Epic Photo: Mike Holmgren's two belts

So I discovered this photo of Mike Holmgren, head coach of the Seattle Seahawks, which looked innocent enough to the casual observer.


However upon further inspection I found this out... here's the zoomed in view:


That's right ladies and gentlemen, Mike Holmgren is wearing two belts. Two different belts. Not a hundred percent sure why (does Andy Reid wear 12 belts? God knows how many belts Charlie Weis wears), but this is photographic evidence that Holmgren does indeed wear two belts when he's on the sideline for the Seahawks.

Perhaps each belt signifies a win by the Seahawks the season? He wouldn't have to worry about getting another belt.

Chris Duhon likes to give... a lot

Judging by the number of party photos of Chris Duhon on the Internet, it would seem like he's the kind of guy that wants to make sure everyone is having a good time.

He certainly showed that last night when he tallied 22 assists in a 138-125 victory over the Golden State Warriors for the New York Knights. The former Dukie set a franchise record with that number.

And speaking of Duke, one of my friends is a big, big fan of the Blue Devils. And by big fan I mean she watches every single game like it's life or death and I'm pretty sure she's slashed somebody's tires for being a UNC Tarheels fan.

Anyways, after she texted me that Duhon had given out more dimes than a broken vending machine last night, she also mentioned this little tidbit...

"I use to want Chris Duhon's babies."

And then she found out that Duhon has a serious girlfriend. Ah, tragedy.

Any athletes that you would want to have the babies of?

Stop the Press! The Thunder win!

Since we're obsessed with the Oklahoma City Thunder here at Just South of North, I'd like to point out a milestone in the young team's history.

The team won its second game of the season last night. Kevin Durant scored 30 points as the Thunder soared over the 4-13 Memphis Grizzlies in a 111-103 game that was probably attended by the player's parents, a guy selling peanuts and Osama Bin Laden (no one would see him there).

That brings the Thunder's record up to 2-16 meaning that Oklahoma City is on pace to win ten games. 10 games.

Good enough to get you to the playoffs in the NFL but not in the 82-game season of the NBA.

As a former Sonics fan, I can't say that I'm disappointed.

This Saturday in College Football

With the stewing BCS blowup about to happen, let's enjoy this weekend before we hear coaches talk about why their two or three loss team should have a shot at a BCS Bowl Game. Or the undefeated mid-major team in the Pineapple Conference drum up support about how great their team is only to have their head beat in by the sixth-best team in the ACC. Before all that stuff happens, lets look at the scores:

No. 18 Georgia Tech 45, No. 13 Georgia 42 - And the Bulldogs' season continues to go down the drain.

Syracuse 10, No. 16 Cincinnati 30 -The Bearcats didn't want to pull a Notre Dame here and lose to a team that's lone claim to fame is that their jerseys are also used by crossing guards.

Kansas 40, No. 12 Missouri 37 - Remember when Missouri was considered a contender for the national title? We'll they'll enjoy the Papa Murphy's Take-and-Bake Bowl.

Baylor 28, No. 7 Texas Tech 35 - What's this? The Red Raiders made a defensive stop? Ye gods...

Auburn 0, No. 1 Alabama 36 - Well this goes to prove that SEC teams beat up on one another. Yep, Auburn sure showed Alabama... the door the the BCS championship game.

No. 2 Florida 45, No. 23 Florida St. 15 - Somebody needs to tell Tim Tebow that he should be starting for the Philadelphia Eagles right now.

Maryland 21, No. 20 Boston College 28 - More proof that the ACC doesn't beat up on one another, they just lay down for one another.

No. 19 Oregon, No. 17 Oregon St. - More to add to Civil War lore, Oregon denies Oregon St. a chance to go to the Rose Bowl. This makes things all the more bitter, somebody probably got stabbed in the neck because of this game. Wouldn't that stink: getting stabbed in the neck? Ouch.

Notre Dame 3, No. 5 USC 38 - Charlie Weis tried starting the Four Horsemen but it didn't work out because the last time they suited up the forward pass wasn't legal.

No. 3 Oklahoma 61, No. 11 Oklahoma St. 41 - Oklahoma is on pace to get blown out in the BCS Championship game again.

Western Michigan 22, No. 15 Ball State 45 - This is a statement game for Ball State. That statement is: Even though we're going undefeated, we're still not going to play for a national championship.

Texas A&M 9, No. 4 Texas 49 - A&M actually stands for Awful and My god, what happen to this once proud football program.

Mississippi State 0, No. 25 Mississippi 45 - Talk about one hell of a rivalry game.

Fresno St. 10, No. 9 Boise St. 61 - The WAC again showing that they're not a one-team conference.

Things professional football players shouldn't be doing

Night clubs just aren't a place for NFL players. On Friday night, Plaxico Burress was shot in the thigh, accidentally, and ended up spending the night in the hospital. While he should be fine, it's still a pretty embarrassing happening in a season that's already seen him get injured and suspended.

Here's some things that NFL players just shouldn't do...

- Chop wood with an axe... and end up hitting your leg with it.
- Solicit a prostitute... and have it be an undercover cop.
- Tell people you didn't know there was a tie in the NFL... right after your team tied.
- Trip over your dog... when you're the quarterback of the team.
- Headbutt the goalposts... and give yourself a concussion.
- Hit a police officer with your vehicle... good job, Randy Moss.
- Have an underground dogfighting operation.
- Have a posse with somebody named "Mouse." For some reason Mouse always gets in trouble.
- Do an endzone dance... if you're Warren Sapp.
- Play for the Raiders... ick.

Why I hate CSI:Miami

So when most of us go home for the holidays, we're at the viewing mercy of whatever our family wants to watch. I'm blessed to have a most graceful family that lets me sit in front of the television and watch football over Thanksgiving, even if the Seahawks are getting their butts kicked, and yell, scream, cuss and have the occasional mild turkey-induced heart attack.

However, there is one show that they like that I simply must refrain from watching: CSI:Miami.

Now I'm not a big CSI fan in general, but I will concede that the original CSI is very watchable and can see why people have gotten so hooked on it. The characters work well together and you actually care how they end up.

CSI: Miami though has me wishing that the main character, Horatio Caine (played by David Caruso) would meet his untimely demise by virtue of some sort of horrible woodchipper accident. Caruso delivers every line like it's life or death, a form of over-acting that's only surpassed by William Shatner.

And combine that with writing that obviously has come from the finest that an elementary school has to offer and you have lines like this...

(Imagine this being delivered in a raspy voice akin to Batman from "The Dark Knight"

"The ONLY way you CAN honor her DEATH is to FORGIVE yourself."

And then throw in ridiculous plots like a vaporizing gun that has made its way to Miami, complete with guys actually disintegrating "Star Trek" style, and all attempt of belief by the view is out the window.

The rest of the cast is forgettable, REALLY forgettable. Just collect your average stereotypes from Cop shows and you have yourself the rest of the cast of CSI:Miami.

Blah, I'm just going to watch Law And Order: This is actually the 14th variation of the show unit.

All Gonzaga needs is Gene Hackman

Now that I've already made my rant of the day about Allen Iverson and the Hoosier-wanna-be's out there that hate him, I decided that I should mention another basketball Hoosiers reference. This one comes from Spokane's very own Gonzaga men's basketball team playing in the Old Spice Classic in Disneyworld.

While future NBA-star Jeremy Pargo did his thing against Oklahoma St. to the tune of 15 points in an 83-71 victory, Micah Downs led the Bulldogs in scoring with 17. This caused the ESPN announcers to compare him to Ollie from the movie "Hoosiers."

That's the same Ollie that shot free throws underhanded (Shaq should probably do the same), the same Ollie that missed a layup during a school prep ralley, the same Ollie that's roughly five-foot two.

Great comparison guys, I'm sure Micah loved the comparison to a high school player who's only claim to fame was hitting two free throws to send their team to the state finals. I mean that's cool and all, but the Kansas transfer has so much to offer.

Coming from Kirkland, Wash. Downs played one year for the Jayhawks before coming to Gonzaga. Like most Zag players who aren't named Pargo, Morrison, Dickau and Stepp, he would show scoring sparks in spots and averaged about 7.9 points per game as a junior.

Namely, he's a little more athletic than this... far right.

If Gonzaga can get Jimmy Chittwood, they're winning the NCAA title.

Reasons while you're still single

You're watching the History Channel at 9 p.m. on the weekend...

I'll let you know if I actually do this in the next two days.

Epic Video: Not a game, not a game... practice!

With Allen Iverson missing practice again - this time with the Detroit Pistons - here's the best press conference clip in professional basketball.



This will no doubt bring out some more anti-Iverson feelings from the general public. Every man who played high school basketball before 1980 while be clamoring about how professional athletes just don't care about the game and how Iverson is a threat to the western world.

Here's the truth... Iverson has more talent and heart than all of you Hoosier wannabes combined. Sure he misses practice (but thats half the fun!), but at least he's played in a basketball game that wasn't YMCA pickup.

And besides, he's making Detroit one of the most entertaining teams to watch in the NBA.

Happy Thanksgiving from Just South of North

And yes, that's the Temple of Doom in the background.

Not very thankful

I don't consider myself a very demanding fan.

When the Seattle Seahawks made the Super Bowl in 2005, I was just happy that they were there. Apparently the team and referees thought the same thing.

When the Red Sox got batted around by the Tampa Bay Devil Rays in the ALCS, I couldn't get two angry since the team has had two World Series Championships since 2004.

The Cougs win the Apple Cup? Swell, they're not the worst team in college football. UW is.

WSU makes the NCAA Tournament in basketball? Everything after that is gravy.

The Titans lose their bid at 16-0? Oh well, they're still one hell of a team.

It's not that I don't live or die with every team. I want them to win and be successful but I understand that in order for sports to be interesting, teams are going to have good or bad years.

This year has definitely been a bad year for Seattle. But it's not your average "same ol' Seahawks" season (2-10 and last place in the NFC West). It seems that since I've started watching the Hawks, the seasons have gone like this...

(1) Seattle gets off to a hot start but nobody in the media notices them. Then as soon as somebody goes "here come the Seahawks" they fall apart and finish 8-8.

(2) In a weak NFC West, Seattle proves to be the most consistent and wins the division easily with a balanced offense and a stout defense. They do make in interesting though and prove themselves to be a "tweener" when it comes to good and great teams in the NFL.

(3) The Seahawks just suck.

I've been through the third option a couple of times, and the funny thing about that is you know after watching how the team plays in the first game of the season. I watched the Seahawks in their first game this year and was "man it's going to be one of those years."

6-10 would be amazing at this point, but what really strikes me as interesting and different from other "The Seahawks just suck" years is that there should be no reason why the Seahawks are this bad. When Rick Mirer is your quarterback you expect the worst.

But when you have a roster that improved over the offseason, that turns me into one of those fans that yells at the television everytime a play doesn't game 30 yards. You know those guys, yeah, they're called Green Bay Packer fans.

Sure their receiver corp went through tryouts for the new "Final Destination" movie and Matt Hasselbeck's back decided to liquefy but what happened to that improved running game and the defense?

I mean if the Hawks could win a playoff game with a running back who fell down when somebody sneezed on him - they only had to get better with Duckett and Jones.

This season is different because for the first time while watching the Seahawks, I'm extremely disappointed. Throughout their history, Seattle has never done this to me.

They've been crappy, but there wasn't expectations to win 10 games either.

They've been good and lost late in the season, but any trip to the postseason is something I consider to be a success.

They've never had a roster with this much talent and under achieved sooo much. I know in the early 90s they had an awesome defense and terrible offense, but at least one unit on the team was doing well. When it comes to the 2008 Seahawks, nothing is clicking anywhere.

And what frustrates me the most is that there is no way I can put my finger on why they're so bad. How did this happen?

I'm going to label this season under the "date you get with the hot girl that turns out to be terrible when you realize she actually has a small wispy moustache."

Disappointing.

Signs that your team might be looking to trade or release you

Donovan McNabb was told he'll be starting today by the team's janitor.

Hmmm, I'm a big fan of McNabb but this isn't a good sign, he should also watch out when...

- Ryan Leaf gets his parking space.
- His locker is moved nexted to Jerry, the scout team long-snapper who actually only has one working limb.
- They hang a Chicago Bears jersey in his locker.
- The PA announces him as "a player to be named later."

Jason Hanson is a stud, now if they could only clone him for the rest of the team

Mead High School graduate Jason Hanson made history this Thanksgiving by nailing a 53-yard field goal to tie Morten Anderson for most kicks in the NFL from 50-plus yards with 40 conversions.

Hanson has come out to Eastern Washington University and other places in the area to talk about being a kicker in the NFL and faith-based experiences, and by all accounts is an awesome guy.

Here's a feature story I wrote on him earlier in the year. Just an all-around humble guy.

The Spokane prep high school standout went to WSU and broke numerous NCAA kicking records while playing for the Cougars. Then he was picked up by the Lions and has played for them since 1992.

He's got 17 years of kicking for Detriot, which has seen better years as a team. Here's a line from the AP story:

Hanson's record-tying kick early in the first quarter pulled the winless Lions within four points of the Titans. Then, Chris Johnson ran untouched for 58 yards to score his second touchdown of the game.

Ladies and gentlemen, your 2008 Detriot Lions! Gobble, gobble, gobble.

Thunder Update

Since we're so nice to the Oklahoma City Thunder after their departure from Seattle, I like to be the first one to tell you that they lost tonight.

Badly.

A 117-82 loss to the Cleveland Cavaliers was as bad as it sounds. The Cavs actually started the game on a 13-0 run and never looked back at the freshly moved (stolen) franchise.

Lebron James wasn't even the leading scorer for Cleveland, he only scored 14 but I would imagine that he was on the bench after the first quarter. Ilgauskus was the game's leading scorer with 17. Ilgauskus! I love the guy, but if he's lighting you up then you have serious, serious issues.

At one point in the game it was 60-27. Yikes.

So Oklahoma City fans, how are you liking your 1-14 team?

Epic Video: Now if they could just do this to Terry Bradshaw...

The Day the Earth Stood Still

The FOX NFL Robot finally meets his end... awesome.

At least they don't have to wear Oregon's jerseys...

So this college football season could have the Oregon State Beavers playing in their first Rose Bowl since 1964. While that's still a big if since the Beavers still have to play the Oregon Ducks in The Civil War - which sets a pretty big stage for one of the best rivalry games in the country.

Here's what's at stake in the game. The interesting part of that story is when it says that USC fans may be rooting for Oregon State so they can go to a bowl game other than the Rose Bowl.

But if the Beavers do make history and snap that nasty Rose Bowl-less streak we'll see something for the first time since...

- A U.S. Air Force jet training plane that strays into East Germany, is shot down by Soviet fighters near Erfurt; all 3 crew men are killed.

- Ranger 6 is launched by NASA, on a mission to carry television cameras and crash-land on the Moon.

- The Beatles vault to the #1 spot on the U.S. singles charts for the first time, with "I Want to Hold Your Hand," forever changing the way popular music sounds, also starting the British Invasion in America.

- The Government of the United States authorized the Twenty-fourth Amendment outlawing the poll tax.

- The first Ford Mustang rolls off the assembly line at Ford Motor Company.

- Some 400-1,000 students march through Times Square, New York and another 700 in San Francisco, in the first major student demonstration against the Vietnam War. Smaller marches also occur in Boston, Seattle, and Madison, Wisconsin.

- Jim Bunning Pitches a Perfect Game for the Philadelphia Philllies.

- The Vatican condemns the female combined oral contraceptive pill.

- President Lyndon Johnson signs the Civil Rights Act of 1964 into law. (Racial segregation is now abolished in the United States.)

- At the Republican National Convention in San Francisco, U.S. presidential nominee Barry Goldwater declares that "extremism in the defense of liberty is no vice", and "moderation in the pursuit of justice is no virtue".

- Bob Dylan turns The Beatles on to cannabis for the first time

... in other words, the Oregon State Beavers have sucked for a very, very long time.

ExCUSE Me?

I was watching Syracuse's 89-81 over 23rd-ranked Kansas and while I was impressed with their play, I was less-than-thrilled about their jerseys. Here's a look at them on the left and as you can see it's a form-fitting jersey with a small neckline.

Basically it looks like cut-off t-shirt.

Also consider that every player wears a jersey that's roughly four times too small (also known as pulling a Brandon Hansen - only with t-shirts I've had since high school) so they looked ripped, and shorts that are four times to big and you have an odd-looking team.

If you look at the way football jerseys (Look at Oregon) and now basketball jerseys are starting to look, it's only a matter of time before we're wearing singlets.

If you want to buy a 'CUSE jersey, go here. But that would make you a front-runner.

Wild Adventure

Ok, so I have decided to take an adventure next summer. Now, keep in mind that I have been planning to run the Colorado River through the Grand Canyon in 2011 for a few years now. So I want to do something that involves mountains.

Living in the amazing Pacific Northwest offers me the opportunity to easily train for any trip in the mountains.

Now the question is, which trip?

I have narrowed my selection down to two:

1. Climb Mount Rainier: Growing up in the shadow of Mount Rainier, I have always wanted to climb it. Paradise is my favorite place on earth and it would be so cool to say I did it.

2. Backpack the entire 93 miles of the Wonderland Trail: The Wonderland Trail spans around Mount Rainier. This is another goal I have always had. I think it would be a great week and half trip.

So I am torn, which trip should I train for? Both will be difficult, but both will provide the memories of a lifetime.

Adventure is nothing new to me, I have gone on many awesome adventures growing up. These trips have just been on hold for a while, as I was in Nebraska. Now that I am back, I have itchy feet. No, not from athlete's foot, but rather for the outdoors. Camping, hiking, kayaking, backpacking, biking. Oh how I have missed thee...

Reasons you're still single...

You comment on people's relationship status change on Facebook.

Epic Video: Ocarina this!

I'll be honest, I'm completely musically non-gifted. So in my book, this guy is a bad ass.

Oh, and in case you didn't know. Youtube has gone to a widescreen format. Pretty sweet.

Epic Video: The Man's Bedroom

Someday Tim Allen will be on the dollar bill.

Eh, what's a little gas?

This was in the Seattle PI today.

Student arrested for 'passing gas' at Fla. school

THE ASSOCIATED PRESS

STUART, Fla. -- A student at a Florida school has been arrested after authorities said he was "passing gas" and turned off his classmates' computers. According to a report released Friday by the Martin County Sheriff's Office, the 13-year-old boy "continually disrupted his classroom environment" by intentionally breaking wind. He then shut off some computers other students were using.

The Spectrum Junior-Senior High School was arrested Nov. 4.

A school resource officer placed the boy under arrest after he confessed about his behavior, according to the report. He was charged with disruption of school function and released to his mother.

I believe we label this kid as, "future frat guy." Yeah, I said it.

Casey and I are writing a book: Losing the Seattle SuperSonics

Since the journalism industry is going to crap, Casey and I have decided to write a book of short essays to make our millions. Therefore we will continue to publish these essays on this blog. Whether or not these essays make it into the book, or we actually publish this book at all is subject to change.

My obsession with sports is already a tragedy.

Because the team that I first started watching, the team that I built a connection with as a kid is now playing in Oklahoma City after abandoning Seattle and changing their mascot to an atmospheric fart.

I’ve read about how heart broken Brooklyn Dodger fans were when they left for Los Angeles, or how betrayed Cleveland felt when they lost the Browns. These were sports teams treated with as much affection as a girlfriend or relative.

And after losing the Sonics, I could see how that happens.

The thing about sports teams is that once you start following them, they’re always there. Whether it be the off season or the playoffs, they always give you something to talk about. You embrace them, let them into your life and for the most part you really can’t end that relationship.

How do you? You turn on the local news, sport casters are talking about how they’re doing. You run into people that like sports and they’ll want to let you in on their latest acquisition in the draft. While you can stop watching them, it doesn’t erase the fact that they still play the games.

Unless of course they move to a different city and no longer represent you.

I first started watching the SuperSonics when I was a little kid. My parents would take my sister and I over to our grandparents house and my grandpa, an ardent sports fan who would probably watch two-last place high school soccer teams if it was on the television, would always have the Sonics, Seahawks and Mariners on the television.

Now football and baseball are wonderful sports and I’ve grown to follow them as well, but when you’re a little kid you have the attention span of a goldfish, following the complicated system of football and baseball can be tough.

Basketball – now that’s a little easier. The ball goes in the basket and you get two points. Shoot it from behind the three-point arc and you get more. Way easier to pick up than how many yards to get before a first down, holding penalties and a little quicker paced than baseball.

So the first time I actually sat down and watched sports was the Seattle SuperSonics. And since that was in the mid-90s, I was able to watch one of the best teams in the Michael Jordan dominated NBA. We’re talking about Shawn Kemp, Gary Payton, Hersey Hawkins, Detlef Schrempf, Sam Perkins and Nate McMillan. Play a game of NBA Jam with these guys and you’ll know what I mean.

Basketball allows players and teams to have their own style, and the SuperSonics definitely had a certain metropolitan coolness to them. Again, this was when Seattle was leading the grunge movement and pretty much becoming a cultural buzz town. The SuperSonics perfectly reflected this. I can remember still thinking that there wasn’t a cooler place than Seattle, even though I grew up on the east side of Washington and secretly resented the west side for the yuppie snobbery.

The Sonics - live from the Key Arena, the Space Needle, timeout shots of Pike’s Market in Seattle, George Karl prowling the sideline as head coach, pretty much exuding brilliance from his balding head.

The Sonics were just cool, and I loved them. I remember praying for the team to take the Bulls to seven games in the NBA Finals. Not win the NBA finals, just take the series to seven and make Chicago sweat a little. While those went unanswered and Seattle could only must six, it was crazy to think that they were only two wins away from winning a professional sports championship.

And that’s gone. All gone. To Oklahoma City, which is about as un-Seattle as you can get. Oh I’ve moved on, I’ve found other teams but much like how relationships go, you really don’t forget about the first one.

And sometimes you just check up to see if they’ve gotten fat, pregnant and work at a Wendy’s.
And at 1-13 in this early season, the Thunder are about as close to that as you’re going to get in the sports world.

It could be worse, Harry Potter could be involved somehow

If you haven't heard about the vampire drama "Twilight" set in the logging town of Forks, Wash. than consider yourself one of those rare lucky people who know as much about pop culture as the Unabomber. Based on a book, it's really caught the attention of teenagers around the country, giving every goth kid something to really dream about...

Namely supernatural powers and a hot girlfriend, who will help wipe off that eyeliner.

Wonderful right? I remember when Lord of the Rings was the huge "thing." Spiderman also had that same effect and ushered in a lot more superhero movies. And don't forget the Matrix. That gave us computer geeks an urge to learn kung-fu.

Now we have movies about teenage vampires in Forks, Wash.

Since I would consider a majority of our readers college student age, the fact that you may actually like "Twilight" is disturbing. Other than the occasional dramatic treatment of the literary classic "Dracula" and the horribly campy but popcorn enjoyable "Van Hellsing" ... other vampire movies seem to really just aimed for that whole "vampire-obsessed crowd."

You know, that group that walked across the street to smoke cigarettes and be outsiders to the whole school environment. The ones who wrote pentagrams on their desk and arms. The ones who wore all-black and chains.

Wonderful.

But hey, luckily we'll have a bunch of incoming freshman in college that think they can fly from tree to tree and are afraid of sunlight. Although the latter statement is probably true of the people that played Halo a lot.

And Forks is a logging town comparable to my hometown, Chewelah, although as far as I know, we don't have a vampire problem.

Knowing plenty of people from Forks, I can tell you that they're less than thrilled that their town has become a tourist hotspot for fans of "Twilight" which is understandable. I wouldn't want those vampire fan freaks walking around my town.

Luckily, my town hasn't been included in a book or movie yet, although I can only imagine what fantastic pop culture items could come out of the place. Lets get Jack Bauer to come out here and fight some terrorists or something.

Almost forgot

Husky fans.... your team sucks!

Scores to ponder

Florida 70, The Citadel 19 -- Nice of the Gators to schedule a cupcake so late in the season. How bout that tough SEC conference eh?

Ohio State 42, Michigan 7 -- Remember when these two played one another two years ago ranked No. 1 and No. 2? Now the Wolverines are looking to join Conference USA.

Texas Tech 21, Oklahoma 65 -- The BCS just blew up.

Ole Miss 31, LSU 13 -- Tigers choke again! Tigers choke again!

Utah 48, BYU 24 -- They were updating this during the Boise St. game about how this could be a possible upset. Guess they were wrong.

You know you're single when...

You spend more time on Craigslist than Facebook...

This sounds like something I would do...

If I were in space, stuff like this would happen all the time:

HOUSTON (AP) - Flight controllers were revamping plans Wednesday for the remaining spacewalks planned during space shuttle Endeavour's visit to the international space station, after a crucial tool bag floated out to space during a repair trip.

The briefcase-sized tool bag drifted away from astronaut Heidemarie Stefanyshyn-Piper on Tuesday as she cleaned and lubed a gummed-up joint on a wing of solar panels on the space station. She and fellow astronaut Stephen Bowen were midway through the first of four spacewalks planned for the mission. The tool bag was one of the largest items ever lost by a spacewalker.

As Stefanyshyn-Piper cleaned up a large gob of grease that seeped from a gun used to lubricate the joint, the tool case somehow became untethered from a larger bag and floated away along with a pair of grease guns, wipes and a putty knife attached to it.

"What it boils down to is all it takes is one small mistake for a tether not to be hooked up quite correctly or to slip off, and that's what happened here," said lead spacewalk officer John Ray.

Although I really shudder to think how much crap would get lost if they ever let Ahman Green become an astronaut.

Epic Video: The way NOT to pick up women

Perhaps Brandon and I should tryout Old Spice Swagger. Cause this is basically how we talk to girls.

This is why, this is why, this is why you suck...

Hey Oklahoma City,

Hope you're enjoying that 1-10 professional basketball team. Yeah the looked great against the Houston Rockets tonight. They only lost 100-89, that's not so bad, only 11 points. I mean if they could lose by 11 points every night, they'd be a pretty good Pac-10 football team from the state of Washington.

Kevin Durant is pretty good. And then you're bound to get a good draft pick this year to get someone really good to help him out. Yep, you're only a few moves away from a championship.

That is if the NCAA gives you an at-large berth.

Well enjoy Robert Swift, Johan Petro and Nick Collison. Woo!

When are the Seahawks on again?

Epic Video: Rodney Stuckey is lucky to be alive

Shaq, I hate your guts now.

A rough year

Since the University of Washington Husky football program lost tonight, tomorrow will mark the one year anniversary of the last win of the team.

It's been a long year at UW.

Label this one under ass-whooping

Brock Lesnar of WWE fame has sucessfuly crossed over from a preforming athlete to a real athlete after he won the UFC heavyweight title by beating Randy Couture in the second round of their fight on Saturday Night.

Lesnar sent him to the canvas in the second round with a glancing blow that landed behind the ear and wasted no time in landing numerous hammer fists. Couture was never able to recover and the fight was stopped moments later.

Now, my former roommate Cary Rosenbaum could tell you how much I watched professional wrestling and UFC, almost as much as he watched episodes of One Tree Hill and The OC.

(Anyone who knows Cary will get the joke. All he did was spend time in his room watching Might Ducks 2, playing NCAA Football 2008 - leading Navy, Army, Temple, Idaho, and Canada State to national championships, playing Guitar Hero and entertaining hot girls while my other roommate Jake and I played Scattegories in the living room)

But the fact that this guy is absolutely HUGE, and he basically just out-muscles his opponents is pretty impressive. A former NCAA wrestling champion, he may have found his niche in actual sports. The only problem now is the perception that the WWE is now a legit farm league for UFC.

Epic Photo: See Ya Jackson!

What better way to spend a cold Saturday afternoon than watch the Ferris Saxons from Spokane knock out westside's Jackson High School 24-7 in the opening round of the state playoffs.

Skyline Update

Since I talked about the Skyline Spartans in my last post, I figured I would keep the Just South of North readers posted.

Tonight, Skyline defeated Federal Way easily, 49-6.

Also, in other 4A games, Auburn (another powerhouse) defeated Woodinville, 28-14.

These teams meet up next weekend. That will be an awesome high school football game.

Welcome to Sparta

In case your living under a rock, or on the "less-than-stellar" eastside of Washington State, then you probably haven't heard about the Spartans.

But the people of Sammamish, Washington certainly know about these warriors of the gridiron. The Skyline High School football team.

Skyline opened it's doors in 1997, and since then have become a powerhouse in football. Including knocking White River (my high school) out of the 3A playoffs in 2000.

Most high schools would love to have ONE state championships, let alone THREE.

2000- 3A State Champions

2005- 4A State Champions

2007- 3A State Champions

Oh, and they are currently the best team in the 4A. Tonight they take on Federal Way at home. It should be a great game.

Despite all this, I have figured out the keys to the teams success.

1) They start their kids young. While going to play tennis at the school a month back, we arrived and saw hundreds and hundreds of youngsters playing football games. They were all wearing the Spartan green and silver and all knew the plays. This is the key in high school football. Start young so by the time the players reach high school (grades 10-12 in Skylines case) they already know the plays by heart.

2) This week at my gym near the school, my buddy and I were working out, when in came a large number of current players. Even after practice, they still work out. You could tell they wanted to become better, and the best part, no coach had to force them there. It was their choice.

3) Their colors are pretty cool. Green and silver. WAYYYYY better than their rival Issaquah down the hill. Who's colors are supposed to be purple and gold, but aren't the nice gold and the deep purple of UW. Instead, the team is lavender and marigold. Yeah, not the best.

Anyway, we'll have to see how the Spartans fare now that the playoffs have started. Either way, I'm sure it will be a great game.

Where's Art Shell when you need him?

Fox Sports has a column by Jason Whitlock that lists the worst and the best coaches in the NFL. After reading it, I've got to say it's not a very well put together list... and I'll show you why:

10 WORST COACHES IN THE NFL

10. Sean Payton – New Orleans
He only led the Saints to the NFC Championship Game. That's not a big deal or anything. They're 4-5 this year and if they get hot they could get into the playoffs.

9. Marvin Lewis – Cincinnati
I agree with this pick, Lewis was a great coordinator and has just lost control of his team.

8. Mike Shanahan – Denver
Two Super Bowls Rings. The Broncos are the most consistent teams in the NFL. Shanahan will have a spot in the HOF. No idea why he's on this list.

7. Mike Singletary – San Francisco
He dropped his pants when he saw he made the list.

6. Mike McCarthy – Green Bay
He coaches the Packers to a game of the Super Bowl last year, and the team hasn't been a total disaster with the departure of Brett Favre.

5. Wade Phillips – Dallas
Good coordinator, marginal coach, but he's not the worst, that is for sure.

4. Jack Del Rio - Jacksonville
The Jaguars always underachieve so I'll agree with this pick.

3. Norv Turner – San Diego
The third worst coach in the NFL? Then why does he keep getting hired as a head coach?

2. Romeo Crennel - Cleveland
So the team isn't living up to expectations this year, but where the hell did those expectations come from? Google?

1. Andy Reid - Philadelphia
What the hell, Whitlock. He's like one of the best coaches in Eagles history. And I bet he's going to eat you now.

10 BEST COACHES IN THE NFL

10. Jon Gruden - Tampa Bay
Agreed, but the Bucaneers front office need to get him some players.

9. John Harabaugh - Baltimore
Are we basing this list off the last six games that have been played?

8. Ken Wisenhunt - Arizona
Not making the list until I hear "The Bears are who we thought they were and we let them off the hook!"

7. Lovie Smith - Chicago
Yeah, any coach that sticks with Rex Grossman and Kyle Orton is a fantastic coach. Yup. Sure. Neckbeard?

6. Tom Coughlin - New York
The same guy that everyone said was too old school a couple of years ago really has things clicking. I've always liked him and agree with this pick.

5. Mike Smith - Atlanta
Who?

4. Jeff Fisher - Tennessee
Okay this is what really pisses me off about Whitlock's article. Here is what he has to say about Fisher:

Most people would put Fisher at the top of this list. I don't because the Titans are undefeated mainly because Vince Young got hurt and went momentarily kooky. A healthy VY and the Titans are 7-2 and just another good team in the AFC. Young's meltdown was a blessing for Fisher. He gets out from underneath the mistake the Titans made drafting Young.

So his top draft pick quarterback has a mental breakdown after an injury, so he gets the quarterback formerly known as Kerry Collins to step in and revive his career again as the Titans go 9-0, and Fisher loses points? What? That doesn't even make sense! I know he doesn't have the hair of say Jim Zorn but he had his team undefeated after losing their starting quarterback. He's the longest tenured coach in the NFL! He's been to a Super Bowl! He's ranked higher on my list.

3. John Fox - Carolina
He's a good coach. Not top 3 though.

2. Bill Bellichick - New England
The Hoodie gives him style points. Probably the best coach in the NFL.

1. Jim Zorn - Washington
... I'm glad that after nine freakin' games and a 6-3 record, Whitlock thought Jim Zorn was the best coach in the NFL. I like the fact he's a former Seahawk, but I mean... HE'S COACHED NINE GAMES.

I'm upset.

Epic Video: Eastern Rangers new ride

If the Rangers ever ride again, this is how it will be.

Being a pirate isn't what it used to be...

Because if you pick on navy vessels, you get owned.

Pirates caught redhanded by one of Her Majesty’s warships after trying to hijack a cargo ship off Somalia made the grave mistake of opening fire on two Royal Navy assault craft packed with commandos armed with machineguns and SA80 rifles.

In the ensuing gunfight, two Somali pirates in a Yemeni-registered fishing dhow were killed, and a third pirate, believed to be a Yemeni, suffered injuries and subsequently died. It was the first time the Royal Navy had been engaged in a fatal shoot-out on the high seas in living memory.

By the time the Royal Marines boarded the pirates’ vessel, the enemy had lost the will to fight and surrendered quietly. The Royal Navy described the boarding as “compliant”.

I'm not criminal mastermind but if you're floating around in a stolen fishing dingey, you might want to give it up when commandos show up. Just a thought.

Less than 1 month

The Dark Knight hits DVD and Blu-ray on December 9!

Why so serious?

Epic Video: Legend of Zelda movie

If only it was true. It would be AWESOME!!!!

NOTE: It's not really 10 minutes long. It's just because of the HD quality the person used to upload it to Youtube.

This is akward...

Denying your actual friend's request on MySpace because you think its a spam cam girl.

A look at the Golden Glove winners in the AL

Major League Baseball has announced its golden glove winners for the 2008 season and one of the most "shocking" developments is that there are two Seattle Mariners on the roster.

Adrian Beltre - 3B - I'm a hundred percent behind this one, Beltran made some pretty impressive grabs over the season. Another thing that he did was (like it or not) was eat the ball if there wasn't going to be a play at first. You didn't see too many errant throws from Beltre but there were a couple of times I though he should have at least tried to make the play.

Ichiro Suzuki - OF - Well you cant beat his arm and his speed, and he got plenty of fielding chances with the fantastic Mariners' pitching staff.

With them getting named to the AL team it also shows you don't need defense to win games. In the Phillies case, you need a couple of guys that can hit the crap out of the ball, some pitchers who get hot at the right time and Tampa Bay to make the world Series.

Now that we're done with the good poltical news

Here's some bad news. Fannie Mae spent it's government bailout money on golf and a bar tab...

GRAPEVINE, Texas (AP) - Taxpayers paid $6,279.26 for a golf outing that included at least 14 executives from the troubled mortgage giant Fannie Mae, according to a television report.

The Sept. 29 event came just 22 days after the government bailed out Fannie Mae.

A spokeswoman for Fannie Mae says the golf outing was part of a customer advisory board meeting that had been scheduled in January and all activities such as this have since been canceled.

The 14 listed on the tee sheet included three Fannie Mae executives from Dallas, two from Chicago and one from Washington, D.C. The cost for the golfing alone at the Cowboys Golf Course in Grapevine was $3,316, Dallas-Fort Worth television station KTVT reported Monday night.

Fannie paid for 20 golfers, according to documents obtained by the station. The outing included mango towel service and more than $1,700 worth of buffet food and a $555 bar tab.

Didn't know D-bag incorporated was still in business...

Obama is Remembering the Titans

In case you missed it for some reason (or maybe Just South of North is your source for news) Barack Obama is the 44th President of the United States of America.

After his speech in Chicago, the music from the studio was cued, and it seemed only fitting it was "Titan Spirt" from the epic picture Remember the Titans.

In case you don't know, here is the song:



If you don't get inspired through listening to this song, then I am not sure what will.

Using this song seemed like the perfect choice. It came from a movie about unifying a team, having players of all races work together to win, and overcome the trials that come with doing that.

This presidency will prove to be about doing the same thing. This election proved to be about unifying a nation, having people of all races come together, and now we, as a country, must face the trials that will be coming.

Campaign '08 is over, and I believe it was truly epic.

Epic Photo: History

Why I'm Communist

No, I'm actually a pretty moderate American, but here's a couple things about the elections that bug me.

- Saturday Night Live only gets funny around this time.
- College students complaining about how politicians talk out of their butt, and then the same college students talk out their butts about politics.
- College Republicans/Democrafts... aka... one step below people who play WoW.
- Obama's skinny legs.
- Fox News declaring McCain the winner last week.
- CNN declaring Obama the winner last week.
- The New York Times endorsing Obama for supreme chancellor.
- No Ross Perot on the ballot.
- Canada

But other than that... get out and vote!

You will be missed...

Ladies and Gentlemen,

We’re gathered here today to remember a good friend, someone who gave us countless weekends of enjoyment and hope. They had a good run, even brought us an NBA title in 1979, but was tragically declared dead by authorities after a 127-13 drubbing taken by all three of it’s Div. I football teams last weekend.

What makes this tough to swallow is the fact that they were the life of the party on many occasions. They won 116 games a couple of years ago in baseball, but their skills deteriorated, retired or were traded away and the replacement parts were grossly overpriced.

They beat Texas in the Holiday Bowl and were among the nation’s top programs, but one coach let the program slip into mediocrity and a new one is struggling to pick the pieces up, or even score a point.

They once shared a National Title, but now the only thing they might be sharing in the future is Qwest Field if they can’t get state money to renovate their crumbling stadium.

They once had FCS national title hopes coming into this season, now they’ll be lucky to finish above .500. Meanwhile, a Texas Tech squad they played so closely in the first game of the season is ranked No. 2 in the BCS.

They were tragically ripped away from us, much like the basketball team in Oklahoma City and it will be a long, Tyrone Willinghamless journey to recovery. However there’s one thing that we can take solace in, it’s not how they lost but how they won.

Sometimes.

Like 1995, or that Super Bowl run a few years ago. Although even after the end this Saturday, they still found a way to lose to the Philadelphia Eagles.

We will miss them greatly, and we hope they find a better place, or at least a higher place in the AL West standings.

127-13

That's the combined score that all Div. I football teams lost by this weekend. Those 13 points came from FCS member Eastern Washington.

How bad is college football in Washington?

- EWU was supposed to compete for a national title, they will not make the playoffs.
- Winless UW will get worse since all Tyrone Willingham is now a lame duck coach. Good luck recruiting, Huskies.
- WSU is historically bad, giving up the most points in conference history and there's still some conference games left. It was also Stanford's biggest victory since 1949.

1949!

The Seahawks stink. The Mariners are a good AA team. The Sonics are now an atmospheric fart.

Somebody please tell me what I have to live for at the moment otherwise I'm going to jump off the ledge and start watching soccer.