-1.

Crosby's game winning score in overtime wasn't exactly the stuff of highlight reels, with the puck barely trickling over the line:

"It was kind of a fluky. The puck kept going. I don't know if he lost it or he didn't know where it was or whatever. I just tried a quick shot. I thought he had the save there. It just trickled in."

Jackets' goalie Steve Mason gave this version of Crosby's shot:

"It hit my stick and I didn't get it settled until it was over the line. It just trickled over and I was too late on it."

Penguins' left winger Chris Kunitz scored a shorthanded goal and praised the leadership abilities of team captain Crosby:

"It shows a lot of character from our captain. He goes out and he's never quitting on anything. Sometimes a team goes packing, down by two with 3 minutes left. But he goes out, he's on the bench, he's saying, 'Let's get the next one.' So we go out there and he finds himself the puck and he gets it to Goligoski, he gets a great shot and puts it in the net to get us to overtime."

Columbus' Rick Nash suggested that his team is having trouble 'closing out' games:

"We're not closing games. We got the lead in a lot of the games already and just can't seem to close it out. They are the defending Stanley Cup champions. You can tell why they're such a good team. We are a team that needs to learn how to play with the lead."

Pittsburgh will host Minnesota on Saturday night before heading to southern California next week for games against the Los Angeles Kings and Anaheim Ducks. Columbus will play at Washington on Sunday before hosting the San Jose Sharks next Wednesday. That'll be followed by a game in Atlanta against the Thrashers the next night.

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The 5 Secrets About Why Every Gym Rips You Off.

By Elizabeth Allen

Gyms are massively overrated. Maybe you are going to one now, or you had a great experience with one before, but let me tell you that there are plenty of reasons to give up the gym and find another way to work out.

And hey, if you're in love with the gym as-is, then you've got nothing to worry about. But if you're thinking of a change, peruse these 5 reasons and make a new choice.

#5: Gym Prices Tend to Be Rather Obscene.

Face it - the gym is expensive. If you are living in a big city, memberships can run upwards of $100/month, and there are no compensation if you don't happen to go for a few weeks. Unless you're lucky and have access to a student gym on the cheap, paying full membership price will seriously hurt your wallet. Gyms like making money.

#4: The Kind of People Who Seriously Frequent Gyms? Nuts.

You start to see the same people over and over at the gym, and they get into specific routines. These routines can become more and more absurd, because these people know they're being watched in close quarters. That is why you have to deal with the spectacle of Mr. thickest-neck-ever coming in and grunting his way through 30 unnecessarily heavy repetitions in front of you. Nowhere else in the world do you have to put up with stuff like that.

#3: The Sweat of Others is Not Pleasant.

While it should be standard practice to wipe down every single machine you use with a towel (and possibly a nice spray) before letting anyone else onto it, the fact of the matter is that not all the people at the gym are so warm and sunny. More times than I care to count I've seen people get off a machine and just leave it there, dripping, waiting for someone else to show up and clean the disgusting sweat off.

#2: Doing the Same Crap Every Day Will Drive You Insane.

No matter how may audio books you go through, magazines you bring, albums you listen to, or variations in exercise you try and do, you'll eventually be repeating yourself in a gym, where - face it - you're confined into a little room for hours, doing the same repetitive movements over and over until you can feel a difference. Life is too short.

#1: You are Completely Free Outside.

If you work out at home or outdoors, you can literally go wherever you want. You can invent new running routes every single day, stop in a different park and do body weight exercises, take a resistance band out in public and work out there is no limit when it comes to opening and closing hours, no boring repetition, and no costs.

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Delhomme Continues To Struggle In Panthers' Loss To Bills

By Ross Everett

Carolina Panthers' quarterback Jake Delhomme is having a season he'd like to forget, and things got even worse on Sunday at home against the Buffalo Bills. Despite dominating the Bills on the stat sheet, Delhomme threw three interceptions that allowed Buffalo to take a 20-9 victory over the struggling Panthers. Delhomme threw for 325 yards, though without any touchdowns. His three picks pushed his total for the year to- which leads the NFL. The Panthers dropped to 2-4 while the Bills improved to 3-4.

Buffalo rewarded NFL pointspread players with the outright victory as +7 road underdogs. The Bills have covered four of their seven games this season, while the Panthers have an awful record against the spread-they've only covered once this season for a 1-5 ATS mark. The 29 combined points went UNDER the posted total of 37.

The Bills' Terrell Owens was again a non-factor, but gave credit to the defense for earning the victory:

"You can't really complain about a win. Defensively, those guys are keeping us in ballgames."

Buffalo defensive end Chris Kelsay commended his team's performance on the road:

"Never once on the sidelines was there any doubt that we were going to win the game. Regardless if it's an ugly win over not, it's hard to win in this league."

Ryan Fitzpatrick started at QB for Buffalo in place of the injured Trent Edwards and was solid, if not spectacular. Coach Dick Jauron observed:

"He made the plays when we had to make them."

Panthers' coach John Fox has said he's going to're-evaluate' whether the struggling Delhomme should continue to start, and even the quarterback himself couldn't make an emphatic case that he should keep his job:

"In my heart, yeah, but I mean let's be honest, I don't think I'm a dummy. When you're not playing well offensively, you always have to look at the quarterback."

The Panthers' schedule doesn't get easier this week as they head west for a game against the improving Arizona Cardinals. Carolina is a +9 road underdog with the total set at 43'. They'll head south the following week to face the red hot New Orleans Saints. Buffalo will host the Houston Texans this weekend, with the game currently off the board due to injuries on both teams.

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Steelers Send Vikings To First Defeat Of Season

By Ross Everett

Brett Favre and the Minnesota Vikings are undefeated no more. The Pittsburgh Steelers' used a couple of big plays from their defense in the fourth quarter to break open a close game and defeat the Vikings by a final score of 27-17. Favre put up decent yardage in the loss, throwing for 334 yards but had no touchdowns and an interception.

NFL pointspread players who backed the Steelers as -6 home favorites were rewarded with the cover. Pittsburgh had only covered one of their first six games heading into the contest, and the win improved their record against the number to 2-5. Minnesota dropped to 4-3 against the spread with the setback. The 44 points scored went UNDER the posted total of 46'.

The Steelers largely shut down Minnesota's rushing game, holding Adrian Peterson to 69 yards. Pittsburgh safety Ryan Clark underscored his team's dominance against the run:

"That's the biggest point of the game. You have the best running back in the world and you don't give it to him. They're saying they can't beat us running, and that's a major statement when you have the guy they have back there."

Favre gave a feeble justification for the loss in his postgame interview:

"There were a lot of what ifs, a lot of reasons we didn't win. The red zone was one of them. They're physical, and they were as good as we thought they'd be. ... When I came here and looked at our schedule and saw the Steelers game, I went, 'Oh-h-h.' "

Favre has only thrown three interceptions in a Vikings' uniform, but #3 was a costly one as it was returned by Steelers' Keyaron Fox for a touchdown to put the game out of reach as Minnesota was driving for a potential game tying field goal. Afterwards, Fox recalled the play:

"Brett tried to force it in there and the running back bobbled it and slipped out of his hands and it fell into my lap. I had just run across the field after Peterson and I was winded, so it felt like it was 100-plus yards."

The Vikings now face another big game next week as they head to Favre's old stomping grounds in Green Bay for a battle with the Packers. It'll be Favre's first appearance at his old home in an enemy uniform. The Vikings are a +3 road underdog with the total set at 48. The Vikings will then have a bye weekend before hosting the lowly Detroit Lions on November 15. Pittsburgh will enjoy a bye week this week before returning to action on Monday, November 9th facing the Denver Broncos on the road.

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