Who Do I Think I Am??

This one's about what they call it in church...

...(Or, the separation between religion and football).

What's up everybody? Sorry I missed a day...got up early to take the fine lady to work, went back to sleep, woke up with enough time to get myself to work, and by the time I came home I was just too spent to be any sort of productive. I know you'll forgive me.

In lieu of details of the last few days, let's look ahead, shall we? Saturday is Christmas Eve already. And boy don't ya know it, but I've got some plans. My buddy Adam scored some tix to the Bills game, and requested my presence, which was very, very nice of him. After finagling my schedule, I was able to confirm my attendance. And that's a great feeling, when you can make things work out for ya during times like these.

So what does this mean? The morning of Christmas Eve will be spent in the parking lot of Ralph Wilson Stadium, and the afternoon will be spent inside of same said stadium. Watching a stumbling Bills team take on the phenomenon swiffering the nation known to us mere mortals as "Tebow". You know, as in "Tim" Tebow. As in...well, you get it.

Dude takes a lot of heat for his ways, and by "heat" I don't mean "packing his gun while up in the club". Dude's hardcore religious. And that's cool. While he might throw out a verse here or there, or the standard-issue "Praise Jesus"-tinged post-game remark, he's not using his locker as a soapbox, trying to convert NFL fans over to Christianity one by one.

And while in most of his games he's led his team off to abysmal starts, he (or is it He?) finds a way almost always to pull it out in the 4th quarter. I mean, unsatifying throwing mechanics aside, what else is there to say about the kid? Dude wins.

Conversely, since Buffalo's Ryan Fitzpatrick finally signed his contract extension, his stats (and the Bills' season) have gone in the tank. While not totally his fault, he has looked far from impressive the last few weeks, save a drive or two here and there. Given how both teams have performed in the last two months, I don't think it'd be a stretch to say you could look at either team and think at one point earlier in the season their records would be what the other team currently has. But that's life in the NFL. That whole "any given sunday" schtick...

Anyway, I'm hoping for a good game, and a solid Buffalo breeze that goes through the spine of the former Florida Gator. You know, the same one that used to affect all of the Southern Californian QB's we used to draft or sign as free agents. Or, the same ones that wouldn't affect the Pennsylvanian-born QB's, or the ones that made their careers in Canada before crossing the Peace Bridge to resurrect their NFL careers in The 'Lo. Just sayin'.

CHRISTMAS MUSICAL BREAK (X2)!!

I'll double-up today for missing a day...songs I haven't heard in years, but songs I grew up on. Enjoy!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wIRP4Xvu_bs

All this video needs to accompany the seizure-inducing hat this puppet wears are some back-up puppet singers and a backdrop that didn't look like I hung the decorations after too much egg nog, followed by a little more egg nog.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eKT5eUI333k

VITAL STATS:

I don't even care where our seats are on Saturday...all I know is that they're inside The Ralph. And I'll actually be going with someone that wants me to go with them, rather than someone who offered me a ticket, only to renege and feel bad enough to buy me a ticket a few sections over, where I had to sit by myself. Yeah, that was the last time I went to a Bills game, maybe seven or eight years ago. Thanks for that memory, *unnamed family member that denies my existence*.

Thankfully, as of earlier today, there were still 24,000 seats available for this damn Bills game. Know what that means? Ain't gonna be so much traffic in Orchard Park!! That's the biggest pain in the ass, in my opinion, about going to a Bills game. Orchard Park is a suburb about 20-25 minutes from me, but it's HELL on gameday Sundays, even when you're not going to the game. I used to work about five minutes from the stadium, and it could be hell trying to get to work, even if nobody was gonna be at your mall because they were all at the game.

So this whole "Tebowing" thing...is it necessary? Is he truly an athlete worth emulating? When we were kids playing pickup football (on the corner lot of a once-prestigious church, no less), we emulated the moves of our idols. We wanted to be "this guy" or "that guy". We wanted to do what our professional heroes did. If I ran a kickoff or an interception back for a touchdown, I'd do the Deion Sanders high-step sway into the end zone when I knew I wasn't gonna be caught. (Like this, at about 28 seconds, and again near the end...I'd put my hand behind my head and start high-striding when I knew I had 6, just like Prime Time... http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=j01EfdyZtaU)

But nowadays, this Tebow cat is different, and erryboddyy tryin' to catch a ride on his move...the simple one knee down, elbow resting on the up knee with the forehead holding the fist down in a comtemplative guise. Where does that come from? What happened to God-fearing NFL ballers just tossing the ball to refs and pointing up quick at their savior before accepting congradulatory hand slaps from teammates? Why this almost unseen act of solitude on a football field, in the midst of a team game? I don't get it. When Tebow goes to mass, and his minister has led them through almost 50 minutes of boring, nonsense drivel, does the minister wrap it up with some wham-bang, 10-minute long praise chorus, kick ass breakdown that makes the last fifty before seem meaningless, and then spike his bible as if he just scored a game-winning touchdown in the final minute of mass? Maybe that's what I don't get about religious people...and that's why I'll never try to tie religion into football again.

And please, don't preachy me as to how special your respective religions are. That don't make me likey. They're great for you, and I respect that. I don't make you respect the King Of Beers, and mutual admiration is all I ask for. Please, and thank you.

All that said, I'd be remiss if I didn't pass this along. It's been shared many times, but tonight is my time to share it. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=d1sf5yqZX-k

And that's about where I'm gonna leave off for tonight. I'll make up for all of my past sins later and live for another day. Give thanks, and don't forget to live, love and laugh, or something like that. Peace out everyone, and GOODNIGHT NOW!!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WQ6vat1DIRI