Now Hiring: McCain Concession Speech Writers

I can't believe he did this. He can't believe his voters took his words seriously, SO NOW WHAT? Get a good concession speech writer. It's over.

Love Hurts

Have you ever been cheated on? Even worse, have you ever found out from a third party? If so, you can imagine how I felt when I saw Brady Quinn on the evening news Wednesday night introducing John McCain as "the next President of the United States." I was heartbroken. Why Brady? Why? We were so close to having it all.

My choice now is to either work through my issues and see if I can salvage this relationship OR revenge. I am choosing revenge. Monday night when I attend the Browns/Giants game wearing my Brady Quinn jersey, I will also be wearing my "I Already Voted for Barack Obama" sticker right over Quinn's number.

As a sidenote to this story: After Quinn introduced McCain, McCain thanked him and wished him luck on Sunday. Does anyone know what Brady Quinn is doing Sunday?? I hope he isn't doing anything to hurt his chances of playing on MONDAY. Is anyone even briefing McCain before his speeches, or is he just hoping Palin will quote something smart off of a coffee cup? In case you missed it, last week Palin misquoted Madeline Albright who was quoted on the back of a Starbucks cup. I think Palin was choosing between that quote and: Caution! Beverage Is Extremely Hot!

Strongsville=Scaryville

I love the bike trails in Strongsville. I love the Brew Kettle in Strongsville. I love the way the MetroParks run through Strongsville into Berea and Rocky River. I even love tobogganing in Strongsville. As of this morning, though, there is one thing that scares me about Strongsville: The People.

Birthday Month

My birthday isn't until October 21st, but I received two gifts early this year, so I well be able to celebrate the whole month. Next Monday Julie is taking me to the Browns Monday Night Football game against the New York Giants, and yesterday my gift arrived from my parents, who will be out of town for my birthday. Waiting for me when I got home from work was this gem: I wanted something to work out with while I was watching television or on the computer, or just feeling too lazy to go to the gym. You can put it anywhere and just pedal or work on your arms while you are doing other things like drinking beer for instance. I love to multi-task.

It was a tough decision because I almost asked for this chair that I saw on the Ellen Degeneres show. Believe me, this video is worth watching.

VP Debate Thought For The Day

Cringe Debate '08

I am looking forward to the Vice-Presidential Debate tomorrow night...I think. Sarah Palin makes me smile everyday with her inadequacies. I can't stop watching her clips on You Tube. Yet, with all of her mistakes, you can't help but wonder if it's all an act. Nobody can really be that stupid, right? What if it's all a ploy to blow us away tomorrow night during the debate? What if she really does know about foreign policy and doesn't think that Alaska is a microcosm of America? Though this isn't my biggest fear. My biggest fear is that Joe Biden is going to be in front of a national audience tomorrow night trying not to look patronizing, pompous and elitist to the American viewer. Luckily Palin has made so many mistakes in her recent interviews that she even made Katie Couric (America's Sweetheart) look patronizing, pompous and elitist, so Biden won't be the only one.

Pssst....Democrats:

GO VOTE! In Ohio, anyone can vote early starting today and there are two ways in which you can vote.

Vote early in person:
There is an early voting location in every county in Ohio. . There is a five-day window, starting today, in which you can both register to vote and vote the same day. This will end at the registration deadline (October 6).

Vote early by mail:
To vote early by mail, download a copy of the absentee ballot request form http://www.sos.state.oh.us/sos/upload/elections/forms/11-A.pdf

Just in case you aren't sure who you are voting for, I chose this video to help you with your decision only because it isn't a spoof. This is a real video and these are their real answers, and this is how they really act in front of a camera. Could John McCain look any more uncomfortable? Apparently I am not the only one who gets a nervous twitch when Palin talks about foreign policy:

Why I Work Out So Much

I work out a lot. I try to go to the gym at least five times a week and bike when I get the chance. I am not the kind of person who works out to lose weight and stay in shape. I work out so that I can live my life the way I want to and not have to worry about gaining weight. If this is your first time to my blog: I like wings and beer. On top of that I also like to indulge in the Sunday Brunch at The Tap House in Tremont because they serve the most unbelievable breakfast burrito.It is loaded with chorizo sausage, cheese, hollandaise sauce, sour cream and more chorizo sausage. They also have a fabulous beer list including a breakfast stout pictured above (Not all three are mine).

This past weekend I doubled up on my work-outs for two reasons: I knew I was going to The Tap House for brunch on Sunday AND I knew I was going to The Beer Engine in Lakewood to celebrate Oktoberfest. Did I mention I like beer?

Kansas City Has The Right Idea!

The Browns' loss yesterday was humiliating. They looked horrible, and for the fifth game in a row, Derek Anderson looked like his arm was broken. He couldn't complete a pass to anyone wearing a white jersey. If he can't pull it together for the Cincinnati game, then I think it's time to make a change. I am going to start the "Brady, Brady!" chants. What I just found out, is that these chants aren't just happening in Cleveland. Kansas City has also started an organization to try and pry Brady Quinn from us. The website can be found here:The screenshot from the site is above and these people mean business. They have apparel and petitions being sent around the city to try and take OUR quarterback. It is amazing that these fans seem to like him even more than the Browns' coaching staff, and he is on OUR team.

Barracudas Are Scary Scary Animals!

In the past 15 minutes I have received five e-mail messages about Sarah Palin. Some negative and some positive. People are going to think whatever they want about this woman. It doesn't matter what she has done before now. You can't make her look any worse than she has already made herself look in the past: www.sarahpalinexposed.com, so stop trying. From here on out, it is smooth sailing for her. People are going to write her speeches (see the Republican National Convention speech) and set up "special" interviews on the Charles Gibson show for her. It is up to Americans to do the research to decide if they like her or not, and (AGAIN) gender should have nothing to do with this decision, right? Isn't that what Republicans said in the Spring when Hillary Clinton was "hiding behind her apron strings?"

I don't want gender or race to play a part in this election, but unfortunatley both will. I was hoping Palin's nomination would at least encourage more positive dialogue on gender, but it hasn't. Here is my take on gender and Sarah Palin: If she was a man, she would not be in the position she is in now. She would be seen as too conservative. McCain would never have picked her because she would be a man who: is against a woman making a choice about her own body, votes pro-gun on issues, puts church AHEAD of state, doesn't believe in civil liberties for all Americans and among other things wants creationism taught in public schools. What if McCain had picked a man who wanted ALL of these things? It was just a couple of years ago that Pat Buchanan wanted all of these things. Even Republicans were scared about Buchanan being nominated because of his extreme views. I know one Republican who wasn't scared: Sarah Palin. She was Pat Buchanan's 1996 Alaska State Coordinator.

As women, it seems easier to identify with other women. We all got our first period at some unexpecting moment, we have all been teased about insecurities, we have all felt sexism whether we knew it or not, we have been labeled as bitches, whores, sluts, the other woman, the weaker sex, the more sensitive sex and the list can go on and on. We are drawn together by common bonds that most men could never understand. I thought it was incredible when Hillary Clinton ran for president. I didn't vote for her, but I was proud of her and what she accomplished for women. When Condoleeza Rice became Secretary of State I was proud for what she had accomplished, but I again didn't agree with everything she had to say. When Sarah Palin was chosen as McCain's running mate, I not only didn't agree with her, I was scared by her ideologies. Now I understand how Republicans felt in 1996 when Buchanan tried for the nomination.

Benedict Arnold James

Many of you may remember last fall when LeBron James wore a Yankees cap to the Yankees-Indians game, and it just made my stomach turn. If you forgot, you can click here. Now I am beginning to wonder if James even cheers for the CAVS after watching him cheer on the Cowboys yesterday IN Browns Stadium. I bet he is a Steelers fan as well.

Jame is seen here hanging out with Adam "Pacman" Jones before the start of the Cowboys/Browns game on September 7, 2008.

Move Over Blogger, Here's Something Leaner

About a month ago, I joined a social community on-line (cult) called Twitter. This system allows you to update what you are doing or thinking by using your cellphone or computer. Essentially you have a maximum of 140 characters to type out something mundane or something witty, and you can do it endlessly all day. It is especially useful when you want to see what is going on around town or to keep up with your friends throughout the day. Twitter also brings people together on a national basis when major events are happening. Live twittering has been especially fun with people from around the country during the political conventions and other nationally shared experiences. Twitter is becoming so popular that many journalists are now using it to do real-time reporting instead of blogging, and what they have to say is usually a lot more important than the stuff I blurt out at 2am. Click to read story on Twitter's popularity.

This brings us to the important question of: Why do you care about my twittering? I am blogging about Twitter because I have added a new section to my blog. To the right you can see a new section called: The latest on Sportygrrl. These are my last five twitters, and they automatically post to my blog now. They are put on there in reverse order from newest to oldest and the time stamp is on the bottom. There will be times when I will be replying to other people on twitter with an @ symbol, and those twitters will make zero sense to you, but there will be times when my twitters may come in handy. I doubt my twitters will ever come in handy--I don't know who I am kidding, but I thought I would alert you to my newest addition.

It's The Most Wonderful Time Of The Year

If Labor Day weekend is officially the last weekend of summer, then my summer went out with a bang. I started the weekend out by researching my German ancestors at the Cuyahoga County Oktoberfest. When I say research, I really mean sampling a lot of beer and eating a lot of schnitzel and potatoe pancakes. The next day we headed to Buffalo to research the National Buffalo Wing Festival. In this case, when I say research, I really mean sampling wings from all over the country, drinking beer in a baseball stadium infield, finding cool bars all over the city and staying out until 4 am enjoying the suprisingly exciting Buffalo nightlife. We made it home the next day thirty minutes late for a party that WE were throwing. Luckily there was only one person there waiting for the hosts to arrive.

On top of all of this...IT'S FOOTBALL SEASON! I have waited patiently (not really) for the past seven months for football season to start again. With two fantasy teams ready to go, I am looking forward for the regular season to kick off tonight. I initially wanted to change my one team name to "The Sarah Palins," but I thought that might be too extreme. I don't want my team to come off as too conservative or inexperienced.

Along with all of these great experiences and two weeks of political convention drinking games that we have invented (Someone says "Change" and everyone has to drink), there is one more big event I am looking forward to, which will officially bring in the Fall. On September 13, the biggest gala in Cleveland, Pandemonium 08, will be taking place at Cleveland Public Theatre (CPT). This fundraising extravaganza includes live entertainment all night outside and inside the theatre along with free food, beer and wine stations set up all over the CPT campus. Last night I found my dream outfit for this event at a thrift store. The only problem is the shirt is a little snug. I am now about to begin my Nine-Day Pandemonium Diet of Champions. Ironically my diet doesn't include schnitzel, potato pancakes, wings or beer. I wonder if those things have anything to do with my shirt being snug.

**For those of you paying attention, my diet includes not drinking beer for the first weekend of football. That's how much I like this shirt I bought.

Oh Caption, My Caption

I love this time of year. Great photo opportunities, lead to great photo captions. I just couldn't resist when I saw this picture:

John McCain participates in "Take Your Daughter To Work Day" at his Dayton Ohio rally.

Alaska Is The New Black

Breaking News! It appears John McCain has selected Alaska Governor Sarah Palin as his VP running mate. I will now be distracted all day as I find out more information on the gun-toting, corruption hating, 1984 Miss Alaska runner up.
To find out more about Palin, click this link. This should make things interesting to say the least.

Oh Caption, My Caption

I didn't think I would have time to blog before the weekend, but when I saw the photo below, I had to post it. This is the most ridiculous picture I have ever seen. Of course we all know he is fake laughing at something one of his potential voters may be saying, but the timing of the shot is priceless. You can make up your own caption for the shot, but I think mine will be: "Obama laughs at Clinton as she warms up the microphone for his acceptance speech." OR "Obama finally finds the guts to laugh at Clinton to her face instead of behind her back." OR "Obama laughs at Hillary Clinton's orange pantsuit as it becomes painfully obvious color will no longer be an issue in this election."

Sportygrrl Through The Years

I know I have been a bad blogger, but I have been so busy. This weekend is going to be quite blog-worthy with the Oktoberfest and my wing trip to Buffalo, but until that happens I thought I would amuse my readers with a fun gadget I found on-line called Yearbook Yourself. Essentially you put a picture of yourself into the website and it shows what your yearbook pictures would have looked like through the decades. It's so scary yet so funny at the same time. Enjoy:

Ohio University's Lottery Pick

When I went to Ohio University, the football team was the big joke on campus. They won only 20 games during my five year tenure in Athens Ohio and most of those wins came during my last two years there. As a matter of fact, when they beat a I-AA team in 1995 it was their first win in two years. The students were so excited they tore down the goal post and drank late into the night. Well they normally drank late into the night, but the goal post coming down was very exciting.

Nowadays things are different at Ohio University. The football team even played in a nationally-televised bowl game two years ago. There must be some luck in the Hocking River because the football players are not only winning on the field, they are also winning the lottery...literally.

This article was posted today on ESPN.com:

ATHENS, Ohio -- Most lottery winners, upon learning they've hit the jackpot, run to the store where they played their lucky numbers to make sure, then find the nearest state lottery commission office to place a claim on their prize. Michael Eynon did all of those things. And then he went to football practice.

Eynon, a senior offensive lineman at Ohio University, matched five numbers in Tuesday's multi-state Mega Millions drawing on the ticket he bought at a Shop Mart in Athens -- good for $250,000 before taxes, the Columbus Dispatch reported.

"It hasn't settled in yet," he said, according to the report. "I've been out throwing footballs, and it's still the same routine."

The odds of matching five numbers, excluding the Mega Ball, were 1 in 3,904,701. Had Eynon matched the Mega Ball as well, he would have won the $34 million grand prize, according to the report.

"Everyone was like, 'Dude, you were one number off,' " Eynon said, according to the newspaper. "I was like, 'I'm satisfied.' This is awesome either way."

Instead of $34 million, Eynon will settle for $172,500 after federal and state taxes. According to the Dispatch, the 22-year-old accounting major from Westlake plans to donate some money to his church, give some to his family and invest the rest.

Ohio U. athletic spokesman Jason Corriher said the winnings will not affect Eynon's NCAA eligibility, according to the report.

"I've been in this business for about 10 years and I cannot remember ever hearing about a student-athlete winning a portion of the lottery," Corriher said, the newspaper reported. "It's pretty unheard of, I think."

Paris Hilton For President

I hate all the political games. I just want November to be here. I can't stand all the banter back and forth. It is just too much to take, and it really begins to make even quasi-political people like myself start to feel apathetic. That is until you see really good non-partisan humor such as the Paris Hilton campaign ad that was just released. Last week John McCain released a commercial saying Barck Obama was similar to Paris Hilton. I think that is a bit of a stretch. Whether you are a Republican or a Democrat, you have to see the absurdity with that comparison. Thankfully somebody was smart enough, rich enough and witty enough to come up with this response (please click the link below):

Click here to see the Paris Hilton video and then click on the video. It will make your day or just keep making my day. Either way-it's funny!

Wings 101

It has been a long time since I have blogged about wings. This by no means indicates it has been a long time since I have eaten wings. After I found out Wing Masters folded (I know...I can't believe it either), ranking them seemed pointless. However there have been a couple things of note this summer that seemed blogworthy:

1. Wings in Ireland are fancy, expensive and small. We went to the Elephant and Castle Pub in Dublin to try their famous wings while we were in Ireland earlier this summer. The Elephant and Castle is a high end pub in the center of the city, and their wings were one of the major draws to the restaurant. Wings are scarce in this country, and this was one of the few places that served them, which was probably why this establishment is known for them. Even though they said they were spiced "New Orleans Style" these were classic Buffalo wings. Classic and expensive. We paid close to $20 for one order. Not only were they pricey they were also quite small. Apparently those outside of the US do not give their animals steroids, so these looked like normal-sized chicken wings and who wants to eat normal sized anything? Not these Americans that's for sure!

2. Wing Night isn't all that bad. I have mentioned again and again how much I hate getting wings on wing night. They are always dryer and never sauced well enough. Last Tuesday this myth was debunked when we were at Winking Lizard on wing night. Our new tenants both serve at Winking Lizard, and they have given us a lot of insight on both the beer tour and wing night. Last week, our server/tenant told us to order the wings fresh on wing night and they would have to make them that way. I finally got good wings on wing night! My life has been changed forever. Don't think it is mere coincidence our tenants work at Winking Lizard, I like to call it fate.

3. Contrary to the sign hanging outside their restaurant in Independence, Quaker Steak and Lube does not have "Best Wings USA". I actually had trouble finishing my wings there and that has never happened. I hope it was just an off night because if it wasn't, I think they would have trouble proving "Best Wings on Canal Road in Independence".

So why am I finally writing about wings? I am doing this in anticipation for the National Buffalo Wing Festival in Buffalo New York that I will be attending at the end of this month. If I don't come back with a giant foam chicken wing hat, I want you to know I will be highly disappointed.