Monday Monday

Young Bill Krieger (Jan 6, 2003)

QOD

Ah, the joy of 40 years on the planet. Pulled a muscle tossing Ty into his car seat this morning... prompting, this quote of the day:

"Monday Monday

Can't trust that day"

- Mamas and the Papas

Football Ruminations

Nibl, schmibl. Did you catch any of the boffo football games this weekend?

• Friday night - I had the distinct pleasure of watching the Miami/OSU game with a true Buckeye, Dick Jones from OCP. The Ohio State victory was, in my long-term-memory-disabled state, the best collegiate football game I've ever seen. In the games 3+ hour span, Dick Jones reached the highest highs and the lowest lows. I was glad OSU prevailed, so that a trip to the emergency room was not required.
• Saturday night - While attending a very high-level meeting of the Nibl patriarchy (at a local sports bar), I got to catch the dismantling of the Green Bay Packers... the team, Brett Fav-ray, the mystique, and all the little cheeseheads who boo-hoo'ed all the way back to their fish fry's and old fashioned's. That was all good. I also got to watch my guy, Z, dismantle the Bull and put up 40+ for America's favorite team, the Aruba Thong.
• Sunday - I missed the Cleveland debacle. I wish I missed the end of the NY Giants disaster. I have quite the Bay Area callous and despise the Niners. I lived there from 1986-1990 and experienced many a Bear victory at the hands of the Niners. Then, there was the Cub loss to the Giants in the 1989 playoffs, which I'd rather not talk about. 

The Game(s) of Week 10

The supremacy of the East was barely challenged in the first week of inter-conference play, as the East won 5 of 8 contests. Diablo's 361-328 pummeling of Cap City saved the day for the weaker Western Conference.

Week 10's premier match-up:

Walla Walla (8-1) at Aruba (7-2)

Aruba leads the league in scoring, but Walla is stacked. Shit, the Bailey Boys won the Nick Van Exel derby, and then promptly sat his ass on the end of their loaded bench. Aruba is razor thin with Toni Kukoc on IR, and Peja and Grant Hill  spending less time on the court than Don Fenton does working at the office.

Another interesting game this week is:

Nantucket (4-5) at Cap City (6-3)

Nantucket has won 4 of 5 games with the return of Shaq. I recently had waffles with Nantucket Jack, and he was pretty confident. "It's not too hard to figure out. The Lakers will make the playoffs, and so will the Buckets. I'm going to treat Cap City, just like this waffle," he said and then proceeded to throw a syrup-laden waffle up into his ceiling fan. It's getting pretty intense in Nantucket these days.

And, one for the history books:

West Chicago (3-6) at Manila (6-3)

Four of the five Nibl championship banners hang in the rafters of these two teams. Manila is having another great season, but West Chicago has stumbled badly out of the gate. One has to ask: Is this the end of evil as we know it?

In five years, West Chicago has never had a losing season. Can I repeat that: West Chicago has never had a losing season. Shit, Don Fenton has never lost more than 9 games in a season... last year's 16-9 campaign. The Beater's regular season record in the first five years: 81-25. 

Well, West Chicago is 3-6 this season. Injuries to Vince Carter and Dikembe have been crippling, but there's more going on here. Alan Houston? Keith Van Horn? Gilbert Arenas? There's not a 30 nibl guy in the bunch. 

So, I'll ask the inevitable... is Don Feton slipping or what? Of course, I had the Niners scratched out of the playoffs after three quarters yesterday too, so we shall see.

The rest of 2003

The rest of this season?

Hey, send me some Nibl Notes. So far, Plainfield and Rip City have been the only contributors this year. BTW, Rip City is at Plainfield this week. I love RobTriol, but his expertise is clearly in fantasy football. Take Plainfield and give the 12 nibls (the line in Vegas).

I'm going to pick on two teams that are playing each other each week to send in Nibl Notes by next Sunday. Let's see...

Point Blank - Justin and Eddie

at

DuPage - Brian

OK guys, send your notes to the Nibl email by Sunday noon. Both these teams are currently 3-6 and on the precipice of oblivion. Send me your thoughts on any topic. That is all.

As for the rest of the season, I think the Eastern Conference race is going to rock. The battle for the deadly East is shaping up to be epic this year. Aruba, Vegas, Cap City, Manila are all within a game of each other, and all are tallying better than 300 nibls a game. Napa Valley is a scant game behind this pack. These are old, storied rivalries. This could be our closest (and angriest) playoff race ever!

Dream Interpretation

I had a dream last night that our twisted, cranky little black dog, Sammie, bit my wife, and we had to get rid of him. This after a day of him traipsing through the snow and mud on every occasion he had. Interpretation?

nibl... yow, bill