The Replacement

Last night, while watching the Nascar race on TV, which was actually taking place in Phoenix, I discovered that John Madden has retired from broadcasting.

First of all, let me say that I actually liked John Madden in the booth. He understood football, and yet avoided becoming so technical about it that you felt it was being played by mechanical bulls and statistics. He once observed the usually dapper Tom Landry coaching on the sidelines and said. “Don’t you think his pants look a little baggy?” I laughed out loud, because the exact same thought was crossing my mind at that moment.

Back to the dilemma - Who will Al Michaels recruit as his football broadcasting partner?
Having given this some thought, it needs to be someone to balance Al’s somewhat intellectual and dry play by play. It should be someone who knows the game from the inside (unlike Al), probably a former coach or player with a sense of humor but not a buffoon or the class clown.

I have some suggestions:

Frank Calliendo:
He does a pretty good Madden imitation
Matt Millen:
He knows the broadcasting business, he’s a former player, but wait… he also needs to know football… too bad
Ted Thompson:
Once again, as I said… needs to know football. Also, he already has a job. Someone please make him an offer he can’t refuse.
O.J. Simpson:
Oh, that’s right… now he is in jail.
Dennis Miller:
They tried this and it didn’t really work. Maybe Conan, or Jay, or Jimmy Kimmel. No, I don’t think so.
Brett Favre:
I actually think this would be my real choice. He definitely knows the game… is well liked and has a good sense of humor. Plus we could still watch him every week.

NassCar

Well, Cathy is still job hunting. Even though she has been diligently applying to numerous places, there has been little return for her effort thus far.

Her mobility has also been limited due to the fact that we have both been sharing the pickup truck for transportation.

Maybe it was time for her to get her own set of wheels. Since the goal is to speed up the job hunting process, she should probably have a fast set of wheels. So, you can see what she brought home. For those of you who may not recognize it - it's the Carl Edwards #99 car.

Come to think of it, she may have taken care of the whole problem. This is not just a used car purchase...it's a career choice. You go, girl!

I just hope she's willing to let me borrow it to run to the store or something.

Good Day for the Canyon

Today, Cathy and I (and Oscar, of course) drove up to Flagstaff after getting a phone call this morning from Annalee saying she would be passing through with her friend, Renee on their way to see the Grand Canyon. Then they travel on to California, where Renee will be starting what sounds like a great job as a river rafting guide.

We were able to enjoy a great meal together. Then we were off to the always mandatory Wal-Mart stop required for every road trip and camping venture. So, here we are in the parking lot just before going our separate ways. We turned south to Phoenix and they turned north to the Canyon.

Renee actually has a really good photo of us all that was taken by our waitress where we ate lunch. It should show up on Facebook sometime.

April Foolery

The April Fools tomfoolery was rampant here yesterday.

Interestingly enough, I was neither an instigator nor a victim this year.

Kelly wins the award for successfully fooling one of the "You can't fool me" recipients - her Dad. By telling him his car, which she had been borrowing had been broken into and everything stolen. Not until she repeatedly asked him if he had left anything of value in the car which might have also been stolen... and finally asking, "...not even any April Fools stuff?"

did she receive that long silent pause on the other end of the phone. Yep, it was too late - there he was hook, line and sinker. Pete, in the background snickering at first, then that outright cruel, evil laugh.

The award for "Most people fooled by a nice sincere person who would never do that sort of thing", goes to Shannon for posting her nonexistent engagement on Facebook. I think relatives are still calling her parents for details on the wedding.

Kelly and Pete were feeling so confident after their early morning success with Larry, that they went on to easily convince Molly that two of her best friends had broken off their engagement (wedding engagements seems to be a theme).

So, Kelly and Pete came over to eat dinner with us. My best April Fool's joke on them was to do nothing at all.

Perhaps April 1 will eventually replace Arbor Day as the favorite American Holiday.